PLENARY SESSION ‘SMART FISHING: RESEARCH, CATCHING, PROCESSING’

The world economy has faced with global changes. The COVID-19 pandemic has slowed down business processes in all industries for some time. After recovering from this shock, the world economy was able to quickly recover and rebuild. Current realities brought new challenges that forced us to restructure logistics chains, redirect financial flows, and make adjustments in cooperation with foreign partners. The crisis has affected different segments of the global food market. Fish products are one of the most traded food commodities in the world. The various economic activities required to produce, process, preserve, and package fish have become more geographically segmented, and fish supply chains have become longer and more complex. Many fish products have to cross multiple international borders on their way from the point of production to the final consumer, as a result of which supply disruptions and price volatility are felt in countries and regions extending beyond their initial place of occurrence. Equally important is the issue of rational exploitation of aquatic biological resources ensuring, which, unlike interstate relations, do not know borders. ‘Smart Fishing’ is fishing based on technological and economic multilayering, making extensive use of scientific developments for fishing and the introduction of new products. ‘Smart Fishing’ is fishing that has managed to strike the optimal balance between integration into international fish product flows and domestic market development, exports in multiple directions, and a modern product mix. The technological modernization segment is dynamically developing. Taking into account the increasing of environmental requirements (the changing of the fishing fleet composition, the improving of technologies for growing fish and its processing) it is aimed at the long-term use of natural resources. ‘Smart Fishing’ is equitable and mutually beneficial international cooperation.