The Scottish seafood sector is aiming to top sales of £30m made at the 2011 European Seafood Exposition (ESE) at next week’s 2012 show.
Seafood continues to perform well for Scotland, despite the global recession. This was highlighted recently by the 2011 Scottish export figures, which showed that fish and shellfish were the highest value food sector export for the year – up 4% to a value of £648m.
Iain MacSween, chair of Seafood Scotland, said: “A number of Scottish fisheries including herring, haddock, langoustine, crab, lobster and mussels have achieved MSC certification, and our whitefish fleet is an acknowledged leader in Europe in innovative measures to promote sustainable fishing."
He added: “These are all achievements to celebrate but do not make us complacent, and we will continue our efforts to improve the industry and to create new and innovative products to drive sales in new and emerging markets.”
Scotland lands two thirds of the UK seafood catch each year and in 2010 this amounted to 367,000 tonnes worth £435m.
The ESE takes place from 24-26 April in Brussels. Over seventeen Scottish seafood companies will be exhibiting in the Scottish Pavilion organised by Scottish Development International (SDI), with even more exhibiting independently.
