This week Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre (AECC) has been host to the International Institute of Fisheries Economics & Trade (IIFET) 2016 Conference, which runs until Thursday July 14.
The international event has attracted almost 400 delegates since opening on Monday. The four day event focused on ‘Challenging new frontiers in the global seafood sector – a northern enlightenment’, covering topics such as aquaculture economics, seafood markets, processing and logistics.
The event was brought to the City through the Team Aberdeen partnership, a collaboration of expertise working together to bring national and international conferences to Aberdeen. Stakeholders involved in bringing the IIFET Conference to AECC and Aberdeen included: Aberdeenshire Council, Seafish, University of Stirling, University of Aberdeen, VisitAberdeenshire and VisitScotland. The Conference was also awarded subvention funding through Aberdeenshire Council and match-funded by VisitScotland.
“We’re thrilled with the warm Aberdeen welcome given to all our delegates from around the world; I feel particular pride in the slow food reception, highlighting fantastic Scottish food and drink from local suppliers. Feedback from the delegates has been magnificent, universally saying the conference so far has been excellent, with great sessions and interaction, as well as many connections being made at the networking events,” Co-Chair of the IIFET 2016 Local Organising Committee and Chief Economist at Seafish, Hazel Curtis, commented.
She continued; “The keynote presentation by IIFET Fellow Professor Gordon Munro was very well received. He reflected on the policy implications of the seminal paper by Clark and Munro from 40 years ago, highlighting that more research is needed on the effects on fish stock recovery plans of non-malleable human capital – namely fishermen who cannot easily get an alternative job.”
Sales manager at AECC, Steven Daun said: “The IIFET conference has been a great addition to Aberdeen’s conference calendar, attracting a diverse international audience to the city. The working benefits of Team Aberdeen and the advantage of subvention funding from Aberdeenshire Council and VisitScotland are clearly showcased in the success of this event – highlighting to the international marketplace the attraction of bringing their event to Aberdeen.”