Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM), the Irish Sea Fisheries Board, today announced the panel of expert judges for the ‘BIM Awards – Celebrating the best in the Irish seafood sector’. The judges have been chosen for their expertise in the key areas of skills, sustainability, innovation and competitiveness and are tasked with shortlisting finalists and selecting the overall winners for the inaugural Awards that will take place on the 17th November in the Clayton Hotel, Ballsbridge, Dublin.
The panel of esteemed judges bring a wealth of experience to the table from both private and public sectors. Thanking the judging panel for their time, Tara McCarthy, CEO, BIM said, ‘I am delighted to welcome this team of professionals to judge the BIM Awards for 2016. The seafood sector is a complex business matrix, spanning the areas of commercial sea fishing, fish farming, processing and retailing. The panel come from a wide variety of backgrounds, but they all have personal experience dealing with the seafood sector. I wish them well in this difficult task and look forward to celebrating the very best Irelands seafood industry has to offer at our Gala evening in November.’
The judges are each assigned an area of expertise and they will judge three Awards in this area. The Responsible Fisherman of the Year, Aquaculture Environmental & Social Responsibility Award and the Green Processor Award will be assessed by the ‘Sustainability Judging Panel’. This panel will comprise Conor Molloy, AEMS Authentic Energy, Finnian O’Luasa, European Seafood Manager, Bord Bia and Dr. Paul Connolly, Director Fisheries Ecosystems Advisory Services (FEAS), Marine Institute.
Best New Fishing Practice Award, Innovation in Aquaculture and Innovation in Seafood Processing Awards will be judged by the ‘Innovation Panel’, Joe O’Flynn, Senior Partner, AgriFood Business Partners, Eamon McEvoy, Fresh Food Buyer, Dunnes Stores and Maedbh Seoige, Enterprise Development Executive, Udaras Na Gaeltachta.
The Skills category hosts the coveted BIM Young Fishmonger awards, both the Independent Seafood Specialist of the Year and the Supermarket Seafood Counter of the Year. The Young Fishmonger Awards have a separate judging system and the eight shortlisted finalists were announced in August. A Student of the Year will also be announced at the Gala evening.
Finally the ‘Competitiveness Judging Panel’, comprised of Elaine Smith, Protein Specialist, Musgrave Operating Partners, Gillian Mills, Editor, Inshore Ireland, John McCarthy, FCA Chartered Accountant and Felix McKendry, Senior Food Development Advisor, Enterprise Ireland will judge the Fishing Enterprise of the Year, Aquaculture Enterprise of the Year and Seafood Enterprise/ Entrepreneur of the Year Awards. The judges will meet to review the applications on Wednesday 12 October and the shortlisted entrants will be announced soon afterwards. All shortlisted applicants will be invited to attend the Gala Awards evening.
There is still time to enter the BIM Awards with the deadline extended until the 23rd September. To enter and to hear more about our esteemed judging panel, please visit Seafood Industry Awards 2016.
