Whilst there will be no Conference this year, we are already working on plans for one to be held in 2013.

Below you can read about 2011’s highly successful An Appetite for Change: Suffolk & the Sea conference.

An Appetite for Change: Suffolk & the Sea

Friday 23 September 2011, Hoffmann Building, Snape Maltings, Suffolk

The Aldeburgh Food Conference takes place at Snape Maltings in Suffolk on Friday 23rd September, the day before the main festival weekend. It brings together scientists, professionals and local people, all with expert knowledge. Its purpose is to discuss some of the major food-related challenges facing society, how they affect Suffolk and how Suffolk is providing its own solutions.

In 2010 we held our first conference, An appetite for change: why we need to change our eating habits and how it can be done. It was very successful: several speakers and many in the audience said it was one of the most stimulating they had ever attended. This year the subject is Suffolk and the Sea. Once again the emphasis will be on the need for change – change in our management of the seas and change in our approach to preventing or mitigating flooding.

For the world and for Suffolk the sea is an essential resource. However, it has been over-exploited and is endangered in many ways, particularly by over-fishing and pollution. At the same time the sea itself is a threat. Sea level rise, sinking land, coastal erosion and flooding have long been familiar problems in East Anglia but climate change will make them more severe. The purpose of the conference is to look at these two issues – the sea as a threatened resource and the sea as a threat to coastal communities, agriculture and wildlife. Several speakers will explain the problems from international and national perspectives, recommending broadly based solutions. Others will concentrate on the East Anglian North Sea and how Suffolk is finding its own answers.

The Threat to the Sea: Pollution and Over-Exploitation

World-wide, the sustainability of the marine environment is endangered by the effects of pollution, over-fishing and excessive extraction of gravels and other minerals. Fish stocks globally are in crisis. In Europe, More than 80 per cent of fish species are over-fished and above seven million tonnes of fish and sea creatures are discarded annually, dead or dying. Scientists, fishermen, environmentalists and European Union member states agree that the EU Common Fisheries Policy is not working. The EU is committed to reforming the Common Fisheries Policy. Radical ideas for change are urgently needed.

The Threat from the Sea: Flooding

Climate change affects weather patterns and sea levels, increasing coastal erosion and the risk of flooding of low-lying land. Globally, a sea level rise of up to one metre over the next 100 years would severely damage human settlements, fresh water supply, health, coastal eco-systems, agriculture and fisheries. We urgently need to find practical and affordable ways to mitigate these effects and to reduce the danger of flooding.

Suffolk’s coastland has huge social, economic and environmental importance. Many settlements and industries are located here. Our inshore fisheries are valued highly by local inhabitants and by visitors alike. People have an emotional relationship with the coast and coastal tourism contributes significantly to the local economy. Our coastal wetlands, heaths and other wildlife reserves are vital to migrating birds and numerous other species. Many would either be destroyed or fundamentally changed by inundation from the sea. Likewise, the coastal region’s agriculture is nationally important to food supply and produces a large proportion of the vegetables sold in the supermarkets. All are at risk from flooding.

The Challenge of Change

We must find better ways to manage the marine environment and better ways to manage the sea’s impact on the land. Suffolk and the Sea will focus on these two important issues. Having described the problems, both globally and locally, speakers will explain why change is necessary and will suggest beneficial and practical ways to bring this about.

Change is essential. The future of East Suffolk will depend on it. It is the aim of the conference to provide the information needed to make the right decisions for the future of our sea, our land, our people and our wildlife.