EFFOP attends EFSA workshop: navigating tomorrows tide: exploring the future of ocean resources and their impact on food and feed security

Last week, EFFOP participated in the EFSA workshop titled “Navigating Tomorrow’s Tide: Exploring the Future of Ocean Resources and Their Impact on Food and Feed Security” held in Lisbon. This workshop served as a platform for experts to convene and deliberate on the emerging risks concerning food and feed security, focusing on various predicted scenarios for the future in our utilization of the oceans.

The overarching goal of the project was to explore scenarios potentially driving the emergence of risks for food and feed safety, thereby emphasizing the need for the EFSA to ensure preparedness to assess risks associated with a growing blue economy and provide information useful to the design of effective preventive measures.

The mission of the project spanned three vital areas:

• Coastal and Open-sea Mining

• Marine Aquaculture

• Sea Transport and Trade

Throughout the event, experts were invited to provide their insights into the evolving landscape of food and feed security, emphasizing the challenges and opportunities presented by shifts in ocean resource utilization and paradigm shifts from political decisions and market drivers. One theme of the discussions revolved around the utilization of fishmeal and the imperative of responsible sourcing in feeds.

During the workshop, EFFOP emphasized the critical need for enhanced knowledge regarding marine species in future risk assessments, which is pivotal for EFSA’s future advice on feed safety. This underscores our commitment to advocating for a robust understanding in order to inform evidence-based policies and regulations.

Moving forward, EFSA will take the information and suggestions from all experts on board in their current project. We anticipate further insights and developments in the realm of ocean resources and their impact on food and feed security, and we stand ready to engage in these ongoing discussions.