KANNUR - Kerala government will soon formulate a fish seed law to improve the fishing sector in the state and ensure quality in the fish seed sector, said fisheries minister K Babu.

"Though karimeen is said to be the brand identity of Kerala, the truth is that the production here is not sufficient enough to meet the demand because the supply of fish seeds is limited," said the minister inaugurating the harvesting of the shrimp cultivation at the 'kaipad' lands in Puzhathi panchayath here on Tuesday 21 May, under the paddy-shrimp cultivation project of the Agency for Development of Aquaculture, Kerala (ADAK).

Source: P Sudhakaran / Times of India

The Fisheries Department’s pilot project to revive traditional brackish water paddy-shrimp farming system in an extent of total 90 hectares of ‘kaipad’ land in Kasaragod, Kannur and Kozhikode districts has now reached the harvest stage.

Fisheries Minister K. Babu inaugurated the first harvest of shrimps cultivated as part of the project at a function here on Tuesday 21 May. The Minister collected the harvested shrimps and inaugurated the first sale.

Source: Steve Phillips / The Hindu

BILOXI, (MS) - The start of shrimp season in Mississippi is about two weeks away. Tuesday 21 May, the Commission on Marine Resources heard an update about expectations for the 2013 season.

CMR commissioners listened as Traci Floyd outlined early indicators that may help predict the success of the 2013 season.

This time of year, the focus is on the growth of shrimp. That means paying attention to things like salinity, rainfall and water temperature.

Source: WLOX

The publication on 22 May of a scientific article by Marine Scotland on the environmental factors affecting a key fishery in the North Sea for prawns (langoustines) highlights the dynamic nature of our marine environment and the need for greater understanding of such natural fluxes, says the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation (SFF).

The article outlines the environmental factors which have affected the prawn fishery on the Fladen Ground in the North Sea with weather patterns causing colder than usual water temperatures. For the first four months of 2013 landing figures show a 52 per cent decline compared to the same period last year. The situation has also been replicated on the west coast, but to a lesser extent.

LAVAL - Neptune Technologies & Bioressources Inc. announces its consolidated financial results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year ended 28 February, 2013 and provides update on action plan to resume operations.

Nutraceutical Business Results

• Nutraceutical revenues increased 32 per cent to a record CAD 25,181,000, for the fiscal year ended 28 February, 2013, up from USD 19,113,000 in the corresponding period ended 29 February, 2012.
• Adjusted EBITDA was negative (CAD 965,000) for the fiscal year ended 28 February, 2013, compared to Adjusted EBITDA of CAD 2,690,000 in the prior year.
• Net loss totalled (CAD 12,779,000) for the fiscal year ended 28 February, 2013, compared to net profit of CAD 2,384,000 for the corresponding period ended 29 February, 2012.

Source: The Wall Street Journal

Paul Vecsei, well known sturgeon specialist and fish illustrator, shows in this poster all extant sturgeon species and valid subspecies worldwide, using 27 scientific illustrations.

Each picture is of an individual fish and was made in the technique of pointillism with extreme accuracy. This poster in DIN-A1 format (594 x 841 mm) on 240 g/m2 paper finished with UV-gloss coating, is not only a decoration on any wall but an eye-catcher which will satisfy the viewer. The delivery includes two black poster rails made from plastic material for easy wall mounting.

The poster will be available from bookshops or directly from the publisher

Scottish fishermen have welcomed the announcementon  21 May by European Commissioner Maria Damanaki that the EU has notified the Faroe Islands that it intends to impose sanctions in response to their over-fishing of the Atlanto-Scandian herring stock.

The EU says the measures may include restrictions in the imports of herring and associated species fished by Faroese interests and restrictions on the access of Faroese vessels in EU harbours except for safety reasons. The notification from the EU is in response to the Faroese move earlier this year to withdraw from an international management plan for Atlanto-Scandian herring and set a unilateral quota at a level 145 per cent higher than their 2012 quota. This was set against a context in which all other parties to the fishery had agreed to reduce their quotas by 26 per cent for conservation reasons.

One of Fiji's main fishing companies has rejected claims by conservationists that Fiji is becoming a hub for shark finning in the Pacific region

The Hong Kong Shark Association expressed concerns that Air Pacific has been flying a substantial quantity of shark fin into Hong Kong.

We approached Air Pacific for comment on this story again, but nobody was available to speak to us.

Source: Radio Australia

REEDVILLE - Omega Protein Corporation (OME), christened two new vessels at its Reedville, Virginia facility. The two vessels, named the F/V Rappahannock and the F/V Fleeton are state of the art menhaden fishing vessels and are the first new vessels christened by the company in over 20 years. Omega Protein is a nutritional product company and a leading integrated producer of omega-3 fish oil and specialty protein products.

"The addition of the Rappahannock and the Fleeton to our Reedville fleet marks a significant investment in our operations here in Virginia," said Monty Deihl, Director of Fishing Operations at Omega Protein. Deihl added, "I'm proud that Omega is reviving the tradition of formally christening our new fishing vessels. It demonstrates our commitment to both our employees here and the community which for so many years this Reedville plant has supported."

Source: The Sacramento Bee

BEAUMONT, (TX) - Seafood Lover owner Steve Edwards is determined not to raise his shrimp prices — at least for now — despite a lag in supply this season.

Edwards has been primarily buying shrimp from three boats in the area for the past 30 years. He knows the shrimpers' costs are up and their catches down, he said.

Still, Edwards told The Beaumont Enterprise that he would not change prices on one of his best-selling items for at least the next month or two.

Source: KSAT