The buy-out of a Grimsby seafood factory has completed.

Long-standing Danish operator Esperson has acquired Iceland Seafood UK, with the Copenhagen-headquartered firm fulfilling its strategic ambition of securing a British foothold. The company’s largest market is with UK retailers, and having previously relied solely on imports from its European operations, the team is looking forward to processing closer to the consumer.

Now it will set to work on turning round the fortunes of the loss-making Grimsby site, where between 150 and 180 people are employed. Agreement on the sale was reached almost a month ago, with Espersen having pulled out of an initial swoop late last year - one of two then unnamed buyers interested after parent company Iceland Seafood International announced its intention to exit the UK market.

Source: BusinessLive

Offshore salmon farming company SalMar Aker Ocean says it has received approval for the location of its Smart Fish Farm in the Norwegian Sea.

The decision has come from the Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries. The Smart Fish Farm will be operated by Mariculture AS, a company wholly owned by SalMar Aker Ocean AS, which itself is jointly owned by seafood giant SalMar and marine engineering business Aker.

CEO Roy Reite said: “This is an important step forward in realizing the potential of offshore aquaculture.”

He added: “The next important milestones for us are the clarifications related to ground rent tax and the regulatory framework for offshore aquaculture.”

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

As the seafood industry, conservation organizations, and community advocates work together to support healthy fisheries and stable communities, the laboratories for designing new approaches or adapting existing models are small fishing villages throughout the world, like El Rosario, Mexico.

El Rosario is a community of approximately 2,000 people in Baja California, Mexico, that is “dominated by fishing and agriculture,” said Alesa Flores Guzman, a curator with Comunidad y Biodiversidad (COBI)

Author: Ned Daly / SeafoodSource | read the full article here 

The fish covered by tariff preferences increases to 23 million kilos and has increased from: 20,240,053, in 2022 to 23,751,796 kilograms entering the Spanish market. In this direction, the general secretary of Cepesca, Javier Garat, has stressed that “the presence of tariff preferences for fishing species in the Spanish market depends on specific trade agreements between Spain, the European Union (EU) and other countries or regions ( ACP, Free Trade agreements).

Source: EuropaAzul | Read the full article here

AECOC has brought together the agents of the food value chain at the 11th Meeting Point Against Food Waste, held in the CaixaForum Madrid space. At the opening of the event, the general director of the Food Industry of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAPA), José Miguel Herrero, highlighted that "Spain is on the front line of the EU in reducing food waste." Ministry figures indicate that household food loss fell by 6.2% in 2022.

Source: IndustriasPesqueras | Read the full article here

As of November 2023, renowned executive Derek Kohn will take over the role of Managing Director for BioMar Chile, with the aim of further advancing the company’s commitment to sustainable and innovative aquaculture.

As a well-known Chilean aquaculture executive, Derek Kohn will strengthen the management of the Chilean business unit of BioMar. Together with the organisation, he will continue to drive the strategic goals that has positioned BioMar Chile as the industry leader in sustainable and efficient aquaculture feed solutions.

Source: FishFocus | read the full article here 

Pressing issues threatening the sustainability of living marine resources across the Caribbean were discussed at the 19th Session of the Western Central Atlantic Fishery Commission (WECAFC) held in Bridgetown, Barbados, earlier this month.

The hybrid meeting, which was organised and led by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), was attended by 110 delegates from 22 member countries and 11 partner organisations, signalling the highest number of delegates to ever attend in the history of this commission’s plenary meetings.

The delegates of the 19th session discussed the interim Caribbean Regional Management Plan for the Anchored Fish Aggregating Device Fishery (aFAD), and the associated guide for improved monitoring aFAD catches and assessment of aFAD impacts on stocks. They also reviewed the manual on aFAD Fisheries Governance with application to other Fisheries in the Wider Caribbean and the impacts of sargassum on marine resources in the region, a regional socio-economic and environmental developing issue.

The progress made in the strategic reorientation of the commission, the finalisation of the revised 2014 Rules of Procedures, opportunities for collaboration with the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), and other critical topics of potential implications for the fisheries in the region, among others two global instruments, the Marine Biodiversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) treaty, and the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies, were included on the comprehensive agenda for discourse.

In delivering opening remarks, Adrian Forde, Barbados’ minister of environment and national beautification, the green and blue economy, spoke on the significance of the meeting for Barbados and at large, the CARICOM countries, and acknowledged the considerable progress of WECAFC in the preparation of fisheries management advice, especially as it relates to the management of fisheries using anchored Fish Aggregating Devices (aFADs).

Source: The Gleaner

The competent authorities of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and Vietnam have expanded the list of Russian enterprises approved for the supply of fish products to domestic markets.

Thus, the KSA State Food and Drug Administration granted access to one canned fish manufacturer. In total, currently 40 Russian organizations have the right to export processed and unprocessed fish products to the Kingdom.

In addition, two fish processing enterprises were included in the list of importers by the competent authority of Vietnam. Thus, 128 Russian companies have been approved for supplies to the republic.

Rosselkhoznadzor will continue to work to expand the list of Russian enterprises that have the right to export to Saudi Arabia and Vietnam.

Source: Rosselkhoznadzor - Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance 

Between January and July 2023, Ecuador earned more from exporting shrimp than from selling crude oil, as reflected by figures from the Central Bank (ECB). Sales of the crustacean meant 4,396 million dollars for the nation, while the export of Oriente and Napo crude oil, the only two types of oil that the country exports, represented 4,082 million. The difference is USD 314 million.

However, hydrocarbon activity continues to underpin the Ecuadorian economy, since the aforementioned figures do not include the export of Fuel Oil 6, the only petroleum derivative that Ecuador has exported this year. Sales for this product represented an additional 679 million dollars.

Regarding shrimp, the country sold 707 metric tons in the first seven months of 2023. In the same period, but in 2022, the country sold 618 tons. Although more was exported this year, there was less money, since last year's amount amounted to 4.5 billion dollars.

The National Chamber of Aquaculture states that China is the largest consumer of Ecuadorian shrimp. In fact, 61% of crustacean exports go to that country. 17% of exports go to European nations and 16% to the United States. American and Asian countries buy the rest of the production.

Source: ecuavisa

Un mantenimiento sencillo, una vida útil más larga para el aceite y la maquinaria, menos emisiones de CO2 y una solución económica y atractiva para astillero y armador. “Parecía demasiado bueno para ser verdad cuando al astillero de Karstensens Shipyard, en Dinamarca se les presentó GreenOil por primera vez”, explican desde la empresa danesa, consolidada como proveedora de soluciones de filtración para combustible, motores, aceite de lubricación, sistemas hidráulicos, propulsores y bocinas, y cuyos sistemas están presentes en los últimos buques en construcción en las instalaciones del reconocido astillero danés, en Skagen.

Fuente: IndustriasPesqueras | lea el artículo completo aquí