The budget for the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute (ASMI) will be smaller for the 2021 fiscal year, though it won’t be due to cuts made as a result of the coronavirus. Rather, the natural and gradual reduction in funding is a result of how the group managed the spending of a grant it received in 2019, ASMI said.

Last year, ASMI received USD 7.5 million (EUR 6.64 million) from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Foreign Agriculture Service’s Agricultural Trade Promotion program. The funding was intended to decrease the negative effects of international trade barriers and, as a result, the 2020 fiscal year was ASMI’s highest budget year since 2016.

Author: Ben Fisher / SeafoodSource| Read the full article here

THE mayors of at least 70 local municipalities along the Norwegian coast are demanding a ‘fair share’ of any new salmon tax imposed on the country’s aquaculture industry.

The government has announced proposals for a tax of NOK O.40 (40 øre or cents) per kilogramme on salmon, trout and rainbow trout which is expected to produce annual revenues of at least a billion kroner (£85 million) for fish farming communities which they maintain could produce considerably less income than what they receive under the present Aquaculture Fund. Then they were being paid up to 85 per cent of revenues from sales and auction fees, which they claim could drop down to 25 per cent under the new proposals. ‘This would represent a significant reduction and we cannot accept that,’ they say, suggesting their share should be at least 60 per cent.

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

Vónin’s new groundfish trawl has already shown some promising results on saithe, haddock and redfish.

Vónin’s Bacalao trawls have been a longstanding part of the company’s gear inventory, and while the original design has been refined and optimised over the years as new materials and technology have become available, the basic Bacalao design has remained in place.

Instead of another round of upgrading this tried-and-tested trawl design to achieve more headline height, Vónin’s gear designers have gone for something new and have come up with the Zenith trawl after a process of simulation, flume tank testing and sea trials with the full-scale prototype of the new trawl.

Author: Quentn Bates / FiskerForum | Read the full article here

WWF has called on FAO to focus post-COVID-19 efforts on fisheries sustainability, climate change and conservation to support a resilient and healthy ocean and the communities and industries that depend on them . "The coronavirus pandemic has had far-reaching effects on fisheries worldwide, exacerbating the challenges for the sustainable management of fish stocks," he explains, adding that "many weaknesses" such as the need for develop a more modern approach to fishing, including the elimination of harmful subsidies and illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing.

Source: Industrias Pesqueras | Read the full article here

Positive COVID-19 tests for 124 employees of Pacific Seafood and its contractors have led the company to suspend operations at its five processing facilities in Newport, Oregon, U.S.A.

The Clackamas, Oregon-based company said 53 of its employees and an additional 71 locally-based contractors tested positive for COVID-19, out of 376 workers tested, as of Sunday, 7 June.

“Initial results show that positive tests are concentrated at the Pacific Shrimp processing facility location,” the company said in a statement.

Author: Ben Fisher / SeafoodSource | Read the full article here

USD 9 million in benefits has been retained as a precautionary measure.

In a legal action, a Chilean state attorney (CDE) has estimated that the economic damage caused by the alleged fraudulent actions of Nova Austral came in at USD 77 million.

Located on the far southern tip of Chile Nova Austral is half owned by private equity firm Bain Capital. It recently revealed in its latest Q2 report a new criminal case against five individuals (including former managers and executives of the company) is ongoing, related to last year’s allegations of data rigging.

Author: Owen Evans / SalmonBusiness | Read the full article here

At a fisheries roundtable discussion in Bangor, Maine, U.S.A., on 5 June, U.S. President Donald Trump signed a proclamation to allow commercial fishing in the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument. The change falls short of eliminating the monument entirely, and does not lift a prohibition on gas and oil drilling in the area, but rather is "taking down a no-fishing sign," according to Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt, who was at the table for the discussion.

President Barack Obama created the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts monument in 2016. President George W. Bush was the first to apply the act to the seafloor, when he declared the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument in Hawaii in 2006.

Source: SeafoodSource | Read the full article here 

Aquaculture has expanded fish availability to regions and countries with otherwise limited or no access to the farmed species, often at cheaper prices, leading to improved nutrition and food security.

That’s one of the conclusions in the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) report, The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture, published today.

In his foreword to the report, FAO director-general Qu Dongyu writes that since 2015 the numbers of undernourished and malnourished people have been growing, and innovative solutions were required to produce more food, ensure access to it, and improve nutrition.

Source: fishfarmingexpert | Read the full article here

Australia’s Eastern Tuna and Billfish Fishery is on track to be certified as sustainable by the Marine Stewardship Council in late August. The Public Comment Draft Report was published on 27th May this year, representing another significant milestone on the journey to receive MSC certification.

‘Gaining MSC certification validates the sustainability of the ETBF fishery and proves that our food producers are stewards of ocean sustainability,’ said David Ellis, CEO of Tuna Australia.
‘The certification will provide Tuna Australia members with a number of benefits, including access to new markets and premium prices.’

Author: Quentin Bates / FiskerForum | Read the full article here

Lawmakers in Vietnam’s National Assembly on 8 June have approved a decision to create a free trade deal with the European Union that is expected to open a way for more seafood products to flow into the E.U.

The European Union-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) is expected to enter into force from August, Tuoi Tre Online reported 8 June.

The European Parliament endorsed the deal with Vietnam on 12 February and the European Council approved it on 30 March.

The agreement, the “most modern, comprehensive and ambitious agreement ever concluded between the E.U. and a developing country,” will abolish 99 percent of customs duties between the two sides over the next 10 years.

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