Over the past 20 years, pressure on the marine ingredients industry has made it get its house in order, says Dr Brett Glencross

He is the technical director of IFFO, and he has been in that role since June 2021.

"The fishmeal industry is the most certified feed ingredient sector on the planet. Some 50% of production is independently certified, whether that is Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) or MarinTrust certification.

While that equates to only 2 to 2.5m tons of fishmeal being certified, in proportional terms, he said, it is way above that of other feed ingredient sectors.

Sustained pressure made the industry realize that it can't run, duck and hide, he noted. "We need to be holier than thou as people are watching us all the time."

The annual review of the forage fisheries sector by the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership, which evaluates reduction fisheries in terms of what the management, governance, and compliance of those operations is like and whether the fishery is sticking with the quota, showed that 70-80% of those fisheries were well managed, reported Dr Glencross.[continues...]

Author/Source: Jane Byrne/feednavigator.com

The crew of the Lajes do Pico, a Portuguese-flagged longliner based in Ribeira, is "well and safe," the Portuguese Navy confirmed yesterday, which coordinated the rescue of the twelve sailors who were enrolled in the fishing vessel. Most of the castaways are of foreign nationality, mainly Indonesians, but it has been confirmed that at least the skipper is a neighbor of Ribeira and has held that position for years.

The episode that would end with the Lajes do Pico at the bottom of the sea began Tuesday morning, when the fishing boat was sailing some 310 miles (574 kilometers) north of the island of Flores, in the Azores archipelago. Apparently, a leak opened in the stern after bursting a sheet. At first, the crew tried to solve it by bailing out the water that had entered, but they soon found that it was not possible to remedy it and activated the radio beacon before getting into the rafts and leaving the ship. "They activated a radio beacon (EPIRB), requesting assistance for the rescue" of the crew, explains the Portuguese Navy in a statement.

The signal was received at 07:36 in the morning at the Ponta Delgada Maritime Search and Rescue Coordination Center (on the island of São Miguel), which sent several of its ships and an Air Force aircraft to the area, at time that began a search through satellite images of the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA). [continues...]

Source: LavozdeGalicia

A Japanese government annual report on Friday underlined the importance of strengthening food security for fishery products amid growing risks triggered by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The fishery industry white paper noted the risk of Japan's stable supplies of fishery products being jeopardized due to soaring import prices of such goods and related production materials in the wake of recent developments in international society.

Japan's imports of fishery products from the top five countries accounted for over 50 pct of its overall imports of such goods in 2021, the report said, pointing out that the high dependence on a few specific nations is a challenge for Japan.

Source: nippon.com

For the arrantzales, the unusual increase in water temperature has favored the advancement of the fishery with promising catches.

Some twenty fishing boats from Bermeo are in the middle of the Atlantic, off the Azores, in search of the authentic tuna of the north to fully immerse themselves in one of the main coastal areas of the sector, especially this year, after the dismal catches of mackerel registered in spring. Before setting sail, near San Juan de Gaztelugatxe, some units completed three turns to port to ask the saint to give them his protection and grant them good fishing.

“The information that reaches us points to an unusual increase in the temperature of the water, which is a couple of degrees warmer than other times on these same dates. Hence, the bonito may have advanced the migration that it carries out every year to feed itself, "say members of the Brotherhood of the fishing village.

Author/Source: Mirari Artime/El Correo

Spain plans to take advantage of the July meeting to address some of the main concerns of the sector

The fishing sector considers the European Union Fisheries Council that Vigo will host on July 17 and 18 to be “crucial”. In this meeting, which Vigo fishing trusts will not be frustrated by the coincidence with the elections, some of the main issues that have focused the political and economic debate around the sector in recent years will be addressed: the sustainability of trawling , the control of imports, the decarbonization of the fleet or the establishment of multi-year quotas.

In his last visit to Vigo last April, the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Luis Planas, advanced that Spain would take advantage of its European presidency to defend trawling against initiatives such as the Action Plan of the European Commission that proposes veto this art in 30% of the waters by the year 2030 or the closure of 87 zones already in force and pending expansion. Thus, Planas advanced that Spain would seek to discuss at a political level with the Commission and the rest of the Member States to see what "can be done" in this regard.

Source: El Atlántico

In a recent study, researchers found that adding flaxseed oil (FSO) as a feed additive significantly improved growth performance, immune response, and disease resistance in rainbow trout.

The experiment involved 840 fish with an average weight of 25.66 ± 1.33 g. These were divided into different groups and fed with different percentages of FSO inclusion (0.5%, 1% and 1.5%) for 9 weeks.

Author: Francisco Soto / SalmonExpert | Read the full article here

The French sector has shown its strong rejection of the future regularization of the use of electronic control cameras in the fleet, after the Council, Parliament and the Commission have agreed to their mandatory introduction in vessels over 18 meters in length that may fail to comply with regulations such as landing obligation.

The Comité National des Pêches Maritimes et des Elevages Marins (CNPMEM), which has shown caution when assessing the entire provisional agreement on the new Control Regulation adopted this week – will do so when the ministers and Parliament definitively validate it

Source: IndustriasPesqueras | Read the full article here

The Scottish government’s commitment to designate at least 10 percent of Scotland’s seas as highly protected marine areas (HPMAs) by 2026 has garnered fierce opposition from fishermen’s associations, salmon farmers, shellfish producers, local councils, community trusts, some members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs) and the U.K. Parliament (MPs), among others.

This could be the death knell for the salmon farming industry, which is worth GBP 760 million [USD 951 million, EUR 874 million] to the Scottish economy,” Salmon Scotland Chief Executive Tavish Scott told SeafoodSource. 

Author: Nicki Holmyard / SeafoodSource | read the full article here

The Aquaculture Stewardship Council has logged record growth in ASC certification in the UK, with the number of certified farm sites doubling since February 2022.

Forty farm sites are now ASC certified in the UK, including finfish and shellfish producers. A further 18 farms are in initial audit stage with a view to being certified by the end of 2023.

From January 2022 to January 2023, 16 more companies became ASC Chain of Custody holders – up from 88 at the start of the period. 

Source: FishFarmer | read the full article here

The 2023 edition of the report highlights the evolution of the blue economy sectors since 2010. It shows that despite the negative impact of the COVID19 pandemic and the unprovoked Russian invasion of Ukraine, most of the analysed sectors increased their economic performances.

For example, from 2010 until 2020, there has been a significant increase in the Gross Value Added, the main economic performance indicator, for the sectors in:

• living resources: + 25%;
• port activities: + 25%;
• offshore wind energy: + 1762%;
• ship building and repair: + 22%.

Source: FishFocus | read the full article here