WITH air travel bans in place, salmon farming companies in Norway are finding alternative ways of getting their product to market.

And one option has been to use passenger aircraft devoid of passengers, but which are equipped with cargo carrying holds and pallets, even if it means charging extra for salmon to cover the extra costs.

In normal times, salmon is often flown in the cargo compartments of passenger planes, for example, from Oslo to the US and Asia and from Heathrow to global markets.

According to the Oslo financial journal Finansavisen, the ploy to use empty aircraft has been adopted by Firda Seafood, one of the country’s largest salmon producers, with a turnover of more than a billion kroner.

Its founder and CEO, Ola Braanaas, told Finansavisen: ‘Yes, it does involve extra costs, but at the same time the market wants fish.

‘Our impression is that customers are prepared to accept a price increase, as long as we (the producers) share some of the added costs involved using this method.’

Author: Vince McDonagh | Read the full article here

Seafood producers in Norway, spanning both the wild-capture fisheries and aquaculture sectors, will strive to maintain supplies to domestic and overseas markets, with borders and air freight routes remaining open for the transport of goods, the country’s government has said.

Norway has taken drastic steps to halt the spread of COVID-19, with schools, cinemas, restaurants and bars told to close and citizens encouraged to stay at home as much as possible. However, the Norwegian Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Fisheries issued a formal letter on 14 March identifying the value chain supporting food production and delivery as critical functions to society.

Being classified as a critical societal function means the Norwegian seafood industry will aim to keep operations running. As such, the seafood sector will continue to have access to childcare, while the transport industry is exempt from some of the strictest quarantine regulations for personnel to ensure the flow of goods across borders.

“The Norwegian seafood industry plays a very important role in the food supply chain, not only in Norway, but across the world. In these difficult times it is important to keep society going, and ensure that everyone has access to healthy and nutritious foods,” the newly-appointed Minister of Fisheries and Seafood Odd Emil Ingebrigtsen said.

Author: Jason Holland / SeafoodSource | Read the full article here

All three of Brim’s fresher trawlers have landed full trips over the last week, with around 600 tonnes of fish delivered to the company’s Norðurgarður processing plant in Reykjavík.

Brim’s trawler fleet manager Birkir Hrannar Hjálmarsson said that Viðey, skippered by Jóhannes Ellert Eiríksson, was the first, docking a week ago with 603 tubs containing roughly 200 tonnes of mixed fish.

The following morning Helga María was alongside with 655 tubs and a similar volume of fish landed by skipper Heimir Guðbjörnsson and his crew. The third landing was Akurey with 200 tonnes in 603 tubs. These were all capacity trips.

‘Fishing has been very good these last few weeks and we’ve had around a month of acceptable weather and decent catches,’ said Akurey’s skipper Eiríkur Jónsson.?He commented that the trawlers have been keeping to the southern fishing grounds, and fishing has been good enough for them to be able to fill up in around four days instead of the five expected for each trip.

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

Scotland’s oyster farmers and smaller mussel growers need immediate financial help if their businesses are to survive the economic effects of the coronavirus outbreak, an industry spokesman has warned.

Nick Lake, executive director of the Association of Scottish Shellfish Growers (ASSG), said oyster growers were almost entirely reliant on UK pubs, restaurants, cafes, etc, which have now had to shut down.

The same is true of some smaller mussel farmers who sell to their local hospitality pubs and restaurants.

Reliant on ferries

Other mussel farmers who supply processor and marketer Scottish Shellfish, based at Bellshill in Lanarkshire, are in a better position because supermarkets are still providing a market.

But Lake warned that they, too, could be hit if the ferries they rely on to transport their mussels to the mainland stop running because of the Covid-19 epidemic.

Author: Gareth Moore / fishfarmingexpert | Read the full article here

A.P. Moller - Maersk a major Danish shipping company, announced that expects earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of around USD 5.5bn, before restructuring and integration costs.

The organic volume growth in Ocean is expected to be in line with or slightly lower than the estimated average market growth of 1-3% for 2020.

The accumulated guidance on gross capital expenditure excl. acquisitions (CAPEX) for 2020-2021 is still USD 3.0-4.0bn. A high cash conversion (cash flow from operating activities compared to EBITDA) is expected for both years.

The outlook and guidance for 2020 is subject to significant uncertainties and impacted by the current outbreak of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) in China, which has significantly lowered visibility on what to expect in 2020. As factories in China are closed for longer than usual in connection with the Chinese New Year and as a result of the COVID-19, we expect a weak start to the year.

The guidance for 2020 is also subject to uncertainties related to the implementation of IMO 2020 and the impact on bunker fuel prices and freight rates combined with the weaker macro economic conditions and other external factors.

Following the end of 50 days of coronavirus-inspired lockdown, The Fish Site’s China correspondent Ronnie Jin reports cause for optimism among many of the country’s aquaculture producers, although others still face an uphill struggle.

China’s aquaculture industry, and the country in general, would not be on the road to recovery so soon after the outbreak of the coronavirus had it not been for the extreme government lockdowns.Nearly all public services were shut down due to the pandemic; people were not allowed to leave the highway in many cities; temporary roadblocks made from shipping containers were set at the entrance of each village. As normal human life was put on hold, nature began to respond and a wild panda was even found roaming around on a once busy highway.

50 days was a pretty long sleep, but China now seems to be recovering quite fast. Most provinces have reported no new cases of COVID-19 for the past week, while the situation in other countries is going the other way. China’s cities have been graded according to the case numbers and risk of spreading. For those deemed the least affected by the pandemic, it is now possible to travel anywhere outside the provinces still most at risk and stay in hotels, provided you have a green “healthy” code.


Author: Ronnie Jin / The Fish Site| Read the full article here

Spanish seafood supplier Europacifico states they will not order more salmon, as they are not able to sell it in the current market.

Monday the Spanish Government stated 400 people have died of corona virus the last 24 hours. A rapid spread and the highest registered spread in 24 hours in Spain. As a result, the seafood industry is bleeding, but the worst is yet to come according to the prime ministers speech Saturday.

Europacifico is also expecting more challenging conditions and trying to minimise production and expenses to survive.

“We are not selling anything that is not a commodity fish. This is to survive. No sales of any special species right now,” says Luis Suarez, general manager at Europacifico.

Europacifico processes around 15,000 tons of fish a year, and salmon is the sixth biggest fish they sell. The company usually processes around 10 tons of salmon a week but right now only processes one ton of salmon a week.

“We are processing 90% less salmon than usual. We are not going to buy any more salmon, otherwise we cannot survive,” Luis Suarez explains and elaborates:

“Salmon prices are falling, and no one is ordering more.”

Author: Katrina Poulsen / SalmonBusiness | Read the full article here

Guilds ask the Galician ministry of marine affairs to cease activity so that immediate aid for the sector is activated -They maintain that seafood is not an product of first necessity

ithout buyers and without being able to articulate the appropriate measures to keep the distances that the protocol to fight against Covid-19 marks, most of the brotherhoods of the Arousa estuary, those that are within the Rañeir@??s collective, have decided to close and cancel the harvest of shellfish in Os Lombos, O Bohido and Cabío.

The measure affects the last week of the free shellfish gathering, but it is very likely that it will continue as long as the national alert that the government has decreed is maintained. The decision has been made pending the Consellería do Mar decree the cessation of extractive activities, so that the entire sector will be without immediate income due to the pandemic situation, a circumstance that is in the hands of the administration to solve it as soon as possible.

Both the extractive sector and treatment plants will maintain contacts to inform of the difficult situation in which they find themselves to the Consellería do Mar in order to adopt measures that allow the fleet to collect subsidies, as has happened on other occasions. "We are going to see how events evolve, because as it is happening, nobody knows very well what to do, especially since we have never experienced a situation like this," Costa explained yesterday.

Author: A. Gago / Faro de Vigo | Read full article here (Spanish)