This year’s Icelandic Fisheries Exhibition will mark forty years since the very first fisheries trade exhibition was held in Iceland.
The first Icelandic Fisheries Exhibition took place in September 1984, and was hosted by Industrial and Tradefairs International Limited, which was subsequently taken over by Reed Exhibitions, and there has been a trail of changing ownership over the years – although the event has been owned and run by UK media company Mercator in recent years.
Changes in the exhibition reflect change in Iceland’s fishing industry, as in 1999 the event shifted from Laugardalshöll in Reykjavík (which now hosts the competing Iceland Fishing Expo) to the Smárinn sports hall in the suburb of Kópavogur as a larger venue was needed to accommodate the growing exhibition.
After some tough years due to the Covid pandemic which forced practically every industry exhbition to radically re-think or re-schedule events, IceFish is now back in its usual September slot and ready to welcome an expected 12,000 visitors during the three days of the exhibition.
A number of exhibitors have had a presence at IceFish right from the start, including Hampidjan, Saeplast, Scanmar, and the Danish Export Group with a Danish national pavilion.
According to organisers Mercator Media, this year’s exhibition features more than 40 new exhibitors from ten countries, in addition to a number of Icelandic companies also making a debut appearance.
The fifth Fish Waste for Profit Conference, which dives into the globally important area of 100% fish utilisation, takes place alongside IceFish and is held at the Hilton Nordica Reykjavik.
