| April 30, 2008. Juneau, Alaska. The Alaska Pavilion at the world’s top seafood trade show was a magnet for seafood traders from all over the world. Interest in Alaska’s wild seafood products was strong, and seafood traders in the Alaska Pavilion at the European Seafood Exposition (ESE) estimated $31 million in onsite sales and $125 million in projected sales for the ensuing year resulting from the show. The Alaska Pavilion is sponsored by the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute (ASMI).
As illegal overfishing in some parts of the globe is being scrutinized, and abundance of many wild stocks around the world has declined, Alaska’s sustainably managed seafood species are becoming more widely appreciated. New materials developed by ASMI for the show included brochures in English, French and German on Alaska fisheries management and habitat conservation. Buyers were interested in Alaska’s five species of wild salmon, shellfish including three species of crab, and whitefish varieties from black cod and Pacific cod to Alaska pollock and halibut. There was a surprisingly high level of excitement about salmon roe, as well.
Alaska seafood companies participating in the Alaska Pavilion were: Trident Seafoods, Ocean Beauty Seafoods, Palomino Foods, EE Foods, Northern Keta Caviar, Pacific Seafoods, Peter Pan Seafoods, Intersea, and Icy Strait Seafoods. In addition, over a dozen other Alaska companies who did not have their own booths met clients at the ASMI booth, as did newcomers 10th & M Seafoods and Kwik’Pak, companies attending their first European Seafood Exposition.
Alaska fisherman Kevin Adams, a member of the ASMI board, worked hard at the ASMI booth, attended conference sessions and gathered information. A delegation of state senators from Alaska also participated, taking in the trade show, associated conference sessions, and meeting with U.S. Embassy officials. The officials of the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service which administers the federal program that funds the majority of ASMI’s international marketing activities were appreciative of the interest shown by the Alaska lawmakers in the ESE, Alaska’s most important seafood show. Alaska’s legislature oversees appropriations for the state’s seafood marketing effort, and the Alaska senators all play a pivotal role in that process.
# # #
For more information please contact Laura Fleming, Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute,
1-800-478-2903, (907) 465-5563. www.alaskaseafood.org
|
