IN BRIEF - Canned Tuna Maker Bumble Bee Preps for Bankruptcy Filing
UNITED STATES
Wednesday, November 20, 2019
Bumble Bee Foods LLC is preparing to file for bankruptcy within days over mounting legal expenses stemming from its involvement in a conspiracy to fix prices on canned tuna, according to people familiar with the matter.
The San Diego-based company, owned by London-based private-equity firm Lion Capital, is expected to file a chapter 11 petition shortly and will put itself up for sale, the people said. Bumble Bee didn’t respond to a request for comment. Lion Capital, which bought the company in 2010 for USD 980 million, also didn’t immediately respond.
Bumble Bee pleaded guilty in 2017 and agreed to pay a USD 25 million fine for having formed a cartel with its two main competitors, Chicken of the Sea and StarKist Co.
The Cabinet has decided to extend the allocation of quotas for expired right holders to allow them to catch one third of the Total Allowable Catch, for various species until end of 2019/2020 financial year.
The Minister of Information and Communication Technology says this measure is to maintain and allow stability in the fishing industry.
Colombo - The Marine Environment Protection Authority (MEPA) has decided to monitor the plastic usage on single and multi-day fishing trawlers. Fishermen take 500 to 1000 1 litre bottles when they head out to sea. These steps are being taken to protect ocean life.
Attention has been drawn to only permit the carrying of 5-litre containers to the ocean. The plan is set to be put into action together with the help of the Sri Lanka Coast Guard.
Acting fisheries minister Albert Kawana says the planned investigation into the fishing sector could take years to complete.
Kawana said people should not expect issues of maladministration, corruption and nepotism in the fishing sector to be fixed in a week, a month or a year, because some of the anomalies could require the government to amend the Marine Resources Act.
The acting minister explained at a media briefing on Monday that he was ordered by president Hage Geingob to investigate if there were any instances of maladministration, corruption and nepotism in the sector.
The duration for the closed fishing season will be extended from one to two months, the Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture, Mrs Elizabeth Afoley Quaye, has stated.
The closed season, which prohibits fishers from going to sea, was observed between May and September 2019, with majority of artisanal fishers observing it between May and June.
It aims to encourage the rejuvenation of marine fish stocks to improve the recent dwindling fish stock.
A furious Brexiteer MEP has lashed out at the EU for destroying UK fisheries, claiming that many British fishermen wouldn’t be able to even buy Christmas gifts this year. MEP June Mummery took issue with the controversial EU Common Fisheries Policy - a common target for British fishermen who claim it has ruined their livelihood. Speaking at a debate at the EU's Fisheries Committee, Ms Mummery asked when was the last time any of the EU elite had bothered to speak to any fishermen face-to-face.
The MEP challenged the Fisheries Committee members to get out and "speak to the people" for themselves to better understand the state of the fishing industry.
The question silenced the room, as the Brexit Party MEP went on to outline how British waters had been left “without any fish” because of EU rules.
Figures for October this year, the most recent month for which statistics are available, show that the export value of farmed products of all types totalled 3.1 billion kroner (ISK) or GBP 19.6 million.
While the figures are still a long way short of the total that rivals Norway and Scotland sell overseas in an average month – and are likely to remain so – they show the country is moving up the fish farming league at an impressive rate.
Aquaculture exports were just a fraction of that figure five or six years ago.
If the current trend continues for the final two months of 2019, Iceland’s aquaculture exports are expected to reel in more than ISK 24 billion – or around GBP 152 million.
The value of catch from Icelandic fishing vessels in September was 12.4 billion ISK, 13.6% more than in September last year. Demersal catch value increased by 26.5% and the total value was 8.2 billion ISK. All major demersal species increased in value compared to September last year, cod by 23.6%, haddock by 37% and saithe by 35.4%. Value of pelagic catch was 5.8% less than in September 2018, or about 3.4 billion ISK whereas it was nearly 3.6 billion in 2018. The dominant pelagic species was herring, with value of 2.2 billion ISK. Value of flatfish was 5.1% more than in September 2018 or 590 million ISK.
Total value of catch in the 12 month period from October 2018 to September 2019 was 144.2 million ISK which is a 15.4% increase compared with the same period a year earlier.
Fish production increased in Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Odisha and West Bengal, and came down in states such as Karnataka, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu during 2018-19.
In a written reply to Shobha Karandlaje, Member of Parliament from Udupi-Chikmagaluru Lok Sabha constituency, in Lok Sabha on Tuesday, the Union Minister of State for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Pratap Chandra Sarangi, said fish production in the country increased from 10.26 million tonnes in 2014-15 to 13.34 million tonnes in 2018-19. The production stood at 12.59 mt and 11.43 mt in 2017-18 and 2016-17, respectively.
Andhra Pradesh topped the list in fish production with 3.99 mt (2018-19), 3.44 mt (2017-18), and 2.76 mt (2016-17). This was followed by West Bengal at 1.77 mt , 1.74 mt and 1.7 mtduring 2018-19, 2017-18 and 2016-17, respectively.
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