David Robinson has returned to the council hot seat after five years spent working at the University of Hull where he hopes the experience gained will support activities to develop new initiatives within the seafood sector in North East Lincolnshire, which still employs over 6,000 people in fish processing alone.

Mr Robinson,was part of the team that established Europe's Food Town during the late 1980s and 1990s. Now he returns with a new mandate - to inspire innovation and regeneration and bring more jobs and opportunities to the area.

He said: 'Grimsby is still Europe's Food Town, but the landscape has changed significantly in the past five years in terms of the threats and opportunities and also the capacity and need for innovation.

'I was fortunate enough to build up a lot of trust within the fisheries industry when I first worked for the council, and Grimsby was definitely a major player on the European stage.Up to 70 per cent of the UK's Sea Food processing capacity is in Grimsby.'

Mr Robinson said he was visibly excited by the new Humber Seafood Institute . We need to become further engaged in the food support network. The fact Seafish has moved to Grimsby is a great boon to the region - the Institute should be the beacon for the Seafood Industry and a real focus to take the industry forward.'

www.fishupdate.com is published by Special Publications. Special Publications also publish Fish Farmer, the Fish Industry Yearbook, the Scottish Seafood Processors Federation Diary, the Fish Farmer Handbook and a range of wallplanners.

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