Successful yearly meeting in Visby
The fourth yearly meeting of Blue Food, the last yearly meeting of the first term, the first meeting on an island. There are many ways to describe the gathering on October 17 and 18 (and 19). But the feeling on site, which has been confirmed in several surveys after the meeting, is one of community and togetherness among the more than 50 participants, something that bodes well for the next four years and beyond.
As in previous years, the two days of the meeting were different in character, more internal on the first day, more outward looking on the second. Thursday began with a welcome to the island by Meit Fohlin, chair of the Gotland Regional Council. The lion's share of the morning was then devoted to four of Blue Food's doctoral students. Elena Costa, Pontus Gunnarsson, Marica Andersson and Evangelia Zioga talked about the progress of their projects. It was clear that all of them have gone from an idea to getting far in implementation.
City walk with seafood history and beach wrack
After lunch, the meeting participants were divided into two groups who alternately learned more about the city's history from a seafood perspective and about how the Gotland beach wrack, i.e. algae that has floated ashore, can be used in agriculture and is already used by a company in Estonia as a raw material for cosmetics and sweets.
Successful satellite projects and committed partners
This was followed by presentations of three satellite projects on stabilization of algae, large oysters and gut flora in rainbow trout, followed by the Blue Food partners Submariner Network, Musselfeed, Axfood, Region Gotland, Landsbygdsnätverket and Sjömatsfrämjandet who spoke about their work with Blue Food issues. Thursday's program ended with a future-oriented panel discussion with representatives of parties from different parts of the food chain.
Health, digitalization and Baltic fisheries in focus on Friday
On Friday, yearly meeting participants continued to look to the future. Several areas will be given greater prominence during the second period of Blue Food. These include health issues linked to seafood, a topic that opened the day, and AI and digitalization, which took over after lunch. In between, a session was devoted to young researchers Mar Vall-Llosera and John Axelsson, and a session on the future of commercial fishing in the Baltic Sea with participants from the county administrative boards of Gotland and Stockholm and the municipality of Simrishamn, who were joined by the Minister for Rural Affairs' expert Anders Drottja.
The second day also ended with a look to the future, this time specifically to the Blue Food's second period, which starts after the turn of the year, with visions, impact targets and work on a joint seafood campaign.
Seminar for the public at the Almedalen Library
On Saturday morning, the public was invited to a Blue Food seminar at the Almedalen Library. Those present heard about Blue Food, seafood and health, and fishing in the Baltic Sea. At the same time, Guldhaven Pelagiska offered different varieties of rainbow trout outside the seminar room. It can be difficult to attract people to events. That was also the case this time. But the concept was appreciated by the participants who were there.
After the end of the year, work will start on the second period of Blue Food. Decisions will then be made on where future yearly meetings will be held. If you are a party to the center formation, you are welcome to make suggestions, if you were in Visby, you do it most easily by answering the questionnaire sent out to all participants.