Editor’s Welcome

A�er nearly two years of peering at each other on screen, the aquaculture industry is cau�ously returning to in-person events. Last month the European Aquaculture Society held its annual conference, Aquaculture Europe (AE2021), on the Portuguese island of Madeira.

The pandemic has not gone away, but as reported in this issue of Fish Farmer, AE2021 shows that it is possible to run large-scale events safely. The conference brought together aquaculture professionals and academics from across Europe and beyond, and provided networking opportuni�es for seasoned professionals and aspiring students alike.

Meanwhile, in the UK we are also seeing face-to-face events returning. In parallel with the COP26 conference, which brought world leaders, campaigners and climate experts to Glasgow this month, Salmon Scotland also addressed sustainability issues with a panel discussion in the city on how to make packaging for the industry more environmentally friendly (see page 10).

The panel event, on 3 November, was followed that day by a recep�on hosted by Salmon Scotland, which included an address by Mairi Gougeon, Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs in the Sco�sh Government, in which she praised the “hugely significant contribu�on” that fish farming is making to the Sco�sh economy.

The last few weeks have seen the appointment of new fisheries ministers: in Norway, Bjørnar Skjæran, part of the incoming Labour-led administra�on; and in Canada, Joyce Murray, who is �pped to take a rather more scep�cal view of fish farming.

As reported in our feature ar�cles on Containment and Predator Protec�on, and the

Salmon Interac�ons Working Group, the industry is more than ever having to make its case in the face of cri�cism from different quarters.

Meanwhile, fish health is also a theme for the November issue, with a feature on the topic and a report from the Gill Health Conference.

I hope you enjoy reading this month’s magazine and that you find some food for thought.