The Association of Responsible Krill Fishing Companies (ARK) is using fishing vessels to monitor the status of the krill population around South Georgia.

When the seas around Antarctica freeze, the krill fishing fleet seeks the open waters around South Georgia to continue its operations. To protect the rich fauna in the region, this winter fishery is highly regulated, incorporating a precautionary quota, use of marine mammal exclusion devices, scientific observers and a 30km no-take protection zone around the island.

The British Antarctic Survey conducts annual at-sea surveys for krill, as well as studies on the foraging behaviour and breeding performance of land-based marine predators. 

Source: Worldfishing | Read the full article here

AKVA group was on Sunday 10th of January the subject of a cyber-attack, and several key systems are currently down. The company cooperates with relevant Norwegian authorities and partners to obtain an overview of the situation and to limit the spread and damage of the attack. AKVA does not yet know the full extent of the situation, and it is too early to indicate the operational and financial impact, as well as timing to resolve the situation.

Dated: 11 January 2021
AKVA group ASA

Salmon farmer SalMar has applied for permission to site its planned Smart Fish Farm (SFF) in an area of open sea between 30 and 70 miles off the Norwegian coast.

SalMar, which co-owns Scottish Sea Farms, is applying for the site to be approved for a maximum permitted biomass of 19,000 tonnes, which is what the SFF is dimensioned to produce.

In 2019, the SalMar subsidiary MariCulture AS received a commitment for eight development permits for testing the technology in the SFF concept, and it is this facility that is planned to be established on the site, the Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries announced in a statement on Friday.

Source: fishfarmingexpert | Read the full article here

On 8 January 2021, the EU and Greenland concluded negotiations for a new Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreement (SFPA) and a new Protocol that will strengthen their cooperation in the fisheries sector for the next four years with the possibility of a two-year extension.

The agreement is a new important milestone in the long-standing bilateral cooperation between the EU and Greenland in fisheries and renews their commitment in promoting a sustainable use of marine resources. This is the only mixed Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreement (SFPA) in the North Atlantic, and the third most important agreement in place for the EU in financial terms.

Source: The Fishing Daily | Read the full article here

No one was injured when a 25m long feed barge sank at Reyðarfjörður in Eastern Iceland.

There were severe weather conditions with strong winds when the feed barge “Munnin”, owned by the salmon farming company Laxar, sank at half-past four last night on Sunday.

The Coast Guard ship “Thor” is said to have arrived at the incident site last night, but could not prevent the feed barge from sinking.

10,000 litres of diesel fuel.There weren’t any people on board the vessel when it went down.

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

A new feeding system based on passive acoustics and artificial intelligence may improve the sustainability of the aquaculture industry.

Called the Smart System for Feeding Control (SICA), it is a non-invasive, passive acoustic system which consists of two modules: a data logger and a control unit. The data logger, which is deployed in sea cages, acquires the data through the passive acoustic sensor, which is then transmitted via the wireless communication module. The control unit then applies the machine-learning algorithms to the data allowing it to make decisions about the feeding process.

Source: The Fish Site | Read the full article here

Seafood exporters in Scotland have complained that “unnecessary” post-Brexit red tape is holding up lorry shipments of fresh fish to Europe.

Difficulties and errors in competing the forms that are now required for export to the EU and a shortage of vets to provide export health certificates, together with IT problems for the customs authorities in France, have been holding up consignments. It is taking longer to obtain export health certificates for both farmed salmon and vessel caught fish. The delays follow the chaos created by the pre-Christmas travel ban which was temporarily imposed by France response to increasing Covid-19 cases in the UK.

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

After having first made plain their disappointment at the deal reached by the UK government on fishing in its negotiations with the European Union, UK federations have had a breathing space to take stock of the situation.

‘In the wake of the agreement reached with the EU on Christmas eve, our immediate task was to blunt the Government’s attempts to present the outcome on fisheries as a famous victory’ an NFFO spokesman commented.

‘In Parliament and right across the media the country and the world, through the Federation’s efforts, was made to understand that, in echoes of 1973, the UK fishing industry had again been sacrificed for other national objectives.

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

Ventisqueros has developed alliances and initiatives that encourage the reuse of different types of waste, to reduce waste shipments to landfills.

“We ended the year with a beach cleaning in Calamaco, located in the Comau Fjord of the Hualaihué commune, where collaborators from different areas of our company participated. During several days in December, we cleaned an area of around 650 linear meters of beach and collected more than 25 maxi-bags of waste ”, said Giulianna Nordetti, Head of Social Commitment at Ventisqueros. "It was a great job, which shows the commitment we have as a company to sustainability: now with classified waste, we are going to recycle as much as possible through companies specializing in this."

Source: MundoAcuicola | Read the full article here

King SoleTM, the 'premium' aquaculture sole weighing more than half a kilo produced by Stolt Sea Farm (SSF), and launched three years ago, will be available in select Auchan stores starting later this January.

And with forecasts, in addition, that in the coming months the supermarket chain can expand its expansion nationwide. This was announced by Stolt Sea Farm, whose president Jordi Trias, has been pleased to be able to contribute to Auchan being able, in this way, "to expand its range of 'premium' farmed fish produced in a sustainable way. 

Source: iPac.acuicultura | Read the full article here