Aker BioMarine ASA will publish its interim report for 3th quarter of 2012 on Monday, 5 November, 2012. Representatives from the company will be present.

The presentation will be held at: Felix Konferansesenter, Bryggetorget 3, Aker Brygge, Oslo. The presentation begins at 08.30 a.m. All interested parties are welcome to attend. No advance registration is required.

Aker BioMarine will submit its 3th quarter 2012 interim report to the Oslo Stock Exchange prior the 08.30 presentation. Presentation material will be available here and here.

The Global Aquaculture Alliance (GAA) on 31 Oct. presented a Lifetime Achievement Award to Dr. Chingchai Lohawatanakul, president of Charoen Pokphand Foods PLC, during the organization's GOAL 2012 conference.

Dr. Lin was recognized by the GAA for his contributions to the success of Thailand's thriving aquaculture industry as well as his contributions to responsible aquaculture worldwide. CP Foods is Thailand's largest agro-industrial and food conglomerate and is also one of the world's largest shrimp producers.

For more information read here

AKVA group achieved revenues of NOK 202.0 million (NOK 226.7) in the third quarter of 2012. EBITDA was NOK 12.5 million (NOK 22.0) and EBIT was NOK 4.2(NOK 13.8) in the quarter.

"We achieved operational and financial performance in accordance with our expectations in the third quarter. Activities were influenced by low salmon prices impacting investments by our customers, especially in Chile. Total order inflow for the group ended at the same level as in Q3 last year. We experienced growth in order inflow in the very end of the quarter and we see positive signals in the market, especially in the Nordicregion", says CEO of AKVA group ASA Trond Williksen.

The Scientific Committee of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), held in Spain from 1 to 5 October, recently published its provisional report concerning the state of bluefin tuna in the East Atlantic and Mediterranean Sea. It states that the spawning stock biomass showed clear signs of increase although both the speed and magnitude of this upward trend remain uncertain.

The Committee recognized that the increase is likely a reflection of positive outcomes from recent management measures and noted that maintaining the current Total Allowable Catch (TAC) (12,900 t) or at the 2010 TAC (13,500 t) under the current management scheme will likely allow the stock to increase.

TAC for next year will be determined at ICCAT's annual meeting scheduled for 12-19 November in Morocco based on the recommendation by the Scientific Committe

IFS and The Packaging Association of Canada (PAC) announce the release of the new IFS PACsecure standard for primary and secondary packaging material certification.

IFS PACsecure was developed to provide packaging manufacturers the ability to assure their customers that their products are food-safe and they have processes in place to significantly reduce potential issues related to food safety around packaging materials. The standard offers all of the benefits IFS certification provides its more than 12,500 certified IFS Food, IFS Logistics, IFS Broker, and IFS Cash & Carry users, as well as the expert industry knowledge and technical strength of the PAC membership – packaging and food manufacturers.

IFS PACsecure is now available to download for free at either here 

The Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) program welcomes Northern Harvest Sea Farms as its first certified "three-star" salmon operation in North America.

To achieve the three-star status, Northern Harvest partnered with Skretting Canada, whose two feed mills in St. Andrews, New Brunswick, and Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, were recently certified to the BAP standards. For its farm star, Northern Harvest has seven BAP-certified farm sites in eastern Canada. Their harvests of fish are processed by Northern Harvest Sea Farms' certified plant in New Brunswick, which comprises the third star in the BAP retail mark that will appear on Northern Harvest products.

"Northern Harvest is moving ahead as a leader in salmon certification," Best Aquaculture Practices Vice President of Development Peter Redmond said. "From plant to farms and now feed, the company is working hard to operate in a responsible way. We look forward to more and more facilities -- both in North America and elsewhere -- following their path."

One of the largest retailers in Austria is calling on canneries in the PNA countries to start producing MSC certified skipjack tuna. The public action coincides with a statement issued last week by Anova Seafood, a major distributor of fresh and frozen fish that urged tuna boat owners operating in the PNA region to start catching sustainably.

Spar Austria, which has about 2,800 stores in Austria and six other European countries, initially expected to have the sustainable PNA canned skipjack tuna – cobranded as “Pacifical” – on its shelves in the summer, but both fishermen and processors in the region are not cooperating and the first shipment has yet to arrive.  For Spar canned skipjack tuna is one of their major fish products.

Back in December 2011, the Parties to the Nauru Agreement (PNA) free school purse seine skipjack fishery gained the approval of the highly-respected Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) eco-label. Nearly a year later, however, the fishery is still waiting for its Chain of Custody certification, which guarantees the MSC certified tuna is caught without fish-aggregation devices (FADs) and is kept separate from non-certified catch throughout the entire supply chain.

The lack of sustainable commitments from the local canneries and fishing companies means the future for MSC canned skipjack tuna is uncertain.

Four hundred salmon were dropped in P.E.I.'s Hay River Monday 29 Oct. in the hopes of restoring a healthy population of the fish there.

There have been no salmon in the Hay River, in the far northeastern corner of the province, for about 10 years. The effort to restore the fish in the river is coordinated by the Souris and Area Branch of the P.E.I. Wildlife Federation. Branch co-ordinator Fred Cheverie said there was little chance at this point of the fish returning on their own.

Source: CBC News

The southern bluefin tuna industry says new disease prevention methods are saving it AUD 20 million annually.

Tuna ranches off Eyre Peninsula in South Australia are injecting feed with a medicine commonly used to treat stomach parasites in humans.

The veterinary-approved technology was developed after tuna mortality rates rose by 10 per cent over six years.

Southern Bluefin Tuna Industry Association CEO Brian Jeffriess said the mortality rate had decreased to 2 per cent and the health of the fish had improved.

Source: ABC News

HONOLULU - The US Coast Guard, Monday 29 Oct. in Honolulu, presented the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council with an overview of the new federal safety examination requirements for commercial fishing vessels. USCG Fisheries Enforcement Specialist Charlie Medlicott said the Coast Guard recognizes that these safety requirements may be inappropriate for small vessels fishing in Hawaii, American Samoa, Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI). The requirements would apply to all vessels owners who commercially fish beyond 3 nautical miles offshore, not only those who own a USCG documented commercial fishing vessel but also those who hold a State of Hawaii commercial marine license, for example.

The Council directed its staff to work with the USCG and affected fishermen in the Western Pacific Region to identify potential exemptions and equivalencies that are locally available and appropriate for the region’s fishing activities. The Council also directed its staff to work with the USCG on education and outreach on these issues.

Source: PNC