Two school leavers have kick-started their careers in aquaculture, joining Australia’s Oyster Coast (AOC) farmers at Narooma for the next 12 months.

With recent extreme weather events affecting the oyster industry’s ability to harvest, AOC CEO Devin Watson said safeguarding the industry’s future by attracting and developing current and future generations of oyster farmers was more important than ever.

Skyla Robinson McEvoy and Lily Smith have joined the South Coast team as part of the National Farmers’ Federation AgCAREERSTART gap-year program that helps school leavers gain hands-on experience in the agriculture or aquaculture industries.

Skyla, from Greenleigh in NSW, and Lily, from Brighton, Queensland, have relocated to the coast and will spend the year working as oyster farmers at the Narooma farm. If they choose to stay in the industry, they will be offered permanent jobs with AOC that include gaining formal aquaculture qualifications.

Both girls are new to farming and are keen to see whether an aquaculture career is for them.

Source: aboutregional

A Coruña, Spain-based Abanca, the owner of vertically integrated seafood firm Nueva Pescanova, is actively seeking a partner in the business, or potentially a sale of the company.

On 26 February, Cooke Inc. was reported to be in negotiations to buy a majority stake in Nueva Pescanova, which is headquartered Redondela, Pontevedra, Spain, but which has operations in 17 countries on five continents and sells its seafood products in more than 80 countries globally.

Author: Cliff White / SeafoodSource | read the full article here

As part of the 194th meeting of the Western Pacific Fishery Management Council, a fishers forum will be held from 6-9 p.m. March 30 at the Guam Museum.

The council, along with eight other regional fishery management councils, was established to combat overfishing, reduce bycatch and safeguard fish populations and habitats by the Magnuson Fishery Conservation and Management Act of 1976.

The Pacific Council headquarters is stationed in Hawaii, but also oversees fisheries within American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, as well as eight other remote islands.

Source: postguam

Almost reached the catch limit of horse mackerel (Trachurus murphyi) established at 83,958 tons for larger-scale fishing, the Ministry of Production of Peru, Produce, has closed fishing for this type of vessel.

In order not to exceed the authorized limit, the Ministerial resolution defends the decision with the argument that, as of March 17, 2023, the capture of horse mackerel by larger-scale vessels reached a total of 83,887.02 tons, equivalent to the 99.92% of the catch limit established for this year.

Source: IndustriasPesqueras | Read the full article here

Fishery and community groups which want to help save Scotland’s iconic wild salmon have been urged to bid for a share of a £145,000 funding pot.

Salmon Scotland has reminded organisations and projects they have until March 31 to apply to its ‘wild fisheries fund’.

The fund is part of a £1.5 million commitment from Scotland’s salmon farmers to support the conservation, restoration, and sustainable management of wild salmon populations.

Source: FishFocus | read the full article here

From March 15 to March 17, 2023, the annual meeting of scientists from the All-Russian Research Institute of Fisheries and Oceanograms (Polar Branch of VNIRO, Murmansk) and Norwegian specialists from the Institute of Marine Research (BIMI, Bergen) is held via videoconferencing.

As part of the activities of several working groups at plenary sessions, a wide range of issues is considered: changes in the ecosystem of the Barents Sea, the state of stocks of the main commercial objects, as well as plankton and megabenthos in the Barents Sea. Scientists will discuss a joint research program on harp seal ecology; research on the content of marine debris (plastic) and pollutants in biota in the Barents Sea, as well as fisheries technology. 

Traditionally, specialists will evaluate the results of joint ecosystem surveys and agree on further cooperation within the framework of joint long-term monitoring of the Barents Sea.

Source: VNIRO

The Coromandel scallop fishery has been fully closed to commercial and recreational fishing to allow it to recover.

Most of the Coromandel scallop fishery and all of the Northland scallop fishery were closed in 2021 due to sustainability concerns, says Fisheries New Zealand’s Director of Fisheries Management, Emma Taylor.

“In December 2022, new information led to a temporary emergency closure of the two remaining open areas, one around Little Barrier Island and the other in Colville channel. This new 2023 sustainability closure will see those areas remain closed.

“The use of emergency measures to close a fishery is rare, and they are not used lightly.”

Minister for Oceans and Fisheries, Stuart Nash, made the decision based on new survey information which showed the two open areas in the fishery could no longer sustain harvesting.

“The initial closures followed extensive surveys in 2021, which revealed sustainability concerns. Results from surveys in the areas around Little Barrier Island and the Colville Channel in 2022 revealed further serious declines in scallop numbers.

“In light of this evidence, feedback received during public consultation supported a full and ongoing closure of the fishery as well as reductions to the total allowable catch to give the fishery the best chance of recovery.”

The Minister has decided to set the commercial and recreational allowances at zero, reflecting that no fishing will take place while the closure is in effect. The closure will not affect the relatively small amount of customary allowance. We note iwi in the region strongly support the recovery of the fishery and issuing of customary fishing permits has been limited if not completely ceased.

Source: Fisheries New Zealand

A U.S. judge this week ruled that the National Marine Fisheries Service violated the law when it failed to develop a plan to prevent West Coast commercial sablefish fishermen from harming humpback whales.

The Endangered Species Act requires the fisheries service to develop a plan to reduce the number of whales accidentally injured or killed by the fishery, but the agency neither crafted such a plan nor started to create one, the ruling said.

About 150 commercial fishing vessels use traps to capture sablefish in waters off California, Oregon and Washington.

The fisheries service estimates the fishery accidentally injuries or kills an average of one humpback whale per year.

Sablefish dwell on muddy ocean floors deeper than 650 feet. To target the fish, fishermen place multiple heavy pots on the seafloor and link them together with heavy-duty fishing line.

The number of pots ranges from 15 to 50 while the lines can stretch about two miles, according to court documents. The fishery deployed an annual average of 75,000 pots from 2015 to 2019, the document said.

Source: wgmd.com

Florida salmon farmer Atlantic Sapphire has raised the equivalent of US $55m through a private placement on the Oslo Stock Exchange.

The placement involved the sale of 199 million new shares, at NOK 5.00 per share (£0.39), raising NOK 595m (£46m).

Atlantic Sapphire said the net proceeds from the private placement will be used to provide the company with sufficient financial runway, including a buffer, to achieve phase 1 steady-state production and profitability.

Author: Vince McDonagh / FishFarmer | read the full article here