Starting in 2022, the Fisheries Agency will designate the 3rd to 7th of each month as "Fish Day," a week to strengthen activities to increase consumption of seafood, and announced that the number of supporting members had exceeded 1,000 at the end of February.

In Hokkaido, Aeon Hokkaido Co., Ltd. started the initiative in March, and during the first period from March 3rd to 7th, eco-labeled "sustainable seafood" produced through sustainable fishing and aquaculture was displayed in the sales area, and consumers were encouraged to consume it. 

The Aeon Kuwazono store sold fresh seafood such as Hokkaido surf clams and cherry salmon, as well as MSC-certified line-caught "red bonito for sashimi" (thawed). A staff member at the store said, "This is our first attempt, but we started it with the hope that people will eat a lot of seafood."

Unión Martín and Japan Tuna have inaugurated an innovative -60°C refrigerated warehouse in the Port of Las Palmas, the first and only one of its kind in the Canary Islands.

This specialized facility is designed to store sashimi-grade tuna unloaded by the Japanese fleet, consolidating Las Palmas as a key hub in the international market for this product.

With this new infrastructure, Unión Martín plans to distribute more than 2,000 tons of sashimi tuna annually, strengthening its position in the global market. The inauguration was attended by the Consul of Japan, Shinji Yamada, underscoring the importance of this collaboration.

The opening of this refrigerated warehouse will generate a positive impact on the local economy of Gran Canaria. In addition to Unión Martín's current 160 employees, a new team of professionals specializing in tuna processing will be created. Some of these professionals have received training in Japanese factories, and the rest will complete their training in the coming months.

The team will be trained to process tuna in various presentations, including loins, slices, cuts for sashimi and Saku, carpaccio, and other formats. This expansion will not only generate skilled employment but also strengthen the local fishing industry, reaffirming the company's commitment to the economic development of the archipelago.

A consortium of civil society organizations is calling on the government of Hong Kong to urgently fix what it terms are systemic failings in the city’s seafood import regulatory regime.

Representatives from ADM Capital Foundation, Bloom Association Hong Kong, WWF-Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Sustainable Seafood Coalition (HKSSC), The University of Hong Kong, and The City University of Hong Kong submitted a joint letter to Hong Kong Government asking it to act on recommendations in a report published by ADM Capital Foundation and titled Hong Kong’s Seafood Trade, Port Measures and Import Controls – Paddling to Keep Up.

Author: Mark Godfrey / SeafoodSource l Read the full article here

Friend of the Sea is thrilled to announce that Troticoltura Cherubini, a historic company from the Marche region in Visso (MC) in the Monti Sibillini National Park, has obtained the prestigious Friend of the Sea certification. This recognition confirms the company’s unwavering commitment to sustainability, food safety, and quality.

Founded in 1950, Troticoltura Cherubini is a beacon in Italian aquaculture. The company stands out for its innovative and sustainable approach, based on a short and closed supply chain that guarantees high quality and traceability standards. 

Source: Fish Focus l Read the full article here

Aquafeed manufacturer BioMar has signed an agreement to acquire full ownership of LetSea, which it describes as Norway’s leading experimental and research centre for aquaculture.

BioMar already owns 34% of LetSea and will buy the remaining 66% stake from the current owner, KapNor, subject to approval from authorities.

The feed producer said it has had many years of successful collaboration with LetSea on research and development.

Source: fishfarmingexpert l Read the full article here

LAUWERSOOG – Until the end of the year, the OL 7 will spend one week each month trying to catch shrimp with pots. This involves research by Wageningen Marine Research as part of the ‘Passive Shrimp Fishery’ project in the Wadden Sea.

Due to extremely poor catches, fellow shrimp fishers returned to port early again last week. It’s a waste of time and fuel to continue. For the OL 7 of skipper Folkert Sloot, it meant peace on the water to fish the first week with pots undisturbed. Lines were shot from Schiermonnikoog to the dike near Lauwersoog, from deeper water to almost dry land.

Three different pots are being tested, with bait (herring) and light to try to lure shrimp. A total of 180 pieces. The complete rig fits nicely on a trailer.

,,We mainly gathered ideas on how to technically improve the next test week to achieve an ideal pot. At the moment there are very few shrimp, so little meaningful can be said about catches. Whether it is commercially viable to fish for shrimp passively can only be said at the end of the project when you have fished all seasons. We counted shrimp per pot, and there turned out to be significant differences between pots. The key to this seems to be the type of bait. In this test week we also had shrimp catches without crabs, which gives hope for the seasons with many shrimp,’’ reacts WMR researcher Pieke Molenaar.

Source: visserijnieuws.nl

On March 4, 2024, the Russian government nationalized assets belonging to Alexey Kozlov's "crab empire." The Arbitration Court of Primorsky Krai transferred control of three Far Eastern companies, owned by Kozlov, to JSC Far Eastern Fishery Management Company (DRUK), a state-controlled entity. Grammy LLC and Tetis LLC will officially come under DRUK's control on January 31, 2025, followed by Tefis CJSC on February 20, 2025.

The Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) of Russia had previously determined that Tefis CJSC was under foreign investor control. Alexey Kozlov, co-owner of the companies, has resided in the United States since 2008, a factor that triggered numerous legal challenges. In mid-2023, the Federal Agency for Fisheries (Rosrybolovstvo) removed Tefis CJSC from the list of Kamchatka crab quota holders. Subsequent monitoring by the Prosecutor General's Office confirmed the presence of foreign control within the fisheries sector, despite attempts to conceal this information.

This nationalization follows similar actions against other fish producers, including Oleg Kan and Dmitry Pashov, whose assets were also transferred to DRUK. This trend indicates an ongoing government policy of nationalizing resources in strategically significant sectors of the economy.

Newsan, leader in the Argentine fishing industry, and Profand, leader in the Spanish fishing industry, announce the construction of a state-of-the-art freezer trawler, the most modern of its kind, intended for the capture of black hake and other species in Argentine and adjacent waters. The project, which will be carried out at the Spanish shipyard Nodosa, which designed it and which has recently delivered several technologically very advanced vessels, represents a step towards renewing the national fishing fleet, improving operational efficiency and increasing the company's productive capacity.

Source: EuropaAzul l Read the full article here