CHITTAGONG - A new campaign to raise awareness on labour rights is taking place in the country's shrimp processing industry.

Training courses on Labour Laws for trainees from government officials, executives and mid-level management have now switched emphasis to concentrate on teaching rights and obligations to the labour force working at factory level.

Source: The Financial Express

The Scottish Fishermen’s Federation has launched a scathing attack on Shadow Fisheries Minister Tom Harris for his complete failure to understand the numerous problems currently facing the Scottish fishing industry. The criticism of the minister comes in the wake of his contention that fishermen should be treated like ‘drug dealers’ in reference to the pelagic sector following prosecutions brought against them for incidents that occurred many years ago.

SFF Chief Executive Bertie Armstrong said: “Tom Harris, the Labour MP for Glasgow South and Westminster Shadow Fisheries Minister, who may be best remembered for being sacked as the Labour Party internet adviser and for the MPs’ expenses debacle, has distinguished himself by proving that he has utterly failed to understand the current problems facing the fishing industry of the UK.

LAVAL - Neptune Technologies & Bioressources Inc. will be holding a conference call on Tuesday 23 October, 2012 at 4:30 ET. The call will focus solely on the presentation of the financial results.

The conference call host will be Henri Harland, President & CEO.

To access the conference call by phone within Canada & the U.S., the toll free number is 1?877-380-5664 Outside Canada and the U.S., dial 1?631-813-4882

Conference call details: Conference Topic: Neptune Technologies & Bioressources Second Quarter 2012 Earnings Call. Conference ID: 54141801. Management will accept questions related to the financial results by telephone during the Q&A period at the end of the presentation. Questions can also be forwarded in advance or during the presentation to here. An archived recording of the webcast will be available on Neptune’s website two hours after the webcast.

Major fast-food player KFC takes its sustainable development commitment to a higher level by obtaining Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification. The fish KFC offers, which is 100 per cent pollock, is now from sustainable fishing. This initiative further underscores the chain's desire to ensure its products' quality, traceability and safety.

With MSC certification, KFC France takes another step towards its goal of becoming a responsible company, which the "responsibility pact" is steadily achieving. "We're aware of what's at stake today," says Olivier Grouet of KFC France Product Excellence, "and share strong values, which guide our actions and form KFC France's responsibility pact: people (our employees' growth), food (our products' quality), citizenship (solidarity and sponsorship) and the Earth (environmental protection)." MSC certification is part of that approach to making KFC's growth the springboard to sustainable, responsible development. The Twister Fish and Fish Tenders served in KFC's 143 restaurants in France are now 100 per cent made of pollock filet from sustainable fishing.

It was a double celebration for Lossie Seafoods as it scooped a prestigious export award in recognition of its success in developing new markets for premium Scottish smoked salmon, whilst its former sales director Charlie Devin, who is now a consultant with the company, was named as Ambassador of the Year.

The Buckie based company, which is part of Associated Seafoods, won the ‘Development of Export Markets’ category, at the Highlands & Islands Food & Drink Awards held in Inverness on Friday 19 October.

According to Henry Angus, export sales director for Lossie Seafoods, the award is direct recognition of the hard work and dedication of employees in ensuring the production of the highest quality Scottish smoked salmon.

Reference is made to Morpol ASA's stock exchange announcement dated 18 September 2012 regarding the merger plan for a merger between Morpol and its subsidiary Marine Farms AS and the merger plan which was sent to all of Morpol's shareholders and published on Morpol's website.

The board of directors of Morpol and Marine Farms resolved Saturday 20 October 2012 to approve the merger.

Marine Farms is currently 100 per cent owned by Morpol. The merger is resolved carried out as a parent-subsidiary merger without consideration, in accordance with the Norwegian Public Limited Companies Act section 13-24.

The merger is expected implemented mid to late December 2012, upon expiry of the two month's creditor notice period following registration of the respective boards' decision to carry out the merger with the Norwegian Register for Business Enterprises.

Legislation has passed that will change the largest commercial fishery based off the Western Australian coast.

Fisheries Minister Norman Moore introduced the new management plan for the West Coast Rock Lobster Fishery to move to a full quota management system, which will officially begin in mid-January next year.

Among the changes is a transition to an all-zone 12-month fishing season and a shift to individual transferable quota.

The director of the Rock Lobster Council, Peter Bailey, says the changes have been a long time in the making.

Source: ABC News

Time seemed to slow as Marjan Ghassemi saw her 17-year-old son, Bobby, lying in a hospital bed after a car crash. He had a thick band of gauze wrapped around his head and a tangle of tubes protruding from his body. A hole was cut into his windpipe, and the hollow-sounding hiss of machines helping him breathe filled the room.

"The concept was then trying to rebuild his brain with what it was made from when he was an embryo in his mother's womb," Bailes said.

That's the theory behind using omega-3 fatty acids to heal brain injury. The human brain, which itself is a fatty mass, is about 30 per cent composed of omega-3 fatty acids, according to Lewis.

Source: Stephanie Smith / CNN

Fishermen in Hokkaido have reeled in bumper catches of mackerel and saury, or sanma, this year due to high ocean temperatures from the record-setting late-summer heat and damage to the fishing industry in the Tohoku region caused by last year's earthquake and tsunami. However, the catch of salmon, an autumn fish, has fallen drastically.

According to the Hokkaido purse seine fisheries association based in Kushiro, mackerel caught off eastern Hokkaido, which has been several dozen tons at most in recent years, totaled 7,023 tons as of the end of September.

Source: Shuichi Muto and Takuya Itakura / Yomiuri

A Vancouver Island First Nation is considering a lawsuit to stop a new salmon farm site in Clayoquot Sound.

Federal and provincial approvals given to Mainstream Canada for a new site at Plover Point on Meares Island have also opened up a territorial dispute between Ahousaht First Nation, which is working in partnership with Mainstream, and Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation, which vehemently objects to the farm.

"This is actually a shared area between Ahousaht and Tla-o-qui-aht. There's an overlapping issue," said Tla-o-qui-aht councillor Terry Dorward.

Source: Judith Lavoie / Times Colonist