Phillips Foods plans to broaden its product range to include snow crab and lobster following the acquisition of two seafood companies in Eastern Canada.

The Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A.-based crabmeat specialist recently acquired the Pêcheries Bas-Caraquet Fisheries facility in Bas-Caraquet, New Brunswick, as well as the assets of South Shore Seafoods in a restructuring deal encompassing multiple plants in the province of Price Edward Island as well as holding tanks in Nova Scotia.

Author: CLiff White / SeafoodSource l Read the full article here

The Maldivian Civil Court has ordered the confiscation of a neighboring Sri Lankan fishing boat for illegal fishing in Maldivian waters.

In addition, Civil Court Judge Ahmed Rasheed fined the ship's owner, PSS Fernando, 700,000 MVR for violating international law.

Sri Lankan fishing boat ordered to be confiscated by Civil Court. | Photo: Ministry of Fisheries -->

The court ordered the owner of the fishing boat, “Sudhisa Putha 2,” to pay the fine within 14 days for attempting to illegally fish in Maldivian territory.

In addition to a fine and confiscation of the vessel, the judgment also ordered the handover of all equipment used in illegal fishing to the Ministry of Fisheries.

Source: The Maldives Journal

IFFO’s Members Meeting took place in Miami from the 16th to the 17th of April, gathering 220 delegates from 29 countries, representing the fishmeal and fish oil sector, the aquaculture and nutraceutical industry as well as scientists and certification program representatives.

At a time when the first anchovy season is starting in the North-Centre of Peru, the speakers shared positive expectations for a rebound in fishmeal and fish oil production to take place in 2024 after last year being marked by the El Nino / La Nina phenomenon.

With 20 speakers, the emphasis was very much on market trends and science and how evidence-based considerations can help frame the understanding of the sector and its contribution to the global food system.

“Everything starts with facts and data. These have to be our North star to support informed decision making in a wide range of fields such as fishery management, traceability, mitigation of environmental impacts, enforcement of labor rights” stated Petter Martin Johannessen, IFFO's Director general at the end of the meeting.

Fresh salmon prices hit an all time record in Norway last week, although there are signs the surge could be over.

They soared to NOK 123.28 per kilo during week 15, an increase of NOK 3.34 per kilo or 2.2% on the previous week.

The official figures from Statistics Norway are generally an average so some fish could be higher while other smaller salmon may be below that level.

The trend continued upward, but later reports indicate prices are starting to come back down.

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

Andfjord Salmon, which is building the first phase of a 40,000-tonnes-per-year land-based fish farm in Norway, is to commence concrete works for four large pools ahead of schedule, the company said in an operational update today.

The salmon farmer already has one completed pool at Kvalnes on the island of Andøya that it has used as proof of concept and to produce a generation of fish that had a 97.5% survival rate.

For the current build-out phase, Andfjord Salmon will complete four pools, bringing the total to five

Source: fishfarmingexpert l Read the full article here

Foss has previously served as Director General at the Norwegian Ministry of Fisheries.

Management consulting and executive search firm Seafood People has appointed Torben Foss, former Deputy Director General of Fisheries and partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) to the company’s Global Executive Advisor Network (GEAN).

The GEAN is comprised of senior seafood executives with subject matter expertise who partner with Seafood People to execute global projects and client initiatives.

Source: Salmon Business l Read the full article here

After 19 months, the process of setting the price of 30% of the shares of Camanchaca Pesca Sur S.A., belonging to the Biobío Group, was concluded, which in September 2022 exercised its option to sell them.

After a process that took 19 months since the option to sell 30% of Camanchaca Pesca Sur S.A. It was exercised by Grupo Bio Bio, belonging to the Stengel family; Camanchaca S.A. announced that the price setting had been completed, and the signing of the contracts and transfer of the shares was completed, leaving it as the sole owner of this subsidiary.

Source: aqua.cl l Read the full article here

Once again alarms are going off among bottom trawlers due to a new offensive that aims to expel them from marine protected areas (MPA). On the one hand, the NGOs Oceana, Seas at Risk and the Marine Conservation Society are once again demanding that at the end of this year it be banned in those areas "with ecologically important characteristics of the seabed" and in 2030, in all. Without deadlines, the lawsuit is signed for France by the NGO Bloom. On the other hand, the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) relativizes the consequences for trawlers. 

Source: La Voz de Galicia l Read the full article here

STEFANESTI/URK – Fish wholesaler Dayseaday Group from the Van Veen family has opened its new branch in Romania.

The Van Veen family flew to Bucharest on Friday morning together with a delegation of Flynth accountants, a total of 42 people from Urk. We flew back again on Saturday.

At the opening, CEO Jelle van Veen said he was proud of his team and thanked manager Bogdan Manoliu, who is also a co-shareholder of Dayseaday Romania. “We have been able to realize a beautiful factory. The most modern in Romania, with a storage capacity of 2,500 pallets for freezing in two cells and several cold rooms. We also have a freezer for meat storage.”

In 2012, Dayseaday took over the (Dutch) fishing company Oceanis Seafood on the south side of Bucharest. Last year, work began on a new building measuring 100 by 30 meters on the northern ring road. What is new is that fresh packaging (MAP) is now also available for the retail market. The number of employees has grown to thirty. The production area measures 450 square meters. 

Most of the fish at Dayseaday Romania is imported and concerns farmed fish. Runners are sea bass, sea bream, salmon and farmed shrimps. Hake is the most important wild-caught species.

Source: Visserijnieuws (translated from original in Dutch)

OSTEND - The rising squid has replaced the more traditional fish species as the most landed fish species in Belgium.

The Flanders Statistics network reports this based on figures from the Agriculture & Sea Fisheries Agency. The total fish supply by Flemish sea fisheries fell by 6 percent to 15,921 tons.

Last year, 2,620 tons of squid were landed, 16 percent more than in 2022. Plaice (2,314 tons) and sole (2,260 tons) occupied places two and three. Rays and tub gurnard (Chelidonichthys lucerna) complete the top five supply. Shrimp and langoustines disappeared from the top ten of supply quantities.

Incidentally, for convenience, squid and cuttlefish appear to have been added together in the Belgian statistics. The leading role is reserved for the cheaper cuttlefish.

Sole is and remains by far the most important fish species for the Belgian trawl fleet, worth 39.4 million euros (44 percent of the total landing value). Last year, squid totaled 10.6 million euros, plaice for 7.3 million euros and monkfish for 5.7 million euros.

Last year, 3,700 tons of squid and 1,100 tons of cuttlefish were landed at the Dutch fish auctions. The plaice supply at the Dutch fish auctions was 12,000 tons.