NOAA Fisheries and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service cut the ribbon on the new Northeast Oyster Breeding Center in Milford, Connecticut.

Scientists will use advanced selective breeding methods to develop better-performing lines of Eastern oysters to boost production. They aim to breed disease-resistant oysters that are resilient in the face of current and changing environmental conditions in the Northeast’s diverse oyster-growing areas.

In a renovated hatchery at the NOAA Fisheries Milford Laboratory, 50 acrylic cones with continuously flowing, filtered seawater gently bubbled as tiny swimming oyster larvae munched on algae. In April 2024, scientists from NOAA Fisheries and USDA Agricultural Research Service spawned the first generation of oysters in both a traditional culture system in Kington, Rhode Island, and in the new high-density flow-through larval culture system in Milford, Connecticut, the first of its kind in North America.

NOAA and USDA will grow these juvenile, or “seed,” oysters in their hatcheries until they reach 5 millimeters, roughly the size of a pencil eraser. Then the young oysters will go to oyster grower partners while scientists continue to evaluate their growth and performance. This year, Moonstone Oysters in Rhode Island will be growing oysters from both hatcheries

Source: NOAA

The All-Russian State Center for Quality and Standardization of Veterinary Medicines and Feed (FSBI "VGNKI" of Rosselkhoznadzor) is developing a method for measuring formaldehyde content in food products, feed, feed raw materials, and feed additives.

Formaldehyde is a chemical compound that is naturally present in the environment and is a product of metabolism in living organisms. It is added to feed additives as a preservative to increase their effectiveness. However, in high concentrations, formaldehyde has a toxic effect and contributes to excessive suppression of microbial activity in cattle. “Incorrect dosage in animal feeding can lead to decreased fiber digestibility,” the scientists noted.

It can often be used as a food additive (E240) in the production of food products, although its use is prohibited due to its high carcinogenicity and negative impact on the human body. "Nevertheless, unscrupulous manufacturers are not always ready to give up this preservative and use it in the production of products, such as sausages, hot dogs, cheeses, smoked meats, fish, and meat preserves. The composition of smoke, which is used to treat food products, also contains formaldehyde," explained the Federal State Budgetary Institution "VGNKI".

The lack of accurate methods for determining formaldehyde in food and feed and the prevalence of formaldehyde in nature make its detection difficult.

Indonesia is a major player in the global fisheries industry, focusing on tuna and squid. In 2021, the country caught and produced 790,000 tonnes of tuna, valued at around US$1.5 billion.

However, concerns about overfishing have led Indonesia to refocus its wild-catch efforts on squid. The country's squid fishing and processing industry has grown significantly, with 95,000 tonnes caught in 2021.

The main export markets for seafood, including squid, are China, Thailand, and the United States. China is the largest buyer, importing one-third of Indonesia's aquatic products.

Chinese authorities intercepted a Taiwanese fishing vessel sailing near the Kinmen Islands, an archipelago under the control of Taipei and located a few kilometers from China, and took it to a Chinese port, the Administration of the Taiwan Coast Guard (CGA).

The vessel 'Tachinman 88' was sailing about 23.7 nautical miles (43.89 kilometers) northeast of Liaoluo port on Tuesday night when it was "boarded" and "detained" by two Chinese Coast Guard ships, according to a statement released by the CGA.

In response, Taiwan sent three ships from its own Coast Guard to try to rescue the ship and issued radio warnings demanding its "immediate release," but the Chinese counterpart responded to "not intervene" in the process.

Subsequently, the CGA detected the presence of four other Chinese Coast Guard ships approaching the scene of the incident, and in the end chose to suspend rescue tasks to "avoid an escalation of the conflict," the official text stated.

Source: DW

The Abu Dhabi sovereign fund loosens its ties with one of its investments in the Spanish food sector. Mubadala Investment has reached an agreement to exit the aquaculture giant Avramar Seafood and transfer its stake to its other major partner, the American fund manager Amerra Capital, accustomed to operating with a private equity, private debt and special situations strategy. The group, the largest in the Mediterranean dedicated to the production and breeding of sea bass, sea bream and croaker, has its headquarters in Valencia. The taking of the stake could be the prelude to a subsequent sale, given that the company is still looking for a buyer, at least, for its business in Greece.

The Arab partner held 43.08% of Avramar, formed precisely from the merger of several companies dedicated to different phases of this activity: from reproduction to fingerlings, marine farms, fish processing and even feed production. for these fish. A strategy with which Mubadala and Amerra sought to become the European leader in these fish species and equal the size of the large salmon farmers.

However, although Avramar exceeds 450 million euros of business per year, the high debt to face this growth through purchases and the collapse of profitability - due to the pandemic itself and the inflationary crisis that triggered production costs -

Source: ElEconomista

The local seafood newspaper Minato Yamaguchi interviewed Dr. Imai, Chief Researcher at the National Institute of Hydrological Sciences, about the current situation and outlook

Dr. Imai, a senior researcher at the National Institute of Fisheries Science, is an expert on domestic salmon and trout farming -->

The boom in "local salmon" has subsided, and a turning point is coming with the start of production using the accelerated closed circulation land-based aquaculture system (RAS), and in the future, the supply and demand balance of domestic salmon and trout will be closely watched. 

Satoshi Imai, a senior researcher at the Fisheries Technology Research Institute of the Fisheries Research and Education Agency, has studied salmon and trout farming and has established the breeding and production technology for "Sanuki Salmon" (now Olive Salmon), which sparked the local salmon boom, and also for Maruha Nichiro's land-farmed cherry salmon, among other things, to promote national salmon.[...]

Source: Minato Yamaguchi (translated from original in Japanese)

The Council of Ministers approved this Tuesday the agreement by which the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (MICIU), through the Center for Technological Development and Innovation (CDTI), will dedicate 20.7 million euros to finance the Spanish participation in R&D&I projects selected in competitive international calls.

Specifically, 12.4 million euros will be allocated to the participation of Spanish companies in the Eurostars-3 Program, which has the objective of promoting R&D&I activities led by SMEs that involve technological improvement or innovation for the market and that contribute to improving its international competitiveness.

Source: Ipac | Read the full article here

On Thursday, the Sea Councilor of the Xunta de Galicia, Alfonso Villares, will attend, in support of the Galician fishing sector, the oral hearing in which the appeal presented by the Organization of Fishery Producers of Burela together with 16 companies will be addressed. affected against the European Commission's veto on bottom fishing before the General Court of the European Union (CJEU) in Luxembourg. The Galician Government appears in this procedure as an intervener of the plaintiff due to the negative impact of this decision, which directly affects 200 vessels and indirectly affects the other 946 small-scale vessels.

Source: IndustriasPesqueras | Read the full article here

Chile’s second largest salmon farmer, Multi X, has denied allegations that it breached production limits at its Cholga site, located within the Las Guaitecas National Reserve, in the Cisnes commune in Aysén region.

The country’s environment agency, the Superintendencia del Medio Ambiente (SMA), has filed a charge against Multi X for alleged overproduction in different farming cycles between 2014 and 2021. SMA categorises the charge as “very serious”.

Author: Jonathan Garcés / FishFarmingExpert | Read the full article here

AquaBounty Technologies has agreed to sell its recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) facility in the U.S. state of Indiana to Superior Fresh. 

The company, in an 8-K filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), said that AquaBounty Farms Indiana and AquaBounty Farms Ohio – both subsidiaries of AquaBounty Technologies – entered an asset purchase agreement with Superior Fresh on 28 June. The agreement will see Superior Fresh acquire AquaBounty’s Albany, Indiana-based RAS facility and equipment for USD 9.5 million (EUR 8.8 million).

Author: Chris Chase / SeafoodSource | Read the full article here