Following his appointment, IFFO President Eduardo Goycoolea commented, “I look forward to leading such a well renowned and important organisation. I have worked closely with IFFO for decades and watched it become the networking heart of our industry, while also being a driver for change. Working with our Management Board and the IFFO Secretariat, I hope to continue its vital work to ensure that as an industry we remain ahead of the curve.”
Mr Goycoolea, a Chilean citizen, has worked since 1992 until his retirement in 2015 as Sales and Marketing Director of El Golfo and later Blumar, a company with worldwide sales over US$500 million, and activities in wild fishing, fishmeal, fish oil, frozen pelagics and surimi, as well as salmon, scallops and mussel’s aquaculture.
He holds an engineering degree with post graduate studies in top management and finance. He has been acting as President of the Fishmeal Exporters Organisation (FEO) in 2001. He led the merging of FEO with IFFOMA and created IFFO whilst being its Co-President for the first year.
He has also been involved in the Sustainability and Responsible Sourcing standards development, including IFFO RS, and has acted as a board member for more than a decade in the International Groundfish Forum, the global organisation for the whitefish industry. He is a board member and Vice-President of Exapesca, the south Chilean fish oil producers, marketing and sales organisation – since its creation, until its dissolution.
His degree is in Industrial Engineering from the Universidad Católica de Chile (Catholic University of Chile). He has vast experience in high management positions, both in local and multinational companies, including four years as an expatriate executive at Exxon’s Latin American headquarters in the United States.
What is it about Aquaculture that impassions you? And how are you bringing this passion into your role at the IFFO?
Aquaculture is fabulous as it creates life.
Even more, it creates food for men and women, while being healthy and very efficiently produced. Fishmeal and fish oil are critical and the best ingredients that aquaculture feed can use. We need to reinforce this concept to all IFFO members and have them be proud of the products that we produce as an industry.
How do you think that the IFFO could work to change the media and general public’s perception that aquaculture as an industry is not sustainable and is in some ways a negative concept?
IFFO has to be proactive in delivering our message that aquaculture and the production of fishmeal and fish oil are sustainable. We have to refute the myth that our production is going down and not sustainable.
Fishmeal and oil production have been quite stable over the last decade with some fluctuations only during El Niño events. Industry can rely on our products and be sure that we bring fish protein to men and women in the most efficient way, using fish that are commonly not desired for direct human consumption.
How has your career led you to where you are now?
That’s a difficult question for me to answer. I have been in the fishing and aquaculture industries for more than 25 years and have witnessed the wonderful evolution of the industries. I have been committed and involved in these industries during all these years and I am what I am now due to this commitment.
Where do you see the future going for fish feed? What do you think of the research for algae becoming a viable feed source? Could the protein levels be equal to that of fishmeal, or as sustainable as perhaps vegetable-based feeds? How does the quality compare between the three?
Fishmeal protein is the best protein available on this planet. All these new alternative proteins are needed to support the growth of farming industries, both land animal and fish farming, but will never replace fishmeal as they will never be as good and efficient as fishmeal.
What is your key objective as IFFO President?
I look forward to communicating to the world that our products are excellent quality, sustainable, responsibly produced, and that most of the attacks our industry receives are generally based on arguments that are not true and have no proven evidence to support them.
Let’s bring down the myths, it’s not good for any of us.
How important do you think aquaculture will be in the mission to create a sustainable food future globally, and how do you and the IFFO fit into this?
As said before, the best use for our fish is aquaculture, and aquaculture is the future for human food creation.
IFFO members and aquaculture producers are and will be married forever.
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