French retailer Les Mousquetaires has partnered with Pêcheurs d'Opale and Groupe Le Garrec to develop a new aquaculture cooperative, Scopale.

Scopale will finance the construction of fishing vessels in the form of joint ownership with local fishermen. For each boat, costing about EUR 2.5 million, fishermen or local fishing collectives will contribute one third of the budget and Scopale the other two thirds.

Created in 2015 in Boulogne-sur-Mer, Scopale is owned by Scapêche (40%), Pêcheurs d'Opale (40%) and Groupe Le Garrec (20%). It had already developed three 19.20 meter vessels at the Manche Industrie Marine (Dieppe) and Padmos (Netherlands) shipyards.

Source: ESM Magazine

The Aquaculture Development Association of Zambia (ADAZ) has urged Government to put in place measures that will regulate the importation of fish to ensure quality products enter the market.

ADAZ chairman Fisho Mwale said there is need to safeguard the sub-sector from imports that have an adverse effect on the health of both the humans and the fish.

Mr Mwale said currently, there is an outbreak of tilapia lake virus, which has ravaged most East Asian countries.

“Zambia has been importing most of her fish from East Asia following shortages of fish in the country. Most fish coming from East Asia is [very] cheap, but is diseased fish, throw-away fish usually called rants, and it is finding its way into our market.

Source: Zambia Daily Mail

The Ministry for Primary Industries is seeking public input on proposed national environmental standards that it hopes will improve the aquaculture industry.

The ministry is hosting a public meeting on Wednesday at the Invercargill Working Men's Club that is part of a series of meetings being held throughout the country as part of the consultation.

In June, Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy and Environment Minister Dr Nick Smith announced the proposal for marine aquaculture to make re-consenting existing marine farms more consistent and efficient.

A national environment standard is established under the Resource Management Act 1991 and sets national rules that replace regional council rules.

Source: Stuff

Fears have been raised about the impact a proposed salmon farm could have on calving whales on Tasmania's east coast.

Salmon giant Tassal wants to build 28 salmon pens in Okehampton Bay, and on Tuesday night, the Glamorgan Spring Bay council voted to rezone the area from environmental to "light industrial".

Conservation group Environment Tasmania has highlighted the plight of the endangered southern right whale.

Source: ABC

Premier Dwight Ball says his government is considering whether to appeal a Supreme Court decision that ordered more environmental review of the Grieg aquaculture project in Placentia Bay. NTV’s Don Bradshaw reports.

Source: NTV

Marine Harvest has begun a recruitment drive to fill 55 posts at a fish feed factory it is having built on Skye.

A quarry at Kyleakin is being developed at a cost of GBP 93m. Highland Council approved the project in February.

The construction of the factory is expected to be completed in the autumn of next year.

Marine Harvest said the 55 vacancies were across a range of disciplines including production, logistics, maintenance and health and safety.

Source: BBC

With support from Sen. Lisa Murkowski, Congress is preparing to renew a ban on the importation of genetically engineered salmon.

On Friday 28th of July 2017, the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee unanimously approved a bill funding agriculture and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for another year. Included within that budget bill, which now faces a vote of the full Senate, is a provision renewing the ban.

“This is important stuff to our local economies,” Murkowski said before the committee approved the bill.

The target of the bill is a fast-growing engineered salmon approved for human consumption by the FDA in 2015. That salmon, known as the AquAdvantage, is produced by AquaBounty Technologies. The salmon is fertilized in Canada and farmed in Panamanian pens.

Source: Juneau Empire

Boulder officials believe high heat and recent rains led to an algae bloom in Tantra Lake that killed hundreds of fish over the weekend.

The die-off alarmed residents of the nearby apartments, who worried that some kind of chemical exposure may have been to blame.

But Andy Taylor, of Boulder's Water Quality and Environmental Services, said that after an inspection of the south Boulder lake on Monday afternoon, officials believe it was algae that ultimately killed the fish.

Source: Daily Camera

The provincial NDP is backing last week’s court decision requiring a full environmental impact statement (EIS) before Grieg NL’s proposed salmon aquaculture project in Placentia Bay can proceed.

In a news release, NDP Leader Earle McCurdy called the decision a significant victory for everyone who has been calling for such an assessment.

“We need jobs and development, but not at any cost,” he said.

McCurdy said the provincial government erred by not ordering the EIS in 2016, delaying the project for a year.

Source: Southern Gazette

Edinburgh scientists hope the results of a study into the nervous systems of a species of small exotic fish could hold clues to new therapies for people with paralysing spinal cord injuries.

Edinburgh University researchers said they have uncovered a "vital mechanism" in the damaged spines of zebrafish that helps nerve connections to regrow.

Zebrafish can regain full movement within four weeks of injury.

For people, damage to the spinal cord is permanent and results in paralysis.

Source: BBC