Meeting of the seas will hold its eighth event from May 3 to 6, and for the first time, it will take place in northern Tenerife. “Blue Natural Capital” is the theme chosen for this edition, reflecting an increasingly urgent need to put the ocean back at the center of public discourse. To this end, the forum will once again bring together scientists, chefs, fishermen, producers, and institutions around a shared conviction: we can no longer view the sea merely as a pantry or a landscape; rather, we must understand it as a living, fragile heritage that is crucial for both the present and the future.

This year, EDM Tenerife Despierta Emociones will also honor Theresa Zabell with the Sartún Award, a prize that recognizes careers closely linked to the sea. A key figure in Spanish Olympic sailing and a two-time Olympic champion, Zabell has extended her connection to the ocean beyond sports through her ongoing work to raise awareness and defend the marine environment. Through the Ecomar Foundation, which she launched after her athletic career, Zabell works on environmental education, sustainability, and respect for the coastal environment among young people, and has demonstrated how the public visibility of sports can become an effective tool for social transformation.

Among the participants in this edition are some of the most recognized voices on the international scene. Leading the list are Professor of Marine Sciences Carlos Duarte, scientific director of EDM; the European fisheries policy official, Lorella de la Cruz, Deputy Head of Unit - Blue Economy Sectors, Aquaculture and Maritime Spatial Planning at the European Commission; and chefs such as French chef Alexandre Couillon (La Marine***, L’Herbaudière), Galician chef Javier Olleros (Culler de Pau**, O Grove), and Tenerife-based Basque chef Erlantz Gorostiza (MB Abama**, Guía de Isora). The program features speakers from ten different countries. Tenerife Despierta Emociones will also be well represented with participants in the presentations and roundtable discussions on cuisine, science, and fishing.

The event is promoted by the Cabildo de Tenerife, through Turismo de Tenerife and its Tenerife Despierta Emociones brand, and also benefits from the active involvement of the Garachico City Council, the town where the event’s public day will be held on Sunday, May 3.

Dimple Melwani (CEO of Turismo de Tenerife) highlighted the importance of this conference, “which brings together leading figures from the worlds of science, fishing, and cuisine and is coming to the north of the island—to Puerto de la Cruz and Garachico—for the first time.” Benjamín Lana, director of the conference, noted that “seas and oceans are much more than landscapes—they are an immense asset that shapes the present and the future, and we must manage them intelligently—a collective call to recognize the value of marine ecosystems.” Agustin Espinosa, a technician with the Livestock and Fisheries Service of the Tenerife Island Council, noted that “We are proud to participate, because the Island Council wants to promote fish consumption, improve aquaculture projects, and continue working to protect our marine ecosystem—which is why these types of gatherings are so important.”

The program for this eighth edition will have a strong scientific focus and take a broad view of the fishing sector. It will address issues such as the value of marine life, the role of the EU’s fisheries strategy in shaping the future of the sea, seagrass beds as natural capital, the relationship between the ocean, the economy, and food, and the cases of Portugal and Africa as examples of ecosystems that provide food and generate value. It will also analyze how gastronomy can become a voice for the fishing sector.

The world of science and marine biology will be represented by leading figures such as Patti Schaefer and Ann Golob, heads of the Rauch Foundation (U.S.), dedicated to preserving marine ecosystems worldwide; Núria Marbà (Research Professor at the Spanish National Research Council, CSIC); Sandra Damijan (Economist and Professor at the Faculty of Economics and Business at the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia); Alberto Brito (Ph.D. in Biology and Professor of Marine Biology); Ester Serrão (Professor at the University of Algarve, Portugal) and Ana Fuentes (Researcher at the Polytechnic University of Valencia); Santiago Hernández (Institute of Oceanography and Global Change (IOCAG)) and Rogelio Enríquez, president of the Madrid Academy of Gastronomy and a renowned expert in the world of canned fish.

As usual, cuisine will take center stage in the program, with presentations and roundtables dedicated to haute cuisine of the sea, seafood restaurants and signature seafood establishments, the new horizons of seafood cuisine, the flavors of the Adriatic or the seas surrounding the Nordic countries, and the dialogue between mountain and sea as one of the great contemporary narratives of the product.

Among the participants are chefs such as the Frenchman Alexandre Couillon (La Marine***, L’Herbaudière), Jacopo Ticchi (Rest. Da Lucio*, Rimini, Italy); Carlos de Medeiros (Rest. Bar Amour*, Oslo, Norway), Javier Olleros (Rest. Culler de Pau**, O Grove, Pontevedra), Josean Alija (Rest. Nerua*, Bilbao); Iván Domínguez (Rest. Nado, A Coruña), Berto Domínguez (Rest. D'Berto, O Grove, Pontevedra), Pablo Sánchez (Rest. Los Marinos José, Fuengirola, Málaga), Aitor Arregi and Pablo Vicari (Rest. Elkano*, Getaria, Gipuzkoa & Rest. Cataria, Chiclana de la Frontera, Cádiz), Benito Gómez (Rest. Bardal**, Ronda, Málaga), Gil Fernándes (Rest. Fortaleza do Guincho*, Cascais, Portugal), Diego Schattenhofer (Rest. Taste 1973*, Playa de las Américas, Santa Cruz de Tenerife); Miguel Barrera (Cal Paradís Restaurant*, La Vall d'Alba, Castellón) and Alberto Margallo (San Sebastián 57 Restaurant, Santa Cruz de Tenerife).

Fishing, one of the conference’s main themes, will be addressed through fundamental questions: whether there is a future for the artisanal fishing trade, what we would lose without it, and what role fish farming should play in the food supply. Within this framework, the conference will dedicate a specific review to the present and future of aquaculture in the Mediterranean and will also provide a space to consider how to reconnect consumers with seafood products.

Business leaders and fishermen from the artisanal fishing sector, such as Eduardo Guardiola (CEO of Grupo El Amarre, Seville); Sebastián Martín (Chinchín Puerto Restaurant, Caleta de Vélez, Málaga); Roberto Rodríguez (Artesans da Pesca); and Manuel Díaz (Chief Skipper of the Nuestra Señora de los Cristianos Fishermen’s Guild) are also on the list of speakers for this eighth edition. Also participating is María Luisa Álvarez Blanco (General Director of the National Federation of Provincial Associations of Fish Retailers of Spain (FEDEPESCA).

There will also be a tribute to underwater photographer Sergio Hanquet, who passed away on February 10, 2026, at the age of 63 while diving off the coast of Arona. A prominent defender of the islands’ underwater natural heritage and a leading figure in marine photography, he will receive the Sartún de Honor from Meeting of the seas posthumously. During this tribute, fellow Tenerife-based underwater photographer Yeray Delgado will speak about the art of appreciating marine life in all its splendor.

Over the years, Meeting of the seas has established itself as a unique space for dialogue between disciplines that rarely come together. Science, gastronomy, sustainability, and culture converge here to consider the ocean from a broad perspective, connected to the great challenges of our time: marine biodiversity, responsible fishing, food innovation, ecosystem conservation, and the relationship we maintain with them as a society.

The concept chosen for this edition, Blue Natural Capital, stems from an observation as simple as it is decisive: seas and oceans are among the planet’s greatest assets. They are a concentration of biodiversity, food, energy, knowledge, memory, and identity. They are a source of life, the foundation of entire economies, and a key player in climate regulation. Food chains, coastal communities, and territories that live—and in many cases survive—thanks to the sea depend on their balance.

This capital is not abstract. It lies in the aquatic ecosystems that provide essential ingredients for gastronomy, from fish and shellfish to seaweed. It is also found in the quality of these foods, in the culinary traditions born around saltwater, and in the way many cultures have built their relationship with the land. Protecting this heritage is essential to sustaining a diverse, conscious, and sustainable gastronomy.

But talking about blue natural capital also means acknowledging that this wealth is not guaranteed. The health of the oceans influences air quality, climate stability, food availability, and the resilience of many communities. That is why EDM Tenerife Despierta Emociones will focus on the need to manage this heritage intelligently: responsible fishing, habitat protection, the blue economy, clean marine energy, ocean floor restoration, and the fight against plastics and pollution will all be part of the discussion.

This perspective will not be solely scientific or economic. Meeting of the seas will once again highlight the cultural dimension of the ocean. Maritime societies have built trades, cuisines, stories, and identities around the water. Memory, commerce, creativity, and knowledge coexist along the coasts. Recognizing the value of blue natural capital also means understanding that the sea is not an infinite resource, but a delicate partner whose protection demands commitment and a long-term vision.

Tenerife will also play a special role within the program. Discussions will focus on the role of marine reserves in the island’s fishing industry, the Canary Islands’ vast blue heritage, and an issue of particular sensitivity for the archipelago: the risk of ciguatera. Ciguatera, a form of food poisoning caused by fish containing ciguatoxins, necessitated the implementation of specific controls on certain catches in the Canary Islands, as well as the establishment of a dedicated epidemiological surveillance system. The EU’s leading expert on the subject, Ana Gago-Martínez (Professor at the University of Vigo, Researcher in Analytical and Food Chemistry, she was Director of the EU Reference Laboratory for Marine Biotoxins) will deliver a presentation at the conference.

The program will also pay tribute to the conference’s mascot, the Sartún—that hybrid figure with a sardine’s head and a tuna’s tail—through several sessions dedicated to the sardine from three complementary perspectives: cuisine, fishing, and nutrition.

The conference will kick off on Sunday, May 3, with a Popular Gastronomic Day in Garachico’s Plaza de la Libertad, where the public can enjoy seafood tastings at affordable prices. It will serve as the open prelude to an event that, once again, champions an idea as simple as it is urgent: that the future of the planet also hinges on the sea.