Blue Education lands at the ‘Aula’ fair for the second consecutive year, with a clear objective: to awaken vocations and build an authentic generation in blue that looks at fishing and the entire blue economy as a real space for development, innovation, and future. This initiative is carried out together with the Organización Productores Asociados Grandes Atuneros Congeladores (Opagac), Pesca España, Puertos del Estado, and other institutions from the maritime and academic world, such as the ETS of the University of La Coruña and the Escuela Superior de Ingenieros Navales in Madrid, the Clúster Marítimo Español and the Asociación Nacional de Empresas Náuticas (ANEN).
Spain is one of the great fishing powers of the European Union. The sector is an essential part of the blue economy, an ecosystem that generates millions of jobs in Europe and is strategic for sustainable growth, food supply, and the cohesion of coastal areas. More than 35% of professionals in the fishing sector in Spain are over 50 years old, and the percentage of those under 30 is increasingly smaller. The fleet is aging, and with it, the transmission of knowledge, experience, and productive capacity is at risk. This trend is repeated across the entire European Union, where generational renewal has become one of the major structural challenges of the sector. Opportunities are not lacking; vocations are, and vocations are born from knowledge, not from prejudice.
At ‘Aula’, Blue Education bets on showing a real, objective, and current image of the fishing world: a modern, highly regulated industry, committed to sustainability and open to very diverse profiles, from sailors and skippers to naval engineers, marine biologists, international trade technicians, data experts, or food processing specialists.
Job portal and ‘app’
The stand will feature the active participation of representative entities such as Opagac, which will present its ‘Empleatun’ initiative, a job portal that connects future tuna workers with employers in the sector, and Pesca España, showcasing the multiple career paths offered by the sector and bringing real testimonials closer to students.
One of the main protagonists during ‘Aula’ will be the BluePath app, designed for young people to discover their fit within the marine ecosystem. A digital tool that allows for ‘matching’ personal interests with professional opportunities linked to the sea, including fishing as one of its fundamental pillars. BluePath not only guides: it connects talent with the future. It shows training itineraries, emerging profiles, and concrete opportunities in a sector that needs new perspectives and new energies.
Initiatives like this seek more than just to inform: they aspire to inspire. So that a student walking through ‘Aula’ today discovers they can be part of a strategic sector for Spain and Europe. That the sea is not just a landscape, it is a profession. That fishing is not a residual option, but a future opportunity. Because the sea needs young talent. And the new generation in blue might be making a decision today.
