Going Dutch

However, the trend for home consumption of seafood in general is gradually reducing, and for mussels, it decreased by 25% between 2016 and 2024. One of the main reasons is price and people are turning to supermarkets and hard discounters, and seeking active promotions to choose when to purchase seafood. 
Dr Eleanor Adamson, from the Fishmongers’ Company in the UK, spoke about her organisation’s involvement in introducing around 60,000 teenagers to seafood per year, through the popular Fish in Schools Hero Programme, which works to inspire the next generation of seafood lovers by getting fish into food technology classrooms across the country. The Company’s Fisheries Charitable Trust supports the programme through core funding and industry connections, delivering thousands of tonnes of seafood into UK schools, and training teachers to be confident in preparing and cooking seafood with students. 
Her research showed that the protein used by food teachers in schools was mostly chicken, with less than 20% using seafood – mainly salmon, and less than 1% using frozen prawns as the shellfish offering.
Dr Adamson explained that the UK population consumes roughly one portion of seafood per week, and in retail, shellfish is the smallest seafood sector, with mussel making up less than 10%. Out of home, the under-24 age group choose mussels more than older generations. 
The seafood cookery sessions also include discussions on biology, nutrition, careers, culture, the environment, ethics and engineering.  Delegates heard that young consumers’ issues with seafood include taste, smell, sustainability, cost, and the ethics of eating animal protein. 

Many talk about needing plant-based and alternative proteins such as cultured meat and fungi products to enhance sustainability, health, and food security. 

This means there is a need to provide greater education about how sustainable seafood production could play an essential part. In short, we need the oatmilk experience to be transferred to seafood, such as oysters – nobody had heard of oatmilk just a few years ago and now it is ubiquitous! 

Alternative uses for mussels explored by the Submariner network in the Baltic Sea, include incorporation as an ingredient in poultry feed, which is low value, and in pet food which is higher value. Shells can be crushed for use in gardens as a soil enhancer.

On the farming side, speakers looked at production trends, spatial requirements, issues and solutions, the prospects for combining with other sectors such as recreation, and at innovations in the sector. It also addressed how young people approach mussel and oyster farming, and culminated in a panel discussion with young shellfish farmers and the audience.

The growing interest among women to take on important positions in the shellfish industry was tackled by Sarah Holmyard, director of UK Women in Seafood, who explained the situation in the UK, and spoke of her own experience in climbing the ladder through a series of seafood positions to reach board level. She explained that women needed to ask questions and be brave about stepping into what remains a man’s world, but that there are many rewards for getting involved at any level. 

A sizeable Scottish delegation, organised by Seafood from Scotland, attended the conference and also benefited from a two-day learning journey, during which they were able to visit mussel and oyster farms, processing units and equipment manufacturers.