YOUNG SEAFOOD LEADERS NETWORK RECRUITS 100TH MEMBER

Young Seafood Leaders Network recruits 100th member and supports funded international opportunities. The Young Seafood Leaders’ Network has achieved an important milestone with the sign-up of its 100th member.

Seafish, the public body that supports the £10bn UK seafood industry, is behind the network aimed at nurturing and developing young talent within the seafood industry.

Teresa Fernandez, Aquaculture Specialist at Seachill, was the lucky recipient of a £50 voucher for Alfred Enderby Traditional Smokehouse, Grimsby for being the landmark member. She was presented with her voucher by Gavin Hatton, Regional Manager for the Humber and North East England.

Teresa said:

“I joined the Young Seafood Leaders Network because it is a very dynamic group, with members coming from different backgrounds in the seafood sector – from fish to bivalves, farmed and wild caught seafood. With the global population expected to reach 9.7 billion in 2050, it’s important that we find sustainable ways to feed people and I think seafood will play a key role in addressing this demanding challenge.

“I feel this network is full of interesting people with a common denominator, we love what we do and we believe in seafood.”

She is also one of eight members of the network who have been selected to attend two international networking events later this spring. These valuable opportunities to build and develop their knowledge and experience have been funded by Seafish as part of its support for the network.

In March, Teresa Fernandez, George Hooper, Cameron Moffat and Jordan Muldoon will attend The North Atlantic Seafood Forum (NASF) in Bergen. The event is billed as the world’s largest seafood conference and, led by YSLN chair Michael Dick of Seafish,  the network members will attend the NASF Young Leadership Summit to participate in discussions on key topics around the future of seafood.

During April, Tom Crookall, Alex Caveen, Nadia Laabs and Ashley Phillips will join Seafish’s Hannah Thompson to explore the Seafood Global Expo in Brussels. While there YSLN members will join individuals from counterpart young seafood leader networks in Australia, America and Canada to participate in an international seminar with high profile speakers.

Michael Dick, chair of the YSLN said:

“As we move into our second year, this is a really exciting time for the Young Seafood Leaders Network. Membership is growing and we are offering funded international networking opportunities, to help members build their skills and experience.

“We’re pleased to be supporting the network and providing these valuable development opportunities for the next generation of seafood industry leaders. I’d urge any other interested young professionals working in the seafood sector to join the network.”

The Young Seafood Leaders Network is open to those aged between 25 and 40 who work in the UK seafood industry. It is a platform for knowledge sharing and appreciation of best practice and its goals are to:

• Provide opportunities for the exploration of business ideas
• Provide networking opportunities
• Facilitate partnerships and mentoring between young professionals and experienced industry practitioners
• Develop leadership skills; and
• Identify professional development opportunities

For further information on the Young Seafood Leaders Network and to register visit the Seafish website: https://seafish.org/article/young-seafood-leaders-network or contact youngseafoodleaders@seafish.co.uk