A new study led by a University of Rhode Island doctoral student and published in the Journal of Applied Ecology has found a possible solution to one of the biggest conservation and livelihood challenges in the marine realm.

Paul Carvalho, along with URI Assistant Professor Austin Humphries and colleagues from several other institutions, found that fishing grounds with areas that are closed to fisheries but are periodically harvested are better than fishing grounds with permanent, no-take marine protected areas.

Source: Phys

A non-native species of fish could return to Scottish rivers in large numbers in 2019.

Pink salmon are native to Pacific Ocean waters but have spread to parts of northern Europe after being released into rivers in Russia in the 1960s.

Fisheries Management Scotland said 2017 saw "unprecedented numbers" of pink salmon in UK rivers.

It said due to the fishes' two-year life cycle the salmon could be seen again this year.

Source: BBC

A London-based company is proposing a salmon aquaculture operation in Millinocket, Maine.

Aquaculture Management & Holding Co. said Tuesday that it is ready to begin building the plant after two years of planning and preparation. The Bangor Daily News reports that the company said earlier this year it intended to open a land-based salmon farm in the U.S. by 2022.

Steve Sanders, director of mill site redevelopment at Our Katahdin, tells the newspaper that the organization has been in discussion with several companies.

Source: Bandenton

BRUSSELS - The European Commission on Wednesday said a no-deal Brexit was “very much possible” as it updated its contingency preparations and told countries, companies and people to be ready for the expected economic fallout.

The European Union’s executive said it would pay particular attention in coming months to crucial areas including citizens rights, financial services, transport and fisheries, ahead of Britain’s departure from the bloc, now due on Oct.31.

Its latest review of the EU’s no-deal plans comes as Britain’s Conservative Party is picking a new prime minister to replace Theresa May, defeated by her inability to pass through the UK parliament the deal she secured with the bloc seven months ago.

Source: Reuters

Both the company’s Lerøy Midt division and Måsøval Fish Farming were reviewed by the Norwegian Food Safety Authority for having had very large numbers of lice on the fish at their farms in summer 2016.

The Authority wrote in a report that for Lerøy Midt the number of lice per fish during August 2016 developed to 60-100 lice per fish, and that the numbers had not been in the company’s weekly counts. According to the Authority, harvest data showed that 17% of the fish that were slaughtered were downgraded to so-called production fish because of open wounds.

Source: Fish Farming Expert

If everything goes as planned, fresh fish raised in tanks on the now blighted former pulp mill site will be making its way across the West Coast in four years, opening up new avenues for economic development in a region still reeling from downturns in the once mainstay lumber and fishing industries.

At least that is the realistic best hope of officials with Nordic Aquafarms, the Norwegian company behind the proposed land-based facility that looks to ultimately produce some 25,000 tons of farmed fish a year here on the North Coast.

The clock was set in motion Feb. 11 with the Humboldt Bay Harbor, Recreation and Conservation District's decision to sign a 30-year lease with Nordic amid concerns that the deal was ushered through without public input.

Source: Humboldt Baykeeper

SOUTH PORTLAND, Maine - Lobster fishermen will likely have to contend with another deep cut to the availability of bait next year due to a Tuesday recommendation by a fishery management board.

Federal regulators have slashed the catch limits for Atlantic herring, which is an important source of bait for America's lucrative lobster fishery, over the past year. The New England Fishery Management Council voted Tuesday to again reduce the catch limits, this time to a little more than 25 million pounds in 2020.

The cut would reduce the Atlantic herring catch to its lowest level in decades, and less than a quarter of the 2017 total. The reduction comes on the heels of an earlier cutback that reduced this year's quota to less than 35 million pounds when the catch had been more than 200 million pounds just five years ago.

Source: Newsday

Bangkok - Diversified Communications and SeaWeb today announced the winners of the 2019 Seafood Champion Awards, an outstanding group of seafood sustainability leaders who exemplify the creativity and commitment of seafood leaders around the world.

“Once again the Seafood Champion Awards bring together a collection of inspirational stories that exemplify the great work being done to make seafood more sustainable and more ethical,” said Liz Plizga, Group Vice President for Diversified Communications. “We want to recognize and thank all our Seafood Champion Awards Finalists for the important work they are doing. The 17 finalists show how companies, governments, non-profits and individuals are all having a positive impact on seafood across the globe.”

2019’s winners represent change and progress at many different levels. From changing how a country perceives sustainable seafood to changing industry and supply chains, how governments regulate fisheries and enforce the law, and how individuals and communities support and benefit from sustainable fisheries.

Press Release

A Maine company’s pending acquisition of a foreign counterpart could give it a boost as it seeks to become one of the first in North America to prove the commercial viability of an emerging industry — fish farms that grow Atlantic salmon in large tanks instead of at sea.

Emergent Holdings’ plan to buy majority ownership of Kuterra, North America’s first land-based salmon grower, should give Emergent subsidiary Whole Oceans of Bucksport access to Kuterra’s experience using an old technology, land-based recirculating water systems, in a new way: to grow Atlantic salmon, said Jason Huffman, a senior reporter at the seafood industry trade journal Undercurrent News.

Source: Bangor Daily News

A Nelson-based marine engineering firm is harvesting good feedback from its latest vessel.

It was a day of celebration for Aroma Aquaculture as their new mussel harvester Kakara was officially launched at Havelock Marina on Friday.

Following a blessing by local iwi and the traditional breaking of a bottle over the bow, around 160 guests from the local community and aquaculture industry were given the chance to look on board the vessel while sampling the best of Havelock's aquaculture bounty.

Source: Stuff