SEAPA successfully launched the world’s first Global Oyster Farming Forum (GOFF) involving seven countries and over 100 participants in August.

SEAPA, the 2018 Australian and South Australian Exporter of the Year and a leading supplier of oyster farming equipment in Australia and around the world, wanted to give oyster farmers an event unique to the industry.

As a trusted advisor and a partner with oyster farms in over 20 countries, SEAPA thought it would be ground-breaking for the oyster industry if farmers from different sides of the globe could exchange ideas and their techniques in real time.

The event was hosted live through a Zoom webinar, with three world-class presenters in different time zones supported by language interpreters. The two-hour forum returned an amazing 98% engagement rate from participants.

Tasmanian Oyster Co executive operations manager Josh Poke, who is also the deputy Chair of Oysters Tasmania, spoke about TOC’s evolution from cutting-edge hatchery to a vertically integrated seed to grow-out oyster operation, farming more than 220ha, for the domestic and international markets.

Pacific Hybreed CEO Jon Kroman, who is based on the West Coast of the USA, talked about his company’s work in crossbreeding oysters for yield and resilience, changing ocean conditions and their goal to provide hatcheries and farms with a steady, sustainable, and healthy supply of resilient and productive seed.

Yusuke Tsuda, the senior director for Tsudau Suisan, one of Japan’s leading companies in the oyster maricultural industry, value-add products, restaurant business, and overseas exports, discussed two methods of subtidal oyster culture, traditional Japanese raft farming culture and the newly developed floating longline culture.

The event featured in Japan’s largest circulating aquaculture newspaper, The Suisan Keizai Shimbun, which first started publishing in 1948, and is recognised in the food processing and distribution industries.

The success of the first forum has led SEAPA to start working on another annual event to cater for its American East Coast and European markets in 2023.

https://www.youtube.com/GOFF 2022