The Financial Supervisory Service, South Korea's primary financial regulatory body, has issued management advisories to the National Federation of Fisheries Cooperatives (NFFC) after losing approximately 50.1 billion won (U$D 37.5 million) it poured into an alternative high-yield overseas investment, as revealed by industry sources on Sunday.

The NFFC is the umbrella organization for regional fishers' cooperatives throughout the country. It advocates for fishers and provides financial and insurance services through its member cooperatives. It also runs distribution plants, wholesale markets and other programs, as well as provides support programs for fishers.

The NFFC reportedly lost the entire principal amount of its investment without taking any further action, raising concerns over the federation's investment and risk assessment practices.

Upon evaluation, the FSS issued to the NFFC advisories concerning nine matters requiring caution and five matters needing improvement to bolster the federation’s due diligence procedures for foreign investments.

In 2018, the NFFC made an overseas investment valued at $40 million dollars. By 2021, due to borrower defaults, NFFC saw impairment losses of $21.3 million in 2020 and an additional $16.5 million in 2021.

Thus, the NFFC recorded the entire 50.1 billion won investment as a loss.[...]

Author/Source: Moon Joon-hyun / The Korea Herald

Fisheries and Oceans Canada drops Atlantic Catch Data, Javitech Atlantic

Fisheries and Oceans Canada has dropped two at-sea observer companies from a program to monitor the lucrative southwest Nova Scotia lobster fishery.

The decision "blindsided" one of the companies.

This season, DFO will rely solely on an inshore industry association to assess what other species are being accidentally captured — what's known as bycatch — in the lobster fishery from Halifax through the Bay of Fundy.

Observer companies Javitech Atlantic in Dartmouth and Halifax's Atlantic Catch Data have been part of the bycatch monitoring program since it was launched in 2018 to assess and demonstrate sustainability in the fishery worth half a billion dollars.

Both companies are out for now.[...]

Author/Source: Paul Withers / CBC News

In Primorye, 22,464 kgs of pink salmon caviar are being disposed of due to coliform bacteria found in it, reports the press service of the territorial department of Rosselkhoznadzor.

A sample from a batch of salmon caviar from Kamchatka was taken in Vladivostok, from where it was to be exported to China, Japan, Thailand, South Korea, Vietnam and EU countries.

In the laboratory of Rosselkhoznadzor, the products were examined for 32 indicators - radionuclides, toxic elements, microbiological indicators, parasitic purity and other standards. As a result of laboratory tests, E. coli bacteria were found in the caviar.

Experts identified the probable reason for this as non-compliance with production or storage technology, as well as violation of the conditions of its transportation.

Now the caviar must be removed from circulation and disposed of, Rosselkhoznadzor reported. It is not allowed to process such products into animal feed, the department added.

Author/Source:  Alexey Makeev/vetandlife (translated from original in russian)

The multinational wellboat company, Intership, has received its second boat from the new constructions it maintains with the prestigious Zamakona Shipyard, in Bilbao. The "Inter Scotia", a hybrid battery wellboat, has been designed by Salt Ship Design and has a cargo capacity of 2,500 m3.

The "Inter Scotia" shares similarities with her sister ship, the "Inter Atlantic", both designed with the objective of promoting fish welfare, handling and biosecurity.

Source: Salmonexpert | Read the full article here

U.K. grocery inflation dropped to its lowest level in more than a year, but consumers said they remain concerned about the prices they are paying for food, as well as the economy overall.

Grocery price inflation declined from 12.7 percent in July to 12.2 percent in August, according to the latest data from Kantar. In response, take-home sales from all grocery chains rose by 7.4 percent compared with the same period in 2022. August followed the ongoing six-month trend of falling grocery prices, but 12.2 percent is still not “a number to celebrate for many households,” 

Author: Christine Blank / SeafoodSource | read the full article here

The catch of Icelandic vessels in August 2023 was about 114,5 thousand tonnes, 10% more than in August 2022. Demersal catch was 32 thousand tonnes and pelagic catch was 78 thousand tonnes.

In the 12 month period from September 2022 to August 2023 the overall catch was 1.370 thousand tonnes which is 9% less than in the same period one year earlier.

Information about catch of fish which are published are preliminary figures. The data is gathered by the Directorate of Fisheries.

Source: FishFocus | read the full article here

The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food has published for public hearing and information the Draft Order that modifies Order APA/852/2023, of July 13, which establishes a Management Plan for fishing with purse seine gear in the Mediterranean Sub-Fishing Ground.

The objective is to gather the opinion of affected citizens, organizations or associations that may make observations or opinions. These must be addressed to calnacpm@mapa.es with the following reference: Allegations modifying the Fence Order in the Mediterranean with a deadline of October 2, 2023.

Source: Industrias Pesqueras | Read the full article here

The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food has published for public hearing and information the Draft Order that modifies Order APA/852/2023, of July 13, which establishes a Management Plan for fishing with purse seine gear in the Mediterranean Sub-Fishing Ground.

The objective is to gather the opinion of affected citizens, organizations or associations that can make observations or opinions. They should contact calnacpm@mapa.es with the following reference:

Source: EuropaAzul | Read the full article here

According to the Chilean Customs Agency, the export volume of frozen coho salmon (dress) from August 2022 to July 2023 was 138,319 tons, an increase of 1% from the same period last year. 

On the other hand, exports to Japan decreased by 13% to 89,070 tons. Its share was 64% of the total, 11 points lower than the same period last year. From 2014/15 to 2020/21, exports to Japan accounted for 80-90%, but in 2021/22, the share dropped to 75%, 14 points lower than in 2020/21, and continued to decline this year.

Source: Minato Yamaguchi (translated from original in japanese)

BEIJING,  More and more Pakistani aquatic product exporters enjoy zero tariffs and become aware of the details of the China-Pakistan Free Trade Agreement (CPFTA).

“We have registered new species under the second phase of CPFTA, which can help increase our exports to China,” said Ghulam Qadir, commercial counselor of the Pakistani Embassy in China.

At present, many Pakistani companies seek to deepen their cooperation with Chinese partners to increase their exports of aquatic products.

On September 13, a Pakistani agricultural delegation led by Shahid Firoz, representative of Pakistan Arfeen Group and vice chairman of Belt and Road Development Company, paid a visit to the China Aquatic Products Processing and Marketing Alliance(CAPPMA) in Beijing, China, and had an in-depth discussion on deepening China-Pakistan cooperation in aquaculture industry, CEN reported.[...]

Source: app.com.pk