Daily Archives: February 26, 2013

Early-bird deadline looms for Wild Seafood Exchange

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NEWPORT – Fishermen, restaurants and seafood retailers have until March 4 to take advantage of early-bird registration prices for the 11th annual West Coast Wild Seafood Exchange, coming to Newport on March 20.

Originally a direct-marketing conference for independent coastal and Columbia River fishermen, the exchange has evolved into a broad discussion of branding and distribution of wild seafood,  with an additional focus on legislative and regulatory issues.

Registration through March 4 is $70; after that it is $90. On-site registration at the conference is $120.

The 2013 Exchange features:

  • Restaurant chefs talking about what they look for in seafood products, from fish quality and variety to volume and delivery
  • Discussion of processing and distribution, with an emphasis on maintaining product safety and quality
  • Fisheries policy and regulatory policy, featuring
  • Successful direct-marketing The future of direct marketing

Panelists include Laura Anderson, owner-operator of Local Ocean seafood restaurant/market in Newport; Oregon Sea Grant’s Jeff Feldner, past member of the Oregon Salmon Commission and Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission, and Mark Whitham, seafood safety specialist; and Gil Sylvia, a resource economist who directs the Oregon State University’s Coastal Oregon Marine Experiment Station.

National symposium will address access to, uses of working waterfronts

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Sea Grant signs describe Newport's working waterfrontTACOMA, WA – Sea Grant programs in Oregon and Washington are bringing a national gathering of coastal and Great Lakes waterfront interests to the Pacific Northwest in March.

The third National Working Waterfronts and Waterways Symposium, March 25-28 in Tacoma, Wash., will address challenges facing the nation’s waterfronts and provide a forum for stakeholders to meet, address their common problems and share solutions.

Sponsored by Washington and Oregon Sea Grant programs, this year’s symposium includes sessions on:

  • Economic and social impacts of and on working waterfronts;
  • Successful local, regional, state and federal strategies to address working waterfront issues;
  • The future of working waterfronts, including potential impacts of changing uses and climates;
  • Keeping waterfront industries commercially viable.

Attendees from all over the United States are expected to include local, regional, tribal and national decision-makers; members of the commercial fishing, marine, and tourism industries; developers and property owners; businesspeople; community planners and waterfront advocates. The first day will be devoted to field trips around the Tacoma waterfront and the region.

Oregon State University’s Jamie Doyle, a Sea Grant Extension marine community development specialist based in Coos County, serves on the symposium steering committee. Other Oregon Sea Grant faculty scheduled to present at the symposium include Kaety Hildenbrand, Newport-based Extension marine fisheries educator, and Mark Farley and Becca Harver from the Sea Grant-run visitor center at OSU’s Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport.

Learn more:

For information and registration, visit the symposium website at http://depts.washington.edu/uwconf/workingwaterfronts/ or contact Washington Sea Grant Coastal Management Specialist Nicole Faghin, conference coordinator, at wwaters2013@uw.edu or 206-685-8286.