Seafood Legacy Co., Ltd. and Nikkei ESG hosted the 4th annual Tokyo Sustainable Seafood Symposium on November 1st, 2018 at the Iino Hall & Conference Center in Tokyo. The Symposium ended in great success with 65 domestic and international speakers and over 600 visitors that participated in three talk sessions, five keystone lectures and 12 panel discussions. We are sinccerely grateful to all the speakers, visitors, sponsors, and the entire operational support team.
In this blog post, we'd like to share messages from the keynote lecture speakers that set the tone for this year's Symposium.
Opening Remark
Koichiro Sakai
Vice President, Nikkei Business Publications, Inc.
"We are able to hold this wonderful symposium because of all the cooperation and support from the speakers, sponsors, participating companies and everyone else that were involved. I hope that this symposium will trigger action that will lead to the realization of sustainable oceans."
Keynote Speech 1: Sustainable Seafood in the 21st Century
Kyle Peterson
Executive Director, Walton Family Foundation
"The sustainable seafood movement has made remarkable progress over the past 20 years in Northern America.Through the organizations and companies we work with, we seek to improve fisheries through engagement with companies that buy and sell the seafood.Japan and the U.S. are two of the three largest seafood markets in the world. As such we share the responsibility and opportunity to be global leaders promoting seafood that is a healthy, sustainable food source for millions, and ensure that the seafood industry is profitable for years to come."
Keynote Speech 2: Ocean Plastics and Sustainable Ocean
Hideo Suzuki
Ambassador, Director General and Assistant Minister for Global Issues, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan
"The marine plastic issue is a shared global issue that must be addressed by the entire global community, including developing countries. Since the ocean belongs to all of us under certain rules, a harmonization of conservation and utilization is imperative. From now on, we need an economic model that invest in our oceans in order to preserve marine resources."
Keynote Speech 3: Shanghai Disney Resort Sustainable Future
Alan Orreal
Culinary Director, Shanghai Disney Resort
"More than 50% of seafood products at Shanghai Disney are responsibly and sustainably sourced. We should know exactly how they are produced and distributed, since seafood is a type of high-quality animal protein that we cannot go without. We live in an era where each of us are able to raise our voice; we should all continue to learn and disseminate these sustainable seafood initiatives."
Keynote Speech 4: Sustainable Ocean - From Aichi-Targets to Achieving SDGs
Hideka Morimoto
Permanent Secretary, Ministry of the Environment
"With the overlapping of ocean related problems such as marine plastics, climate change and impacts to biodiversity, our marine environment is in a very difficult situation. That's why we should work on achieving post-Aichi Biodiversity Targets and SDGs at national, regional, and business levels. Stakeholders must cooperate to build a circular economy in order to realize the sustainability of our oceans."
Keynote Speech 5: Strengthen Management and Assessment of Stock for IUU Fishing Control
Shigeto Hase
Director General, Fisheries Agency
"Japan was the biggest seafood country in the world but various combining factors in the last 30 years contributed to its marine resources decreasing to less than half of the peak catch volume. However, Japan is surrounded by some of the best fishing grounds in the world and we should do what it takes to replenish our marine resources. By both establishing large-scale, comprehensive frameworks and achieving detailed, continuous reforms, we will strengthen how we implement stock assessments, resource management and IUU measures in Japanese-specific ways."
