More than 80 American companies, organisations and individuals have signed a letter urging US senators to support a cross-party aquaculture bill.

The letter, delivered to all members of the Senate, the upper house of the US Congress, seeks backing for the Advancing the Quality and Understanding of American Aquaculture (AQUAA) Act, which is described as “a critical first step towards supporting sustainable marine aquaculture, and the future of US seafood production”.

Signatories include Stephanie Quah, managing director of Cargill Aqua Nutrition in north America; David Kelly, chief executive of fish farming equipment supplier InnovaSea; and Wally Stevens, executive director of the Global Aquaculture Alliance.

Source: fishfarmingexpert | Read the full article here

EUFA calls on the EU to negotiate taking into account that the British receive 26% more quotas for the stability principle

With the fisheries agreement still unresolved weeks after the United Kingdom consummates its divorce from the European Union, the eight countries that make up the European Fisheries Alliance (EUFA) believe that the time has come to end English privileges. Now that it seems "obvious" to them that London is trying to establish "a new baseline for the allocation of quotas in the many fish stocks shared" with the EU, they consider it "imperative" to end the British privilege that compensates it with 26% more than fees.

Source: The Voice of Galicia | Read the full article here

Vietnam hopes to achieve tuna exports to the EU of 123 million dollars. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) held on October 10 a conference on the promotion of chain tuna production and the prevention of dumping in the European market to strengthen activities against illegal fishing in the tuna industry and promote tuna exports to Europe under the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) in Khanh Hoa province.

The Vietnam Seafood Producers and Exporters Association (VASEP) said the EVFTA came into effect as of August 1 this year, with 220 seafood with base tax rates ranging from zero percent to 22 percent. 

Source: EuropaAzul | Read the full article here

All partners have signed their collaboration

The Nor-Shipping fair will return in 2021 from June 1 to 4 in Oslo and Lillestrøm. The organization has communicated that 75% of the exhibition space is already exhausted and confirms the expectations for the celebration of the event after 2020 in which no meeting of the sector has been held.

The organization reported yesterday that all partners have signed their participation. Thus, DNV GL and DNB will be the Main Partners, while Jotun, Wärtsilä, Astrup Fearnleys, KONGSBERG and Skuld will be Leading Partners.

Source: Industrias Pesqueras | Read the full article here

Simon Wadsworth has been selected by BioMar Group as its new global R&D director, effective as of 1 November.

In the role, Wadsworth will head the global R&D organization for BioMar Group, the company said in a press release. Wadsworth has more than 30 years of experience as “an important contributor to the aquaculture industry within feed and farming operations at Marine Harvest, Cermaq, and EWOS-Cargill,” BioMar said.

Over the course of his career so far, Wadsworth has built an extensive international resume and network, helping to create landmark product innovations within the nutrition and health sectors. He served most recently as the R&D manager for Cargill, leading its aqua R&D program.

Author: Madelyn Kearns / SeafoodSource | Read the full article here

Norwegian Seafood Research Fund (FHF) announces up to NOK 2.8 million to develop knowledge about survival in shrimp that have gone through selection systems in shrimp trawls.

There has been a lot of attention related to shrimp fishing in the south in recent years and the Directorate of Fisheries, together with the industry and the research communities, has tried to find solutions to the challenges this fishing has had, especially with regard to catching and potential dumping of small shrimp. Much work has been done to find good selection solutions, including the development of a new type of size-selective grate, the development of a new trawl construction with size selection also in the trawl bellows and testing of different designs of the trawl bag to ensure more open meshes while fishing. Some progress has been made, but there is still some development work to be done. In addition, there is great uncertainty associated with the survival of shrimp that are sorted and where they are sorted in the water mass. There are many indications that a large part of the sorting takes place in the surface when the trawl is picked up. Large differences in water temperature between fishing depth and surface in the summer could then affect survival. Also challenges in that the shrimp get a lot of mechanical stress when selected on the surface

The aim of the project is to gain knowledge about better / more gentle selection of undersized shrimp and survival in sorted shrimp.

Sub-goals:

• Estimate the relative proportion of shrimp that are sorted out at sea level for two alternative shrimp sacks.
• Develop a methodology for estimating the survival of shrimp that are sorted out at sea in different seasons.

(Article has been translated from original in Norwegian)

“During the pandemic we implemented a change that will be extremely positive for our salmon customers. It is a new operating model through which all salmon exported by LATAM Cargo is now exclusively served at Andesur Cargo. This will allow us to provide you with greater benefits in terms of service, quality and efficiency ”, is one of the points highlighted by the commercial manager of the company in Chile.

The greatest impact that all airlines worldwide have experienced has been the decrease in capacity as a result of the restriction to operate passenger flights. To put this in perspective, only during the month of October the LATAM Group plans to operate between 24% and 26% of its capacity compared to the same period in 2019.

Source: aqua.cl | Read the full article here

AI, QR-codes, and non-touch screens. It’s the end of staff service for Kura Sushi.

NHK reports that the Japanese conveyer belt sushi chain Kura Sushi has launched an outlet in Tokyo, where customers don’t have to interact or talk with any staff.

In light of the COVID-19, the chain has upped sanitary measures. That means customers can order and pay on a screen, without even touching it, due to sensors that can read finger movements. Furthermore, AI cameras pick up the number of plates consumed.

Source: SalmonBusiness | Read the full article here

The scion of the Cousteau dynasty discusses the benefits of restorative aquaculture, the importance of connecting consumers with aquatic farmers and her new initiative, Oceans 2050.

What inspired you to devote your life to the wellbeing of the oceans?

I probably have a bit of a unique perspective in the ocean space, because I've literally grown up in it. I could swim before I could walk and learned to dive with scuba from my grandfather, Jacques Cousteau, at the age of seven. 

Author: Jennifer Bushmann / The Fish Site | Read the full article here