Save the Date!
Save the date! The Blue Foods Forum is returning to Portland, Oregon February 1st & 2nd, 2026. Join us for two days of extraordinary hands-on industry collaboration and culinary inspiration with a mix of chefs, economists, artisans, food innovators, marine scientists, fishermen and ocean advocates.
In February 2025, Oregon’s first Blue Foods Forum kicked off at Portland’s Redd East event venue with an industry-focused Seafare Symposium — a full day of active learning, conversation, and delicious inspiration centered around Oregon’s ocean foods. The Symposium invited chefs, producers, educators, and food system innovators to imagine what a more connected, sustainable, and locally rooted blue food future could look like. Live seafood butchery demos, roundtable discussions, lightning talks and structured networking opportunities set the stage for rich dialogues and goal-setting within the group. See the full event recap HERE.
Hosted by Winter Waters and the Oregon Ocean Cluster in close partnership with Ecotrust, Oregon Kelp Alliance, Oregon State University’s Food Labs and many other friends, this community-building event inspired lively dialogues about interconnected ecosystems, circular economies, and complex food supply chains. Adopting an “unconference” model and approach allowed us to creatively explore how redefining the use and restoration of our ocean resources can ignite a better future for all.
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Outcomes of the 2025 Blue Foods Forum in action!
We’re excited to see that the Blue Foods Forum 2025 has already resulted in tangible innovation. Here are a few:
Local Ocean Seafoods returned home from the Forum deeply inspired. Within months, they launched a 100 percent fish utilization program to reduce waste at their restaurant, transforming what once might have been discarded into delicious, purposeful products.
In Philomath, a new business called Reclaim Cooperative formed to launch Oregon’s first fish leather tannery. This group is already hosting hands-on workshops at Central Coast Food Web, sharing knowledge about traditional materials and circular design.
Sullivan Seed Studios, who joined the Blue Foods Forum lineup at the last minute, went on to host their first Ocean Art workshop at ADX Portland. Solfiskur brought Icelandic-inspired fish skin jewelry and Pacific Northwest seafood to the KNOW Fish Dinner at Bar Carlo in April, a direct outcome of a connection made with Yakobi Fisheries at the BlueFoods Forum.