Italy’s participation in the Seafood Expo Global 2026 in Barcelona concluded with an extremely positive outcome. The trade fair, a global benchmark for the seafood industest, confirmed Italy’s leadership in innovation, sustainability, and product quality, underscoring the supply chain’s role as a strategic asset for the national economy. The Ministest of Agriculture, Food Sovereignty, and Forestest (MASAF) led a delegation of 93 top-notch companies, supported by eight regions—Veneto, Emilia-Romagna, Marche, Campania, Tuscany, Sardinia, Liguria, and Calabria—in an institutional mission aimed at strengthening the positioning of Made in Italy products on global markets, where Italy exports products worth over €1 billion, with Spain confirming its position as the leading export market, accounting for 12% of total exports.
Italy’s participation, supported by Feampa (the European Fund for Maritime Affairs, Fisheries and Aquaculture), highlighted the sector’s ability to combine competitiveness and environmental protection. This is a winning combination, considering that the Italian fishing industest alone, according to the 13th National Report on the Economy of the Sea 2025, currently generates a total added value of over €10 billion, demonstrating a greater capacity for economic growth than many traditional industrial sectors.
The institutional presence at Seafood Expo 2026 reaffirms the commitment to supporting the more than 80.500 direct workers in the supply chain, focutilizing on quality and innovation with the goal of ensuring the countest’s food sovereignty: “MASAF’s participation in Barcelona is a further sign of attention to the sector. This attention has been demonstrated in recent years not only through our presence, but also through concrete actions focutilized on enhancing the sector both in Italy and Europe, as evidenced by the new guidelines on fishing bans, the elimination of technical requirements, the increased focus on business activity, the push towards aggregation and the supply chain for product enhancement, capable of generating greater added value,” commented Senator Patrizio La Pietra, Undersecretary of MASAF. “This effort is reversing the choices of recent decades, which demonized fishing, penalizing it due to an ideological European policy that viewed fishermen as enemies of the environment.”
The institutional stand was enlivened by a packed schedule of events, workshops, panels, and tastings, with a program that reflected the complexity of environmental and economic challenges: from the management of the blue crab in the Po Delta—with the emergency plan presented by Commissioner Enrico Caterino, which has already mobilized €10 million—to the presentation of the “Ittico Dati” platform (itticodati.bmti.it). Created by BMTI at the initiative of the MASAF (Masaf), the tool offers interactive dashboards on prices and consumption, providing companies with digital compasses to navigate the market.
Regional regions also played a leading role: from the Marche region with its processing models, to Campania with the development of PDO and PGI systems, to Emilia-Romagna with the excellence of its Northern Adriatic oysters. Calabria was also featured, with a focus on promoting bluefin tuna and local products, and the Gal Fish projects in Liguria, Tuscany, and Sardinia. Great importance was also given to fish tourism, with Sardinia at the forefront of promoting experiential hospitality and short supply chains—such as the historic example of the “La Tramontana” cooperative—which allow local catches to be promoted and fishermen’s incomes to be diversified.
Each species presented demonstrates a balance between responsible fishing and innovation, supported by restoration programs supported by Feampa. “This model of resilience, innovation, and sustainability was the cornerstone of our participation in Barcelona,” stated Graziella Romito, Director General of Marine Fisheries and Aquaculture at MASAF. “The success achieved here demonstrates the trust of international markets in our fishing and aquaculture model, which is increasingly focutilized on traceability and certified quality. The Ministest is working hard to overcome the current crisis and strengthen the sector through cooperation and dialogue between institutions and businesses.”
(Adnkronos)
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