Seafood Headlines August 29, 2017

Washington state puts moratorium on new fish farms after salmon escape

Washington Govenor Jay Inslee has directed the Department of Ecology to put on hold any new permits for net pens after thousands of Atlantic salmon escaped into Puget Sound earlier this month from damaged pens. To read the full article click here. Source CBC News.

Fighting Maritime Debris with Support from Space

Obviously maritime pollution is one of world’s most crucial challenges and right up there with global climate change. What better perspective is there to observe, track and predict marine litter movements than from space? Europe’s Earth observation (EO) programme Copernicus provides high-resolution, timely and continuous data with its Sentinel satellites on the global scale. Imagine what kind of impact EO applications have, in order to cope with the consequences of maritime pollution. To read the full article click here. Source Space of Innovation.

Seafood Exporter To Double Staff, Drive Market Growth

With its more than $100-million restaurant due for completion by summer 2018, seafood trader B&D Trawling is keen on doubling its staff complement to 400 employees, according to Chief Executive Officer Roderick Francis. To read the full article click here. Source The Gleaner.

Automating Traceability for the Seafood Industry

As a business owner or manager, your job is to maximize your investment. Automated traceability systems come in various forms, from the expensive ERP system to the low cost cloud-based solution. To read the full article and download a free white paper click here. Source SeafoodSource.

Salmon producer Tassal seeking new locations to rehome rogue seals

Tasmanian salmon producer, Tassal is working with the State Government to find new locations for the company's controversial seal relocation program after dumping a record number of seals last year on the state's north west coast. To read the full article click here. Source ABC News.

Capitol Tracker: McGuire resolution urges federal aid for fisheries

North Coast state Sen. Mike McGuire has introduced a Senate resolution that addresses the ongoing salmon fisheries crisis and urges the federal government to act.McGuire notes it’s an “unprecedented collapse” in a recent news release as the salmon population is at an all-time low. Local tribes are receiving the lowest allocations of salmon in decades and salmon fishing has been closed in some areas. To read the full article click here. Source Times Standard.

SFP marks the end of its role in implementing FIPs – “industry must lead from now on”

SFP announced today the transition to industry of its last Fishery Improvement Project (FIP), completing a five-year process of moving the organization from a FIP implementer to one that can support the seafood industry in leading improvement itself. This week, management of the Gulf of California Industrial Shrimp FIP has been handed over to various industrial partners connected with the project – the last FIP directly managed by SFP. To read the full article click here. Source Sustainable Fisheries Partnership.

This October, Seafood Nutrition Partnership Is Touring the U.S. With a Healthy Heart Message

To commemorate National Seafood Month and celebrate the many health benefits of fish and shellfish, non-profit Seafood Nutrition Partnership (SNP) is hosting a series of fun, interactive and educational events in cities across the country. The goal for these events is for all Americans to be aware that seafood is a lean protein filled with vitamins, minerals, and essential omega-3s EPA+DHA, which are vital for supporting optimum health. To read the full article click here. Source benzinga.com.

WHAT IS EARTH TWINE?

Earth Twine is a collaborative technology platform that integrates origin and tracking data with blockchain to address IUU and compliance issues. governments, with a focus on helping to do good, better. To read the full article click here. Source Earth Twine.

Blue crab population decline motivates UF researchers

Scientists with the Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences received a three-year grant to study a viral pathogen, the CsRV1 virus, that has caused the blue crab population to drop. UF received the grant from the National Science Foundation on July 1. To read the full article click here. Source alligator.com.

Is hearing loss in farmed fish a price worth paying for aquaculture’s meteoric rise?

To grasp the wide-ranging impacts of our industrial food systems, take a peek inside a salmon’s ear. That’s what marine biologist Tormey Reimer did when, in 2013 at the University of Melbourne, she began to investigate deformities that were developing on the structures that salmon use to hear. To read the full article click here. Source The Guardian.

Federal Judge Evokes Dr. Seuss in Upholding Seafood Regulations

Invoking Dr. Seuss, a federal judge on Monday quoted from the 1960 classic “One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish” to uphold a regulatory regime intended to cut down on seafood fraud and protect U.S. fishers from unfair competition.

Despite a challenge to the rule by a slew of U.S. seafood importers, harvesters and processors, U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta found that the traceability rule, which requires importers to document the supply chain of imports from their origin to their arrival in the U.S., was lawfully implemented by the National Marine Fisheries Service. To read the full article click here. Source courthousenews.com.

Sustainable Ocean Summit 2017

The 5th Sustainable Ocean Summit (SOS) will be held from 29 November – 1 December, 2017 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada! Mark your calendar for the only annual, international, multi-sectoral, business event dedicated to Ocean Sustainable Development. For additional information click here. Source oceancouncil.org.

U.S. catfish producers harmed by rules meant to slow foreign market

Something’s getting stinky in Washington, where lawmakers are rushing to protect American-caught catfish from stiff new inspections they themselves set up just a few years ago. It’s the latest flare-up in a decadelong feud that saw Congress insist on setting up a special inspection system for catfish, hoping to chase foreign imports out of the U.S. market — only to now balk when the same inspections are set to hit U.S.-caught fish. To read the full article click here. Source The Washington Times.

 NFI Statement On Seafood Import Monitoring Program Decision

NFI is disappointed with the court’s decision. The Seafood Import Monitoring Program (SIMP) remains an expensive burden for the American companies that will bear the costs, for instance $53 million in recordkeeping expenses alone. To read the full article click here. Source NFI.

‘Eat some sushi!’ Study negates concerns about radioactivity in seafood

When the Fukushima power plant released large quantities of radioactive materials into nearby coastal waters following Japan’s massive 2011 earthquake and tsunami, it raised concerns as to whether eating contaminated seafood might impair human health—not just locally but across the Pacific.

A new study by an international research team shows that those concerns can now be laid to rest, at least for consumption of meat from migratory marine predators such as tuna, swordfish, and sharks. To read the full article click here. Source wydail.com.

Oyster thieves strike in Stranraer ahead of festival

The incident happened ahead of a first festival in the area celebrating the fishery in nearby Loch Ryan. The theft took place some time between 18 and 20 August when seven bags were taken after being collected by the Loch Ryan Oyster Company. To read the full article click here. Source BBC News.

Race to Decode Coral DNA to Save World’s Reefs From Extinction

Marine biologist Ruth Gates sat down in an oversized wooden rocking chair at an oceanside resort here last week to talk about the next frontier in coral science and a new hope for saving coral reefs reeling from climate change: genetic technology. To read the full article click here. Source newsdeeply.com.

Sea Shepherd says it will abandon pursuit of Japanese whalers

The anti-whaling organisation Sea Shepherd will not contest the Southern Ocean against Japanese whalers this season, Captain Paul Watson has announced, accusing “hostile governments” in the US, Australia and New Zealand of acting “in league with Japan” against the protest vessel. To read the full article click here. Source The Guardian.

Kenya brings in world's toughest plastic bag ban: four years jail or $40,000 fine

Kenyans producing, selling or even using plastic bags will risk imprisonment of up to four years or fines of $40,000 (￡31,000) from Monday, as the world’s toughest law aimed at reducing plastic pollution came into effect.

Many bags drift into the ocean, strangling turtles, suffocating seabirds and filling the stomachs of dolphins and whales with waste until they die of starvation. To read the full article click here. Source The Guardian.

Heavy rainfall believed to have triggered Bunbury mass blue swimmer crab death

Heavy rainfall is believed to have triggered a "marine kill event" that resulted in the death of hundreds of blue swimmer crabs on a Bunbury beach last week. To read the full article click here. Source watoday.com.