Prime Minister Boris Johnson has acknowledged that new regulations following the end of the Brexit transition period are causing problems for the UK seafood sector, and has pledged compensation for those businesses affected.
He was answering questions yesterday at the House of Commons Liaison Committee, which represents the chairs of all the Commons select committees. In response to Hilary Benn, Chair of the Committee on the Future Relationship with the European Union, the PM said that he was aware of “temporary frustrations” and added: “We will compensate those fishing businesses… I don’t doubt there will be problems, but businesses must be prepared for change.”
 

Author: Robert Outram / Fish Farmer | Read the full article here 

A long-term business partnership and the ability to provide a turnkey installation are the key factors in the choice of Carsoe to design, produce and install the new complete processing plant on board Ocean Prawns’ new trawler.

The highly sophisticated Skipsteknisk-designed factory trawler incorporates a great deal of new technology and new thinking, and is designed to carry around 1200 tonnes of frozen Greenland halibut or shrimp.

Carsoe will design, supply and install processing lines to handle, freeze and package both shrimp and Greenland halibut at sea. A high level of automation and ergonomic design ensures a healthy working environment that does away with the usual heavy lifting for the crew.

Author: Quentin Bates / FiskerForum | Read the full article here

Thai Union Ingredients, a subsidiary of Thai Union Group, has launched a new dietary supplement produced from tuna bones which can help promote healthy bones and teeth.

With its very fine particle size, UniQTMBONE can be incorporated in products without changing sensory attributes, delivering a range of nutrients for bone health. It can be added to a variety of food, taken as capsules or tablets or given as an additive to pet food. It is being produced at Thai Union Group’s recently-opened bone powder production facility at the Songkla Canning factory in southern Thailand.

Source: Worldfishing | Read the full article here

While many seafood processors are struggling to survive during the COVID-19 pandemic, Lund’s Fisheries is expanding its storage and processing space, and hiring a slate of executives to fuel growth of value-added lines – primarily to foodservice.

The Cape May, New Jersey, U.S.A.-based company, which owns 19 fishing vessels and has production facilities in New Jersey, Massachusetts, and California, will break ground on a 90,000-square-foot cold and dry storage facility to its Shoreline Freezers facility this summer.

The new hires will help the company grow its Lund's Fisheries, Seafood Market, and Sea Legend brands in both retail and foodservice

Author: Christine Blank / SeafoodSource | Read the full article here

Horse mackerel and sardines go through a vertiginous decline in the markets of the Basque Country. They are two important species, after the completion of the coastal tuna, which allows profitability of the tasks. This fishery focuses on the autumn months, as is the case with the sardine. At the end of last October 2020, it accumulated an approximate record of 600 tons of downloads, a figure that drops more than half in a year, according to the Behatokia Price Observatory

The income generated by the sales of chicharro has also fallen about 40% in the period from January to October of this year. However, there is a rebound in the price of the species, which is revalued by 46 cents, going from 92 cents last year to € 1.38 / kg on average this year. The chicharro shows a certain loss of presence in the market since its discharges adopted a decline rate three years ago.

Source: EuropaAzul | Read the full article here

The Asian country is still under the threat of the yellow card for IUU fishing.

Vietnam, which remains under threat from the EU's yellow card for illegal fishing, is advancing its strategy to improve fisheries management and the traceability of its products. Vasep, the association of exporters, has announced that the Government is implementing new software to optimize electronic traceability in the seafood supply chain and is committed to introducing electronic diaries to improve the record of catches.

The administration of the Asian country recalls that the traceability of fishery products is now a mandatory requirement of the market, both internationally and domestically.

Source: Fisheries Industries | Read the full article here

Scotland’s seafood sector today repeated an urgent call for a six-month “grace period” from red tape which is causing huge problems for exports to Europe.

Marketing group Seafood Scotland said the impacts of adapting to a complex new bureaucracy at the end of the Brexit transition period have been widespread. Issues from computer failures to lack of clarity on paperwork have rendered some Scottish companies’ efforts to export seafood all but impossible.

The Scottish salmon sector appears to be faring better than the caught fish and shellfish sectors, partly because it primarily comprises large companies with enough resources to tackle complicated paperwork. 

Source: fishfarmingexpert  | Read the full article here

Mealworms, which are increasingly being farmed as aquafeed ingredients, have been deemed safe for human consumption this week by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA).

The decision still has to be confirmed by the European Commission's Health Directorate General, which will give the final authorisation for market approval in the European Union.

According to mealworm producer Ÿnsect, it is the first insect species to receive a positive safety evaluation for human consumption in the world, offering hope for the growth of the entire insect farming industry. It is also, they say, a recognition that mealworm ingredients are premium products, as they have been deemed to be “food grade” before other insects which are still only used in animal feed.

Source: The Fish Site  | Read the full article here

The inability of the U.K. government to establish a trade agreement with the E.U. well before the end of the Brexit transition period on 31 December, 2020, and a failure to include a bedding-in period that would have allowed exporters to adjust to the new demands, are the main reasons why seafood businesses are encountering disruptions at the border, according to Scottish Rural Economy Secretary Fergus Ewing.

On 24 December, negotiators from the E.U. and the U.K. reached an agreement on a new partnership, which set out the rules that have applied between the two parties since 1 January, 2021. 

Author: Jason Holland / SeafoodSource | Read the full article here

Norway has reduced the cod quota for the European Union in the Svalbard by 10,631 tonnes in 2021 which could cost the EU fishing industry by €800 million over the next 20 years.

News of the drastic cut has come to light in a communiqué between Europeche, the European North Atlantic Fisheries Association (ENAFA) and the European Association of Fish Producers Organisations (EAPO) to the EU Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen.

The Svalbard Zone is a protected area of 200 nautucal miles around the coastline of Svalbard. In December it was reported by Norwegian newspaper Nationen that Norway was going to give the EU a quota of 34,864 tonnes in the Zone along with 7,500 tonnes of other fisheries.

Source: The Fishing Daily | Read the full article here