PANAJI - With the 61-day ban on mechanised fishing in force, stocks of clams (tisreo), ladyfish (mudoshi) and prawns appar to be making up for the non-availability of fresh deep-sea fish in markets.

These three varieties are obtained through traditional, non-mechanised methods of fishing, vendors said, and their high  availability has managed to keep prices reasonable. 

Source: Times of India

Inside a lab in Temasek Polytechnic, dozens of mud crabs are scuttling, feeding and breeding - to meet Singaporeans' insatiable appetite for chilli crab and black pepper crab.

Due to over-harvesting and bad weather conditions brought by global warming, the mud crab populations in the Philippines, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Malaysia have dwindled by 30 per cent. Many crabs are also harvested before they reach maturity, which is an unsustainable farming practice.

The crustaceans - from tiny crablets to two-year-old female crabs waiting patiently to bear eggs - are housed in the Aquaculture Research Facility within the Centre for Aquaculture and Veterinary Science (CAVS).

Source: Straits Times

Seafood plays a vital part of the American diet. It provides lean protein and essential omega-3 fatty acids that are beneficial to our brain, heart, and eyes. Currently, it's recommended that we eat seafood twice a week. As demand for seafood rises in concert with a growing population, many are concerned that the majority of seafood Americans consume—about 60%—is imported. Moreover, seafood caught by Americans is often sent overseas for processing.

At Capitol Hill Ocean Week earlier this month, government, industry and science groups met to discuss the seafood deficit at a conference open to the public. The panel was moderated by Linda Cornish, president of the Seafood Nutrition Partnership, which is a non-profit organization aiming to increase seafood consumption for human health.

The announcement comes as Iceland’s parliament, the Althing, approved a new bill on the future of the industry which includes a number of amendments. The exports success reflects the growing confidence within the sector, which has built itself up slowly under highly stringent conditions,  that it is now set to play a key role in the future economy of the country.

The Confederation of Icelandic Fishery Companies (SFS) said farmed fish (mainly salmon) now represented 10 per cent of all seafood exports, remarkable in  a country which is renowned  for  its  huge focus on conventional deep sea fishing.

SFS said: “The ratio has never been higher. Looking ahead we can safely assume that aquaculture exports will reach ISK 25 billion (around GBP 160-million) this year.  It is therefore clear that aquaculture is establishing itself as an important export industry, which is attracting  a great deal of foreign currency to the country. ”

Source: Fish Farmer Magazine

The consortium – led by Cooke Aquaculture and the Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS) with funding from the Scottish Aquaculture Innovation Centre (SAIC) – is exploring how measuring sulphides on the seabed could better track the impact of biomass from fish farms at six sites in Scotland and Canada, the SAIC wrote in a press release on Monday.

The study will be supported by Nova Scotia-based Dalhousie University, the University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI) and Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) and the new approach is expected to monitor the impact of fish farms more quickly, accurately, and cost-effectively. The consortium is also consulting the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA).

Source: Salmon Business

Designed for home cooks and chefs alike, the Nortindal Cuttlefish Ink comes in 4g sachets (rrp GBP 1.50/ six pack) and 500g jars (rrp GBP 11 each).

Available to convenience retailers now, the products join Brindisa’s growing ambient line-up and are made with ink sourced from Nortindal - a small company based in the Basque Country.

Traditionally used in Basque cuisine, Cuttlefish Ink is often added to rice-based dishes to give them a dark black colour and a unique seafood flavour.

Source: Convenience Store

Miami-based tilapia breeder Spring Genetics and El Salvador’s Acceso Oferta Local – Productos de El Salvador, SA DE CV have signed a distribution agreement to supply Salvadoran tilapia farmers and local organisations with high-quality tilapia fingerlings.

The agreement features the latest and improved genetics from one of the most advanced tilapia breeding programs in the world.

The tilapia strain is marketed under the Spring Tilapia brand has been recognised by tilapia producers in the USA and Latin America. Their stock has been selected for 19 generations on major commercial traits such as fast growth, survivability, disease resistance and fillet yield, and is the only tilapia strain with improved resistance to Streptococcus agalactiae and Streptococcus iniae in their genes.

Source: Far Eastern Agriculture

BIDDEFORD, Maine - A Maine university will play a role as the American representative in a new international aquaculture project funded by the European Union.

The University of New England says it will be a part of the AquaVitae Consortium, which is aimed at speeding up development of sustainable aquaculture in countries along the Atlantic Ocean. The European Union is funding the $8.9 million project through the Horizon 2020 program.

The university is joining 35 other groups on the project. The project is focusing on aquaculture of species that are low on the food chain. The effort has partner groups in places as far apart as Brazil and South Africa.

Soure: Wabi TV

HÀ N?I - A group of young artists from a social enterprise in Hà N?i have brought new life to tens of thousands of used plastic items and transformed them into impressive artworks which are on display at an ongoing exhibition in the capital.

Opened to the public at the Vincom Centre for Contemporary Art (VCCA) on Friday, the exhibition Plastic Planet presents a serious message about the environment, especially the harmful effects of plastic garbage.

The highlights of the exhibition are four large installation artworks, including L?c Xoáy (Tornado) – a 4.5m high installation created from thousands of used plastic items.

Source: Viet Nam News

A battle is looming over the east coast rock lobster fishery as recreational fishers look to claw back some of the commercial crayfish allocation.

Recreational fisherman Brody Corbett and IMAS Director of Sustainable Marine Research Professor Caleb Gardner talk to Leon Compton about possible solutions to the east coast over-catch.

Source: ABC