Delaware Sea Grant is hosting a workshop April 7-10 for seafood professionals.

April 7-10: Seafood safety

Delaware Sea Grant addressing seafood industry issues at three-day workshop

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11:17 a.m., March 31, 2014--Working in the seafood world can mean getting peppered with questions about the health benefits and safety of eating fish and shellfish: Which have the most omega-3s? Who shouldn’t eat raw oysters? Is local, farm-raised fish better than imported wild catch?

The Delaware Sea Grant College Program is working with counterparts in Louisiana and Oregon to offer in-service trainings for industry professionals on how to effectively explain what can be complex issues.

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“It can be overwhelming,” said Doris Hicks, seafood technology specialist with Delaware Sea Grant. “This is our effort to help seafood professionals better answer questions from the public related to these kinds of topics.” 

The first “Aquaculture and Fisheries Technologies for Food and Health Educators, Seafood Professionals and Communicators: Aquaculture and Fish Tech 101” workshop will take place at the University of Delaware’s Hugh R. Sharp Campus in Lewes, Del., from April 7-10. 

Additional training sessions will be offered in Portland, Ore., in the fall and New Orleans in early 2015 in partnership with Oregon State University and Louisiana Sea Grant.

Participants will receive training on seafood safety, handling and regulations, with sessions also providing insights on global trends and progress in aquaculture. The second day includes a field trip to Samuels and Son Seafood in Philadelphia to see a processing facility firsthand, with stops at Lund’s Fisheries and the New Jersey Aquaculture Innovation Center before returning to Lewes via the Cape May-Lewes Ferry. 

The final day focuses on analyzing seafood issues using science-based information, from the “Go Local” movement and nutrition to antibiotic use and genetically modified organisms (GMOs).

The workshop is geared toward a broad audience spanning food technologists, dieticians, extension agents, seafood buyers, distributors and retail personnel. Both industry veterans and those new to the field can benefit. 

“Obviously a new person may not be aware of all these issues,” Hicks said. “But someone who has been in the field a long time still wants fresh ideas and the chance to network.”

The workshop builds on the organizers’ long track record of education and outreach efforts, such as the website seafoodhealthfacts.org and the “Framing the Message About Seafood” conferences. The trainers are Hicks, Delaware Sea Grant’s John Ewart, Christina DeWitt and Michael Morrissey of Oregon State University and Jon Bell of Louisiana State University.

Each of the three workshops around the country will feature the same core topics, but they will each have some regional flavor useful to attendees.

“We thought it would be good to make it national in the respect that we’re offering the workshop on the East Coast, the West Coast and in the Gulf,” Hicks said.

A complete schedule and registration information for the Delaware workshop is available through this link. The workshop is supported by a grant from the NOAA Sea Grant Aquaculture Extension and Technology Transfer 2013. 

About Delaware Sea Grant

The University of Delaware was designated as the nation’s ninth Sea Grant College in 1976 to promote the wise use, conservation and management of marine and coastal resources through high-quality research, education and outreach activities that serve the public and the environment. 

UD’s College of Earth, Ocean, and Environment administers the program, which conducts research in priority areas ranging from aquaculture to coastal hazards.

Article by Teresa Messmore

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