BOSTON, Mass. - Eleven British Columbia seafood companies and the organization representing B.C.'s wild seafood industry are joining forces with provincial government representatives to attract new business at this week's prestigious Boston Seafood Show.

The B.C. contingent at the tradeshow includes the BC Seafood Alliance, 11 companies, the provincial agrifoods sector manager, a market development specialist and government trade and investment representatives, all co-operating to showcase B.C. products and services available to international buyers and markets.

Targeting the agrifoods and seafood sectors, a primary goal is to introduce and re-introduce British Columbia as a source for fresh, diverse and high-quality seafood.

The Ministry of Jobs, Tourism and Skills Training secured space at the Boston Convention Centre for the BC Seafood Alliance and the following 11 companies:

• BC Seafood Alliance
• Aqualine / Viking / Select (three-company conglomerate)
• Best Honour International Seafood
• Calkins & Burke
• Canadian Fishing Company
• Fanny Bay Oysters
• Flying Fresh Air Freight
• Gold River Seafood
• Grand Hale Marine
• North Delta Seafoods
• Northern Divine (Target Marine)
• Fisher Bay Seafood

The International Boston Seafood Show, the largest seafood trade exposition in North America, started Sunday and wraps up tomorrow. In 2012, nearly 20,000 suppliers, media and seafood-industry professionals from 100 countries attended the show to discover new products and grow their businesses.

Quotes:

Pat Bell, Minister of Jobs, Tourism and Skills Training and Minister Responsible for Labour -

"Seafood companies from British Columbia are ideally located in the Pacific Gateway, providing access and established trade routes through North America and to the Asia Pacific region. This is a high-profile opportunity for our great seafood companies to drum up new business and share our great product worldwide."

Norm Letnick, Minister of Agriculture -

"The B.C. government is committed to expanding our $900-million export market for sustainable B.C. seafood and bringing new dollars to our coastal communities. The Boston Seafood Show connects B.C. with seafood purchasers across North America, offers increased sales, and supports our goal of growing the agrifoods sector to $14 billion by 2017."

Quick Facts:

• The B.C. Pavilion will showcase the province's seafood to key target markets from the U.S., Asia (China and Japan in particular) and other international seafood buyers.
• The province will also host cooking demonstrations with Chef Nathan Fong, including delicious fresh samples prepared throughout the day to showcase B.C. products. He will offer live updates from the show on his blog: http://blogs.vancouversun.com/author/fongonfood/ and via Twitter: https://twitter.com/fongonfood
• British Columbia's contingent also co-hosted a major B.C.-themed reception for conference delegates on Sunday at the Canadian Consulate to facilitate trade and investment opportunities such as exporting B.C. products and attracting investment to B.C. Event partners included the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, the Province of Nova Scotia and Province of Newfoundland and Labrador.
• B.C. exported $911 million worth of seafood products to 73 different markets in 2011.
• B.C. exports more than $500 million of seafood to the United States every year with salmon, halibut and crab among the top exports.
• China, Japan, Hong Kong and the Russian Federation complete the top five export markets.
• The BC Seafood Alliance recently added most B.C. chum salmon to their list of Marine Stewardship Council certified fisheries.
• One of the companies attending, Northern Divine (Target Marine) has recently been added to the list of recommended seafood by the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch and Sea Choice. This company has also achieved Organic Certification, which took over a decade to accomplish and are currently the only certified organic caviar producer in North America and the only certified organic white sturgeon caviar producer in the world.

Learn More:

BC Jobs Plan: http://www.bcjobsplan.ca/

The International Boston Seafood Show: http://www.bostonseafood.com/

The B.C. Business Network is a dynamic directory of leading British Columbia suppliers and exporters interested in new business opportunities. Find out more at: http://www.britishcolumbia.ca/buy/bcbusinessnetwork/Pages/home.aspx

Media Contact:

Media Relations
Ministry of Jobs, Tourism and Skills Training and Responsible for Labour
250 356-8177