A one-day stakeholder consultation at the Crown Beach Resort in Rarotonga was held to discuss an upcoming project related to tuna fisheries in the region.

This Green Climate Fund (GCF) funded project is being developed, and this stakeholder consultation was to make sure relevant project activities are in line with the needs of the Cook Islands in regards to tuna fisheries.

Te Ipukarea Society attended the one-day workshop alongside individuals representing Ministry of Marine Resources (MMR), The Pacific Community (SPC), Conservation International (CI) as well as local fishermen including some from the outer islands.

Source: cookislandsnews

CMA CGM posted a 3.6% year-on-year drop in fourth quarter revenue to $16.89 billion, while earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) came in at $5.69 billion, down 30.9% from the previous year.

Market conditions in the transport and logistics industry continued to deteriorate in the second half of 2022, the group said, citing geopolitical tensions, macroeconomic uncertainty, and a sharp decrease of freight rates.

To address these challenges, CMA CGM said it reinvested almost 90% of its 2022 net profits in its industrial assets and capabilities, strengthened its balance sheet and enhanced its financial flexibility.

Full year revenue for 2022 stood at $74.5 billion, a 33% increase from 2021, while EBITDA came to $33.3 billion, up 44.2% year-on-year.

Author/Source: Christian Fernsby / poandpo

The Alaska House of Representatives voted 35-1 on Wednesday to approve a letter urging state and federal officials to fight a lawsuit that could shut down a major king salmon fishery in Southeast Alaska.

The resolution has broad bipartisan support in the Alaska Legislature, where lawmakers view the issue as one about an outside group attacking Alaskans’ way of life.

Since 2020, the Washington state-based Wild Fish Conservancy has been fighting the National Marine Fisheries Service in court, arguing that the agency acted illegally when it approved a 2019 document that provides Endangered Species Act coverage for all of Southeast Alaska’s salmon fisheries. That document allows fishermen to catch salmon also sought by endangered species.

Those whales consume king salmon (Chinook salmon / Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) that live part of their lives in Southeast Alaska waters, and king salmon are highly prized by fishermen. Commercial trollers, mostly in small boats, use hooks and lines to catch kings to sell.

McDowell Group, now known as McKinley Research Group, has estimated that 1,450 fishermen — including crew and boat owners — participate in the Southeast troll fishery, which has an economic impact of $85 million.About 44% of that economic activity is from the king salmon harvest, McDowell estimated.

Author/Source: James Brooks / Alaska Beacon

Probotic, a leading developer of autonomous underwater technology, announces the successful acquisition of a patent for its innovative cleaning system for fish farms. The patent covers marine and land-based fish farms. It represents a significant milestone for the company, which has been working tirelessly to create a system that efficiently cleans fish pens autonomously while minimizing damage to the pens and fish.

Probotic’s innovative system combines advanced robotics and artificial intelligence to clean fish pens autonomously and efficiently.

Source: FishFocus | read the full article here

On 2 March, Ghana announced its commitment  to achieving 100 percent transparency across its commercial fisheries by 2025.

The announcement came less than a year after the European Commission issued a second yellow card to the West African nation, a warning that could result in the banning of its products from the European marketplace.

Ghana will install video cameras, remote sensors, global positioning systems, and electronic monitoring system hard drives on fishing boats to ensure activities are effectively monitored and valuable data collected.

Author:  Bhavana Scalia-Bruce / SeafoodSource | read the full article here

The European Commission has outlined a new package of measures to improve the sustainability of the trading bloc’s aquaculture and fishery sectors.

The main objectives are to promote the use of cleaner energy sources and reduce dependency on fossil fuels, as well as reducing the sector’s impact on marine ecosystems.

The Commission said the proposals will be implemented gradually to help the sector adapt.

Author: Vince McDonagh / FishFarmer | read the full article here

Crabbers across Southeast Alaska set out Feb. 12 for the region’s commercial tanner crab fishery, facing reportedly low prices, but a strong stock estimate.

Fifty six boats registered for the season, which began a few weeks after Kodiak crabbers went on strike over low prices. Kodiak processors offered around $3 per pound, according to a report in journalist Nat Herz’s newsletter, Northern Journal. That’s below half of last year’s prices, which climbed up to $8.

“We haven’t received any fish tickets so I don’t have what the price is this year but there have been other published articles that have stated it will be less,” state fisheries biologist Zane Chapman said in an email to the CVN, referring to the Southeast fishery.

Fisheries managers are keeping the season open for an additional day, they announced right before the opener. That means “core” areas, like Berner’s Bay, were open for six days; they closed on Sunday. “Non Core” areas, including much of the Lynn Canal, were open through noon Feb. 23. Some other areas will stay open until the end of March.

Source: chilkatvalleynews (read complete article here)

Abanca negotiates with the Canadian Cooke as a new "industrial partner" for Nueva Pescanova |  The talks are “very advanced” | The operation would strengthen the margins of the Galician firm with more volume

With subsidiaries in the United States, Spain, Chile, Scotland, Australia, Honduras, Nicaragua, Argentina and Uruguay, the Cooke Group is one of the world's leading companies dedicated to the cultivation, processing and marketing of salmon and also to the fishing activity.

Company reportedly buying majority stake in multinational fishing enterprise Nueva Pescanova employs 11,000 people in 18 countries but has a net debt of about $450 million default.

Cooke Seafoods is not saying anything, but reports of the Atlantic Canadian company’s quest for a majority stake in a Spanish fishing company are making headlines around the world.

According to the company's latest annual report on March 31, 2022, Nueva Pescanova's fishing fleet has more than 60 vessels, operating in the Southern Hemisphere, fishing for red shrimp and hake in South America, and prawns, hake and kingklip in Africa.

Source: SaltWire

Companies of the FOR Group joined the Fishery Shipowners Association (ASF)  is talking about uniting on the principles of approaches to the renewal of fishing vessels.

The FOR® Group operates in the Northern Fisheries Basin and in the conventional areas of the world's oceans, fishes in the Atlantic Ocean and the Barents Sea, annually providing about 170 thousand tons of WBR. For the FOR® Group, under the investment quota program, a series of three processor trawlers with a length of over 80 meters is being built, the first of which was handed over to the customer in early February of this year. With the commissioning of the new vessel, the current fleet is 14 large and medium-sized vessels.

According to a Fishnews correspondent, the list of participants in the ASRF now includes LKT Company, Starfish, NPO Antlantrybflot, and Fishery Company Rybflot-FOR.

Initially, the association included the structures of the RRPK, in January 2022 companies of the Norebo group joined the merger.

Source: Federal Agency for Fishery