Saving Seafood

IFFO critiques Calysseo’s alternative feed plant: “Innovation doesn’t imply sustainability”

January 13, 2021 — The construction of Calysseo’s new FeedKind alternative protein plant in Chongqing, China, poses no long-term challenge to the fishmeal and fish oil industry, according to the sector’s largest trade group.

Work commenced in early January on Calysseo’s new plant in the southwestern Chinese city of Chongqing as part of a joint venture between animal feed additives firm Adisseo and protein innovator Calysta. The plant will initially produce 20,000 metric tons of fish-free aqua-feed per year, with more capacity to be added in a second phase of construction. The product is produced from a gas fermentation process involving a naturally occurring bacteria.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Chinese development firm signs deal to develop Brunei fishing port

January 11, 2021 — A Chinese state-owned company has signed a deal to redevelop and manage a fisheries port in Brunei.

China’s Guangxi Beibu Gulf International Port Group has signed a deal to expand and run the Muara Fish Landing Complex alongside its partner Brunei’s Darussalam Assets, a government-backed investment agency. The two jointly own the Muara Port Company Sdn Bhd, a joint venture set up in 2017.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Labeyrie joins Chinese squid fisheries improvement project

January 6, 2021 — A major European seafood brand has joined a fishery improvement project (FIP) for squid in Chinese waters.

Saint-Geours-de-Maremne, France-based Labeyrie Fine Foods, a producer and distributor of value-added seafood and other food products to European retailers under the Labeyrie, Delpierre, Blini, Comptoir Sushi, and Ovive brands, has joined the East China Sea and Yellow Sea Squid Fishery Improvement Project, launched in 2018.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Four South American countries prepare to challenge Chinese fishing abuses at COMM9

January 5, 2020 — A fleet of more than 300 mostly Chinese-flagged fishing ships that caused consternation among the governments of Ecuador and Peru this summer when it was spotted fishing around their respective exclusive economic zones, has continued to fish in the Pacific Ocean around South America, and affected countries are coordinating actions to stop it.

The fleet was spotted by Ecuadorian maritime officials in mid-July as it arrived outside of the Galápagos Marine Reserve in international waters near Ecuador’s exclusive economic zone. The fleet was subsequently accused of shutting off its GPS trackers to enable it to fish illegally in protected waters without being detected.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Pacific Island Nations Wary of Chinese Fishing Fleets

December 21, 2020 — Long a topic discussed in connection with the South China Sea, illegal Chinese fishing vessels are of increasing concern for Pacific Island nations.

As recently as early this week, the archipelago nation of Palau, east of the Philippines and north of New Guinea, announced that it had intercepted and detained a Chinese fishing vessel and six smaller boats in its territorial waters after it was confirmed the vessel had entered unlawfully and was illegally fishing sea cucumber.

The fishing vessel was apprehended in Helen Reef, Palau’s most southernmost region, by a Guardian-class patrol boat that Australia had delivered to Palau in September.

“They did have sea cucumber on there… it’s estimated about 500 pounds (225 kilograms),” Victor Remengesau, director of Palau’s division of marine law and enforcement, told reporters. “It’s unlawful entry. We may care about COVID and the spread of COVID, but we can’t just let people do whatever they want, and disguise [illegal activity].”

Read the full story at The Diplomat

Analysts predict little shift in US-China trade policy in early days of Biden administration

December 17, 2020 — With the U.S. Electoral College certifying President-elect Joe Biden’s victory over President Donald Trump, the country has continued the transition of power, which will culminate in the 20 January inauguration.

As the Biden administration continues to announce its cabinet picks, analysts are expecting that the country’s current stance on international trade likely won’t shift nearly as much.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Chinese market bans imported seafood, threatens fines for transgressors

December 8, 2020 — Seafood markets in one of China’s largest cities are barring vendors from selling or stocking imported seafood after a string of incidents in which the novel coronavirus was detected on foodstuffs of foreign origin.

Vendors at the Xin Zhu Que wholesale market, located in the northwesterly city of Xi’an, have signed a pledge not to bring imported product into the market or to sell it, with fines set at CNY 10,000 (USD 1,500, EUR 1,300) per 500 grams of product if found in possession of imported seafood. Copies of the declarations shared on Weibo suggest the declarations – signed and stamped by each vendor – have been drawn up by the managers of the market rather than any government authority.

Read the full story at Seafood Source