BRITAIN could find itself embroiled in another ‘cod war’ after Brexit if it expels foreign boats from its waters, the European Union has warned.

Fishing communities the length and breadth of the UK have repeatedly called for European trawlers to be kicked out after the UK leaves the bloc while fishermen on the continent have threatened to retaliate with a blockade of ports. Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic, whose country holds the rotating six-month presidency of the EU, made clear the team of negotiators who will kick off talks with Britain after January 31 will push for continued access. Mr Plenkovic said: “We want to avoid any fisheries skirmishes in the Atlantic. 

During the 1970s a series of cod wars between Britain and Iceland saw UK boats lose access to rich fishing area around the Nordic country. And last summer saw tensions flare in the English Channel between British fishermen and their French counterparts over scallops. Boats collided and stones were hurled form one vessel to another in a bitter dispute over the harvesting of the shellfish.

Source:  Laura O'Callaghan/express.co.uk | Read full story here

Souris, PE. - The Center for Aquaculture Technologies Canada (CATC) is pleased to announce that Dr. Jason Cleaversmith has accepted the position of Vice President leading the Health and Nutrition business unit and General Manager of Canadian Operations, effective January 1, 2020.

Dr. Cleaversmith brings more than 17 years of experience in aquaculture and comes to CATC from Nevis Marine where he provided consultancy services to the aquaculture industry, most notably as an industry expert with HATCH.Blue, an innovative aquaculture accelerator supporting a cohort of 13 technology companies on three different continents.

The former calf barn on the once working Damhof dairy farm has been transformed into a 17-tank shrimp barn with a permanent tropical temperature of 86 degrees. Inside the salt water tanks are thousands of Pacific white shrimp.

Their recycled water is checked twice a day, the tan color is from good bacteria introduced to mimic the ocean.  Automatic feeders drop pellets of food into the shrimp tanks every 20 minutes. The shrimp will go from about the size of an eyelash at arrival, to large shrimp within 3 to 4 months.

And, as a sold-out sign reveals, the community is buying them up at $20 per pound, just as quickly as they can be grown to size.

Source: 5ABC/kstp.com | Read full article here

Fisheries experts have called for salmon conservation to be made a national priority amid claims the species is approaching "crisis point".

They say environmental change and the impact of humans across the northern hemisphere is putting the fish at risk.

Conservationists are meeting politicians at the Scottish Parliament to discuss the issue.

The Scottish government said it was committed to developing a wild salmon strategy by September this year.

The Holyrood event includes a round table discussion and evening reception, sponsored by Michelle Ballantyne MSP.

Source: BBC | Read full story here

Not so long ago, the coast of Somalia was plagued by pirates.

At the peak of the problem, in 2011, there were 237 incidents of piracy off Somalia and the Gulf of Aden (the sea separating Somalia and Yemen), accounting for more than half of all such incidents worldwide. The pirates would often hold shipping crews hostage for ransom. Somali piracy cost an estimated $6.6 billion in 2011 in international naval activities, maritime security, insurance and other costs.

A couple of years earlier, a group of Danish businessmen and journalists decided they might be able to help. They founded an NGO called FairFishing to "turn Somali pirates into fishermen" and improve lives on the Horn of Africa by building up local businesses and creating jobs in sustainable fishing.

They weren't alone in seeing the potential of Somalia's fishing industry. The country has the longest coastline in Africa and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates it has the potential to sustainably catch 200,000 tons of fish per year, over six times more than the most recent catch estimates.

Source: Stephanie Bailey/CNN | Read full story here

The S.O.M.U. (Union of Maritime Workers United), as a result of not having received answers about the request for a basic salary increase, it started an activity stoppage starting at 6 pm last Friday, which affects the foal vessels, the employers of CAPA, CEPA, INDEPENDENT COMPANIES and other Chambers.

Given this situation, trade unionists and businessmen said that the Ministry of Labor would probably decree the mandatory conciliation on Monday.

The squid season begins on January 10 and for this the conflicts must be resolved beforehand so as not to cause damage to the workers and the fishing activity.

Source: infopuerto.com.ar

The Howth-based Wright seafood and restaurant group last year recorded a pretax loss due to €500,000 in redundancy costs.

Accounts filed by Ireland’s Eye Seafoods Ltd show it recorded a pretax loss of €102,589 in the 12 months to the end of January last after recording a pretax profit of €695,271 in the prior year. Revenues dipped by 6 per cent to €20 million. 

The directors state that they were pleased with the overall performance in the 12 months to the end of January last and noted that the loss was due to the once-off redundancy costs incurred.

Source: irishtimes.com | Read full article here

In an unusually strong statement, President Joko Widodo told reporters: “There is no negotiation when it comes to our sovereignty.”

The stand-off since last month in the northern Natuna islands, where a Chinese coastguard vessel has accompanied Chinese fishing vessels, has soured the generally friendly relationship between Jakarta and Beijing.

Indonesia’s chief security minister, Mahfud MD, told reporters that around 120 fishermen from the island of Java would be sent to the Natuna islands, some 1,000 km (600 miles) to the north.

“We want to mobilize our fishermen from the north coast and maybe in turn from other areas to operate by fishing there and other things,” Mahfud said.

Indonesia, the world’s fourth most populous country, said last week it was sending more warships to the area.

Source: Reuters | Read full article here

With the Gulf of Maine warming faster than 99% of the world’s oceans, it makes sense there would be impacts on fish stocks and the fishermen who depend on them for a living.

While several studies have demonstrated that marine inhabitants are on the move trying to find cooler water, the data on how climate change is affecting fishermen has been hard to come by. Other factors — cuts to fish quotas, the closing of more areas to fishing, and gear changes to rebuild fish stocks or protect endangered species such as the right whale — also could affect the fishing industry and disguise the impact of ocean warming.

Source: Cape Code Times

The 2018 implementation report of the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF) is now available. It summarises EMFF implementation across EU countries and sea basins according to specific topics during the period 2014-2018. The report is based on data provided by the Member States in 2019, covering the period from January 2014 to December 2018.

In terms of activities, the report shows that most funding went to data collection on fisheries and aquaculture activities (EUR 362.4 million committed) which helps improve stock assessments and understanding of the state of these sectors, including socio-economic conditions.  Control and enforcement (EUR 293.5 million committed) and productive investments in aquaculture (EUR 241.5 million) came in the second and third positions.

Source: European Commission