Retailer rules out Tasmanian salmon ban – for now

A group of activists in Australia have failed to stop the large Woolworth retail chain in Australia selling Tasmanian salmon.
They claim that salmon farming practices in Tasmania’s Macquarie Harbour are threatening the rare Maugean skate which now only exists in that area.

Read More

Red tape stalling growth, say NZ aquaculture leaders

Senior figures in New Zealand’s aquaculture industry are warning that red tape and lack of access to key areas of the coastline are seriously hindering growth.

Concerns over bureaucracy and other issues were expressed at the recent Aquaculture New Zealand conference in Nelson, at which the view was expressed that it is becoming increasingly difficult to get access to the sea.

NZ King Salmon Chief Executive Carl Carrington said that while opportunities to expand the aquaculture sector were huge, only 0.01% of the country’s large marine economic estate was currently being farmed.

Read More

Barramundi Group seeks six-month breathing space

Singapore-based Barramundi Group has applied for a form of insolvency protection while the company attempts to carry out financial reconstruction.

On 11 October the fish farming group made an application to the High Court of the Republic of Singapore for a “Moratorium Order” which would give it a period of six months’ protection against a winding-up order or the appointment of external administrators.

Read More

Water quality remains a problem at Mt Fuji salmon farm

Proximar Seafood, the Norwegian owned company with a large new salmon farm near Mount Fuji in Japan, has said it is still taking action to counter turbidity in its growth phase.

Turbidity – murky water – has a direct effect on the amount of sunlight available to aquatic plants and high levels of suspended materials can clog fish gills.

It affects fish health, but not the quality of the fish and just over a week ago Proximar announced it had sold the first with 100% superior quality commercial salmon to supermarkets in the greater Tokyo area .

Nevertheless, turbidity continues to cause a few problems. The company said in a trading update this week: “As communicated in the Q2 report in August, Proximar has experienced turbidity issues in the grow out stage.

Read More

Stirling awarded grant for Vietnam vaccine project

Pangasius catfish in hand in banana leaf

Scientists at the University of Stirling have been awarded more than £770,000 to support the roll out of a new vaccine that could deliver major benefits to the aquaculture industry in Vietnam. The new project – led by the University’s world-leading Institute of Aquaculture – will build on a previous study that developed an innovative…

Read More

Oslo pleads for ‘salmon queen’ jail transfer

A modern conference room with Norway and China flags on a long table.

Oslo is asking for the Chinese government to transfer Yimin Dong, the woman jailed for salmon smuggling two years ago, to a Norwegian jail.

The family’s plea was sent to the Norwegian government, which has decided to ask the Chinese authorities for Dong to be moved to Norway to serve out her sentence.

The issue is also thought to have been raised when the Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Støre visited China on a seafood mission a couple of weeks ago. 

Read More

Proximar secures one billion yen in loan capital

Proximar Seafood has secured two loan agreements worth a total of one billion Japanese Yen for its Mount Fuji RAS salmon farm project.

The figure, broadly equivalent to £5.3m or NOK 75 million, will be used for working capital and to strengthen liquidity as the company moves towards full production.

Read More