The coronavirus has delivered a large blow to Vietnam’s pangasius sector, which was already hurting before the pandemic.

Vietnam has not recorded any COVID-19 deaths through the crisis, and the entire country has only seen around 300 cases of the disease due to the extensive preventative measures it took beginning in January. But while most of social and economic activities in Vietnam have been brought back to a “new normal” since late April, disruptions in foreign markets, tangled supply chains, and suppressed demand have hurt its seafood export sector, upon which the country’s pangasius traders depend heavily.

Author: Toan Dao / SeafoodSource | Read the full article here

“You’ve got to have some luck sometime”. Akaroa Salmon started to supply the international meal-kit company before the pandemic.

Many salmon sellers have lost up 95 per cent of their trade due to the shutdown of the HORECA trade.

New Zealand-based Akaroa Salmon had their bacon saved when it entered into an agreement with the meal-kit giant Hello Fresh before COVID-19 took hold. According to a press release, between July and September 2019, the company delivered 69 million meals to 2.6 million customers worldwide.

Source: SalmonBusiness | Read the full article here

RSPCA Assured today announced a three-phased return to in-person farm assessments, in a bid to continue safeguarding the welfare of its members and their animals as Covid-19 restrictions ease.

The certification body suspended in-person assessments on March 23, replacing them with virtual assessments carried out via live streaming through various platforms including WhatsApp, Google Meet and Google Hangouts.

More than half the salmon produced in Scotland is farmed in compliance with the certification body’s standards.

Source: fishfarmingexpert | Read the full article here 

Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada-based AC Covert is rolling out new seafood boxes available for home delivery in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island.

The seafood distribution company, which is owned by Cooke Inc., caters to retailers, restaurants, and the tourism and hospitality sectors, but has pivoted its sales focus due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“With the travel restrictions, we saw an opportunity to make it easier for people to buy seafood from our region,” Cooke Vice President of Public Relations Joel Richardson said. “We have been working hard to supply grocery stores, because in the Maritimes, seafood is a huge part of our culture, which brings comfort during challenging times. 

Author: Cliff White / SeafoodSource | Read the full article here

Spain’s tuna sector says that Europe needs to take a close look at the criteria for its imports of seafood from Chinese fishing fleetsas news about the degrading treatment of crews – including burials at sea – have sparked indignation among European operators.

The Spanish tuna fleet united under OPAGAC believes that the time has come for Europe to open a debate and reflect in depth on the criteria the EU has currently established for fish product imports from Chinese fleets, due to the latest information made public by NGOs and Asian media outlets, on the degrading treatment of their crews – including burials at sea of seamen who, allegedly, have fallen victim to COVID-19.

Author: Quentin Bates / FiskerForum | Read the full article here

The national program "To Eat Fish", which promotes healthy eating, attached to the Ministry of Production of Peru (Produce) reported that, so far in the state of emergency, it has managed to place 231,786 kilos of fish throughout the country . "In this way, the program also seeks to increase the supply of fishery resources in coordination with various actors in the fish production chain, such as artisanal fishermen and fish farmers," the authority said in a statement.

"We seek to generate in our population a culture of healthy eating based on fish, which is why we promote its consumption at least three times a week. These activities also represent support for local artisanal fishermen and fish farmers as soon as their production is commercialized, ”said Félix Fabián Puente de la Vega, executive coordinator of the national“ Eat Fish ”program.

Source: Fishing Industries | Read the full article here

The implementation of the Russian government’s ambitious plan to upgrade its national fishery fleet through an investment-quota incentive program – which ties quota allocations to investments in new ships at Russian shipyards – is likely going to be delayed, as companies in the country aren’t capable of constructing the vessels in timeframe outlined in the program's bylaws.

The incentive program was launched by the government in 2016, and allocates additional quotas for some species to certain companies, if those companies have a ship of certain specifications built at a Russian shipyard within six years. The additional quota is given to the company for 15 years, but only upon the commissioning of the vessel.

Author: Ivan Stupachenko / SeafoodSource| Read the full article here

Bryan Rosenberg has been appointed president and CEO of Thai Union North America (TUNA), responsible for its two North America operating companies, Chicken of the Sea International (COSI) and Chicken of the Sea Frozen Foods (COSFF).

COSI was the first international acquisition made by Thai Union Group PCL (Thai Union) and the TUNA business has been a strong foundation and cornerstone of the Group since that acquisition, said Thai Union. It added that COSI and COSFF fit in with group business objectives and the appointment of Mr Rosenberg will allow for further synergies across TUNA to boost the potential of both businesses.

Source: WorldFishing | Read the full article here

When Russia closed its borders because of the coronavirus pandemic, the Norwegian company Helgeland Plast had to rethink how to delivering salmon cages to its neighbours in the east. The solution was for a to team to drive over 1300 kilometres to have the cages put together and then picked up by a Russian tugboat.

“COVID-19 brought with it a great deal of uncertainty about our activities, both on the customer side and the supplier side. All the measures that were implemented, either by the government or the municipalities, changed our surroundings in such a way that we had to create some scenarios of situations that could potentially arise,” said Petter Jørgensen to SalmonBusiness.

Author: Stian Olsen / SalmonBusiness | Read the full article here