A modern fish processing plant, built under the investment quota program by the Gidrostroy group of companies, has successfully concluded its first full year of operation on Shikotan Island.

Located in the village of Krabozavodskoye, the facility (operated by Kurilsky Rybak CJSC) was completed last year with a total investment of 750 million rubles for construction and equipment. The project has already created sixty new jobs.

During its first year, the plant fulfilled its investment quota by processing over 26,000 tons of raw materials, resulting in more than 14,000 tons of products. Key output included 2,700 tons of pollock fillets and over 5,000 tons of fishmeal.

The year-round production line can process up to 200 tons of raw materials daily, specializing in species like pollock, cod, flounder, and herring. Waste materials are efficiently used to produce fishmeal and fish oil.

AN GIANG – The An Giang Province Police Investigation Agency has concluded its inquiry and proposed the prosecution of two fishermen, Huynh Hoang Muoi (born 1988) and Le Van Ut (born 1977), on charges of "Obstruction or disruption of the operation of computer networks, telecommunications networks, and electronic devices."

The charges stem from an incident where the suspects allegedly turned off the mandatory journey monitoring devices (VMS) on their fishing vessels, KG-96108-TS (operated by Ut) and KG-91633-TS (operated by Muoi), to fish illegally.

The investigation determined that the two boats left port on July 2nd. Later, due to poor catches, Ut allegedly turned off the VMS on his vessel and instructed Muoi to do the same on his boat. Both then proceeded to catch seafood, reportedly near the Vietnam-Malaysia border.

On the evening of August 14th, a Coast Guard Region 4 patrol boat discovered the two vessels approximately 233 nautical miles from Tho Chau.

Ut later confessed that he and Muoi intentionally disabled their VMS devices between July 2nd and August 14th to enter foreign waters for unauthorized seafood exploitation.

The case file has been transferred to the People's Procuracy of Region 2 for further action.

A carnivorous "death-ball" sponge has been declared one of the oddest finds made during a deep-sea expedition near Antarctica.

The unusual creature was discovered 2.2 miles (3.5km) deep in a trench north of Montagu Island in the Southern Ocean.

It uses small hooks to catch and absorb its prey from the seabed and has strange appendages that end in orbs.

Prey typically snagged by the deadly hooks include small crustaceans such as skeleton shrimp.

Author: Lewis Adams / BBC | Read the full article here

Fishers are being asked to respond to the Marine Management Organisation’s (MMO) consultation on proposals to close UK waters of ICES areas 7d & 7e to the king scallop dredge fishery in 2026 and 2027.

All UK waters in ICES area 7e are covered by the proposal instead of only the Lyme Bay area of 7e affected by previous closures. The closure would apply to vessels 10m and over in 7d while vessels 12m and under would be excluded from the closure in 7e.

Source: Fish Focus | Read the full article here

The revelations by the broadcaster NRK in its recent series Lakselandet sent shockwaves through the Norwegian aquaculture industry, Sjomatbedriftene says.

The organisation’s statement warns: “Illegal exports of farmed fish, suspicions of document forgery and what the Customs Administration describes as possible organized crime, threaten confidence in one of Norway’s most important export industries.”

Seafood companies are reacting strongly and demanding immediate action from the authorities.

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

Mazatlán, Sinaloa – Fishermen in Mazatlán, on the Mexican Pacific coast, have acknowledged a poor initial season for shrimp catching, despite the lifting of the ban on September 29.

A visit to the Alfredo Bonfil park pier confirmed that landings have been minimal compared to previous years. The vessels returning after their first trip are reporting catches that do not meet expectations.

Humberto Sánchez, a fisherman with over 20 years of experience aboard the vessel El Rebelde, indicated they only managed to obtain about five tons of shrimp, mostly of small size (known as cocktail shrimp). He also noted that the start of the season was delayed until mid-October due to bad weather.

Sánchez regretted that this season has been considerably lower than the previous one, when they had already registered up to 15 tons by this time.

Jesús Omar Lizárraga Manjarrez, President of the Union of Pacific Coast Vessel Owners (Unión de Armadores del Litoral del Pacífico), confirmed the situation, acknowledging that catches of large shrimp are low.

Official figures from the National Fisheries Commission (Conapesca) indicate that, so far this season, the Sinaloa fishing fleet has registered a total catch of 2,769 tons.

South Korea's appetite for Norwegian seafood is surging, with cumulative imports from January to October 2025 reaching 68,608 tons, a significant 25% increase over the same period last year.

This strong performance occurred despite a slight 3% dip in October imports (3,660 tons). Overall, Norwegian seafood makes up 9% of Korea's total seafood imports.

Key Product Gains and Price Trend

The growth was powered by several key product categories:

• Frozen Mackerel led the charge, with imports rising 32% to 31,697 tons.

• Frozen Mackerel Fillet saw a massive 74% surge (6,507 tons).

• Fresh Atlantic Salmon also experienced a major leap, growing 75% to 5,832 tons.

Conversely, general Fresh Salmon imports saw a 7% decrease.

In terms of value, the cumulative imports for the first ten months reached USD $481.93 million, a 10% increase year-over-year. However, the average import price dropped by 12% to $7.02 per kilogram, suggesting that while volume is up, the unit cost has declined.

Source: Union Forsea Corp