Scotland scores GOAL for 2024
In a deal concluded at the Seafood Expo Global in Barcelona, the Global Seafood Alliance (GSA) has selected Scotland as the host country for its 2024 conference.
The GSA event, known as GOAL, will include a conference with international speakers focusing on production, sustainability, innovation and market trends alongside delegate visits across Scotland to learn more about, and from, the country’s seafood industry.
Previous hosts of GOAL include France, Chile and Dublin with this year’s event taking place in-person at the Fairmont Olympic Hotel in Seattle, USA, over 3-5 October.
The responsible seafood conference, which has never been held in the UK before, will be cohosted by Seafood Scotland and the GSA at a venue to be determined.
The bid to host the conference was put together by Seafood Scotland who will work with the Scottish Government and other industry bodies to deliver the event with the Global Seafood Alliance.
The GSA’s COO Brian Perkins said: “Scotland has a rich tradition in both aquaculture and wild-capture fisheries, and we see it as an ideal fit for GOAL 2024.”
Perkins shared news of the bid win with Mairi Gougeon, Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and Islands, as she visited Scottish seafood producers on the Scottish Pavilion at Seafood Expo Global.
Gougeon said: “I am delighted that Scotland’s bid to host the prestigious Seafood Alliance Conference in 2024 has been successful and look forward to welcoming delegates from across the globe to this important event.”
She had also taken the opportunity to visit government and businesses in Catalonia to discuss sustainability, local food chains and production. In two days of meetings with government and business, she discussed how Scotland and Catalonia are tackling food, rural affairs and climate change issues.