IN BRIEF - Vietnam’s agro-forestry-fishery exports to hit $61bn in 2024: deputy minister
VIET NAM
Monday, October 28, 2024
Vietnam’s agro-forestry-fishery exports are expected to fetch a record high of US$61 billion this year, given positive signs over the past few months, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Phung Duc Tien said at a recent press briefing.
The country exported agricultural, forestry, and fishery products worth nearly $46.3 billion between January and September, up 21 percent year on year, according to Tien.
September alone enjoyed $5.85 billion revenue from agro-forestry-fishery exports.
The agro-forestry-fishery sector posted a trade surplus of $13.9 billion during the nine-month period, representing nearly 67 percent of the economy’s total trade surplus.
"With this positive growth rate, agricultural exports could reach $61 billion this year," he said.
From now until the end of the year, the ministry will continue beefing up production in the southern region to maintain the export momentum.
According to Rabobank estimates based on data from leading aquaculture countries, global tilapia production is anticipated to exceed 7 million tons by 2025.
After a period of stagnation from 2018 to 2021, China’s tilapia output is forecast to resume growth, with increases of 2.9% in 2023 and 2.6% in 2025, even if this year sees a temporary contraction. China's total production is expected to surpass 1.8 million tons by 2025.
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Indonesia, another major player, is set to experience robust growth over the next few years, with production projected to reach 1.6 million tons by 2025. Respondents to Rabobank's survey also anticipate growth in Bangladesh and Thailand through 2024, while Egypt, Africa's top producer, is rebounding from pandemic-related challenges.
These trends reflect a strong recovery and growth trajectory in the global tilapia sector, driven by expanding production in key regions.
The Indo-Sri Lanka Joint Task Force will hold its sixth meeting tomorrow (29) at the Mahaweli Center in Colombo, as confirmed by M. P. N. M. Wickramasinghe, Secretary of Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Fisheries.
The meeting will bring together 12 officials to discuss key bilateral concerns, especially the ongoing issue of bottom trawling by Indian fishermen in Sri Lankan waters.
Since assuming office, President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has prioritized addressing the environmental and economic impacts of bottom trawling—a fishing method that involves dragging heavy nets across the seafloor, which can cause long-term ecological damage, he said, adding that in line with the President’s directive, the Ministry of Fisheries has engaged with Indian authorities through diplomatic channels to tackle this issue collaboratively.
The meeting will focus on curbing the operations of approximately 400 to 500 Indian trawlers that enter Sri Lankan waters around three times a week, posing significant threats to the marine ecosystem and local fisheries.
Furthermore, Wickramasinghe said that steps will be taken to inform Indian officials about the stringent legal actions that will be enforced against Indian fishermen engaging in this illegal fishing practice.
The use of traps will be temporarily prohibited between the Sonoma/Mendocino County line and Lopez Point in Monterey County when the season opens due to presence of humpback whales and potential for entanglement from trap gear.
The recreational take of dungeness crab by other methods, including hoop nets and crab snares, is not affected by the temporary trap restriction in these areas.
CDFW estimates that the next risk assessment will take place on or around Nov. 15, at which time the director will re-evaluate risk for the dungeness crab fisheries. That decision could impact the statewide commercial fishery opener on Dec. 1.
For information related to the risk assessment process, visit CDFW’s Whale Safe Fisheries page. For information on the dungeness crab fishery, click this link.
Recently, North Korean patrol boats have even fired toward - or even at - Chinese fishing boats
A North Korean patrol boat seized a Chinese fishing vessel near Cholsan county, North Pyongan province, last month and detained its six-member crew for two days. The incident is part of increased North Korean maritime patrols that have put Chinese fishing boats operating in shared waters on high alert.
A source in China told Daily NK last Wednesday that the North Korean maritime patrol seized the fishing boat and fined the Chinese crew 500,000 Chinese yuan for violating North Korean waters. The Chinese crew was released only after paying the fine.
Chinese fishing boats often operate in North Korean waters – evading raids when they can – because fishery resources in North Korean waters are more abundant in certain parts of the year.
This has led North Korea’s maritime patrol to increase its foreign exchange earnings by imposing heavy fines on Chinese fishing boats that are seized after trespassing on North Korean workers.
The North Korean maritime patrol levies fines of at least 350,000 yuan per boat, payable into the patrol’s own Chinese bank accounts, the source said.
Recently, North Korean patrol boats have frequently fired toward – or even at – Chinese fishing boats.
BEWI, a leading provider of food and seafood packaging components, is set to merge its traded food packaging business with STOK Emballage (“STOK”), forming a combined Northern European packaging solutions group.
BEWI will receive a cash consideration of €20m (£16.7m) in addition to an ownership position in the combined entity of around 15%.
Author: Vince McDonagh / Fish Farmer l Read the full article here
The UK’s National Fish & Chip Awards has announced the 10 finalists that will compete for 2025’s Restaurant of the Year prize.
Competing is: Noah’s, Bristol; Bells Fish & Chips, Framwellgate Moor, Durham; Pier Point, Torquay, Devon; Malt and Anchor, Cirencester, Gloucestershire; Toff’s of Muswell Hill, London; Eric’s Fish and Chips, Thornham, Norfolk; Upstairs @ No1 Cromer, Cromer, Norfolk; The Cod’s Scallops, Nottingham; Trenchers Spanish City, Whitley Bay, Tyne and Wear; and Whitby’s Fish & Chip Restaurant, Doncaster.
The European Mollusc Producers Association (APEM) organised an event on 22 October at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, hosted by the French EPP MEP Isabelle Le Callennec. The meeting was held, as APEM itself explains, “in a difficult scenario”, characterised by multiple crises that have been affecting a food production sector, such as bivalve molluscs, which, they point out, “could be key to addressing many political challenges”.
And the fact is that mollusc producers, the sector itself recalls, depend on the quality of the waters in which their animals are raised, and that they are increasingly suffering the effects of pollution and diseases.
Source: iPac.acuicultura l Read the full article here
The coastal states of the Northeast Atlantic, represented by the European Union, the Faroe Islands, Greenland, Iceland, Norway and the United Kingdom, have just agreed on management measures for mackerel, Atlanto-Scandinavian herring and blue whiting in the Northeast Atlantic, setting the TACs for the three fisheries for 2025. The agreed volumes are in line with the recommendations established by ICES, which in its latest report warned about the situation of overfishing in the area due to the lack of agreement on the distribution of fishing opportunities between the parties and the adoption of unilateral quotas by coastal states. Accordingly, for mackerel, the TAC (total allowable catch) for 2025 is set at 576,958 tonnes, representing a 22% decrease compared to the 2024 TAC.
Source: Industrias Pesqueras l Read the full article here
Brooklyn, New York, U.S.A.-based Acme Smoked Fish recalled one lot of Costco private label smoked salmon due to the potential for Listeria monocytogenes.
The recall is limited to the lot number specified, distributed over the time period mentioned in the letter at Costco stores in the Southeast only, a spokesperson told SeafoodSource.
Acme issued a press release stating the recall impacted 111 cases of its Kirkland Signature Smoked Salmon with a best-by-date of 13 November, 2024.
Author: Christine Blank / SeafoodSource l Read the full article here
(October 10th): 5.71 million fish, 17.4 billion yen, an increase of 70% in quantity and 20% in value
As of October 10, the catch of autumn salmon migrating along the coast of Abashiri, which leads the whole of Hokkaido, was 5.71 million fish, just over 70% of the same period last year, but the average price per kilogram reached 1,000 yen (U$E 6.58), and the value was 17.4 billion yen (U$D 112 M), nearly 20% higher than the same period last year. The average eye size was 3.04 kg, the same as last year
According to the Abashiri Sea Area Fisheries Adjustment Committee, as of October 10, the total number of salmon caught was 5,715,220, down 74.7% from the same period last year. The weight was 17,394 tons, down 73.7%. The value was 17,483,700,000 yen, up 119.7%.
Compared to 3.57 million fish and 10,850 tons caught in the August-September period, 2.14 million fish and 6,540 tons were caught in the peak 10-day period. Although the pace of catches is slowing, the aim is to reach 10 million fish and 30,000 tons by the end of November.
Among the fishing cooperatives, Shari Daiichi, located in the eastern Okhotsk Sea, caught 1.77 million fish (116% increase) and Utoro caught 1.07 million fish (107% increase), both of which were higher than the same period last year.
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According to the industry monitoring system of the Federal Agency for Fisheries (Federal Fisheries Monitoring System), the catch of all Russian users exceeded 4.1 million tons.
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