Global leaders in the maritime sphere will convene in Galway on Friday for the “Our Ocean Wealth” conference, which is being held as part of SeaFest, the national maritime festival.

The theme of this year's conference is "Into the blue – innovating for our marine future" and speakers include Irish Defence Forces chief of staff Mark Mellett, European Commission head of marine resources unit Sigi Gruber, Met Éireann head of forecasting Gerald Fleming, Marine Scotland director Linda Rosborough, and Craig McLean, assistant administrator at the US National Ocean & Atmospheric Administration.

Minister for Agriculture, Food and Marine Michael Creed will give his first formal address on the marine economy at the conference. Mr Creed said the conference will be an opportunity to reflect on the progress and achievements in implementing the Harnessing Our Ocean Wealth marine plan for Ireland.

The conference will examine how Ireland’s ocean environment presents enormous opportunities across key economic areas including food and aquaculture, marine energy, technology and international collaboration and co-operation. Delegates will hear perspectives from policy makers, industry leaders and researchers on the challenges and opportunities for Ireland in the Marine arena. They will also hear from Irish companies such as OpenHydro, which has just installed its second tidal turbine off the northwest coast of France due to connect to the grid this summer, in what will be a world first for the tidal energy industry.