Turkey’s only fair for the fisheries and aquaculture sector, Future Fish Eurasia, will be held this year in Izmir at the Izmir International Fair Centre between 16 and 18 September 2010. Since 2005 the fair’s organisers, Eurasia Trade Fairs, have organised the event in İstanbul, but after in-depth consultations with the industry it became apparent that moving the fair to Izmir would bring greater participation from the vast farming industry which is overwhelmingly located in the Aegean region.  

The fair combines the trading sector with aquaculture and processing equipment bringing the entire fish and seafood industry under one roof. The last edition of the fair in 2008 attracted more than 220 exhibitors from 26 countries and over 7,000 visitors. This year the fair will be spread over 11,000 square metres and is expected to draw more than 300 exhibitors. As the second largest producer of seabass and seabream (after Greece) and of rainbow trout (after Norway) aquaculture plays an important role in the Turkish economy not least because it is the only product of animal origin that Turkey can export to the EU.  

But it is the domestic market that is driving the development of the aquaculture industry in Turkey and the potential here creates several avenues for cooperation with western firms. A survey of the aquaculture industry in Turkey by Eurofish revealed that production, processing, technology and new species were four of the key areas that would be of particular interest to partners and suppliers. By bringing the whole industry in Turkey together Future Fish is a unique opportunity to explore the potential for collaboration.