PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — The herring fishing industry in the Northeast qualifies for federal assistance because its 2019 season has been declared a disaster.

The federal government has the ability to declare a “fishery disaster” when adverse circumstances in a fishery cause economic hardship. A recent scientific assessment of the herring population found that the species population has fallen, and tighter fishing quotas have made herring fishing more difficult.

Atlantic herring. Photo: NOAA.gov --->

U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo announced the disaster declaration on Monday. The fishery will be eligible for disaster assistance, and some fishery-related businesses might also qualify for federal loans, the commerce department said.

Herring fishermen caught more than 200 million pounds of herring (90,718 MT) as recently as 2014, but the 2019 catch was less than 25 million (11,339 MT). The fishery is based mostly in Maine and Massachusetts.

The commerce department said the allocation of money will be determined soon.

At Alex Sushi in Oslo, the chefs are constantly looking for quality and new culinary experiences. Engesund, a farmer from Fitjar, near Bergen, now delivers salmon fed on krill meal to the restaurant.

The chefs at Alex Sushi are masters at judging the quality of a salmon, and only get whole fish, never fillets. This is, among other things, to be able to make a thorough assessment of the quality of the skin, gills, marbling, elasticity, texture, appearance and taste.

Author: Aslak Berge / SalmonBusiness | read the full article here

Fishermen in Brittany, Normandy and the Pas de Calais are today taking action to disrupt cross-Channel traffic in a demonstration of their frustration over what they see as the UK dragging its heels in respecting agreements struck as Britain left the European Union almost a year ago.

‘We are not looking for handouts, we just want our licenses back,’ said CNPMEM President Gérard Romiti.

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

Seafood Industry Australia has absorbed the responsibilities of the National Aquaculture Council and launched a new aquaculture advisory committee.

SIA CEO Veronica Papacosta told SeafoodSource the NAC takeover is aimed at providing a united voice in Australia’s aquaculture sector, and that SIA’s resourcing and working relationship with the government will help the larger group better advocate for the seafood industry.

Author: Bernadette Carreon / SeafoodSource | read the full article here

The use of a particular oil-based vaccine to prevent pancreas disease (PD) in farmed salmon has been linked to the incidence of skeletal deformity in the fish.

The vaccines cause a transient defect in the vertebral growth zone, known as cross-stitch vertebrae, according to new research from Nofima. How the environment impacts further growth of the vertebrae will decide whether a deformity develops or not.

Source: The Fish Site | read the full article here

A report analysing the results of five years of independent sea lice monitoring in the Discovery Islands region of British Columbia has concluded that lice levels remained low both prior to and after the Canadian government’s December 2020 decision to close 19 salmon farms.

The decision was taken by the then fisheries minister Bernadette Jordan after discussions with First Nations who claimed the farms were sources of lice and disease that were affecting native wild salmon.

Source: Fishfarmingexpert | read the full article here

Scottish Sea Farms Managing Director Jim Gallagher has Yesterday stepped down from the board of the Sustainable Aquaculture Innovation Centre (SAIC) to give his undivided focus to the opportunities immediately ahead of the company.

The move comes just weeks before the 15 December deadline given by the Competition and Markets Authority for announcing its phase one decision on Scottish Sea Farms’ acquisition of Grieg Seafood Hjaltland UK Limited.

Gallagher’s involvement in SAIC dates back almost 10 years, when he was part of a multi-stakeholder advisory group tasked with scoping out the benefits of introducing an Innovation Centre dedicated to Scottish aquaculture.

When the Scottish Government later announced, in 2014, £11.1M of public funding to bring such a centre into being, Gallagher was appointed as one the founding members of the SAIC board, going on to serve two terms.

For Gallagher, stepping down from the SAIC Board in no way means stepping away from the work of the Innovation Centre itself.

In spite the numerous requests from the EU on all countries to take proportional effort and responsibility towards the good management and full recovery of bigeye tuna, according to European fishing industry body Europêche, which states that some countries have been increasing catches of tropical tuna stocks in the last decade, in stark contrast with the catch reductions for the EU fleet.

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

“The EU fish market” is a comprehensive analysis of the EU fisheries and aquaculture industry. If you want to discover more about what is produced/exported/imported, when and where, what is consumed, by whom and what the main trends are, then have a look at the EUMOFA yearly report.

The publication is available in English, French, Spanish, German and Italian. 

Effects of COVID-19 pandemic on EU consumers of fishery and aquaculture products in 2020

Source: The Fishing Daily | read the full article here

Icelandic fish farm company Háafell ehf has chosen AKVA group to supply its first feed barge.

The impressive AC450Comfortf barge will be put into operation at the company’s locations in the west of the country.

Gauti Geirsson, CEO of Háafell, said his company had more than 20 years’ experience in cod and rainbow trout farming and was now moving into an exciting development phase with salmon farming.

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