The UK Government has been accused of failing to address problems facing Scottish fishermen. Following a statement on the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) by Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Richard Benyon, SNP MPs Mike Weir and Angus MacNeil have said there are other challenges facing Scots fishermen than the CFP and the UK Government is failing to act.

Mike Weir MP said: “Whilst the agreement in Brussels is welcome, the fishing industry still faces problems such as the cost of quota and fuel. The market conditions have continued to be poor in recent months.

BRUSSELS - Iceland's foreign minister, Gunnar Bragi Sveinsson, said he told the European Union his country's bid to join the EU is over.

Sveinsson traveled to Brussels to inform the European Commission, the EU's executive branch, Thursday 13 June, the EU observer reported.

Sveinsson said both parties in the newly elected government had campaigned against joining the EU.

Source: UPI

Japanese buyers are once again showing interest in Bangladeshi frozen shrimps, creating scope for exporters to reduce dependence on Europe, their largest market.

“Our exports to Japan had been very low over the last several years, but recently we are receiving many queries from there. It is a very positive sign,” Md Rezaul Hoque, managing director of Modern Sea Food Ltd, said.

In April alone, exporters shipped shrimp worth USD 2 million to Japan, according to Bangladesh Frozen Foods and Exporters Association.

Source: Sohel Parvez / The Daily Star

Seven people have drowned while attempting to cross into Italy by gripping on to a large tuna fishing cage being towed by a trawler, witnesses say.

Italy's coast guard rescued the migrants off the shores of Sicily after reports came in of dozens of people clinging desperately to the tuna cage out at sea.

Source: ABC News

WALVIS BAY - A new fishing joint venture consisting of five new right holders has responded positively to government's call to add value to Namibia's export commodities.

Omualu is the newly wholly Namibian-owned fishing firm that has created 150 direct and indirect jobs. The Minister of Fisheries and Marine Resources, Bernard Esau, applauded the initiative during his visit to the company's factory in the northern industrial area last Thursday 13 June.

Source: Eveline De Klerk / All Africa

VESTRE JAKOBSELV - The president of Norges Kystfiskarlag, the Coastal Fishermen's Association, is more concerned with the effects of salmon farming on wild fish populations than he is with the new quota recommendations.

Arne Pedersen is not too concerned about the new quota recommendations for cod and haddock. It isn’t the quantity of fish that worries him: it’s their health. “This is not natural, this is poison,” Pedersen said, sawing open a frozen haddock to expose the contents of its stomach.

Source: Christi Turner / Barents Observer

A local fish farmer has started tagging the tails of three species of fish he breeds - grey mullet, milkfish and tilapia - with QR codes, short for Quick Response codes.

Scanning the square barcodes with a smartphone shows shoppers recipes for the specific fish.

It then directs them to a website with information on the farming method and the origin of the fish - a 3ha farm in Lim Chu Kang owned by the Metropolitan Fishery Group.

Source: Jessica Lim / Science & Tech

A bill to bring oyster farming to the Inland Bays passed the House unanimously 11 June despite opposition from Cape Region boaters and clammers.

Sponsor and Speaker of the House Rep. Pete Schwartzkopf, D-Rehoboth Beach said the Delaware Aquaculture Act, House Bill 160, was released by the Natural Resources Committee 5 June prior to passing the House. It now moves onto the Senate, sponosred by Sen. Patricia Blevins, D-Elsmere.

Source: Rachel Swick Mavity / Cape Gazette

Sustainable oyster farmers have turned Brazil's Bay of Guaratuba into a model of eco-friendly food production. They are producing some of the tastiest oysters in the world and educating locals about how to be green.

In the southern state of Paraná, a large inlet in the middle of dense Atlantic forest forms the Bay of Guaratuba. This is one of Brazil's most biologically rich ecosystems. On the calm waters of the vast bay, the tranquility is only broken by the occasional sound of human activity.

Source: DW

NEW YORK - A New York judge has ordered three men who pleaded guilty to smuggling South African rock lobsters to the U.S. to pay the South African government nearly USD 30 million in restitution.

U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said Friday 14 June the USD 29.5 million in restitution is the largest sum ever ordered under the Lacey Act. That law makes it a crime to import illegally obtained fish, wildlife or plants into the U.S.

Source: Star Tribune