It allegedly received more than half a million euros in exchange for granting permits to foreign companies to export lobster larvae and hatchlings

Indonesian authorities filed charges against the Minister of Marine Resources and Fisheries, Edhy Prabowo, on Wednesday for allegedly accepting bribes, along with fifteen other people, worth 4.8 million Indonesian rupees (580,000 euros), in exchange to grant permits to foreign companies for the export of lobster larvae and hatchlings.

Prabowo, who was arrested on Tuesday upon arrival at Jakarta International Airport from the United States, would have spent 750 million rupees (44,500 euros) on luxury items during his stay in Hawaii, said the vice president of the Commission to Eradicate Corruption of Indonesia (KPK, for its initials in Indonesian), Nawawi Pomolango.

Source: La Voz de Galicia | Read the full article here

The new chair of marketing organisation Seafood Scotland has welcomed the challenge of taking on the role during a “highly critical” period for the industry.

Kevin McDonell, chief executive of the West of Scotland Fish Producers’ Organisation (WSFPO) fishing co-operative, said: “While the Covid-19 pandemic and the UK’s imminent exit from the EU has provided an uncertain landscape for those in the catching, processing and wider seafood industry, we have shown we can be resilient before, and I look forward to working with businesses to capitalise on potential growth opportunities.

Source: fishfarmingexpert | Read the full article here

The European Union (EU) and the government of the Cook Islands in the Pacific have renewed their agreement on tuna in its current terms for one year. The agreement is very important for the tuna fleets.

The agreement protocol ceased to be in force last October (October 14, 2016 - October 13, 2020), under the name of “the Protocol”, which established the fishing opportunities and the financial contribution provided for in the agreement partnership in the field of sustainable fisheries between the European Union and the Government of the Cook Islands, pending the completion of negotiations for the renewal of the protocol.

Source: EuropaAzul / Read the full article here

The United Kingdom's Marine Management Organization (MMO) has published a new guide with the aim of helping fishing companies prepare as of January 1, 2021, the day when ‘Brexit’ ends. From this date, the country "will be solely responsible for the future of our seas and the fishing industry and we must be prepared for change." You can consult all the documents here (in English).

With this new guide, it is expected that shipowners and exporters “prepare” by pointing out the steps they may need to take to continue trading with the European Union.

Source: Industrias Pesqueras / Read the full article here

Salmon prices may be starting to climb out of the doldrums, new data suggests.
Statistics Norway, whose weekly updates tend to act as a marker for the rest of the North Atlantic industry , says the average price of fresh or chilled salmon rose by 1.3 per cent at the end of last week (week 47) to NOK 48.58 per kilo.
Meanwhile exports of fresh or chilled farmed salmon ended the period at 21,750 tonnes, up eight per cent from week 46.

The higher price and export figure is likely to be the result of increased demand in the run up to Christmas. 

Author: Vince McDonagh / Fish Farmer | Read the full article here

Skippers in England and Wales are needed to contribute to fisheries data usually collected by scientific observers, as current Covid-19 restrictions mean that Cefas fisheries observers are not able to board commercial fishing vessels to go to sea.

Cefas has been collecting biological data from commercial landings at fish markets, merchants and on quaysides in England and Wales since the 1950s. The observer programme which also collects the same data from discards offshore has been running continuously since 2002. In March, the lockdown brought this activity to a halt. The onshore programme was able to resume safely in June, however, the at sea observer programme is still severely restricted.

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

Business Development and Services Director Catherine Silva Donayre told Penguin News that it has been an incredible quarter for the capital investment program with more than 26 projects and programs underway.

The program that currently has a budget of £ 110.5 million to be executed in the next five years, and is committed to the delivery of a range of projects from building maintenance to the construction of the new port, the new power plant and finalization Tussac House. These last three are the largest, and all in recent months have met the goals proposed in the schedule.

In April 2020, a contract was signed with BAM Nuttall for the design and construction of the new port, and while a pause was agreed as the coronavirus dominated efforts both in the Falklands and overseas, work resumed in September. A team from BAM Nuttall came to the Islands to conduct, for two weeks, a detailed exercise of the development of the work, with all sectors of the industry involved, which included a round of 58 meetings and presentations. A concept design should be ready for the first half of 2021.

Source: MercoPress (read the full story here)

The norwegian supreme legislature has decided that the coastal fleet shall be divided according to actual length, not legal length. This is in line with the government's proposal in the quota report. In today's system, it is the boat's legal length that determines what kind of group it belongs to.The goal is to make the quota system simpler and clearer

"This is an important simplification measure because we now get a division according to how long the boats actually are", says Minister of Fisheries and Seafood Odd Emil Ingebrigtsen.

The concept of legal length shows how complicated the quota system has become over the years. A boat that has a home length of ten meters can have an actual length of more than ten meters. The reason may be, for example, that the rights a fisherman has "hang" with from the fisherman's old vessel, and that he or she has now got a new vessel that is shorter or longer.
How the change will be implemented is now sent out for consultation.

The Chamber (lower house) approved, by 81 votes in favor, 46 against and twelve abstentions, the bill that declares the current regulation that came to reform the General Law of Fisheries and Aquaculture, contained in Law 18,892 and its amendments, to be insolvently void.

The proposal, which was returned to commissions upon being the object of indications, specifically challenges Law 20.657, which modifies the aforementioned legal body in the field of the sustainability of hydrobiological resources, access to industrial and artisanal fishing activity and regulations for the investigation and inspection.

The text details that, during the processing of the aforementioned Law 20,657, between the years 2011 and 2013, different sectors and institutions of civil society, artisanal fishing and indigenous communities questioned its content and stated that it violated the national interest, security food and the rights of indigenous peoples.

Between the regions of Arica, Parinacota and Antofagasta

On the night of Monday, November 23, the scientific vessel Abate Molina set sail from the port of Valparaíso, with professionals and technicians from the Fisheries Development Institute, to evaluate the anchovy, the captain of the ship is Enrique Quiero and the head of the cruise is the fisheries engineer Francisco Leiva

The general objective of the cruise is to carry out hydroacoustic prospecting between the Arica, Parinacota and Antofagasta Regions to evaluate the anchovy stock present in the study area.

The specific objectives are:

• Carry out 41 acoustic transects between Arica and the Paposo bay (south of Antofagasta)

• Evaluate the shore bias between the south of Iquique and the north of Tocopilla (between 21 ° and 22 ° LS) with a craft boat.

• Carry out a sufficient number of reconnaissance fishing hauls to characterize the anchovy stock.

• Carry out oceanographic stations in the study area (100