The Official Gazette of Portugal has published the Resolution of the Legislative Assembly of the Autonomous Region of the Azores that declares the defense of the oceans and the blue natural heritage and establishes a moratorium on mining on the seabed, including prospecting activities, until January 1, 2050. In addition, it establishes that five years before the end of the moratorium, the need to extend it will be reassessed.

Source: IndustriasPesqueras | Read the full article here

Aquaculture biotech group Benchmark saw its revenues for the six months to 31 March 2023 go up, year on year, by 25% to £98.9m.

The period, the first half of the group’s current financial year, also saw a 39% increase in adjusted EBITDA to £22.1m (H1 FY22: £15.9m). Benchmark’s financial accounting pre-tax loss was cut to £1.9m (H1 2022: loss of 5.1m. The figures are unaudited.

Source: FishFarmer | read the full article here

Conservation International and xpertSea launch “Climate Smart Shrimp” pilot in Ecuador, Invite buyers to support regenerative farming solution.

This turn-key programme is a streamlined way for seafood buyers to support farmers, reduce carbon, and restore mangroves, driving the industry towards a sustainable and resilient future.

Conservation International and xpertSea, a leading aquaculture technology company, today announced a Climate Smart Shrimp pilot in Ecuador, an innovative solution to champion regenerative farming practices. 

Source: FishFocus | read the full article here

Chinese seafood processor and convenience seafood distributor Xianmeilai Food Co. is once again going for an initial public offering.

This is the third time Xianmeilai Food has filed for an IPO on the stock market listing in Shanghai Stock Exchange, following unsuccessful attempts in 2021 and 2022. The privately owned company is seeking to raise CNY 600 million (USD 96 million, EUR 84 million) to expand its distribution and logistics network as it bets big on growing Chinese demand for convenience meals.

Author: Mark Godfrey / SeafoodSource | read the full article here

The Cantabrian tuna coast has begun. And it did so this morning, at 06:30, with the start of the auction at a record price, 370 euros per kilo for the first tub of specimens caught with a hook (troll) in waters close to the Azores Islands. The first tub, weighing one hundred kilos, has been fished by the Gaztelugatxe Doniene, whose skipper and owner is Iñigo Oronoz.

From the left, Iñigo Oronoz, Armando Prendes, Pablo González, José Manuel Lema and Cristina Luaces, with the first catches after the auction

As is almost tradition, the buyer of the so-called “campanu del mar”, which is how the first tuna along the coast is known, has been the Alimerka supermarket chain. Armando Prendes, head of the Alimerka fishmongers, stressed that his company "continues the tradition of supporting the primary sector and (this year, like last) at a record price." As usual, the chain will donate the first tub to charities in Oviedo, Gijón and Mieres and will sell the rest of the fish in its stores throughout the region: "Tomorrow it will be in all stores at a price yet to be defined We hope to have bonito this week and that all stores have it on their counters”.

Source: The New Spain

Scottish salmon exports are enjoying a boom in popularity in Asia markets where sales have doubled, new HM Revenue and Customs figures show.

Sales to the European Union have held up, while North America has also seen a surge in demand.

North America and Asia accounted for nearly half (47%) of all sales in the first three months of this year, driven by strong demand from China, Taiwan, Singapore, and South Korea. The value of exports to Asia has soared by £12 million, to £24m.

Trade body Salmon Scotland said the figures show that farm-raised salmon “generates vital income for the country”.

It comes amid a backlash to Scottish Government plans to introduce Highly Protected Marine Areas (HPMAs) which the industry warns will threaten jobs and investment.

Salmon farmers are also calling for an overhaul of the cluttered regulatory and planning system, and for more of the revenue from licence fees to be ring-fenced for rural housing.

Farm-raised salmon directly employs 2,500 people in Scotland and a further 10,000 jobs are dependent on the sector.

Source: dailybusiness

Aquaculture in Seychelles is on the path to becoming a strong sector in the island state's Blue Economy, according to a fisheries official.

Over the past year, several research has been undertaken to highlight constraints, challenges as well as opportunities in the sector. 

In 2019, the opening of a broodstock, acclimation and quarantine facility at the Providence Fishing Port on the main island of Mahe marked the official opening of aquaculture as an industry and became the central research facility.

The head of the Aquaculture Department at the Seychelles Fishing Authority, (SFA), Aubrey Lesperance, said research in the aquaculture sector plays a vital role in ensuring that all necessary research work is conducted and reported on to be able to provide insight for investors with necessary information based on their interest in the aquaculture sector.   

"We have conducted research on different marine species, mainly the pompano, the mangrove snapper, as well as the spanner and mud crabs. We also undertook several analyses on nutrient and algae cultivation," explained Lesperance. 

He added that a very successful trial for the grow-out of mangrove snapper has been conducted and that "the information for this trial has been collated as a journal article.  To ensure that the results can easily be applied in a commercial aquaculture setting, a Windows-based application was developed." 

Source: seychellesnewsagency

The Secretary of Commerce announced, Friday May 19th the allocation of $223 million appropriated by Congress for fishery disasters, of which $215.9M is for Alaska.

Allocations to specific Alaska fishery disasters are:

• 2021/2022 Bristol Bay Red King Crab and Bering Sea Snow Crab Fisheries: $94.5 million
• 2022/2023 Bristol Bay Red King Crab and Bering Sea Snow Crab Fisheries: $96.6 million
• 2021 Kuskokwim River Salmon and Norton Sound Chum and Coho Salmon Fisheries: $1.3 million
• 2021 Chignik Salmon Fisheries: $4.9 million
• 2020 Copper River and Prince William Sound salmon fisheries: $15.7 million
• 2020 and 2021 Norton Sound Red King Crab Fisheries: $2.8 million

The Department will develop draft spend plans based on input received in the listening session and through online public comment. Opportunities to comment on the draft plan will be provided before the final plans are submitted for approval.

Dateng Gorge water conservancy project is under construction on a section of Qianjiang River in Guiping, south China's Guangxi, where is an important spawning field for migration fishes in Zhujiang River basin.

In order to protect fishes and the biodiversity of aquatic life in the Zhujiang River basin, minimize the influence of the project on ecological environment, a research team of the project has carried out surveys, protection, rescue and artificial breeding on endangered, rare and cash fishes.

Researchers have successfully bred nine species of rare fishes and released 8.66 million fish fry.