The 11th session of the Russian-Iranian Commission on Fisheries started its work in Astrakhan. The Russian delegation is headed by Deputy Head of the Federal Agency for Fishery Vasily Sokolov, the Iranian delegation is headed by Deputy Minister of Agricultural Jihad (Development) of Iran - Head of the Iranian Fisheries Organization Seyyed Hossein Hosseini. 

The session was attended by representatives of the Government of the Russian Federation, the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Federal Agency for Fisheries, Rosselkhoznadzor, Astrakhan State Technical University, VNIRO, Glavrybvod and Russian business.

As Vasily Sokolov noted, Iran and Russia have a long history of fruitful cooperation, the most important part of the interaction is the conservation and rational use of the resources of the Caspian Sea.

Portugal’s ministry of agriculture and food on Wednesday assured that it is training professionals in fisheries, but that “only 43% said they are now in employment,” after ship owners in the western Algarve complained about the lack of training.

In a written response to questions from Lusa, the ministry said that the Centre for Professional Training in Fisheries and the Sea (For-Mar), between 2018 and 2022 “trained 2,727 people in introductory courses in the career of fishing (“Sea Fishermen and Anglers”)”.

According to the ministry, “six months after the end of the courses, former trainees of the sea fishermen and anglers courses were surveyed in order to know, among other things, if they had found work in the fishing sector,” and, “according to the responses obtained,” “only 43% said they were working in the sector, which shows that the sector cannot absorb a good part of the former trainees”.

CANBERRA (Xinhua) -- Australian authorities have identified a large area in the Indian Ocean where they will focus the search for a capsized Chinese fishing vessel.

A spokesperson for the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) told Xinhua on Thursday that, based on drift modeling, a remote 12,000 square km zone has been identified to search for the vessel.

A Chinese deep-sea fishing vessel capsized on Tuesday in the central Indian Ocean, which has so far left 39 people on board missing, including 17 Chinese mariners, 17 Indonesian mariners and five Philippine mariners.

China's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the Ministry of Transport, and Shandong Province have activated emergency response mechanisms to organize the rescue work. On-site rescue is underway.

In Triton, a fish plant that would normally be well into its fifth or sixth week processing crab sits silent, while its 120 employees — like hundreds of others across Newfoundland and Labrador — wait for the snow crab season to start.

Plant worker Rita Lush said this year is the hardest workers have ever had in the four-plus decades she's worked at the Ocean Choice International facility.

"Our plant workers are suffering," said an emotional Lush on Wednesday, gathered with several co-workers outside the plant. "We're all worried about each other.… We're a family, and someone needs to do something for us. Our community is suffering."

Fellow plant worker Doretta Strickland — also the local plant union president and a vice-president of the Fish, Food & Allied Workers union — said the workers need help. Employment insurance is running out for many, she said, and that's affected the broader community, with people saving their money rather than spending in the community.

"It's serious stuff when you don't know if you're going to have enough money now in the days to come for EI," she said. "Everybody's EI cutting off. Every week it's someone different. And our community's not going to survive."

Like Lush, Yvonne Short has worked at the plant since it opened — and if the machines don't start running soon, she said, she doesn't know what she'll do.

Source: CBC

The Magallanes Region has established itself as the new pole for the development of the salmon farming industry. According to figures from the Association that brings together the main local companies, during 2022 167,000 tons were harvested, which translated into returns of US$655 million.

While from the Magallanes Economy Seremi, they indicated that the harvest registered by Sernapesca of Atlantic salmon in the area between 2006 and 2022 accumulated a total of 907,172 tons, being last year the one that registered the highest number.

Source: Salmon Expert | Read the full article here

The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAPA) has called for aid to promote and support fishing associations for the year 2023 for a value of 550,000 euros. The deadline for submitting applications is 15 business days from tomorrow, May 19.

These subsidies, the call for proposals for which has been published today in the Official State Gazette (BOE), are intended for national associations to carry out representation activities before the General State Administration, before the European Union and before international institutions.

Source: Industrias Pesqueras | Read the full article here

UK-based aquaculture software business Aquanetix is moving to Greece, following its acquisition by Innovasea.

The cloud-based farm management software developed by Aquanetix is in use at more than 200 farms in 31 countries, helping to grow more than 30 species of fish and shrimp.

The US-based aquaculture tech group Innovasea announced yesterday that it had acquired Aquanetix, and that the UK company’s operations would be relocating to Corinth, Greece.

Source: FishFarmer | read the full article here

The MOWI salmon brand has expanded into a new category – the ready-to-cook, added-value sector with the launch of MOWI Bistro Bakes. A range of four salmon recipes ready to go into the oven are now available in various UK retailers, including Sainsbury’s and Asda stores nationwide.

With Scottish ASC certified salmon at centre stage, the MOWI chefs have come up with differentiated recipes that take the hard work out of preparing delicious meals for a special occasion. 

Source: FishFocus | read the full article here

Lots of frozen sockeye carryover from the 2022 season are pushing down wild salmon prices across the board.

The massive record-breaking sockeye season from 2022 continues to have a major impact across the entire salmon complex.

The most immediate is the general weakening on frozen sockeye. With the upcoming season about a month away, there is pressure to move through older inventories. Many market participants report heavy discounting among some sellers to incentivize sales and keep things moving.

Sockeye 2-3 lb. frozen fillets at the start of 2023 were at an average price of about $9.25/lb. Prices started to fall at the beginning of February and continue to do so. Pricing is currently at $7.75, down 16.2% in only three months.

Author/Source: Laine Welch / alaskafish.news

The first auction of "Noto Torigai", one of Ishikawa's brand agricultural, forestry and fishery products "Hyakumangoku no Kiwami", was held  at the Kanazawa General Market operated by JF Ishikawa.

Two out of the 273 listed (403 in the previous year) hit a record high of 15,000 yen per piece, up 2,000 yen from the previous year, making a good start. The goal is to ship 60,000 pieces inside and outside the prefecture by early July, which is the same level as in recent years.

Kazuaki Koizumi, the head of the Noto Torigai Producer's Association made up of aquaculture producers, gave a greeting before the first auction.

Of the 273 items listed on the stock exchange, two of the top-ranked "premium" items weighing more than 200 grams each (2 items in the previous year) were purchased by Kappo Ikkon, a members-only Japanese restaurant in Tokyo's Minato Ward.

Source: The SUISAN-KEIZAI (translated from original in japanese)