The EuFooD-STA Webinar on "Support of Entrepreneurship and Enhancing of Competitiveness in the fish sector" took place 7 March 2017 at 3:00 PM CET.
The aquaculture sector is a fast-developing sector. During the last three decades, world aquaculture production increased from 5 million to 63 million tons. Globally, fish currently represents about 16.6 percent of animal protein supply and 6.5 percent of all protein for human consumption. Furthermore, fish presents a number of advantages in relation to meat. It is usually low in saturated fats, carbohydrates, and cholesterol and provides not only high-value protein but also a wide range of essential micronutrients, including various vitamins, minerals, and polyunsaturated omega-3 fatty acids. Thus, even in small quantities, provision of fish can be effective in addressing food and nutritional security among the poor and vulnerable populations around the globe. However the further maintreaming of sustainable fish consumption faces a number of challenges. This is especially true in regions such as the Eastern European countries, where fish is absent from diets, bar special ocasions (carp on Christmas). In these regions focus must be placed on tools for market assessment and marketing efforts in order to drive consumer habits. In this webinar we are going to take a look at the main prospects for the aquaculture business for the next 10 years. Subsequently we will be proposing and discussing some Marketing and New Product Development tools that can be used in a creative way to drive present and future fish consumption. At the end we shall be presenting some case studies that highlight some of the ways entrepreneurs have risen to the aforementioned challenge and are getting ahead in developing innovative and lucrative aquaculture businesses.
The presenter, João Gonçalves, is an international consultant for the Portuguese consultancy firm SPI. He works mainly in European funded projects in the fields of regional innovation, urban policy and management, entrepreneurship support policy and planning, business support, and lifelong learning programmes. Has spent 1 year detached in Brussels, having gained extensive knowledge on European funding applications and project management skills. He has a degree in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Aveiro (five years diploma), and a post-graduate degree in Development Policy and Innovation. In 2006, João Gonçalves worked as R&D researcher in the University of Aveiro, having developed a range of projects and publications in the fields of Place-Based Innovation and ICT take-up. In 2008, João Gonçalves was called to join the University’s Rectorate as Project Officer. During this time was responsible for nurturing and developing University/Business/Local Government partnerships, which translated into a number of regional-level projects.
