The Russian Antitrust Service (RAS) has proposed changes to the mechanism of fishing quota distribution that could expand a major overhaul of how the country manages its seafood sector.

Since 2004, most quotas in Russia have been allocated on the so called “historic principle,” which allocates quota based on the average of a company’s previous years’ catches, provided it fulfills all of its tax obligations, engages in sustainable fishing practices, and uses its entire quota. The system was reimplemented for another 15 years in 2018, meaning if nothing changes, it will be in place through 2034.

However, the RAS has proposed replacing its system of awarding fishing quotas based on historic catch averages with auctions, similar to the changes made in recent years to Russia’s crab fishery. In 2019, the Russian government moved 50 percent of its crab quota into what it called “investment auctions,” which awarded quota in lots to the highest bidder, provided they build a new crab vessel built at a Russian shipyard.

Author: Ivan Stupachenko / SeafoodSource | Read full article here

BluGlacier – which is jointly owned by Chilean salmon farmers Salmones Blumar and Ventisqueros – creates new distributor model in move to be wellness brand.

In a press release, BluGlacier writes that it has created a new logo, tagline and website to develop a targeted B2C strategy.

BluGlacier is one of the three largest Chilean salmon importers to the U.S. by volume.

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the company said that it had “decided to accelerate plans to launch their website this month so they could bring immediate value to those isolated in their homes”.

Source: SalmonBusiness | Read the full article here

Aquaculture genetics, health and advanced nutrition company Benchmark Holdings has said demand for its salmon ova has not yet been materially affected by the Covid-19 epidemic, although it anticipates earnings will be hit in other parts of the business such as shrimp nutrition.

“The two and a half to three year salmon production cycle means that demand for salmon eggs is less affected by the short term impact from Covid-19 on the salmon sector, which is experiencing weaker demand from the catering industry, partially offset by retail demand, as well as challenging logistics to Asia and US,” said Benchmark, in a market update on how it is responding to the epidemic.

Sheffield-based Benchmark owns salmon egg producers SalmoBreed in Norway and StofnFiskur in Iceland and produces ova under the Benchmark Genetics name in Chile.

Source: fishfarmingexpert | Read the full article here

Icelandic fishery and processor VSV has during the first three months of the year produced more salt fish than in the whole of 2018. If this continues, then production in mid-April will be higher than in the whole of 2019.

In one recent weekend, 46 tonnes of salted fish were packed in one day during the processing and salting of seasonal cod at Vinnslustöðin plant. The line boats Kap II and Brynjólfur have been fishing well, as has the Drangavík. The company has also purchased fish from its commercial boats.

By acquiring Grupeixe’s salt fish processing company in Portugal, Vinnslustöðin became a direct participant in the processing and sale of this important market and controls all aspects of production, from fishing and processing here at home to processing, sales and marketing work there.

Source: FishFocus | Read full story here

Mowi Scotland is managing to deliver s steady supply of salmon to retailers, providing more than 500,000 meals a day during the coronavirus crisis.

Although many of its employees are working remotely, the company, as a food producer, has a number of ‘key workers’ across its different departments.

Mowi Scotland’s head of HR, Joanna Peeling, told the firm’s newsletter, The Scoop, that those meeting the government’s definition of key workers included staff directly involved in producing feed for salmon; farmers who are responsible for the fish in their care; and processing teams, along with those supporting them with vessels and logistics.

Additional health and safety measures have been put in place for these employees, such as adjustments to shift start and finish times, so there is a clear break between one group of people leaving and the next arriving.

Other new arrangements include break adjustments to enable social distancing to be practised in communal areas, such as kitchens and canteens; and installing additional hand sanitisers to enhance existing handwashing facilities.

All non-essential business travel and all non-essential visits to farm sites has been stopped as well, said Peeling, adding that Mowi is working to update all workers regularly with clear and comprehensive information on work related risks in their area.

Source:Fish Farmer | Read the full article here

Tuesday morning it was confirmed that the Lanchester based aqua group has been taken over by the London based investment firm, Hertsford Capital.

The takeover includes equity placing raising EUR 1.7 million, reports The Business Desk.

OTAQ designs technology products and solutions for the global aquaculture, especially salmon farming industries, and offshore oil and gas industries. The main product Sealfence improves the yield for the salmon farming industry by using acoustic technology to reduce the density of predator attacks.

The marine group is now planning the future, which might contain a name change for Hertsford Capital to OTAQ PLC. Alex Hambro will assume the role of non-executive chairman and Sara Gills continuing as a non-executive director.

Source:SalmonBusiness | Read the full article here

It’s round, yellow and huge and it’s built for offshore use – but the latest mega-cage to leave a Chinese construction yard isn’t a carbon copy of SalMar’s Ocean Farm 1 and it’s not going to hold salmon, although it is suitable for them.

The cage – called the Semisubmersible Spar Fish Farm (SSFF) – will be operated in the Taiwan Strait, which separates Taiwan from mainland China, and will hold up to 3,000 tonnes of yellow croaker, also known as corvina, a fish mainly eaten in Asia.

It will be sunk to around 10 metres below the surface during storms.

The company behind the cage is Pan Ocean Aquaculture, which comprises four men from the Netherlands with marine engineering backgrounds.

General manager Mark Van Leeuwen told Fish Farming Expert’s Norwegian sister site, Kyst.no, that the total cost of building the cage was around 120 million Chinese yuan (£13.7m). One of the investors is the government of the south-eastern province of Fujian, which has a coastline on the Taiwan Strait.

The cage was designed by De Maas SMC, which provides technical services required for design, construction and completion of tailor-made vessels and platforms for oil and gas, offshore renewables and offshore farming. De Maas also oversaw construction in China.

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With the demand dropping and cold stores filling up, the Danish Fishermen’s Association (DFPO) has recommended that direct fishing for nephrops should stop.

‘Due to the coronavirus crisis, the European market for nephrops has disappeared. It makes no sense to have a direct fishery when nobody is buying. This isn’t an easy decision to take, and will have serious consequences for fishermen, but we need to do this to secure future fisheries,’ said DFPO chairman Svend-Erik Andersen.

The Association has set up a nephrops committee chaired by Claus Hjørne Pedersen, who is also chairman of the fishermen’s association in Strandby, one of the ports hit by the change in the nephrops market. The committee’s task is to monitor the situation and to stay in contact with fishermen and processors, and may propose regulation for the nephrops fishery.