In the winter of 2015, rare toxic algal blooms began spreading across Hong Kong waters.

Lee Muk-kam’s floating fish farm in the sheltered bay off Tai Po’s Sam Mun Tsai was one of the mariculture zones hardest hit by the onslaught.

By spring of the following year, 8,000 Sabah groupers, which he had raised from fry, had been wiped out by the oxygen-depleting blooms, also known as “red tides”.

“That was almost a million dollars in losses,” he said, pointing to a lone grouper frolicking in one of his sea cages. “Only one survived and, surprisingly, it is still alive.”

Source: SCMP

Government will soon supply suitable and appropriate fishing nets at a reduced price to fishermen in the country, the Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture, Mrs Elizabeth Afoley Quaye, has announced.

She said there was the need to support the fisheries sector, which provided economic livelihood to a large number of Ghanaians, particularly those in the coastal and inland enclaves, estimated to be about 10 per cent of the total population, as envisaged by the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8.

Mrs Quaye disclosed these at the Sixth National Policy Summit, which opened in the Central Regional Capital, Cape Coast, on Sunday.

Source: All Africa

ATHENS - Greek and Dutch divers have removed two tonnes of discarded plastic fishing nets from the seabed in northern Greece, where they posed a risk to local marine life, including a rare endangered species of Mediterranean seahorse.

The nets from the coastal region of Stratoni will be recycled into yarn to create products like socks, sportswear, swimwear, and carpets, according to the Healthy Seas organization, which works in the North, Adriatic and Mediterranean seas to clear waste.

Since 2013 Healthy Seas has removed 453 tonnes of abandoned nets from the seabed. Because they are made of non-biodegradeable plastic, they could remain in the sea for hundreds of years. Virtually invisible, marine life can easily become entangled.

Source: Reuters

The demand within the global market for aquaculture vaccines market has been rising on account of advancements in the field of fish farming. Aquaculture has emerged as a key commercial industry for several nations and regions. This has led the regional territories to heavily invest in harbouring aquatic life. Moreover, the return on investments gathered from aquaculture vaccines has also given a thrust to the growth of the global aquaculture vaccines market. There have been several analytic tests and experiments to study the response of aquaculture to various forms of vaccines. The aquaculture vaccines framework has been developed after thorough research and development. Hence, the global aquaculture vaccines market endows commendable opportunities for growth in recent times.

Aquaculture is a significant part of the ecosystem, and it largely affects the balance of the earth. Hence, there is a dire need to protect aquatic life from external and internal threats of plague and disease. Therefore, the investment dynamics of the global aquaculture vaccines market have been improving in recent times. Moreover, governments have shown a sense of responsibility towards preserving aquatic life in their respective territories. This factor has promoted extensive growth within the global aquaculture vaccines market. The forces of supply, demand, and distribution within the global aquaculture vaccines market play an important role in determining market growth.

Source: Technology Market

Norway's leading marine scientists have poured cold water on claims that fish farming may be to blame for the devastating algae outbreak, which has destroyed almost eight million salmon in the north of the country during the past ten days.

The industry has been angered by suggestions from some environmental and green groups that the high concentration of fish farms could be a major factor.

So far more than 7.7 million fish worth at least two billion kroner have suffocated in the outbreak.

But Norway’s highly regarded Institute of Marine Research put out a statement yesterday saying that a review of the situation in the affected areas (Nordland and Troms) ‘shows that farming is probably not a causative factor’.

Source: Fish Farmer Magazine

HÀ N?I - Thousands of fishing boats have been grounded due to new of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) regulations.

According to Decision No 1481 of MARD, vessels less than 15 metres in length are not allowed to fish offshore, Ti?n Phong (Vanguard) newspaper reported.

Furthermore, coastal provinces must also catch fish in accordance with licences issued by the central Government.

Source: Viet Nam News

A crew of six escaped injury after their fishing boat collided with a tanker off the Ayrshire coast.

A lifeboat was launched after Belfast Coastguard received reports of the collision five nautical miles south west of Troon, at 03:55.

The bow of the 17m fishing boat was damaged in the incident and an RNLI lifeboat escorted it back to Troon harbour.

A marine protection vessel which was in the area assisted the tanker.

Source: BBC

A recent report published by Persistence Market Research prognosticates that the global market for aquaculture feed and pharmaceuticals would be valued at USD 1,068.9 mn by 2025 registering a CAGR of 7.3% over 2017-2025. The report, titled “Aquaculture Feed and Pharmaceutical Market: Global Industry Analysis 2012–2016 and Forecast 2017–2025,” portrays that the cumulative revenue generated by the market is projected to increase 1.8X over the forecast period from 2017-2025.

The paced development of new vaccines for aqua life and a rampant rise in the number of market players in this segment, especially in the developed countries like the U.S. and Canada, has augmented the global market for aquaculture feed and pharmaceuticals. The global aquaculture feed and pharmaceutical market is categorized in the report on the basis of product types into pharmaceuticals and biologics and medicated feed. Of these, the segment of pharmaceuticals and biologics is expected to be the dominating one in terms of revenue, registering a CAGR of 7.7% over 2017-2025 to outdo all other product types. Over the forecast period medicated feed is approximated to reach a CAGR of 6.6% in terms of revenue. On the front of market segmentation by species, shrimps and carps would fare the highest CAGR of 7.7% over 2017-2025.

Source: Best Market Herald

Catching fish in the current fishing campaign in Angola is expected to see an estimated reduction of around 30% for a total of 230,000 tonnes, said the national director of Fisheries.

António Barradas said that the reduction of approved fishing quotas aims to prevent the extinction of marine species and halt the increase in unemployment among operators.

The Ministry of Fisheries and the Sea expects that 150,000 tonnes of sardines and 80,000 horse mackerel will be caught, 50,000 tonnes of which will be Cunene horse mackerel and 30,000 will be Cape horse mackerel.

Source: Maca Hub

Australian aquatic ecologists say the National Carp Control Plan (NCCP) falls short on safety and efficacy while calling for more research and funding before the deadline at the end of 2018.

Researchers were investigating whether a species-specific herpes virus, Cyprinid herpesvirus-3, could reduce numbers of European carp in the Australian waterways where the pest was detrimental to the native environment.

At the end of last year researchers were given a 12-month extension to analyse some of the research gaps identified.

Source: ABC