Is farmed salmon ‘artificially coloured’? The facts about astaxanthin and food dyes.
Last month, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration banned Red Dye No. 3—a colouring found in everything from pastries to pills—citing studies linking it to thyroid cancer in animals. The dye had already been prohibited in cosmetics since 1990, yet it remained in food and medicine for decades.
Activists have sought to draw an equivalence between this and the use of astaxanthin in farmed salmon, arguing that both are synthetic pigments added to alter appearance. The comparison is misleading. While Red Dye No. 3 is purely cosmetic, astaxanthin is a naturally occurring dietary component essential to salmon health.
Author: Matthew Wilcox / SalmonBusiness l Read the full article here
Aquaculture biotechnology company Benchmark Holdings made a pre-tax loss of £7.1 million in the first quarter of its 2025 financial year, which runs from October 2024.
The loss was for continuing operations – its Advanced Nutrition and Health divisions – and doesn’t include its Genetics division, which is in the process of being sold to Denmark-headquartered life sciences investor Novo Holdings.
Advanced Nutrition had a soft start to the new financial year, Benchmark said in its Q1 2025 report. Revenues were £16.1m, 16% below the prior year.
Author: Gareth Moore / fishfarmingexpert l Read the full article here
Canada’s seafood producers were dealt a severe blow last night after President Donald Trump decided to impose 25% tariffs on Canadian goods entering the United States, starting on 4 March.
Similar tariffs are also being levied on southern neighbours Mexico.
Donald Trump paused the move a month ago, but now says he needs to take action because drugs are still pouring across US borders.
Trump said in a social media post that fentanyl imports are killing people and the US "cannot allow this scourge to continue to harm the USA" and he will levy a 25% tariff on Canada "until it stops, or is seriously limited."
Author: Vince McDonagh / Fish Farmer l Read the full article here
Jiang Jinjun, Director of Weihai Ocean Development Bureau, and a delegation visited the China Fisheries Association to discuss enhancing Weihai's fishery industry. Key topics included economic development, exhibition cooperation, and brand promotion.
Weihai, a major aquatic product producer, seeks to leverage the association's resources for market expansion and brand recognition. They aim to collaborate on exhibitions, brand building, and promotional activities.
China Fisheries Association President, Cui Lifeng, praised Weihai's industry and offered support in areas such as brand development, product promotion, standards, marine ranching, and leisure fishing. The association will conduct research in Weihai to tailor a cooperation plan for the high-quality development of the region's marine fisheries.
South Korea imported 2,301 tons of Japanese seafood in January 2025, a 7% decrease from the 2,468 tons recorded in January 2024. This volume represents 3% of South Korea's total seafood imports, which reached 75,350 tons.
Category-Specific Import Trends:
Decreases:
Live yellowtail imports fell by 11% to 1,036 tons (from 1,165 tons).
Fresh Alaska pollock imports decreased by 34% to 126 tons (from 192 tons).
Increases:
Live red sea bream imports rose by 25% to 169 tons (from 135 tons).
Live sea squirt imports surged by 63% to 160 tons (from 98 tons).
Live Scallop imports reached 341 tons.
Economic Analysis:
The total import value of Japanese seafood in January 2025 was USD 15.33 million, a 3% increase from USD 14.83 million in January 2024. The average import price per kilogram increased by 11% to USD 6.67, up from USD 6.01. This price increase is attributed to rising costs in certain seafood categories.
While the overall volume of Japanese seafood imports into South Korea decreased in January 2025, the increased import value indicates a shift towards higher-priced categories.
The French government agrees with its fishing sector an ambitious package of support that clashes with the CFP and aims to reformulate the Fempa aid for new ships
«We need a new fleet, if we want to make a renewal (...) we will need financing with public support, in this case community, from the EU. To me it does not seem like a matter of political fiction, I think it is possible». The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Luis Planas, was thus blunt in the last interview granted to FARO. He spoke about the possibility of the fishing sector accessing support to renew its ships, safer and more efficient, more respectful of the environment and, in passing, serving to attract young people to the industry. The wall, however, remains the same: the strict Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) and the limited funds for this matter from the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund (Fempa).
The Commission wants to protect the industrial future of the EU, while accelerating and taking advantage of the opportunities offered by the decarbonisation of the community economy and the objective of achieving it by 2050, with a “bold business plan to support the competitiveness and resilience of our industry”. It is the basis of the new “Clean Industrial Deal”, another of the axes of action of Ursula von der Leyen's second term, with which the Commission intends to provide “urgent support” to the European industrial sector
Source: Industrias Pesqueras l Read the full article here
Emelia Arthur, Ghana’s new fisheries and aquaculture development minister, has pledged to address accusations of high-level corruption in the West African nation’s fisheries sector, a lack of transparency, and other concerns that were raised when the European Union issued the country a second yellow card in 2021.
The minister, who succeeds Hawa Koomson in the role, told a parliamentary vetting committee ahead of her late January ministerial appointment by new Ghanaian President John Mahama that the E.U. “has outlined a number of things that need to be sorted out so that the yellow card can be lifted.”
Author: Shem Oirere / SeafoodSource l Read the full article here
Europêche, the leading representative body for the fishing industry in Europe, welcomes the European Commission’s upcoming Omnibus Simplification Package presented today by President Von der Leyen. This marks a significant first step towards addressing longstanding concerns about regulatory complexity and administrative burdens. The fishing sector urges the Commission to go further and conduct a comprehensive review of fisheries and environmental policies to improve competitiveness while maintaining sustainability goals.
The Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) believes that 2025 will be a “pivotal year” for the organisation, with three major updates to its programme helping support the progress of environmentally sustainable and socially responsible seafood farming
A summary report from the final stakeholder consultation on the new ASC Farm Standard has now been published, alongside summary reports on consultations on the Feed Standard and the new Certification and Accreditation Requirements (CAR), the certification programme confirmed.
Between March and June 2024, ASC conducted a range of consultation activities on the ASC Farm Standard, attracting 220 responses from various organisations around the world, including producers, CABs and auditors, NGOs and retailers.
UNITED STATES.png)
Last month, the 
UNITED KINGDOM.png)
The loss was for continuing operations – its Advanced Nutrition and Health divisions – and doesn’t include its Genetics division, which is in the process of being sold to Denmark-headquartered life sciences investor Novo Holdings..png)
Similar tariffs are also being levied on southern neighbours Mexico.
CHINA
SOUTH KOREA
Category-Specific Import Trends:
FRANCE
«We need a new fleet, if we want to make a renewal (...) we will need financing with public support, in this case community, from the EU. To me it does not seem like a matter of political fiction, I think it is possible». The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Luis Planas, was thus blunt in the last interview granted to FARO. He spoke about the possibility of the fishing sector accessing support to renew its ships, safer and more efficient, more respectful of the environment and, in passing, serving to attract young people to the industry. The wall, however, remains the same: the strict Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) and the limited funds for this matter from the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund (Fempa). 
BELGIUM.png)
The Commission wants to protect the industrial future of the EU, while accelerating and taking advantage of the opportunities offered by the decarbonisation of the community economy and the objective of achieving it by 2050, with a “bold business plan to support the competitiveness and resilience of our industry”. It is the basis of the new “Clean Industrial Deal”, another of the axes of action of Ursula von der Leyen's second term, with which the Commission intends to provide “urgent support” to the European industrial sector 
GHANA
Emelia Arthur, Ghana’s new fisheries and aquaculture development minister, has pledged to address accusations of high-level corruption in the West African nation’s fisheries sector, a lack of transparency, and other concerns that were raised when the European Union issued the country a second yellow card in 2021.
EUROPEAN UNION
NETHERLANDS.png)
A summary report from the final stakeholder consultation on the new ASC Farm Standard has now been published, alongside summary reports on consultations on the Feed Standard and the new Certification and Accreditation Requirements (CAR), the certification programme confirmed.
