Iceland fish firm’s profits down

HB Grandi, Iceland’s second largest fishing and fish processing company, has announced reduced revenues and operating profits for the first nine months of this year. Income for the period totalled €149.2 million (£132.7 million) compared to €158 million (£141 million) in the previous year. The EBITDA was €24.1 million (£21.4 million), which represents about 16.2…

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Fish and chips have older appeal

FISH and chip shops clearly outnumber other UK fast food outlets such as McDonalds, but they tend to be more popular among the older generation, a report into the UK food service sector has found. The young are now turning to more modern eating trends such as sushi, with its high salmon content. The report…

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Cod prices continue to rise

THE price of cod is continuing its relentless rise, the latest statistics from Norway show. The country exported 1,600 tonnes of fresh cod, including fillets, worth 73 million kroners (£6.7 million) last month, a volume decline of 26 per cent, but the value was only down by 20 per cent. Denmark and Sweden were the…

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Macduff Shellfish nets £6.28m profits

MACDUFF, the UK’s largest shellfish processor made a pre-tax profit of £6.28 million last year, according to the company’s latest financial results. This is in spite of various challenges facing the fishing industry in general, not least the uncertainty around Brexit. The Peterhead based company, bought by Canada’s Clearwater Seafoods for £100 million three years…

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Norway catchers get more for less

NORWAY may be exporting less cod in volume terms this year, but its fishermen are netting more money for whatever they sell, new figures from the Norwegian Seafood Council show. And despite this, demand among UK buyers is on the rise. Depending on whether it is fresh or frozen, the price of cod has risen…

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Top marks for Peterhead’s new market

THE new Peterhead fish market has secured the highest AA food safety and quality rating just three months after opening for business. Assessors from BRC Global Standards granted the market its gold standard award following rigorous analysis of every aspect of daily operations. Peterhead Port Authority chief executive Simon Brebner said: ‘Winning this accreditation, which…

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US seafood hit in China tariff war

PARTS of the US seafood industry are being thrown into turmoil this week as a result of the escalating trade war between the United States and China. The two states hardest hit are Alaska, which ships large consignments of cod and wild caught salmon to China, and Maine, which is at the heart of the…

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Fish Update Briefing, Friday, September 14

SEAFOOD TRADER ACCUSED OF CRAB SMUGGLING A NORWEGIAN seafood trader has been charged with selling 24 tonnes of king crab worth 3.4 million kroner without recording the transaction with the authorities. Fishery officials, who are cracking down on illegal fish sales, are worried that large amounts of seafood are being exported without documentation. They say…

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Welsh fishermen fear no deal Brexit

THE Welsh Fishermen’s Association has warned that many of its members may not survive a no deal Brexit. Their main catch is shellfish, much of which is exported live into Europe and could be subject to tariffs and bureaucratic hold-ups after next March. The association has said some businesses would not be able to hold…

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Ireland to spend €23m on port upgrade

THE Irish government is investing more than €23 million to upgrade one if its main fishing ports in the south west of the country. Michael Creed, the minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, has signed a contract which will see a 216m-long quayside development and new port buildings on Dinish Island, Castletownbere, in County…

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