Seafood Norway, the trade organisation which represents companies and employers, has said it is vital that the country’s aquaculture industry should become fully electric within ten years.

It made the comments following a serious diesel spill last month when 5,000 litres of oil escaped from a tank at a Nordlaks site in the Troms region last month. Although the site is electrified the diesel came from a building used to supply oil for service boats. While the spill was quickly and efficiently dealt with, Seafood Norway said lessons had to be learned from the incident.

Seafood Norway CEO Geir Ove Ystmark said the organisation had already set a goal to get rid of all diesel powered fish farms and move to full electrification by 2030 – and that was already well underway.

Author: Vince McDonagh / Fish Farmer | Read the full article here

The Basque company Saitec Offshores Technologies has launched the first small-scale prototype of a floating marine platform to house wind turbines from the Astander shipyards. The project, with the name BlueSATH and has had the participation of members of the Sea of ??Innovation Cantabria Cluster, such as the Port of Santander, IHCantabria, CTC, Degima, Astander, Transportes Lasarte and Acorde, in addition to the collaboration of Sodercan, It will be put to the test for a year in the Sardinero pass, in order to verify its operation in a real environment. The initiative has an investment of two million euros, financed 70 percent by the European Union. The reduced-scale prototype will lead to a final one that will have a volume six times the volume that will produce power for 15,000 homes.

Source: Industrias Pesqueras | Read the full article here

Exporter preparing for challenging autumn.

The ancient herring town in Florø, Western Norway, has long since found a new species and a new locomotive to drive export revenues and employment. The harbour is full of wellboats, workboats, delousing vessels and cages.

One of those that capitalises on the farmed salmon is the 130 million-dollar exporter Bravo Seafood. They are housed in a traditional red-painted sea storage room at the quayside in the town’s harbour.

Author: Aslak Berge /  SalmonBusiness | Read the full article here

The Covid-19 pandemic has impacted different countries very differently – as illustrated by the stark differences in the performance of the shrimp sectors of Ecuador and Vietnam.

So notes Gorjan Nikolik, seafood analyst at Rabobank, in a new update on how the shrimp sector of various regions has performed since the outbreak in January.

Despite poor prices during 2019, the shrimp sector started the year with a great deal of optimism, Nikolik reflects.

Author: Rob Fletcher / The Fish Site | Read the full article here

Around 4.7 million fish have escaped from Chilean salmon farms in 73 incidents between 2010 and 2020, according to a report from state aquaculture agency, Sernapesca.

The causes were largely climatic and oceanographic conditions at the affected farm sites.

Sernapesca is now looking at use of increased monitoring, big data and artificial intelligence to create predictive models of where escapes are most likely to occur.

Source: fishfarmingexpert | Read the full article here

Salmon farmer Grieg Seafood has announced five appointments to its new sales organisation which will operate from January 1, 2021.

The moves follow the decision by Grieg and fellow Norwegian salmon farmer Bremnes Seashore to end their 10-year Ocean Quality sales joint venture.

“We will re-position the company in the value chain and evolve from being a pure salmon supplier to become an innovation partner for selected customers. We need people with a strong drive who want to build something new,” said Grieg’s personnel chief, Kathleen Mathisen, in a press release.

Source: fishfarmingexpert | Read the full article here

The British Government has decreed the precautionary closure of the scallop fishery in the North Sea, around Dogger Bank, until next August 29. Since the initial four-week closure began on July 12, sampling carried out by Cefas using its survey boat "Endeavor" has shown that scallops in the area are currently spawning or about to spawn.

After analyzing the first stock samples, it has been determined the need to extend by three weeks to finalize the data collection, produce a detailed analysis of the investigation and begin to prepare a longer-term management plan for the affected marine areas.

Source: Industrias Pesqueras | Read the full article here

THE first organic salmon from Mowi Scotland has just entered the UK market following certification by the Soil Association, giving the company a guarantee of year-round supply. The fish, which is also certified to EU organic standards and approved by Agriculture Biologique in France, will be sold under newly created brand, the Scottish Organic Salmon Company.

Mowi said this new volume of organic salmon, combined with the organic salmon that has been produced by Mowi Ireland over the past 20 years, means that the company is now confident it can supply organic salmon 365 days a year. It is maximising its in-house expertise both in terms of experience in farming organic as well as selling the final product. All organic salmon from Scotland will be sold by the Mowi Organic team based in Ireland.

Author: Vince McDonagh / Fish Farmer | Read the full article here

The Sustainable Fisheries Partnership (SFP) and more than 25 major buyers, including retailers and seafood companies, have jointly called on key shrimp producing countries in Asia to tackle the issue of new diseases in their farms.

In a letter sent to the governments of China, India, Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam, SFP said increased actions need to be taken immediately in order to protect shrimp farms from the outbreak and emergence of new diseases.

Other companies and trade groups have signing the letter include AquaStar; Beaver Street Fisheries; Chicken of the Sea; Fortune International; HighLiner Foods; Hilton Seafood UK; IDH the Sustainable Trade Initiative; Labeyrie Fine Foods; Lyons Seafoods; Marks and Spencer; Sainsbury’s; Seafresh Group; Sunnyvale Seafood; Tesco; Co-op; The Fishin’ Company; Waitrose & Partners; and the UK Seafood Industry Alliance.

Author: Toan Dao / SeafoodSource | Read the full article here

Following consultation with exhibitors and visitors, Mara Media, the organiser of Scottish Skipper Expo 2020 (13 and 14 November) has decided not to stage the event this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and has rolled the show forward to now take place in Aberdeen on 14 and 15 May 2021.

Hugh Bonner, managing director of Mara Media, said: “We are tremendously disappointed to make this decision, but we are confident it is the right move, given the ongoing uncertainty surrounding Covid-19.

“Following consultation with the industry, our overwhelming feeling was it would not have been possible to deliver the high-quality show that the commercial fishing sector expects. The health and safety of exhibitors, visitors and the wider public was also a pivotal factor in the final decision.