by Thomas Clark
The biennial Aquaculture UK tradeshow coincided with the two-day Scottish summer this year and brought together hundreds of aquaculture companies from all over the UK. Aquaculture UK is one of those special meetings where attendees range from students and newcomers to seasoned CEOs and leaders of some of the most influential companies in the sector. This year was particularly special for us at the newly launched Young Aquaculture Society, whose mission is to support career development, networking, industry promotion, and nurturing the next generation of leaders. As a YAS member, it was incredibly exciting and inspiring to rub shoulders with some of the best in the industry at this intimate event.
We were privileged to be invited to the Salmon Scotland AGM, where we were treated to a fantastic lunch of smoked salmon bagels (of course!), samosas and profiteroles. After lunch, we settled down to hear from Salmon Scotland CEO, Tavish Scott, about how the industry has fared over the past year. One of the main messages I took home, was the willingness of the industry to adapt to the ever-increasing challenges it faces. Aquaculture can receive a lot of bad press, but they are pouring money into research and constantly trialling new equipment, trying to reduce disease risk and improve animal welfare. His speech also highlighted the industry’s importance, being the UK’s largest food export and providing 12,500 jobs, particularly in the rural parts of the country where farms are located.
Afterwards, we were pleasantly surprised when Anas Sarwar, Scotland’s Labour Party leader, gave a speech and launched YAS. He spoke about the importance of Scottish salmon production and its contribution to Scotland’s brand. He also said how food and drink should be considered an asset to our economy and aquaculture has allowed rural communities to flourish. It was fascinating to hear a political perspective and gratifying to see recognition of aquaculture's significance.
Then onto YAS’s big moment. We had our own Alison Brough, a superstar vet from Scottish Sea Farms, give our opening speech. She spoke about the importance of young people joining the sector and thanked Salmon Scotland and Scale AQ for their support at Aquaculture UK and all the other companies which have helped to get YAS off the ground. She also announced that Scottish Sea Farms are offering an exciting opportunity for YAS members to visit a farm and hatchery and to get a behind-the-scenes insight into the production process, from egg to harvest, normally reserved for company personnel only. Alison’s speech was both inspiring and made me proud to be a part of YAS, with hints of the potential of what could possibly come of our society in future.
One of the highlights of attending the AGM was meeting other YAS members in person, many of whom I had only seen on my computer screen. There aren’t many opportunities like this one, to network with a range of people all across the different parts of the sector. But, I know following the success of the launch, we will continue striving to keep building our society and start holding our own networking events. The AGM and launch event showed me how crucial these are in fostering working relationships and connections at these early stages in our careers. I’m both honoured and excited to be starting this journey with our new society and can’t wait to see where it leads.
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