Covington, WA--The Northwest Aquaculture Alliance (NWAA) has issued an opinion piece regarding the recent lawsuit against NOAA by the Wild Fish Conservancy (WFC) that will effectively prevent Chinook salmon trolling in Southeast Alaska effective July 1, 2020. 

“We stand in solidarity with the Alaska Trollers Association, SalmonState, and the Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association in seeking comprehensive solutions facing the Southern Resident Killer Whale population and maintaining the already approved troll fishery,” said NWAA Board Member, Dr. Wally Pereyra, a pioneer in the Alaska groundfish fishery.  

In a direct challenge to WFC, Dr. Pereyra said, “If you really want to help the whale population, please consider withdrawing your lawsuit and preliminary injunction request, and instead work with all stakeholders to:

1. Take steps to increase hatchery Chinook production;
2. Continue efforts to restore riparian habitats and reduce ecosystem degradation to improve the

The North Sea Container Line (NCL) has received EUR 225,000 in grants from the Norwegian Coastal Administration.

North Sea Container Line, which offered to assist with the transport of salmon to Europe and the world during the beginning of the outbreak, has been given a six-figure grant to facilitate competitive short sea shipping.

The container shipping company will be to Stord in Central Norway and London, with the idea to transport fresh salmon to the English market.

Several salmon farming players are believed to have entered into cooperation with the project, but it would not comment who they were to SalmonBusiness.

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

The coronavirus pandemic has upended the seafood industry worldwide. Reykjavik, Iceland-based Niceland Seafood’s chairman and co-founder, Oliver Luckett, sees an opportunity to transform that turmoil into a revolution.

Faced with an industry-wide pivot to retail sales and individual packaging due to the shutdown of the U.S. foodservice sector, Niceland Seafood’s founder, Oliver Luckett, along with fellow founding partner and company CEO, Heida Helgadottir, decided to advance previously-hatched plans to launch new consumer packaged goods, including frozen products. And they have gone further by spinning out a new services company called DigiFresh, which they said aims to advance the industry through a networked solution and transform the seafood supply chain and the seafood-buying experience.

Author: Cliff White / SeafoodSource | Read the full article here

An Executive Order by President Donald Trump that is intended to kickstart offshore aquaculture in the United States has been welcomed by a seafood industry coalition promoting fish farming.

Stronger America Through Seafood (SATS) has been supporting efforts for an Aquaculture Act to cut through the red tape that has strangled aquaculture development in the US.

Bill DiMento, president of SATS and vice president of corporate sustainability and government affairs at seafood processor and distributor High Liner Foods, said: “The President’s Executive Order is an important step towards improving the competitiveness of the entire US seafood supply chain.

Author: Gareth Moore / fishfarmingexpert | Read the full article here

Jónas Thór Friðriksson has been appointed sales manager for Hampiðjan’s ropes and netting. He joins Hampiðjan after 20 years as sales manager of Ísfell’s trawl gear division, and his career began at Westman Islands company Netagerðin Ingólfur, where he trained in fishing gear technology and worked for 14 years.

‘I’m delighted and excited to be joining Hampiðjan. This is a leading company where everything is on a larger scale than I’m used to. As one of the parent company’s staff, my role is to sell the production of the Hampiðjan Baltic factory in Lithuania to subsidiary companies and branches around the world. I think there are 25 or 26 of these affiliates now, working across 42 sites, Jónas Thór Friðriksson said, adding that for the first month in the new job, coronavirus has ruled out spending much time with new colleagues.

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

The entity is made up of AquaChile, Cermaq, Mowi and Salmones Aysén.

Four salmonid producers decided to meet and form the Chilean Salmon Council. The union organization will be made up of AquaChile, Cermaq, Mowi and Salmones Aysén, and will focus, according to what the entity itself stated in a press release, on sustainability, environmental protection, and the promotion of a responsible and competitive industry. .

“In a first stage, the specific actions of the Chilean Salmon Council will be oriented to continue advancing in the sustainability of the industry in all areas, promote free competition and contribute to Chile becoming a world leader in this area, together with contributing and adding to the efforts of other organizations in the field. In the future, goals are added such as laying the foundations for a long-term aquaculture policy that allows for transparent, sustainable, and sustainable development, with respect for the natural and community environment, ”said the newly formed organization.

Source: auqa.cl | Read the full article here

The European fisheries association, Europêche, today echoed the STEFC's annual report on the progress of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP). This document "brings excellent news about the good progress in the state of fish stocks in the EU," says the organization, which exemplifies the drop in the number of overfished stocks in the Northeast Atlantic, which have dropped by 50 % since 2007.

“On average, for all the stocks evaluated in this area, the fishing pressure has been reduced by almost half in the last 20 years, reaching Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY) levels for most of them. As a consequence, fish stocks have increased significantly, reaching levels 50% higher in 2018 than in 2010, ”explains Europêche, who points out that, however,“ more efforts are still needed, particularly in the Mediterranean ”.

Source: Fishing Industries | Read the full article here

English aquaculture companies can apply for grants of up to a maximum of £ 10,000 per farm from the Fisheries Response Fund (FRF). This £ 10m fund, announced by Defra and HM Treasury on April 17, supports fishing and aquaculture companies that have been adversely affected by the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.

As the British Government explains, around £ 1 million has been allocated to the FRF to enable aquaculture companies to meet their operating costs.

The fund is being managed by the Marine Management Organization (MMO) on behalf of Defra (the British Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs).

Source: iPac.acuicultura | Read the full article here

Tuna giant known for its “Chicken of the Sea” brand also said that shutdown of Red Lobster chain contributed to EBITDA decline.

Seafood giant Thai Union posted its first-quarter results with operating profit up 49.9 per cent to EUR 43.6 million boosted mainly by tuna sales.

Though known for brands like John West, the Thai company also owns salmon companies such as the French distributor Europeenne De La Mer, Meralliance Armoric, Meralliance, Meralliance Poland as well as the Norwegian distributor Naco Trading.

The price of salmon saw some decline after a recent surge, it wrote. Salmon raw material prices in April were EUR 5.2/kg and EUR 6.3/kg overall for Q1 (up 19.9 per cent QoQ).

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

GRIEG Seafood has reported good price achievement at its Shetland operation during the start of this year.

Announcing its 2020 first quarter results today, Shetland produced a harvest of 2,047 tonnes, up from 1,788 tonnes a year ago. And it achieved an EBIT or operating profit per kilogramme of NOK 6.80 compared with a LOSS of NOK 13.93 in Q1 2019.

Grieg said the price improvement, however, had been set against reduced superior quality but offset by currency effects, adding:

Initiatives to improve biological performance, including more robust smolt, has increased the 12-month survival rate to 88 per cent (85 per cent in 2019). (There were) high sea lice pressure and treatments during the quarter, but also underlying cost improvements year-on-year.’ The company expects a second quarter harvest of 3,900 tonnes and a 17,000 tonne total for the whole of 2020.

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