Israel Wants Speakers on Farming Fish in the Desert

Organisers of the Sea the Future 2026 summit issued a call for speakers, inviting proposals on three themes and setting a deadline of 1 November 2025 for submissions. The notice said the summit would focus on “blue food security” (food produced from water), with an emphasis on innovation for sustainable growth and societal benefit, and described the gathering as the second Sea the Future summit, to be held in Eilat, Israel's southernmost city on the Red Sea.

The three themes were set out in the call. The first, blue food security, was to cover regulatory frameworks, policy enablers and investment trends behind resilient food systems, including the future of aquaculture in desert environments. The second, “deep blue tech,” was to examine artificial intelligence, big data and genomics in fish farming. The third, sustainable food systems, was to address biodiversity, ecosystem balance and reducing the sector's environmental footprint. All proposals would be reviewed by the conference content committee and judged on innovation, relevance and quality, the notice said, warning that not every proposal would be accepted. Queries were directed to an address at the Ministry of Agriculture.

Why Eilat

Eilat sits at the northern tip of the Gulf of Aqaba, hemmed in by desert, with almost no arable land and a warm, saline sea on its doorstep: conditions that make it a natural laboratory for growing food without fresh water or fields. Israel's Agriculture Ministry has been putting money behind that idea: JNS reported in 2022 on a plan to spend 170 million shekels (about $7.6 million) over five years to turn Eilat into a regional hub for aquaculture and desert food production, with the aim of drawing researchers, students and blue-tech start-ups south.

The case ministry officials make for fish farming is a resource one. Noam Mozes, who heads the ministry's marine aquaculture division, told Ynetnews that aquaculture does “not require fresh water or arable land” and consumes far less energy and emits less carbon dioxide per kilogram of protein than other forms of animal farming. The same report noted the ministry was developing joint research projects with neighbouring countries.

What the summit turned into

The conference went ahead in Eilat in January 2026. It drew about 400 researchers, entrepreneurs, policymakers and industry figures over three days, and was run jointly by the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security and the Ministry of the Negev, Galilee and National Resilience, according to The Tribune. Delegations came from Ghana, India, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Romania and Morocco, with the agriculture and fisheries ministers of the first three attending in person. Sessions covered Israeli start-up technologies, applied research, marine agriculture and seafood policy.

“What may look like a desolate desert becomes a competitive advantage,” the report quoted Minister Yitzhak Vassaroff as saying, describing Eilat as shifting from a tourism city to a centre of knowledge.

What the call for speakers did not say

The notice gave no dates or venue for the summit itself, no registration details and no indication of how many speaking slots were available or whether speakers' costs would be covered. It did not name the members of the content committee or say when applicants would hear back.