Updates on Alaska commercial fisheries’ involvement in international and domestic marketing, global food aid, and seafood technology are on the agenda for the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute’s (ASMI) annual All Hands on Deck conference. The conference is scheduled for Nov. 2-4 at the Hotel Captain Cook in Anchorage.
ASMI chairman Allen Kimball, a board member of the Global Seafood Alliance, is to address the general session on the first morning, after a customer advisory panel discussion.
The afternoon session will include five ASMI program reports, with updates provided by Hannah Lindoff on international marketing, Bruce Schactler on global food aid, John Burrows on seafood technical issues, Megan Rider on domestic marketing, and Greg Smith on communications and consumer public relations.
ASMI’s international program promoting Alaska seafood has established active key markets in Japan, China, and the United Kingdom, resulting in millions of dollars worth of Alaska seafood products being sold online.
Emerging markets offer an opportunity for ASMI to increase the overall value of the Alaska seafood resource by growing worldwide demand, ASMI officials noted.
At present, ASMI has nine regional programs in over 40 countries engaged in activities designed to raise the value and awareness of the Alaska seafood brand. These include retail and foodservice promotions, technical seminars, chef and retailer training, Alaska in-bound missions for those engaged in trade missions, advertising, and public relations.
Individual species committee meetings on halibut/sablefish, salmon, shellfish, and whitefish will take up much of the afternoon.
Committee chairs will present key points from their species committee meetings on the morning of Nov. 3, followed by meetings of the communications and domestic marketing, international marketing, and seafood technical committees. Operational committee meetings will continue during the afternoon, followed by an evening reception at the Quarter Deck of the hotel.
The ASMI board has scheduled a three-hour meeting on the morning of the final day of the conference.
The entire conference, as well as networking opportunities, is open to those in the seafood industry both in person and via Zoom. Those planning to participate are asked to register in advance, and can find the registration form online at www.alaskaseafood.org.
