Faces constitutional hurdle as interim govt cannot enter into long-term treaty

GENEVA: The Chief of the World Trade Organisation, Ngozi Okonjo, has called upon member states to ratify the fisheries subsidies agreement. However, Pakistan may not be on the list of ratifying nations due to a constitutional limit that bars the interim government from entering into a long-term treaty.

Ngozi has termed the ratification of the agreement as her topmost priority for the upcoming Ministerial Conference aimed at ending overfishing and the depletion of oceans.

In an interaction with a group of journalists from developing countries, the Director-General of the WTO urged member states, including Pakistan, to ratify the fisheries subsidies agreement so that it can enter into force next year. The 13th Ministerial Conference is taking place in the United Arab Emirates in February next year.

So far, 43 members have ratified the agreement, but we need 110 states to ratify it before making it effective, she added. She said that the process of ratification was gaining pace.[...]

Source: The Express Tribune

NEW YORK /PRNewswire/ -- Mark Foods and Arista Industries' Seafood Division, two specialists in premium, frozen, sustainably sourced seafood, today announced that they have agreed to combine and move forward together as Mark Foods. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Mark Foods is a leading US importer, processor and marketer of premium seafood products that was founded in 2002 by CEO Barry Markman. Founded in 1930, Arista Seafood is a valued partner to many of the largest food service distributors and retailers.

The combined company will be a leader in frozen seafood, selling approximately 100 million pounds of seafood and generating annual revenue exceeding $800 million.

The company will continue to focus on Chilean Sea Bass, Farm-Raised and Wild-Caught Shrimp, New Zealand Mussels, Lobster, Pasteurized Crab, Spanish Octopus and other seafood products.

The President of Arista Industries, Alan Weitzer, Arista Seafoods' General Manager Joe Weitzer, and the entire Arista Seafood team will join Mark Foods as part of the transaction.[...]

BERKELEY, Calif. /PRNewswire/ -- UPSIDE Foods, the leading cultivated meat, poultry and seafood company, announced today that it selected the greater Chicagoland region for its first large-scale cultivated meat production plant.

The 187,000 square foot plant, based in Glenview, Illinois, will start by producing ground cultivated chicken products, with plans to expand to other species and whole-textured formats in the future. With an initial capacity to produce millions of pounds of cultivated meat products per year and the potential to expand to over 30 million pounds, the plant represents a significant step forward in achieving the company's vision of creating a more humane, sustainable, and resilient food system.

UPSIDE Foods selects Glenview, III. for its first large-scale cultivated meat production plant --->

The state-of-the-art plant, designed to house cultivators with capacities of up to 100,000 liters, will stand as one of the world's largest and most advanced commercial cultivated meat facilities. Building upon the knowledge gained from UPSIDE's Engineering, Production, and Innovation Center (EPIC) in California, UPSIDE's new plant will cultivate meat at commercial scales and serve as a guiding force for UPSIDE's future endeavors in scaling up its operations to the next level.

Argentina could be a pioneer and set a historical precedent in the conservation of benthic areas on extended continental shelves. This would put a stop to the uncontrolled exploitation of international bottom trawling fleets. This is considered by the environmental association Greenpeace, which explains that the bill for the creation of the Blue Hole, a Benthic Marine Protected Area that covers 148,000 km2, is currently in the National Congress, pending treatment by the Senate. of ocean floors beyond 200 nautical miles.

Source: Industrias Pesqueras | Read the full article here

Spanish technology company Satlink receives the ‘Tuna Award 2023’ for Project Recon. Organised by Anfaco-Cecopesca and the Spanish Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, the Tuna Awards recognise innovation in the international tuna industry.

• Satlink launched its circular economy Project ReCon in December 2022 to recover echosounder buoys used in tropical tuna fishing and recondition them for scientific and environmental

Source: FishFocus | read the full article here

The Minister of Finance, Mario Marcel, has been participating in Chile Day 2023 in London, with the aim of attracting investments to the country, with a focus on mining and green hydrogen, also highlighting that the national economy is on the path to recovery.

“The normalization of monetary policy will support the recovery of investment. And, of course, that will take us to a different stage in the evolution of the economy,” said Minister Marcel, ensuring that national activity will return to normal.

Author: Jonathan Garcés / SalmonExpert | Read the full article here

ALDI U.K. is partnering with the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) to promote several MSC-certified seafood products in its stores.

The rapidly expanding grocery chain, which will add 500 locations in the next few years, sells the largest volume of MSC-certified products compared to any other U.K. supermarket, the company said press release.

Author: Christine Blank / SeafoodSource | read the full article here

Public hearings to consider a licence application by Cooke Aquaculture for two new farm sites in Liverpool Bay, Nova Scotia will take place in February next year, the Nova Scotia Aquaculture Review Board has announced.

The hearing dates have been set as February 05, 2024 to February 09, 2024.

Kelly Cove Salmon Ltd (KCS), a Cooke subsidiary, is seeking approval for an existing site boundary amendment at Coffin Island and two new marine finfish aquaculture licenses and leases for the cultivation of Atlantic salmon in Liverpool Bay at Brooklyn and Mersey Point, Nova Scotia.

Source: FishFarmer | read the full article here

Rosselkhoznadzor (The Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Supervision) suspended the supply of fish products to Russia from the Belarusian manufacturer RitMark LLC. The reason for the temporary restrictions is the import of products from raw materials of unknown origin, the department reports.

Rosselkhoznadzor, in connection with the ongoing supply of fish products to Russia from raw materials of unknown origin from the Belarusian production workshop of RitMark LLC, has decided to introduce temporary restrictions on the import of goods from this enterprise.

Belarus in the map -->

Earlier, the Service informed the Department of Veterinary and Food Supervision of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food of Belarus about the identified facts of the import into Russia of salmon fish products of RitMark LLC, made from raw materials supplied to the republic from Denmark. At the same time, the Danish competent authority did not confirm the authenticity of the issued veterinary certificates. 

In total, from June to August 2023, out of 11 imported shipments, 6 were found to have counterfeit documents.[...]

Many local restaurants aren't getting their fish from local fishers. The San Diego Fishermen's Association got a $300,000 federal grant to change that.

People who have been around San Diego for several decades will remember the familiar sight of scores of tuna boats docked along the Embarcadero.

But, by the 1980s, the industry had moved to the calmer waters of the western Pacific, and the tuna boats disappeared.

San Diego Fishermen's Working Group President Pete Halmay is shown speaking with KPBS reporter John Carroll at the G Street Pier on Sept. 11, 2023./Photo: Jacob Aere/KPBS -->

There is still a fishing industry in San Diego, and some fishermen here still catch tuna. But today it’s much more diverse.

“We got 150 to 200 boats in San Diego Harbor.  We harvest about 50 species of fish, and we don’t have a really organized way of marketing it to the public," said Pete Halmay, the president of the San Diego Fishermen's Working Group, part of the San Diego Fishermen's Marketing Association.

Recently, the association started working with the San Diego Regional Policy and Innovation Center to secure a $300,000 grant from the U.S Department of Agriculture to boost the local fishing industry.[...]

Author/Source: John Carroll/kpbs.org