Researchers have found that the beam of a scanning electron microscope can turn a thin coating that occurs naturally on the larvae of some insects into a sort of miniature spacesuit that can keep the animals alive in a vacuum for up to an hour.

The researchers made their discovery while testing how long various animals could survive in a high vacuum while being imaged inside a scanning electron microscope. Most organisms to lose water rapidly in these conditions, leading to death by dehydration and physical distortion, but the larvae of the fruitfly Drosophila survived for 60 minutes and went on to develop normally after being returned to normal pressure.

Source: Next Big Future

The controversial practice of making fishermen discard millions of tonnes of fish caught over EU quotas could be phased out within years, the Agriculture Minister has said.

The measure was among a package of changes secured by Simon Coveney after 36 hours of negotiations with EU fisheries ministers.

Source: Sarah Stack / Independent

Minister for Fisheries and Ports K. Babu said here on Thursday 16 May that the trawling ban this year too would be for 47 days from midnight of 14 June to 31 July.

The Minister’s statement comes against the background of experts recommending ban for a longer period. Mr. Babu said the ban was being imposed to conserve fish resources as monsoon was the spawning season of many varieties of fish. The ban was also aimed at reducing accidents during the stormy season and maintaining peace at sea. The ban would not be in the way of traditional pelagic fishing.

Source: The Hindu

The Pacific ACP Trade Ministers Chair and Fiji’s Trade Minister Aiyaz Sayed Khaiyum has called on the European Union not to use global sourcing as a bargaining tool to access fisheries resources in the region.

“Through global sourcing for the fisheries industry, the region will be able to pool its resources and enter into joint ventures to attract onshore investment and develop infrastructure.

This will allow all the countries of our region to share the benefits of our fisheries more equally.

Source: Pita Ligaiula / PINA

The Salmonid Council of Newfoundland and Labrador warns a recent escape of farmed salmon could cause problems with the wild Atlantic salmon population.

Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada officials confirmed this week that farmed salmon escaped from an aquaculture site in the Fortune Bay area, and have turned up in the Garnish River.

Council president Don Hutchens said it poses multiple threats to the wild salmon, such as potential interbreeding between wild and farmed salmon, and spreading of the infectious salmon anemia (ISA) virus.

Source: Yahoo News

Yarmouth County fish processor says it has incurred millions in costs as a result of an alleged breach of contract.

D’Eon Fisheries Ltd. of West Pubnico alleged in Nova Scotia Supreme Court documents filed Wednesday 15 May that defendants Scotia Harvest Seafoods Inc. of Digby and Marro Management Inc. of Lower West Pubnico breached a 2006 contract with the plaintiff.

According to court documents, the contract stipulated that “in consideration of D’Eon purchasing a USD 2-million state-of-the-art processing line and providing its silver hake quota to a vessel for the benefit of Scotia and Marro, Scotia and Marro would for a period of five years process the silver hake caught with D’Eon on the processing line and supply D’Eon with all of the groundfish necessary to operate the processing line.”
 

Source: Bruce Erskine / Herald Business

The Federal Government has been asked to support the fisheries industry to prevent it from imminent collapse.

During an interview with The Nation, the Chairman , Southsouth Chamber of Commerce, Dr Hyde Ochia, called for some mitigation measures to help fishermen out of their difficulties.He said the seafood sector has the potential to contribute to food security, employment and economic development.

According to him, fishery is an important source of income and animal protein for the domestic population.

Source: The Nation

As the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM) closes its annual meeting on 17 May, WWF applauds the organization for adopting the first comprehensive management plan ever to guarantee the sustainable exploitation of key Mediterranean fish stocks.

“WWF congratulates the GFCM for adopting, for the first time ever, a management plan for a Mediterranean fishery, after repeated calls from scientists on the need to conserve Mediterranean stocks. The Mediterranean is one of the most overexploited seas globally, with 100 per cent of demersal fish stocks assessed as overfished. It was high time for such a decision to be adopted”, said Dr. Sergi Tudela, Head of the Fisheries Programme at WWF Mediterranean.

Iglo Austria has been engaged in promoting conservation of the oceans’ natural ecosystems for years. As part of the Unilever group it helped set up the MSC programme – now an independent, internationally recognised certification and ecolabelling scheme – with the WWF over 15 years ago. Iglo was one of the first frozen food companies to do so, placing sustainability and traceability at the heart of their supply chain policy. On 17 May, all the ocean-caught fish in the Iglo range (33 products in total) carry the blue ecolabel as evidence that they are fully traceable to fisheries that are certified to the MSC standard for sustainable fishing.

“We need to establish trust for people to consume fish responsibly. This is why transparency and information are a top priority at Iglo Austria. Each of our fish products can be traced back to the original catch area thanks to a tracking code on the packaging. Now being 100 per cent MSC certified, Austrian consumers can be certain that all Iglo ocean-caught fish come from independently certified, sustainable fisheries,” says Dr Rainer Herrmann, Managing Director of Iglo Austria.

The Canadian Atlantic halibut fishery, located off the coasts of Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador, has achieved Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification following an independent, third-party assessment against the global MSC standard conducted by SCS Global Services. The client is the Atlantic Halibut Council representing the main associations of commercial halibut harvesters in eastern Canada. This certification represents the first Atlantic halibut fishery to be certified to the MSC global standard for sustainable and well-managed fisheries.