More than 400 seafood sector leaders gathered in Norway to outline strategies against trade barriers, raw material shortages, and Artificial Intelligence integration.
STAVANGER – Between June 8 and 10, 2026, the city of Stavanger consolidated itself as the center of international aquaculture debate by hosting the AquaVision 2026 conference. The meeting brought together more than 400 fish and shrimp farmers, suppliers, and decision-makers from approximately 40 countries, focused on designing common strategies facing a global stage marked by geopolitical instability, pressure on inputs, and technological advancement.
Organized jointly by Skretting and its parent company Nutreco, the forum analyzed the mechanisms to guarantee the sustainable growth of the activity against the constant increase in demand for seafood. The official opening was led by Tormod Losnedal, Mayor of Stavanger, and Bastiaan van Tilburg, CEO of Nutreco, who remarked that the future of global food security will depend on the free flow of knowledge and innovation, rejecting the raising of trade walls.
The New Geopolitical Chessboard and Trade Barriers
The first day was dedicated to examining the impact of international politics on aquaculture supply and commercialization. Rem Korteweg, from the Clingendael Institute, warned the executives present that corporations are currently on the front line of geopolitical conflicts, making their ability to shape the debate just as crucial as the decisions made in capitals.
On the regional level, the perspectives showed profound structural changes:
China: Dr. Keyu Jin explained that companies from the Asian country operate under a globalized reinvention model, strategically distributing their research and development in Europe, their supply chain in China, and their financial centers in Dubai and Hong Kong.
Latin America: Ignacio Briones, former Minister of Finance of Chile, stated that changes in tariff rules worldwide will be permanent, opening a unique window of opportunity for the region within a fragmented market.
Europe: Anu Bradford, professor at Columbia Law School, urged the European Union to assume its technological and security autonomy, increasing investment in innovation to regain lost competitiveness.
One of the highlights was the participation of Antony Blinken, former US Secretary of State, who spoke with Korteweg about the increasing complexity of contemporary diplomacy due to the multiplicity of stakeholders involved. Blinken emphasized that current uncertainty forces companies to make preventive investments in diversification and contingency plans, which, although representing higher operating costs, prevent financial crashes faced with drastic changes in the commercial environment.
Source: Skretting Global Communications
The operational reality of producers was analyzed by Sandro Coglitore, representative of Omarsa, who demonstrated that the shrimp industry in Ecuador has achieved outstanding levels of efficiency and innovation, but warned that its future expansion is threatened by protectionism and the imposition of unjustified sanitary regulations. Likewise, Steven Rafferty, from the firm Cermaq, urged the audience to work together to get sustainable growth back on track in the salmon industry.
Artificial Intelligence and the New Raw Material Baseline
The second day of the conference focused on digital tools destined to mitigate the biological and climatic unpredictability of the sector. Anders Milde Gjendemsjø, from the consultancy McKinsey, argued that aquaculture possesses exceptional potential to capture value through Artificial Intelligence (AI), provided that production data ceases to be managed in isolation and is shared across the value chain.
Source: Skretting Global Communications
In this line, Brian Nguyen, from Rynan Technologies, detailed the practical applications of AI in predictive shrimp farms in Southeast Asia, clarifying that the value of technology does not lie in the accumulation of data on screens, but in the ability to execute corrective decisions in real time. For his part, Ole Kristian Sivertsen, from AKVA Group, ratified that reducing production variability is the fundamental key to stabilizing financial returns in the sector.
The sustainability of the feed supply was also a subject of debate. Matts Johansen and Kenneth Fredriksen, executives from Aker QRILL, presented realistic projections on the raw materials market, pointing out that the global shortage of ingredients and the rise in prices do not constitute a temporary problem, but represent the new operational baseline to which the industry must urgently adapt.
Source: Skretting Global Communications
Conclusion: Alliances and Data Transparency
In the final conclusions of the event, Maarten Bijl, representing Skretting, used an interactive avatar to summarize the challenges of companies and criticized the historical resistance of the sector to share technical information transparently.
The general consensus of AquaVision 2026 determined that external market shocks have become a fixed variable of the business. In a context where food security has been elevated to a matter of national security, seafood corporations that manage to build resilient operating structures and secure transparent strategic alliances will be the only ones positioned to lead the global supply of marine proteins in the coming years.
养殖户的运营现实由 Omarsa 代表 Sandro Coglitore 进行了分析,他展示了厄瓜多尔白虾产业在效率和创新方面达到的卓越水平,但同时警告称,其未来的扩张正受到保护主义和强加不合理卫生法规的威胁。同样,赛马克(Cermaq)公司的 Steven Rafferty 敦促全场共同努力,让三文鱼产业的可持续增长重回正轨。
人工智能与原材料的新基准线
大会第二天的议程聚焦于旨在缓解该行业生物和气候不可预测性的数字工具。来自麦肯锡的顾问 Anders Milde Gjendemsjø 认为,只要生产数据不再被孤立管理,而是在整个价值链中共享,水产养殖业就拥有通过人工智能(AI)捕捉价值的巨大潜力。
在此方向上,来自 Rynan Technologies 的 Brian Nguyen 详细介绍了 AI 在东南亚预测性虾类养殖场中的实际应用,并澄清说技术的价值不在于屏幕上数据的堆积,而在于实时执行纠偏决策的能力。与此同时,来自 AKVA Group 的 Ole Kristian Sivertsen 证实,减少生产波动性是稳定该行业财务回报的核心关键。
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