Every year we look forward to gathering with the Alliance community and other folks from the seafood space at Salon des fruits de mer Amérique du Nord (SENA) in Boston, Massachusetts.
If you’ve never been to SENA, you’ll have to trust us when we say that beyond the sprawling trade show floor teeming with business deals and a plethora of seafood samples that are fried, raw, and everything in between, critical sustainability conversations happen at the event each year that help to push this movement a little more forward. Here’s what we learned this year.
People want to work together.
We heard it again and again–this community wants to be in collaboration, not conflict. We all share the vision of a world where seafood is abundant and workers are happy, with the sector driving environmental and social improvements around the world–we’ll be better off going there together. Let’s share more and more often. Let’s loop our colleagues in sooner rather than later. Let’s remember that two heads are better than one, that listening is key, and push for solutions that include many perspectives.
People want to grow and learn.
Alliance members are smart. They want to learn and grow their skills because they know as they become stronger leaders in this movement, they can be part of creating impact that is truly transformative. They also know that fishers and other partners working on the water have a lot of knowledge to share and a role to play in educating others. Under our new strategy, the Alliance is committed to finding new ways to help build capacity among our members and learn from new voices. Reach out to us with your capacity-building needs or ideas, and stay tuned for opportunities as our strategy unfolds.
People want community.
Amidst uncertainty around global events, an evolving funding landscape, and a changing climate, we’re seeing the recognition that we must lean on one another for strength and stability. As we navigate challenging conversations and consider tough tradeoffs, it does feel good to know that we have each other for support. The Alliance is here to help our members stay connected by creating space for sharing our experiences, wrestling with the big questions, and listening to our colleagues.
For us, SENA is a valued time to gather with our community and listen to what’s on their minds. It’s a critical check-in time where, through connection, we can better understand where they’re struggling and where they’re excited. Our task now, as always, is to look for ways to create opportunities to help them fly where they are already thriving and grow where things feel hard. Fortunately for us, this is our favorite kind of task.
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