Seafood Headlines February 15, 2017

Marine Harvest ASA (OSE:MHG, NYSE:MHG): Intention to terminate New York Stock Exchange listing and deregister under the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934

Marine Harvest ASA's Board of Directors resolved on 14 February 2017 to delist the Marine Harvest's American Depositary Shares ("ADSs"), each representing one ordinary share ("Share") of Marine Harvest, from the New York Stock Exchange ("NYSE") and to terminate the registration of the ADSs and Shares under the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934 ("Exchange Act"). In the future, the Shares will continue to be listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange only.

Only about 3 percent of the worldwide trading volume in the Shares (in the form of Shares or ADSs) in the past 12 months occurred in the United States while the costs of maintaining a NYSE listing and a registration under the Exchange Act are significant. The Board of Marine Harvest has therefore concluded that it is in the best interest of the shareholders to discontinue the US listing and terminate its reporting obligations in the US. To read the full article click here. Source NASDAQ.

Iceland Capelin Fishing Quota in Iceland to Increase

The Icelandic Marine Research Institute has suggested an increase in the capelin fishing quota by 320,000 tons since the last season, totaling 580,000 tons. Minister of Fisheries and Agriculture Sigureur Ingi Jóhannson celebrates the suggestion and will increase the quota accordingly.

“It’s a significant boost [for the economy], which is positive, of course. We’re talking about a substantial amount of money entering the national economy and revenue for those who are working in this field, at sea or on land,” Sigureur told ruv.is. To read the full article click here. Source Iceland Review Online.

Maritech expands global presence with opening of US office

Maritech, a leader in seafood software solutions, is today pleased to announce the opening of its new US location in Seattle, Washington. The Seattle office marks the next phase of Maritech’s continued resolve to have a local presence in the areas and regions where their customers trade and do business, partnering with them to meet the global challenges that characterize the intricate seafood and aquaculture sector. To read the full article click here. Source Maritech.

Maritech announces Janne T. Morst?l as CEO to lead the company through next phase of growth

Maritech announces Janne T. Morst?l as CEO to lead the company through next phase of growth

Maritech, a leader in seafood software solutions, is today delighted to announce that Janne T. Morst?l has been appointed as new CEO of Maritech, effective February 1st, 2017. To read the full article click here. Source Maritech.

The truth about supermarket salmon: It's come 22,000 miles from Alaska to your plate (via China, Suez and the Med)... and may be 18 months old! 

When you tuck into your dinner of Alaskan salmon, it's fair to say you think it will have a travelled a fair distance.

But few would imagine that the fish has actually arrived on their plate via Seattle, China, Hong Kong, the Suez Canal, the Mediterranean and the Netherlands – a journey of more than 22,000 miles.

And even after their 13-week journey is complete, the salmon fillets can be left on ice for up to 18 months before reaching the supermarket shelves. To read the full article click here. Source Daily Mail.

Canadian food banks turn to farming amid declining donations

In a bid to make up for a shortfall of high-quality nutritious food, some Canadian food banks are growing their own produce – and even farming fish.

The Mississauga Food Bank recently launched AquaGrow Farms, where tilapia is being raised in tanks and lettuce is raised through hydroponics, or without soil.

Executive director Christopher Hatch said the Ontario food bank is the first in Canada to be producing its own fish.

“It’s not a complete solution, but it’s certainly in the right direction and it shows the community we’re thinking creatively about how to solve this problem,” said Hatch. To read the full article click here. Source The Globe and Mail.

FDA Use of the Term “Healthy” in the Labeling of Human Food Products Public Meeting

March 9, 2017: 8:30 am to 5:30 pm Hilton Washington, DC/Rockville Hotel. 1750 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852. For additional information as well as to register cllick here. Source US Food & Drug Administration.

NOAA Electronic Monitoring: Different Fisheries Require Different Solutions

Dan Falvey fishes aboard the 50-foot FV Magia out of Sitka, Alaska, for Pacific cod, black cod, and halibut. Alongside that boat two cameras lean out over the water, each pointed at the spot where the longline emerges from the deep. When the hydraulic winch kicks into gear and the line starts coming in, the cameras switch on, recording high-definition video of everything the fishermen pull out of the water.

Knowing what species come out of the water, and how much of each, is key to managing fisheries sustainably. In many fisheries, boats are required to carry an observer onboard to record that data.

But on FV Magia, “There just isn’t enough bunk space to take an observer out,” Falvey says. He hopes the cameras—part of an experimental electronic monitoring system—will make carrying a human observer unnecessary. To read the full article click here. Source NOAA.

Zoma Capital and Encourage Capital Launch Pescador Holdings, First-Ever Sustainable Seafood Investment Holding Company

Zoma Capital and Encourage Capital today announced the launch of the first-ever sustainable seafood investment holding company, Pescador Holdings. As its initial commitment, the company invested in Chile’s Geomar, a leading “shore to shelf,” sustainable seafood company with products sold in major markets throughout the world.

The launch of Pescador is the culmination of more than two years of investment research funded by Bloomberg Philanthropies and The Rockefeller Foundation as part of the Vibrant Oceans Initiative. In 2016, Encourage Capital released Investing for Sustainable Global Fisheries, (www.investinvibrantoceans.org) a set of Investment Blueprints to strategically recover the economic value that is lost due to poor fisheries management, and restore ocean ecosystems, increasing the sustainable seafood supply and providing livelihoods for poor and vulnerable people in seafood dependent economies. To read the full article click here. Source Business Wire.

Royal Greenland A/S places order for two new oceangoing trawlers

Royal Greenland has just placed an order for two new trawlers at the Spanish shipyard Astilleros de Murueta in Bilbao, where the trawlers also will be built.

The two new trawlers will replace M/tr Sisimiut and M/tr Qaqqatsiaq, who are both to be sold upon arrival of the new vessels.

The new trawlers have been designed in cooperation with designers from Skibsteknisk in Aalesund, Norway, who have wast experience in trawlerdesign for fishing in arctic waters. To read the full article click here. Source Royal Greenland.

US Foods to acquire All American Foods

US Foods based in Rosemont said will acquire All American Foods, a broadline distributor based in North Kingstown, Rhode Island, with annual sales of nearly $60 million.

Terms of the acquisition were not announced.

All American Foods was established in 1988 and has grown to offer more than 4,000 items to nearly 1,000 customers throughout Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Connecticut. The addition will further enhance US Food's ability to serve customers in the Northeast region, an area of the country heavily populated with independent restaurants. To read the full article click here. Source Daily Herald.

Aquamimicry: A revolutionary concept for shrimp farming

Aquamimicry is a concept that strives to simulate natural estuarine conditions by creating zooplankton blooms (mainly copepods) as supplemental nutrition to the cultured shrimp and beneficial bacteria to maintain water quality. This is done by fermenting a carbon source, such as rice or wheat bran, with probiotics (like Bacillus sp.) and releasing their nutrients. This method is in some ways similar to biofloc technology, but there are some key differences.

Firstly, the amount of added carbon is reduced and not strictly reliant on ratios to nitrogen input. Secondly, rather than encouraging and suspending high amounts of bioflocs, sediments are removed in more intensive systems to be reused by other animals. To read the full article click here. Source Global Aquaculture Advocate.

How sustainable seafood can harm coastal communities

Seafood is big business, but there is a limited supply of fish in the ocean. Now, a policy push in the United States aimed at making seafood more sustainable has made it more difficult for coastal communities that depend on fishing to compete with investors and large corporations. Marketplace host Kai Ryssdal spoke with Lee van der Voo about her book on this topic, "The Fish Market: Inside the Big-Money Battle for the Ocean and Your Dinner Plate." Below is an edited transcript of their conversation. To read the full article click here. Source Marketplace.

University’s internet brought down by cyber-attack making vending machines search for seafood

An American university’s network was subject to a cyber-attack that caused more than 5,000 internet-connected objects on its campus to continually search for seafood.

This made the internet connection throughout the school almost come to a standstill.

IT staff looked into the slowdown and found that there was a huge amount of abnormal traffic on the network – because of searches all related to seafood.

After investigating, they found that more than 5,000 objects connected to the university’s internet, including things like vending machines and even lamp posts, had been infected with malicious software which allowed someone to control them all at once. To read the entire article click here. Source Breaking News.

One of Sydney’s biggest seafood stores convicted of animal cruelty charges for torturing a lobster

A POPULAR Sydney seafood store pleaded guilty to animal cruelty charges after a staff member inhumanely butchered a lobster.

Nicholas Seafood at the Sydney Fish Markets in Glebe was sentenced to a $1500 fine at Sydney Downing Centre court today after the business was charged by the RSPCA with an act of animal cruelty.

The RSPCA fined the store on February 12, 2016 after a witness videoed a worker on January 25 the same year butchering a lobster without any attempt to stun it to mitigate suffering. To read the full article click here. Source News.com.au.

La Ni?a is Gone, But El Ni?o Could Return, NOAA Says

La Ni?a has officially faded away and there is a chance El Ni?o could develop later this year, according to an update issued Thursday by meteorologists at NOAA's Climate Prediction Center.

Generally weak La Ni?a conditions have been in place since late fall, meaning cooler-than-average sea surface temperatures stretched across most of the eastern and central equatorial Pacific Ocean.

But an analysis of recent sea surface temperatures indicates water temperatures in that region have retreated to levels that are just slightly below average, and therefore, no longer meeting La Ni?a criteria. To read the full article click here. Source The Weather Channel.

Microalgae renewable, high in protein and multi-purpose

With the rapid development of worldwide aquaculture, the demand for sustainable sources used in aquafeed is subsequently increasing 

However, quality and safety of aquatic products remains a key problem and you will often find that the critical factor is the aquafeed. 

The current global aquafeed market is positively active and the exponential demand presents great prospects for its future, given the fast development of aquaculture. To read the full article click here. Source The Aquaculturist.

 Crawfish Added To BAP Program With Certification Of Chinese Processing Plant

Please join the Global Aquaculture Alliance’s Best Aquaculture Practices division in welcoming the world’s first BAP-certified crawfish facility to the third-party certification program, the organization announced in mid-February.

The Xuzhou Jinjiangfoodstuffs Co. Ltd. processing plant has attained BAP certification. Established in 2004 and located in Pizhou City, Jiangsu, China, the facility processes cooked crawfish tail meat and freezes it for export mainly to the United States. The crawfish is imported to the United States by Bernard’s Seafood Co. Ltd. of Mansura, Louisiana.

“The GAA is thrilled to partner with Bernard’s Seafood to help bring BAP certification to crawfish and to help the company source farmed seafood responsibly,” said Chris Keller, BAP director of market development in the Americas. To read the full article click here. Source BAP.