The University New England has been chosen as the U.S. representative to the AquaVitae Consortium, a new international research and industry enterprise formed to accelerate the development, education and communication of sustainable aquaculture in the nations bordering the Atlantic Ocean. 

UNE joins 35 other partners in the USD 8.9 million project, which is funded by Horizon 2020, a program of the European Commission.

Two of UNE’s programs, the School of Marine Programs and UNE NORTH: The Institute for North Atlantic Studies, will play key roles in the project.

Source: Maine Biz

B?N TRE The C?u Long (Mekong) Delta province of B?n Tre will invest more than VNÐ2.5 trillion by 2030 to develop key aquatic species like black tiger shrimp, white-legged shrimp and tra fish, according to its People’s Committee.

It said VNÐ1.89 billion of this would come from the province’s coffers.

B?n Tre plans to expand farming of key aquatic species to 37,000ha and their annual output to 402,870 tonnes by 2030.

Source: Viet Nam News

The urging need for innovative solutions in food production has led the widespread penetration of precision farming concepts, which rely on technologies such as drones, IoT connectivity, and autonomous tractors. A sister industry that is equally imperative for the global food security and less permeated by technological advances is ‘aquaculture’. However, recent surge in the popularity and acceptance of data-driven management platforms, which integrate data from myriad sources into unified cloud platform, and encapsulate complete dynamics of the aquaculture farm environment in real time, will favor growth of the aquaculture market.

TMR’s research finds that the aquaculture market was valued at over USD 750 Mn in 2018, and is estimated to record a 2.4% Y-o-Y growth in 2019. Aquaculture remains a profitable business for not only combating the global food demand, but also helping rehabilitate the oceans. Leading operators in the aquaculture market continue to leverage the viability of three key areas, namely, seaweed & bivalve aquaculture systems, offshore aquaculture systems, and on-land aquaculture systems. The study opines that the fish industry will witness a radical transformation in the foreseeable future; and with the depletion in ocean’s fisheries vis-à-vis rising demand from the global demographic, aquaculture continues to forestall challenges entailed by these and bring more farmed fishes to plates globally.

Source: Market Reports

Two First Nations in New Brunswick have filed a lawsuit against the Canadian government over access to the lucrative commercial snow crab fishery.

Tobique and Madawaska First Nations are seeking permanent access to snow crab fishing and damages for lost revenues dating back to 1995, when they began requesting a commercial allocation in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. 

The only year the bands got an allocation was 2017, when the quota was higher than average. The quota was raised again this year, but the two Wolastoqey bands did not get an allocation.

Source: CBC

As of July 1 2019, trawlers operating south of the 39th parallel in Bass Strait between Tasmania and Victoria have been banned from processing their catch on deck and throwing the remains overboard while their fishing gear is in the water.

From September the ban will extend to trawlers south of Lakes Entrance in Victoria.

Simon Boag, the chief executive of the South East Trawl Fishing Industry Association (SETFIA), said the new measure could reduce productivity by as much as 40 per cent.

Source: ABC

A political party set to form part of Thailand’s new coalition government vowed on Friday to relax laws governing the country’s multi-billion dollar fishing industry, a move labour activists warned could increase exploitation and abuse of workers.

The leader of the Democrat Party made the pledge as they met fishing vessel owners at an industry gathering in Samut Sakhon province to discuss illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing.

“We will urgently amend the law and other regulations,” said Jurin Laksanawisit, who is seen as a frontrunner to be deputy prime minister and commerce minister under Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha.

Source: Eco-Business

The UK fisheries minister has said he wants to see an orderly Brexit that works for the Northern Ireland fishing industry.

Robert Goodwill was speaking during a visit to the port of Ardglass in County Down.

Mr Goodwill, a former Remainer, now backs Brexit and voted for Theresa May's Withdrawal Agreement three times.

It provided the UK fishing industry with a transition period until December 2020.

Source: BBC

MANILA – Century Pacific Food, Incorporated, the maker of Century Tuna, is looking to offer new products in a bid to build resiliency, its executive chairman Christopher Po said during a press conference on Monday, July 1.

"What we're trying to do is diversify so that if there is any movement in the commodities, we're not as affected and the business will stay resilient," Po told reporters on the sidelines of the company's annual stockholders' meeting.

To keep their earnings steady, Po said they would need to offer other food segments or even go into mergers and acquisitions.

Source: Rappler

A new state bill plans to expand the shellfish industry along the Crystal Coast.

One of the provisions in Senate Bill 648 would create a pilot project on the Pamlico Sound. It would open up three large-scale oystering plants along public trust waters.

Supporters of the bill say it could even bring a thousand new jobs to the East.

“To me, it’s a wonderful opportunity for eastern North Carolina,” said Republican Senator Norman Sanderson. “Our goal is to make this a 100 million dollar a year industry. We have all of the necessary ingredients to make this work.”

Source: WNCT

KOTA KINABALU - The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) of Kudat have detained a Vietnamese fishing boat for illegally harvesting sea cucumber near Pulau Sibongor Laut in Kudat on June the 30th.

Kudat Maritime Zone operations deputy director, Maritime Lieutenant Musa Dail said that the boat, which had five crews, was detained at 10 am and an inspection revealed that it did have any registration document.

He said that the skipper and crew, aged 29 to 39 years, also did not have any valid identification document.

Source: Bernama