Live from the Blue Food Innovation Summit 2025

^{4:58 pm, 09 Apr 2025}

That's a wrap for this year's Blue Food Innovation Summit - and WeAreAquaculture's liveblog. It has been a hectic two days packed with discussions and insights - thanks for following along with our coverage, and see you next year!

^{4:39 pm, 09 Apr 2025}

The summit now concludes with a high-level conversation on one of the most urgent challenges facing the blue food sector: how to unite aquaculture and wild-capture fisheries around climate-resilient, low-carbon solutions.

Panellists in this session are:

• Dave Robb (SeaFurther Sustainability Program Lead, Cargill)

• Pamela Nath (Director, Sustainable Shrimp Partnership)

• Merrielle Macleod (Director of Aquaculture, WWF)

• Lisa van Wageningen (Program Manager Aquaculture, IDH)

• Moderator: Elizabeth Beall, Managing Director, Finance Earth

Moderator Elizabeth Beall asks about the importance of resilience.

It's at the heart of the WWF's approach, says Merrielle Macleod. Collective resilience is one of the reasons why the Sustainable Shrimp Partnership was created, says Pamela Nath: "It's important to raise awareness about the practices behind our industry." She says it's not about individual improvement, but a collective effort to generate more impact.

Nath describes the SSP's scale-up program, noting that although the initiative began with bigger producers, the scale comes from the small and mid-size producers. SSP partnered with other organisations including IDH to implement the project in different regions of Ecuador, selecting a group of farms to be trained and which would then implement certification. They are now working on a second phase of the project which includes a mangrove protection component.

Van Wageningen says IDH started a programme with a group of companies throughout the supply chain to compare carbon footprint and set a group target for carbon reduction. She says that innovation can be brought into procurement to improve sustainability and that companies can share knowledge, it's not necessary to "reinvent the wheel".

What are panellists doing around partnerships and innovation?

Nath says for SSP it's important to have partners that can give guidance and support on what issues they should be focusing on. For example, partnering with IDH on carbon emissions. Another NGO partner enabled them to connect directly with an important US retailer, enabling SSP to communicate their work on sustainability.

Dave Robb says as a feed company Cargill has been working on innovation for a long time on its feed formulation, but more recently it has been working with the value chain, including on climate goals. The company has been working with WWF and Finance Earth on where it sources its fish meal and fish oil from.

He also says companies can look at their own internal value chain - both within and between companies there's room for innovation on communication on resilience and sustainability, he says.

^{4:07 pm, 09 Apr 2025}

As land-based aquaculture gains momentum, this session dives into the design, innovation, and strategic shifts enabling these systems to move from pilot to profitable. With technologies like RAS now proven, the focus turns to unlocking market potential, scaling efficiently, and delivering on sustainability promises.

Panellists in this session are:

• Lárus Ásgeirsson (Chair of the Board, Laxey)

• Trond Håkon Schaug-Pettersen (CEO, Salmon Evolution) - see our interview with him here

• Moderator: Ohad Maiman, Managing Partner, Aquafounders Capital - check out our most recent interview with him, and partner Thue Holm, here

This special session features an interesting panel of land-based experts - which Ohad Maiman says is an "umbrella term" which includes hybrid flow-through and full recirculation.

One of the key points for landbased is sustainability, says Maiman, both in terms of supplying alternative to wild catch but also mitigating the problems with net pen farming.

In the last thirty years, he says, cages and open ponds have done a remarkable job in doubling global supply. But that too is facing a challenge, he says. "Meanwhile global demand is estimated to grow 30-50% until 2050, and land-based aquaculture is well positioned to fill that gap," Maiman says.

Schuag-Pettersen says salmon is at an inflection point. He says in the salmon industry for conventional farming, there are limited growth opportunities. With supply coming down, prices have remained strong, so he says it makes both biological and economic sense to farm on land.

The Chair of Iceland's Laxey, Lárus Ásgeirsson, says that although in Iceland fishing management has been handled in a very responsible way, a number of species have declined. "What is left is farming," he says. "There has to be a market," he says. In terms of arctic char and turbot, he says the market has not increased at all, although it is stable. The growth of the salmon market, combined with the limited availability for sea farming permits, gives the opportunity for large-scale land-based farms, he says.

Maiman says the logic behind land-based fish farming is similar to greenhouses. He says greenhouses don't compete with field crops, but they make sense in certain circumstances. The first challenge has been to provide a proof-of-concept, and he says that he believes that has been achieved through companies like The Kingfish Company (which he founded in 2015).

"The first proof of concept is to show that it works. The second stage for any project is to show that it works at a larger scale and show profitability. I think that's where we are now," says Maiman.

Schaug-Pettersen says we have been farming salmon on land for decades, but at the smaller smolt stage. A lot of the principles are the same at the larger scale, he says. "I think what you see now is that it's definitely possible. Ourselves and other companies have done this at scale. The next phase is demonstrating profitability and consistency in production."

Asgeirsson says that in Iceland, the social licence for farming on land is very much accepted and encouraged. "The only restriction is to fund the projects. In Iceland there are five projects partially or fully funded, and more to come," he says.

There is a strong interest to develop this further, but it is capital intensive. To start landbased farming you need a lot of capital, you have to rely on equity inthe beginning. This is holding back further development, he says.

The traditional farming industry is also seeing more opportunities to farm on land, at least with post-smolt production. Asgeirsson thinks we will see a variety of land-based farming, producing post-smolts to 1 kg or 1.5kg, reducing the time of salmon spent in the sea.

Maiman says regarding business cases, early on there were "vivid agruments" regarding whether land-based would replace other methods. He says it's "not either-or but more of in-addition". Land-based is not a solution for all species in all locations, and it's important to analyse whether projects have a solid business case, he says.

Schaug-Pettersen points out Salmon Evolution was founded in 2017. "That says something about the lead-times in this industry, it takes time to build capacity, especially in the beginning. Eventually you will be able to grow it. It's permitting, it's finding location, building, and taking it to operation."

"To really get the economics, you need a certain scale, to reach this critical mass where you can grow further without being dependent on raisign capital all the time. I think that's important to have sustainable growth." He adds that the Phase 2 development of Salmon Evolution is "a game-changer" for the company, that they will be able to grow based on earnings.

Asgeirsson notes that Laxey has a mix of local and strategic foreign investors. They will be completing another equity raise in the near future. He says Laxey already has its first batch of smolts of around 1kg, and hopes to start with around 900 tonnes by the end of the year. They decided to de-risk the project by building it in 6 sections, with the first section ready now. The second section will be completed next year.

Maiman points out there is a difference between RAS and flow-through in the business case. "It's almost expected that you will cool or heat the water. That brings RAS business cases into a product-market technology field." He points out the high capex needed for RAS, which is part of the inspiration between the Farm-in-a-Box concept Aquafounder Partners are developing.

^{3:35 pm, 09 Apr 2025}

This session focuses on the all-important link between seafood producers and the people they serve. As climate-conscious diets gain momentum, industry leaders explore how to reshape demand by making sustainable seafood both accessible and desirable.

Panellists in this session are:

• Lloyd Mann (VP Culinary, Global Executive Chef, Sodexo)

• Teresa Fernandez (Sustainability Senior Manager, Hilton Foods)

• Jim Shearer (Portfolio Director, Nomad Foods)

• Victoria Braathen (Director UK, Norwegian Seafood Council)

• Naoto Sato (Managing Director, Nissui Europe B.V)

• Moderator: Tina Peneva, Co-Founder and Director, Meros Consulting

How can seafood producers connect with and influence consumers?

Innovative communication is key, says Victoria Braathen, and you need to identify what matters to different consumer groups, using different ambassadors or spokespersons that can build reliability for your brand.

Between generations, older consumers are more concerned with certification quality, but younger consumers are more focused on traceability, she says.

What role do frozen and value-added products play, with the sustinability message?

From the point of view of frozen and value-added products, Jim Shearer says that if connsumer demand alone were to drive sustainability progress, "we would fail". There's a "say-do gap", he says, that exists within claimed attitudes to sustainability versus what people are actually willing to pay for.

Cost of living means that consumers focus more on price and affordability, in addition to convenience, he says. "Consumers don't want to be in this dichotomy where they're unsure whether they can afford to feed their family, and give their family a nutritious meal as well."

Fish fingers are an affordable and accessible entrance point into seafood category, that needs to be maintained throughout life, he says.

From the Japanese market perspective - possibly one of the most sophisticated markets in the world - consumption of seafood is also changing, says Naoto Sato. With lots of single consumers, and a lack of time available to cook, the focus is on single meals that are quick and nutritious, as well as economical.

Lloyd Mann says that a way of reaching new consumers is the idea of "flipping" protein, taking a popular flavour and changing the protein ingredient from say, chicken, to fish.

^{12:54 pm, 09 Apr 2025}

With consumer demand for ethical, sustainable seafood rising globally, this session explores how technology, transparency, and responsible sourcing are reshaping the seafood value chain all the way to the dinner table.

Panellists in this session are:

• Laure Boissat (Ocean Lead, FAIRR Initiative)

• Huw Thomas (Executive Director, Global Dialogue on Seafood Traceability)

• Ruth Hoban (Head of Sustainability, New England Seafood)

• Sebastien Metz (Development Manager, PRISM)

• Moderator: Helen Packer, Seafood Stewardship Index Lead, World Benchmarking Alliance

^{12:52 pm, 09 Apr 2025}

As aquaculture scales up to meet global demand, maintaining fish health and welfare remains a critical challenge, and a major opportunity for innovation. This session delves into how emerging technologies and cross-disciplinary collaboration are transforming aquaculture health management from reactive to preventative.

Panellists:

• Shai Ufaz (CEO, Viaqua Therapeutics)

• Elena Piana (Group Sustainability Manager, Regal Springs)

• Ben Perry (Commercial Lead, Ace Aquatec)

• Louise Buttle (Sustell Lead for Aqua & Global Key Account Manager, DSM-Firmenich)

• Moderator: Tanja Knabenschuh Hoel, Managing Director, Hatch Blue

^{12:52 pm, 09 Apr 2025}

With marine ecosystems under growing pressure from climate change and biodiversity loss, this session focuses on turning restoration into viable business strategy. Industry leaders, entrepreneurs, and conservationists come together to explore how regenerative practices are reshaping the future of ocean health - while opening up new commercial opportunities.

Panellists in this session are:

• Brian Tsuyoshi Takeda (Founder, Urchinomics & Co-Founder, Restorae) - read our latest interview with him here, published yesterday

• Kiran Mohanan (Director of Blue Carbon Plus, Conservation International)

• John Holmyard (Managing Director, Offshore Shellfish)

• Isadora Ferreira (Principal Nature Strategist, Nature Metrics)

• Donald Grant (Vice President, Cuna del Mar)

Moderator: Harry Wright, CEO & Founder, Bright Tide

Which nature-positive farming practices are restoring ecosystems but also creating scalable businesses as well?

Donald Grant (Cuna del Mar) says we need to be clear on what regenerative farming means, and how that translates in commercial terms. He says from an investor perspective he is still watching seaweed carefully "we need scale, we need geographies, we need markets," he says. "I think bivalves are very intersting, there are markets already available there." He says Cuna del Mar does regenerative aquaculture on the finfish side, which he says is more expensive to do.

Brian Tsuyoshi Takeda talks about his experience with Urchinomics, explaining that the company transforms a problematic "pest" species into a premium seafood product, as well as receiving funding for ocean restoration. He says that Urchinomics has proved that it's possible for regenerative aquaculture ventures to make money both from producing seafood but also from the regenerative activities themselves.

Kiran Mohanan explains about his company's work with salicornia seaweed, saying there are direct climate benefits as well as benefits for local communities through supply chains.

John Holmyard says for his family-owned company, sustainability is "being able to do it over and over again, with no negative impact". He says Offshore Shellfish is a big mussel farm, about 12 square kilometres, but says that compared with the areas trawled by fishing boats, it's tiny - and produces much more seafood, while at the same time seeing regeneration of sea life in the farming zone.

"Regeneration is part of what we do, but our principle practice is to grow food. We do that with almost no carbon footprint." He points out that it's difficult to get permission for farms, despite their clear ecosystem benefits.

What are barriers to regeneration?

Takeda says that restoration needs to come before regeneration. "Without that foundational ecosystem in place, none of these dreams will come to fruition."

Isadora Ferreira says regulatory uncertainty is a key barrier to regenerative farming. "The companies don't necessary know what to do. Even when they're mandatory, they are still being renegotiated... this can cause delay and inaction," she says. But despite this, there is still a push for companies to act. She says that Nature Metrics is working with clients on a variety of metrics to establish what level of regeneration is taking place.

Now the discussion shifts to ecosystem credits.

"The whole question of ecosystem credits is a bit of a circular one, first of all how do you measure it, and what do you measure it against? What is recovery? We can measure in terms of carbon sequestration, nutrient removal. But we don't know the natural state. We need to figure out some basis for the credits. What is biodiversity increase worth? and who's going to pay for it?" says Holmyard.

Takeda points out that one major economy - Japan - has been doing just this for the last 5 years. He says the Japan blue economy credits are stackable ecosystem services credits which trade at 4-5000 dollars per tonne, which he says is 10-12x more than standard credits.

"Japan has already ploughed ahead, I believe Korea is not far behind," Takeda says, noting that Norway and the EU are also developing natural capital credits.

Takeda says that his opinion is that oceans should be regulated by organisations that are accountable to states and their voters. "I do not believe that pan-national arrangements at the start are the way to go, because that causes paralysis."

"Sometimes we need to act locally and get it done. Let's see action happen, because we only have 5 years until 2030," he says. "The amounts of chaos and confusion that corporates are facing out there... governments have a unique position to clear the path. That's how you unlock massive corporate resources."

^{10:09 am, 09 Apr 2025}

This session explores how innovation, science, and policy are converging to make wild fisheries more resilient, traceable, and aligned with climate and biodiversity objectives.

Panellists:

• Colin Faulkner (Deputy Director for External Fisheries, Negotiations and Trade Policy, DEFRA)

• Teresa Ish (Oceans Initiative Lead, Walton Family Foundation)

• Emily Langley (Global Fisheries Policy Lead, The Nature Conservancy)

• Pål Einar Skogrand (Vice President Policy and Impact, Aker Qrill Company)

• Daniel Suddaby (Executive Director, Global Tuna Alliance)

• Moderator: Kjetil Angell Kjerstad, CEO, Kontali

What does nature-positive fisheries management involve? asks the moderator. What technologies and innovations are most promising?

Emily Langley says it depends on the fishery itself, but for large-scale industrial fleet fishing for species like tuna, there is exciting innovation around electronic monitoring and use of cameras onboard fishing vessels. "It's a way to collect more data at sea to verify logbook information, it's also a way to monitor bycatch, ensure labour standards are being met," she says.

Langley highlights the Nature Conservancy's Tuna Transparency Pledge involves companies and countries signing up to commit to source only from boats that have a camera. She adds that countries need to develop national programs, to better manage fisheries in the high seas.

We should also not overlook coastal and small-scale fisheries, which make up 40% of global catch, Langley notes. "A lot of the problems stem from a lack of data," and she says there is a large percentage of stocks for which there is no data.

"We need more investment in improving capacity for local authorities, training, resources, to better collect data." She adds that tools like FishPath can help bridge these gaps by supporting management decisions where full datasets are lacking.

Daniel Suddaby of Global Tuna Alliance says that many of their partners have signed the Tuna Transparency Pledge, including Carrefour. He says that retailers are able to use their purchasing power to drive change at sea.

He points out that electronic monitoring brings cross-benefits. "To put cameras on boats, you need wifi on the boat, which can be made accessible to crew and captain, which gives workers chance to phone home or raise complaints," he says.

Aquaculture is growing fast, but wild capture feeds billions. How do we ensure these sectors align and not compete? And what are the risks of neglecting wild capture in climate and food security strategies? asks the moderator.

Teresa Ish says wild capture accounts for 90 million metric tonnes of seafood demand. "The only way to keep that production up is to manage for sustainability, ocean health, a nature positive system."

She says capture fisheries are different from aquaculture in terms of investment and production. "The goal is not to 10x your production, the goal is to hold steady and keep output constant over time."

From a UK policy perspective, Colin Faulkner (DEFRA) said there is a need for strengthened global governance, particularly around data systems and transparency, noting biodiversity and climate change are now central to the UK's external fisheries negotiations. He also underscores aquaculture’s success in the UK, with farmed fish the UK's single largest food export.

How can philanthropy support regulatory process where political will is lacking?

Ish says the people closest to the problem are the ones generating solutions. She says that fishing communities have seen revenues decline, business shut down, from the impact of overfishing. "That way you have a pwoerful set of champions who are asking for their fisheries to be recovered," she says. This also applys to the supply chain as well. "It's hard to run a seafood business if you don't have any fish."

"This work to manage our global fisheries cannot be done without fishermen, without the seafood industry, governments and scientists," she adds.

^{9:47 am, 09 Apr 2025}

We're back for the second day of the Blue Food Innovation Summit in London!

Today's agenda ranges from advancing gender equity and improving fish health, to restoring ocean biodiversity and strengthening supply chain transparency - and will also explore the roles of innovation, policy, and consumer behaviour.

^{6:19 pm, 08 Apr 2025}

Wrapping up today is a session which most summit attendees will be keenly listening to - the outlook from investors.

This panel brings together leading "blue food" investors to explore how capital is being mobilised to drive sustainable ocean innovation - and what’s needed to accelerate momentum.

Panellists are: 

• Maria Velkova (Chief Portfolio Officer, Aqua-Spark) 

• Alan Liu (Vice President, Novo Holdings) 

• Jeroen van der Staay (Executive Director, Rabo Ventures) 

• Claire Pribula (Managing Director & Co-Founder, The Yield Lab Asia-Pacific) 

• Nadir Ait-Laoussine (Vice President, Platforms & Programs, SeaAhead) 

• Moderator: Monica Jain, Partner, Fish 2.0 Ventures 

The dominating theme of the discussion - perhaps inevitably - is tariffs.

Are investors going away or coming to Southeast Asia now because of tariffs? asks the moderator.

Claire Pribula says there's been a lot of change, noting some rounds were halved or quartered in size, and valuations have come down. Although she adds "I don’t think early-stage investment is changing much, what changes is the deal flow and types of innovation.”

Alan Liu says the current trade environment and imposition of tariffs "has certainly made our work more complicated". "It highlights the importance of focusing on efficiency, resiliency, and sustainability," he adds.

How are Series B and later-stage investments being affected?

“It has increased the bar that the investment needs to meet in order for us to convince ourselves this will be a good investment… but we’re still very excited about opportunities that improve efficiency, biosecurity, breeding, and environmental footprint," says Liu.

Nadir Ait-Laoussine says that in the US, "Startups dependent on non-dilutive federal funding are pivoting to private capital, but many are not quite yet investable businesses.”

How are trade flow disruptions affecting early-stage companies and valuations?

Jeroen van der Staay says that because earlier-stage companies typically source and sell locally, they are not directly affected, "but it limits the ability to sell these companies to next-stage investors.”

He says that the focus now is "mostly on runway – ensuring companies have enough cash – and willingness of investors to support their portfolios.”

Maria Velkova says it depends on the type of investor and the investment horizon. "Short-term fluctuations are less scary if you’re thinking long-term," she points out.

Now we zoom out to the bigger picture, and connect with one of the main themes of the summit - what are the impacts of the US-imposed tariffs on food security and global business development?

Pribula says she believes countries are becoming more "insular", "looking at how they can buffer from national security risks if there is a supply chain shock.”

Liu adds that “Food security drives aquaculture as strategic infrastructure. Tariffs expose the risk of overreliance on exports.”

Claire Pribula: “Even if tariffs last a short time, decade-long relationships are broken – like India needing to find a new home for 40% of its shrimp exports.”

Pribula says that companies "have to weather it", but unfortunately many large investors are "pulling back". Liu agrees, saying that there is a "gap" in later-stage mature capital.

Do public-private partnerships still have a role to play?

Ait-Laoussine says that although federal funding in the US is changing quickly, but some states including Massachussetts "are very engaged and taking climate and blue economy seriously.”

Now the moderator moves onto one of the bigger shocks in blue food investment in recent times - the collapse of "aquaculture unicorn" eFishery in Indonesia, which was one of Aqua-Spark's major investments. Has this made aquaculture investors more nervous or cautious? asks the moderator.

Aqua-Spark's Maria Velkova calls the situation "very unfortunate and emotional", but adds "we’re much more resilient than thinking one company failing will destroy the whole sector.”

Pribula says overall, the investment in this type of company was "a great thing for the industry" because "the momentum that came from it was felt by other deals". She adds that "bad news seems to just always jump to the top. So how do we elevate all the good news?" 

Liu said the situation caused "a pause for reflection", but says this happens in every sector, and he believes the "fundamentals of the blue economy are intact".

The session wraps up on a more positive note, with the moderator asking the panel for their "bright spots" in blue economy financing.

Liu says his firm is "excited about verticals like genetics, health tech, functional ingredients, and marine biotech.”

Ait-Laoussine says coastal resilience is a new area for investment, saying it is attracting players who wouldn't have cared about this before, for example real estate asset managers.

Van der Staay picks alternative feed ingredients, noting that insect protein and algae are both becoming more mainstream.

Pribula says aquaculture by-product recycling is showing a transformation, while Velkova adds that the market is "catching up to the innovation", adopting scalable solutions.

^{5:51 pm, 08 Apr 2025}

It has been a long day of discussions and networking, but now the summit’s energy ramps up in this fast-paced pitching session featuring early- to mid-stage innovators. Six startups are presenting their solutions to a panel of investors with a sharp eye on scalability, impact, and long-term potential. 

Presenting companies and founders: 

• Dodon Yamin (Co-Founder & CEO, Banyu, Indonesia) 

• Wesley Malcorps (CEO & Co-Founder, Blue Food Performance, UK) 

• André Pinkert (General Manager of Commercial, Flomo, New Zealand) 

• Wael Ahmed (Founder & CTO, Flonergia Systems, Canada) 

• Frederik Taarnhøj (Co-Founder, FP Aquaculture & Ocean Health, Denmark) 

• Alessandro Romano (CEO & Founder, Ocean Twist, Italy) 

Hosts: Magali Rousselot, Senior Investment Director, Mirova and Karina Wessel, ESG & Impact Manager, Bluefront Equity.

BANYU (Indonesia) - presented by Dodon Yamin

Banyu aims to transform Indonesia’s seaweed industry by supplying high-quality seedlings and offering farming-as-a-service to boost farmer productivity. With a patented propagation method and plans to move into downstream products, Banyu aims to address inefficiencies in the supply chain and raise incomes for over a million potential seaweed farmers.

"Indonesia is the second largest seaweed producer in the world… but today we just use less than 10% from our potential - 1.5 million hectares all over Indonesia. Only 100,000 farmers [are] active," Yamin explains. “We solve the seedling problem and make the supply chain more efficient.”

Blue Food Performance (UK) - presented by Wesley Malcorps

Blue Food Performance offers independent, scientifically validated sustainability assessments for the seafood industry. Their new “fish in, fish out” (FIFO) tool helps benchmark marine resource efficiency and supports corporate sustainability reporting.

“We provide detailed assessments really to enhance the performance of any seafood organisation along the value chain," Malcorps explains. The company is launching its fish-in-fish-out performance tool, which he says is the "first of its kind… based on three decades of research.”

FLOMO (New Zealand) - presented by André Pinkert

Flomo is reimagining fishing gear with an innovative, non-mesh trawl net that reduces bycatch and stress to fish. The system is leased to fishers, who pay based on catch volume, and is already approved in New Zealand. Flomo is now seeking regulatory clearance in key markets.

“Every single fisher who has used the technology — they don’t want to give it back," says Pinkert. “We want to create buy-in from the whole community… This is the way to market for us.”

Flonergia Systems (Canada) - presented by Joshua Rosettani

Flonergia has developed “FlowMove” – a dual-purpose airlift pump that provides both water circulation and aeration for aquaculture tanks and open-water systems. Already installed in over 500 locations, it reduces energy and maintenance costs while improving fish health.

“We are the only engineered airlift pump on the market that offers a wide range of operating conditions," Rosettani states. "We are the only engineered airlift pump on the market that offers a wide range of operating conditions.”

FP Aquaculture (Denmark) - presented by Frederik Taarnhøj

FP Aquaculture is tackling microscopic plankton threats in sea-based salmon farming with the world’s first real-time underwater microscope. Their AI-powered sensor continuously monitors water quality, enabling faster and smarter farm management.

“This is the world’s first [microscope] out there on site doing this in real time," Taarnhøj says, noting that each microscope collects around 8,500 images per day.

Ocean Twist (Italy) - presented by Alessandro Romano

Ocean Twist produces “Beyond Fishmeal” – a novel protein made from insect and agri-waste that matches the nutritional value of fishmeal. With a low-CapEx model and contract manufacturing approach, the company is scaling rapidly without needing to build factories.

Romano says the company has already secured offtake from Spain’s largest feed manufacturer. “So far we’ve helped fish farmers produce 56,000 extra portions of fish whilst protecting over 7 million ocean creatures from global catch," he says.

^{4:22 pm, 08 Apr 2025}

Smallholder farmers form the backbone of aquaculture in many parts of the world, yet often face barriers to accessing technology, finance, and support. This session explores how targeted innovations and inclusive business models are helping level the playing field, boosting productivity, resilience, and profitability.

Panellists in this session are: 

• Joseph Rehmann (Founder & CEO, Victory Farms) 

• Liris Maduningtyas (CEO, Jala) 

• Rohana Subasinghe (Co-Founder & Director, FutureFish) 

• Nicholas Hill (Co-Founder & CEO, Coast 4C) 

• Moderator: Anton Immink, CEO, Think Aqua 

The discussion opens with a key question: how do we define smallholders in aquaculture?

Liris Maduningtyas explains that in Indonesia, small-scale shrimp farmers are defined by measurable criteria like pond productivity (e.g. under 5 tonnes per hectare per cycle). Nicholas Hill says Philippine seaweed farmers are classified as “municipal fishers” if they are under one hectare, but in practice, most farm less than 1/8 hectare, often at a household level.

Joseph Rehmann says Victory Farms avoids the term “smallholder” due to its negative connotations, using “pond partners” instead, meaning farmers with 1–2 acres. “The average income generated through a pond partner is 5 to 10 times higher than their wages would have otherwise been," he says.

Subasinghe (FutureFish), reflecting on her experience with FAO, emphasises the need for flexible definitions: “We tried to define smallholders for 25 years, and we failed.” She argues that definitions should be based on how and where you plan to work with them.

Are there scalable solutions to improve smallholder productivity? And what role can technology play?

All the panellists agree that smallholders have significant potential. Hill emphasises that despite working in isolation, seaweed farmers can dramatically improve productivity, by as much as 6 or 10 times, with the right support packages. The bigger challenge is delivery and aggregation, he says.

Rehmann says Victory Farms doubled its output last year through egg supply from pond partners. "100 smallholders joined and contributed to 10,000 tonnes of fish output. That shows their impact," he says.

The panellists say technology is vital but must be human-centred.

Hill says Coast 4C initially hoped farmers could use smartphones to report data, but most didn’t own or use phones on the farm. So the company shifted focus to training extension workers who collect data and drive behaviour change.

Rehmann says Victory Farms is using drones to deliver eggs, collect pond data, and reduce logistics costs: “A 6-minute drone flight replaces an hour of bad roads. It’s cheaper and the eggs stay healthier.”

Maduningtyas stresses that how tech is communicated matters: “I never tell farmers we use AI or IoT — that scares them. I just say it’s a tool to manage their farm.”

How can smallholders contribute to sustainability and reporting requirements?

Rehmann says their drones also track biodiversity gains and tree planting, enabling data collection even if buyers aren't yet asking for it: “We’ve increased biodiversity by 1000%, and we can now show that to our partners.”

Hill notes that traditional seaweed farming has been unsustainable in some areas due to plastics and overfishing. Coast 4C is using tech, including AI and cameras, to measure biodiversity and ensure longer-term sustainability.

Subasinghe urges the sector to shift its perspective on smallholder farmers: “Take smallholders as an opportunity, not as a problem," she says, noting they are central to food security and social development.

^{4:02 pm, 08 Apr 2025}

This dynamic session features a series of lightning talks highlighting some of the most promising - and often underrepresented - regions for aquaculture growth. From Southeast Asia to Africa and Latin America, panelists share firsthand insights on the challenges and opportunities shaping the future of seafood production in their respective markets.

Speakers in this session are:

• Juli-Anne Russo (Founder & CEO, Caribbean Aquaculture Education and Innovation Hub, Caribbean)

• José Antonio Camposano (Executive President, National Chamber of Aquaculture, Ecuador)

• Francisco Murillo (CEO, Tropo Farms, Ghana) - check out our interview with him here!

• Gerry McCollum (CEO, Chicoa Fish Farms, Zimbabwe)

• Simon Davis (Founder, Seadling, Singapore)

Julie Ann Russo highlights the potential for mariculture in Jamaica, calling it an "untapped sector". She highlights the growing local demand for seaweed in cosmetics and food, through Jamaica's 3 billion dollar tourism industry, through wellness, resorts, spas, farm-to-table restaurants, but notes that most seaweed is currently wild-caught. Investment in R&D and aquaculture education is needed, Russo says, with opportunities in integrated aquaculture, and species such as sea cucumber, sea urchin, and conch.

Now the focus shifts to shrimp farming in Ecuador. José Antonio Camposano says that aquaculture accounts for one-third of investments in Ecuador, with one out of ten dollars invested in Ecuador during the last 12 years coming from the shrimp farming and processing industry. But it's not enough, he says, arguing that there is still significant growth potential. The industry has become very mature in the last decade, but needs a collective platform "not only to market our product but to educate our consumers".

Now turning to development of aquaculture in Africa, first to the stage comes Francisco Murillo, CEO of Ghana's TropoFarms. "The question is very simple: can we maintain seafood per capita consumption in Africa going forward?" he says. He references the FAO's report on world fisheries and aquaculture, showing that of overall seafood production worldwide, Africa accounts for 7% production, but 19% of the world population. The FAO report indicates that seafood production in Africa needs to grow by 74% in the next 25 years to maintain per capita consumption.

He says that aquaculture in Africa (excluding Egypt) needs to grow by 8 million metric tonnes in the next 25 years, needing an investment of 4 billion dollars over this period - which he points is very efficient, since investment in North American RAS costs 40 dollars per kilo, while in Africa investment in fish farming is 50 cents per kilo.

Now Gerry McCollum is describing his company's fish farming activities in Mozambique. He explains that the entire production cycle is done without electricity, "so we are approaching carbon zero in our production there". He points out that in southern Africa the population is currently 300 million, projected to grow to 600 million people. His group currently has the only fish farm in Zimbabwe, and the only fish farm in Mozambique. The group is embarking on a Series B funding round, he says.

Last to the stage is Simon Davis. He describes tropical seaweed as "an age-old industry that is now undergoing a makeover". He says that seaweed farming in tropical areas benefit from generations of experience, a well-established tradition of seaweed farming. Governments are supportive of the sector, and there is a lot of space to grow into, he says. However, now there are opportunities to diversify into different value-added products and new ingredients, including for pets, agriculture, and human food.

^{2:26 pm, 08 Apr 2025}

With applications spanning food, feed, bioplastics, carbon capture, and more, interest in the seaweed sector is growing rapidly. This session looks at the issue of scaling seaweed production while balancing this with environmental stewardship, and takes in issues such as data collection, innovation in the value chain, the role of government policy and public sector support, as well as the potential for global collaboration.

Panellists in this session are:

• Samantha Garwin (Director of Market Development, Greenwave)

• Sowmya Balendiran (Co-Founder, Sea6 Energy)

• Karen Scofield Seal (CEO & Co-Founder, Oceanium)

• Gracie White (Director of Global Ocean Investments, Conservation International Ventures)

• Moderator: Laura Rodriguez, Senior Program Officer, Oceans, Builders Vision

What do the panellists see as the roadblocks and challenges to scale?

"To make a value chain work, a farmer can't be successful unless they have buyers buying seaweed at the right volumes and at the right prices," says Samantha Garwin, who highlights the importance of seaweed farming companies supporting downstream customers, such as sponsoring some of the R&D to help companies figure out how to use seaweed in their products.

Garwin says Greenwave is launching a kelp collaboration co-lab to bring together companies with product development experts, with the goal of creating several pilot-ready products.

What types of financial support are most appropriate for the seaweed sector?

Scofield Seal says public private partnerships work well, helping to derisk investments for both companies and funders. She says that seaweed firms also need to look for investment outside the ocean space, to the food space and biotech space.

White says that the seaweed sector is a longer-term investment, and that it may not be a natural fit for the venture capital-style of funding.

"It sometimes feels like it's trying to fit a circle into a square. It's not an app, it's not software, it can't scale the same way that software can. Maybe the Silicon valley model of venture capital is not the right fit," she says, adding "I'd like to see more debt in the space, it's not as scary as it might seem sometimes."

White says that other models could include revenue-based finance, redeemable equity. There is a lot opportunity there for returns, but this needs more patience and flexibility, she suggests: "I'm very hopeful that we'll get more of that middle-ground capital in the space in the coming years."

^{1:39 pm, 08 Apr 2025}

This session turns the spotlight on the technologies reshaping how we monitor, manage, and protect our oceans. From satellite imaging to real-time data platforms, ocean intelligence is becoming a vital tool for ensuring the sustainability of global fisheries and marine ecosystems.

Panellists in this session are:

• Tony Long (CEO, Global Fishing Watch)

• Cathrine Armour (Director of Data Initiatives, TNFD)

• Moderator: Jonathan Baines, Program Manager, Oceans, World Resources Institute

How can data be used to ensure sustainable ocean management?

“You can’t manage what you can’t see," says Tony Long, who points out the power of satellite data and open-access vessel tracking in improving ocean governance. He says that Global Fishing Watch has grown from tracking 30,000 vessels a few years ago to over 100,000 today.

One major success story was Panama's decision to openly share its fleet data, which supported efforts to detect unregistered vessels.

Cathrine Armour (TNFD) stresses the need for open metadata standards, common data models, and interoperability to make collective ocean governance feasible. Without harmonised systems, she says, even the best datasets remain siloed and underutilised.

What is holding back change?

Both speakers emphasise the need to move from "static" or historic datasets to real-time modelling. Armour notes that technologies like synthetic aperture radar, earth observation, and AI can predict shifts in fish stocks and environmental conditions.

“Every piece of data becomes historic the moment it’s collected,” says Armour. “We need integrated, near-real-time systems to guide decision-making.”

Long argues for "levelling the playing field" across coastal states, many of which lack capacity for ocean monitoring. He says that open-access tools like Global Fishing Watch offer low-barrier, cost-effective solutions, especially for regions without resources for private systems.

“Technology needs to be so easy to use that the training burden is low and uptake is global.”

What new developments could help make sustainability the norm?

Armour calls for making nature and ocean data part of everyday corporate decision-making, particularly in sectors with extractive or maritime footprints. She says sustainability isn't just about compliance, but about protecting the assets businesses depend on.

The panellists point out that data systems are now being used in traceability and risk mitigation by organisations such as the Marine Stewardship Council, Global Tuna Alliance, and major seafood retailers. Voluntary adoption is increasing, and Armour and Long both acknowledge regulatory frameworks are catching up, especially with the rise of ESG reporting and new frameworks like TNFD.

Both speakers say indigenous communities play a vital role in sustainable ocean management. Although their knowledge is not always easy to integrate into digital platforms, they emphasise that including these communities in design, interpretation, and governance is crucial to building inclusive systems.

^{1:35 pm, 08 Apr 2025}

As aquaculture continues to scale, digital innovation is becoming central to operational success. This session explores how AI-driven tools and data analytics are transforming production efficiency, improving sustainability, and unlocking new investment opportunities across the sector.

Panellists in this session are:

• Katie Sokalsky (CEO, Kampi)

• Mathew Zimola (Founder & CEO, Reeldata AI)

• Steve Tucker (Founder & CEO, Aquabyte)

• Kira Smiley (Global Director, Tidal)

• Moderator: Matt Craze, Partner, Spheric Research

What role can AI and digital tools play in public perception of aquaculture?

Smiley takes the example of the sea lice problems in Norwegian salmon farming. "Having tools that can help you track different treatment methods effectiveness will not only create internal benefit to allow companies to find the right solutions, but give opportunity for transparency, show real measured improvement," she says.

How can AI help the broader aquaculture industry, including smaller farmers?

"We took a strategic decision to be a no-hardware solution. And so there's no capital investment to use our our software," says Sokalsky, who explains that Kampi obtains measurements through a smartphone app.

"We use a smartphone camera to capture all of our computer vision data based on the shrimp population, which means that we can work with any size shrimp farm," she says, adding that they are currently working with an Ecuadorian farmer with just 14 ponds.

"Just from using our software, he went from losing money to gaining money because we were giving him insights on when he was overfeeding or at his carrying capacity, or when he should be harvesting."

Is there anything AI cannot do? asks an audience member.

"I think as vendors, it's certainly not going to replace the thirty, forty or fifty years of experience in individuals that we meet in our farming partners," says Tucker, noting that many of the companies he works with in Norway are family-owned and have been so for generations. AI can enhance and support, replace some of the operational functions and increase efficiency.

He says having the right kind of staff in the company is key, with a blend of technical expertise and aquaculture specialists "that have lived and breathed farming for many years, both in Norway and Chile".

How can AI work with recirculating aquaculture systems?

"RAS presents this neat opportunity around building up a a stack of technologies where we're able to feed fish, weigh fish, measure the health and welfare," says Zimola. "The ocean-based side of the industry has to deal with the environment [but] in the land based industry, you actually get to create the environment."

He says this means farmers can have much more control over their systems and growing environment, in order to optimize their farming facilities. Being able to capture a huge amount of data means better control and ability to implement necessary changes, he notes.

^{10:57 am, 08 Apr 2025}

The second session of the summit dives into one of aquaculture’s most rapidly evolving frontiers: feed innovation. As the industry seeks sustainable, scalable alternatives to traditional feed sources like fishmeal, this panel explores how cross-sector collaboration is driving the commercialisation and adoption of novel feed ingredients. 

Panellists in this session are: 

• Douglas Martin (Founder & CEO, Mialgae) 

• Evy Vikene (Aquaterra Aquaculture Lead, Norway & EU, Nuseed Nutritional) 

• Alan Shaw (Co-Founder, President and CEO, Calysta) 

• Peter Williams (Senior Nutritionist, Fluid Quip Technologies) 

Moderator: Katherine Bryar, Global Marketing Director, Biomar - check our interview with her!

Bryar begins the session by pointing out that 60-70% of the cost of aquaculture farming comes from the feed, and it also carries 80% of the environmental impact. "So it's going to be essential to get the feed right and that is why we are here in the room today," she says.

What’s next for microalgae in aquafeed, and how do we scale it? she asks Douglas Martin, CEO of MiAlgae.

Martin says that microalgae has shown commercial success already, and "there's room for it to grow more."

"Right now, microalgae is still under 10% of fish oil production", he points out, and says this needs to be taken to the next level. With growing salmon production and limited natural fish oil resources, scaling microalgae-based DHA and EPA production is key. “The more Omega-3s you can get into a feed, it’s been proven, the more performance you get out of those fish.”

Can crop-based aquafeed ingredients DHA and EPA play a role in meeting global omega-3 demand?

Vikene introduces Nuseed's DHA-rich canola, which she describes as a scalable, crop-based alternative to fish oil. She emphasises the need for multiple nutrient sources to meet global aquaculture demand and noted the company’s pipeline includes both DHA and EPA-rich crops.

“By converting just 5% of global canola production, we could double the world’s DHA supply," she says. “We’re not trying to replace fish oil - we’re adding to it. Salmon oil, microalgae, and crop-based DHA and EPA all have a place.”

Moving onto fermentation-based aquafeed ingredients, Bryar asks Peter Williams about his company's approach.

Williams says traditional ethanol fermentation processes can yield high-quality, digestible proteins for aquafeed. By upgrading distillers' grains, Fluid Quip Technologies has developed a sustainable protein with 88-89% digestibility for aquatic species.

"We took a medium-quality protein, turn into a high quality protein, and practically doubled its value in the marketplace," he says.

Alan Shaw now describes Catalysta's methane-based single-cell protein, FeedKind. Despite its proven health benefits and large-scale production, he says adoption remains slow due to price and risk aversion by farmers.

Shaw emphasises the need for education and strategic pricing to build demand. “Farmers ask one question: is it cheaper than fishmeal? Even if it saves their whole farm, price comes first," he says. The company is producing 20,000 metric tonnes per year.

Bryar asks about the importance of scale in introducing novel ingredients to the market.

Scale is essential, the panellists agree. Without proven capacity and reliable supply chains, novel ingredients face slow uptake. “The first thing a feed company asks is: how much can you produce? If you can’t deliver 100,000 tonnes, you won’t get bin space," Williams says, pointing out that the bioethanol industry provides scale and reliability for his firm's product.

“It took $100 million and over a decade to get our plant online. That’s what real scale looks like," Shaw says. He points out that farmers want to know that a company will continue to exist and be a reliable supplier. “You can’t sell ‘sustainable’ if your company’s not sustainable," he says.

^{10:13 am, 08 Apr 2025}

This year's summit kicks off with a focus on food security, a key theme that has recently taken centre stage in the European Union’s campaign to raise public awareness of aquaculture. As blue foods and ocean ecosystems gain recognition for their potential to help meet global nutrition demands, this session explores how the industry can step into a more central role.

Panellists in this session are:

• Catarina Martins (Chief Technology and Sustainability Officer, Mowi)

• Lorella de la Cruz Iglesias (Directorate General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, European Commission)

• Chris Ninnes (CEO, Aquaculture Stewardship Council) – check out our recent interview with him.

• Steven Rafferty (CEO, Cermaq Global)

Moderator: Erik Giercksky, Head of Sustainable Ocean Business, UN Global Compact

Focus on food security

Steven Rafferty begins the discussion by talking about the question of how to transfer knowledge from salmon farming - which is not possible in warmer climates - to the global south to help aquaculture sectors in other countries develop.

He points out that 80% of global salmon production is in 2 countries, Norway and Chile, and says that salmon production growth has been very limited in the last 5 years. One of the key challenges to this is climate change, with higher water temperatures limiting possibilities, and adds that traditional ways of producing salmon are now under pressure.

Rafferty addds that salmon needs a lot of capital investment, but profit margins over the last 10-15 years have been quite high, which has enabled Cermaq to reinvest on a large scale, and there is a lot of innovation now in terms of closed containment and land-based solutions - although these are expensive and new.

Giercksky says that food security is the key issue to tackle globally, with increased pressure due to depleted land resources and wild fish stocks. He says that from FAO and UN perspective, the solution is "aquaculture, aquaculture, and aquaculture".

The discussion moves onto transparency and sustainability now.

"To build trust we need a transparency standard, to show consumers and investors we are on the right pathway," Giercksky says, asking ASC CEO Chris Ninnes to comment on how he sees the future development of the industry.

"I think the future of seafood farming is a bright one," Ninnes says, pointing out that as seafood demand grows, the bulk of this will come from farming.

Over 90% of seafood farming takes place in Asia, and most of that production is consumed in Asia, Ninnes says. Lack of access to formal credit is a huge obstacle for farmers, he says, and lack of access to insurance means that if something goes wrong, their livelihoods can be wiped out.

"To drive that sort of success into Asia we need very different approaches," Ninnes says, adding that ASC estimates that only a quarter of the future aquaculture production will go into markets demanding sustainability. "For Asia we've got to think about what incentive pathways there are to drive improvements in that 75% of production - and that's a big, big challenge," he says.

What is the EU doing to support sustainable growth of aquaculture, and how is it part of the global context? asks the moderator.

Lorella de la Cruz Iglesias (Directorate General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, European Commission) points out that most of the governance in the EU happens at Member State level, so they work to support them. She says that from the point of view of governance, there are many things that can be done to help aquaculture grow sustainably.

She highlights the FAO's Guidelines for Sustainable Aquaculture, desdribing it as a "milestone", and says the EU is helping the FAO implement this in countries around the world, as a reference document for sustainable development of aquaculture in the long-term.

What are the main reporting factors that drive investments? the moderator asks Mowi's Catarina Martins.

Martins says the reporting landscape is complex and difficult, but that stakeholders are very important for companies. She explains that Mowi has developed its own sustainability framework, that responds to internal motivations as well as external sustainability targets. "What does it mean for the business, how can we be a successful business going forward, including sustainability parameters?" She says that sustainability measures also have to make sense from a business point of view.

Rafferty comments on Cermaq's trialling of closed containment technology. "It's very costly, it's very innovative, and it takes time... it will be part of the future of salmon farming, and maybe other species as well," he says, but at the moment it is not profitable. He stresses the need for certainty over regulations to support industry being able to afford to invest in sustainability innovations.

De la Cruz Iglesias points out that 90% of the aquaculture industry are micro or small enterprises, so investment in innovation is often not affordable or practical on an individual level. "We are promoting dissemination of results of existing EU-funded projects, what are the lessons to learn in terms of how to support the sector further." She says the EU is promoting cross-country collaboration and private investment to bring innovation to the sector, including different types of funding instruments, such as a blend of private and public money.

Regarding aquaculture in Asia, Ninnes stresses the need for commercial solutions for small-scale farmers. He says we have to remember that these are businesses. "It's very hard to improve livelihoods without more money," he says, arguing that we need to find mechanisms to lower the input costs, lower the risks, and increase the survival of the animals being farmed - with technology playing a key role in this.

He says key species as solutions for food security in the global south are not salmon, but species like tilapia, carp and lower-trophic species.

Key thoughts to take away - the moderator asks each panellist for a number or a word to sum up their outlook for the future.

Ninnes says 25 million more tonnes of seafood for human consumption will be needed by 2030, and 60% of the total supply will be from farmed species. "And the key thing about the engagement of smaller scale farmers in Asia is that three-quarters of those farmers are not supplying into markets demanding sustainability at this point in time. So the solutions to tackling those problems are very much about how do we improve," Ninnes says.

De la Cruz Iglesias says co-creation is key to helping the sector grow, meaning more collaboration between the sector, investors, the research and innovation community, and regulators.

Rafferty picks diversity as a central theme, both in terms of gender diversity, but also in terms of collaboration between different stakeholders. "There's not enough women at the top, so we've got a big lack," he says. "You need diversity across the the collaboration, you need big companies, you need regulators, you need certification, startups, innovators, all working together, so you need very diverse approach to really grow aquaculture."

Martins says "14 million meals a day. That's the objective we have by 2029, producing more than 650,000 tonnes of salmon."

^{8:09 am, 08 Apr 2025}

Good morning and welcome to WeAreAquaculture's liveblog coverage of the Blue Food Innovation Summit taking place in central London today and tomorrow.

WeAreAquaculture is one of the media partners at the event, and we'll be keeping you updated throughout the next two days on the issues covered and summit highlights.