Today, 13 March 2017, the conference Strandbúnaður 2017. The newly launched Strandbúnaður conference begins. On that occasion, Arnljótur Bjarki Bergsson, Director of Implementation and Influence, wrote the following article in Morgunblaðið, which is published today.
Icelanders, like other people on earth, face great challenges. It is uncertain how the struggle with the great challenges may affect our society, well-being and prosperity. The world's population is growing rapidly, it is a fact that places an obligation on humanity to make better use of the raw materials that are processed and produced to the best of its ability in a sustainable way.
Food production is one of the more important tasks that need to be considered when it comes to solving the big challenges. For a long time, less than 5% of the world's total food production has come from oceans and lakes, even though they cover about 70% of the earth's surface. More and more people are now turning their attention to this fact, as it is likely that some of the foreseeable increase in world food production will take place along and off the coasts of continents as well as island nations. Agriculture is bulky in the world's food production and many times more extensive than fishing or exploiting wild fish stocks. Iceland's economic jurisdiction is extensive and it is clear that there are opportunities to produce food within it as well as fishing for wild species. The coastal state of Iceland has opportunities with disciplined and organized development of industries along the country's coasts.
Cultivation of organisms in water is not new, but neither cultivation nor farming has been extensive in Iceland, although Iceland is a leader in charr farming and has been at the forefront of halibut farming. In recent years, there has been a large increase in salmon farming off the coast of Iceland and promising companies in algae cultivation have sprung up. Invertebrate cultivation has flourished and shells have been seen on menus around the country. It is important to work well in developing industries in this country. Industries based on the exploitation of resources on and off the coast of the country can help solve the challenges we face.
Coastal equipment is a synonym for industries related to the utilization of land and / or sea quality in and along the coast of the country, whether it is cultivation or fire.
For the responsible development of the industries that are considered coastal equipment, it is important that there is an open forum for professional and educational debate on the most urgent and important issues. To that end, the conference Strandbúnaður 2017 will be held on 13-14. March at the Grand Hotel. The conference is open to everyone, where the status and development of the most extensive aspects of coastal equipment in Iceland will be reviewed, as well as the state of affairs worldwide. The conference thus supports education, research, policy-making and thus the development of the industry.