Saving Seafood

EU warns refusal to give access to UK fishing waters after Brexit could lead to new cod war

January 9, 2020 — Failure to grant the European Union access to British fishing waters after Brexit could lead to an outbreak of cod war style hostilities, the EU has warned.

Brussels is demanding continued access to British waters as a condition of the trade deal but Boris Johnson has warned the European Commission that Britain will take back control of its waters once Britain leaves the EU.

“We want to avoid any fisheries skirmishes in the Atlantic. We have seen them before we don’t want to see them again,” Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said at a press conference with Charles Michel, the European Council president in Zagreb

Read the full story at The Telegraph

Brussels enacts emergency ban to protect Baltic cod

July 24, 2019 — Emergency measures to save the ailing eastern Baltic cod stock from impending collapse have been announced by the European Commission. With immediate effect, commercial fishing for cod is banned in most of the Baltic Sea until 31 December, 2019.

The ban covers all fishing vessels and applies in all those areas of the Baltic Sea where the largest part of the stock is present, namely subdivisions 24-26, except for some specific targeted derogations.

It follows measures that have already been taken by some European Union member states, but given that these measures have not ensured a uniform approach in all areas where the eastern Baltic cod stock is found, and that not all member states intended to adopt national measures, the Commission decided that further emergency action was warranted.

“The impact of this cod stock collapsing would be catastrophic for the livelihoods of many fishermen and coastal communities all around the Baltic Sea. We must urgently act to rebuild the stock – in the interest of fish and fishermen alike. That means responding rapidly to an immediate threat now, through the emergency measures the commission is taking. But it also means managing the stock – and the habitat it lives in – properly in the long term,” E.U. Commissioner for Environment, Maritime Affairs, and Fisheries Karmenu Vella.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

“Stocks remain at risk” – Lords slam poor implementation of EU discard ban

July 17, 2019 — Six months after the rules took effect, the U.K. government does not know the extent of compliance with the E.U.’s landing obligation and the fact that the anticipated challenges have not arisen raises concerns that illegal discarding may still be taking place, according to the House of Lords E.U. Energy and Environment Sub-Committee’s new report, “The E.U. fisheries landing obligation: six months on.”

The committee has found that the new rules seem to have had little impact since they came in to full force six months ago. If the landing obligation were being complied with, the committee heard that some vessels would have to stop fishing halfway through the year, and that storage facilities and supply chains would struggle to cope with the amount of undersized fish being brought to shore. It stated that neither of these eventualities have occurred, suggesting fishers are continuing to discard fish illegally.

In its report, the committee highlights that if fishing is permitted above the maximum level that scientific advice states is sustainable, the long-term damage to fish stocks could pose a serious threat to the fishing industry. Given the important ecological reasons for the introduction of the landing obligation, it is concerning both that the government believes illegal discarding is still taking place and that it does not know the extent of compliance, it said.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Taiwan’s IUU yellow card rescinded by EU following reforms

June 28, 2019 — The European Commission (EC) has lifted the yellow card issued to Taiwan in October 2015 for not fully cooperating in the fight against illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing activities, acknowledging the progress made by the country over the past three and a half years.

“I welcome the considerable efforts undertaken by Taiwan to reform its fisheries legal framework, implement new control tools and improve the traceability of marine fisheries products. The European Union’s dialogue with Taiwan has shown again that international cooperation is a key driver towards healthier ocean management,” said Karmenu Vella, EU commissioner for environment, maritime affairs and fisheries.

Measures taken by Taiwan in cooperation with the E.U. include:

  • A comprehensive review of the distant-water fisheries legal framework, in order to align it with the International Law of the Sea, including though the establishment of a deterrent sanctions scheme
  • Strengthening of the distant-water fleet monitoring and control tools, including a reinforced vessel monitoring system (VMS), the obligation to be equipped with electronic logbook, observer coverage in line with RFMOs requirements and the development of an inspection scheme for both domestic and foreign ports
  • Implementation of the FAO Port States Measures Agreement (PSMA) to foreign-flagged vessels calling in Taiwanese ports
  • An enhanced traceability system covering the whole supply chain
  • Enforcement of the revised legislation and of the new sanctions scheme
  • Significant reinforcement of the financial and human resources dedicated to the fight against IUU fishing

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Illegal fishing heats up diplomatic exchanges between Vietnam, Malaysia, and Indonesia

May 14, 2019 — Diplomatic relations in Southeast Asia have been strained in recent weeks following alleged encroachments by Vietnamese fishermen in Malaysian and Indonesian territorial waters.

Tensions have flared as inspectors from the European Commission are expected to visit Vietnam later this month or early June to review the “yellow card” given to Vietnam in 2017, imposed in part due to Vietnam’s failure to curb its fleet’s participation in illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing.

On 8 May, Malaysia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned Vietnam’s ambassador to demand an explanation of the large number of encroachments of Vietnamese vessels into Malaysian territorial waters. Ministry Deputy Secretary-General Raja Datuk Nushirwan Zainal Abidin received ambassador Le Quy Quynh and handed over a protest note expressing the Malaysian government’s objection to the encroachments, according to a statement from the ministry.

“The Vietnamese government was urged to take measures to rectify the situation,” the statement said.

A total of 748 vessels and 7,203 Vietnamese crew members have been detained by Malaysian authorities on suspicion of illegal fishing since 2006. The encroachments into Malaysian waters by Vietnamese fishermen are not only a threat to Malaysian citizens, but also a violation of Malaysia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and contravene international law, including relevant provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the ministry’s statement said.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

US companies file class-action suit alleging price-fixing by Norwegian farmed salmon firms

April 25, 2019 — A class-action lawsuit filed on behalf of U.S. direct purchasers of Norwegian farmed salmon is accusing multiple Norwegian firms including Mowi, Grieg Seafood, Lerøy Seafood, and SalMar of conspiring to fix the prices of farmed salmon.

The lawsuit, filed on Tuesday, 23 April, alleges the major players in Norway’s farmed salmon industry exchanged competitively sensitive information among themselves, with the aim of artificially controlling the price of farm-raised salmon bought by U.S. seafood buyers, a violation of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act.

The lawsuit is largely based on an ongoing investigation by the European Commission into “suspected anti-competitive practices” in the farmed Atlantic salmon sector in Europe, first made public in February 2019. The investigation included raids by E.C. officials of the Scottish and Dutch corporate offices of several seafood companies based in Norway, including Mowi, Grieg Seafood, Lerøy Seafood, and SalMar.

A letter sent by the E.C. to one of the companies, obtained by SeafoodSource, revealed the E.C. approved a decision on 6 February, 2019, to investigate information received “from different actors operating at different levels in the salmon market” alleging that some Norwegian producers “participate or have participated in anti-competitive agreements and/or concerted practices related to different ways of price coordination in order to sustain and possibly increase prices of farmed Norwegian Atlantic salmon.”

The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in the Southern District of Florida (Miami Division) on behalf of Mentor, Ohio-based Euclid Fish Company, according to Arthur Bailey of Hausfeld LLP, one of the plaintiffs’ attorneys. Numerous other similar suits have and will continue to be filed containing similar allegations, including by Schneider’s Seafood & Meats of Cheektowaga, New York, and by Euro USA Inc. of Cleveland, Ohio, Bailey told SeafoodSource. Within the next month, the cases will be combined into one larger class-action suit including all direct purchasers of Norwegian farmed salmon, Bailey said. The case will be heard by James Lawrence King.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Europe’s USD 20 billion tariff countermeasure proposal puts US seafood in the firing line

April 18, 2019 — A public consultation on a preliminary list of products from the United States on which the European Union may take countermeasures, in the context of the ongoing Boeing dispute at the World Trade Organisation (WTO), has been published by the European Commission (EC).

The proposed tariffs are in response to the long-running dispute over subsidies paid by the United States to airplane-maker Boeing and by Europe to Airbus.

A range of U.S. exports into the E.U. are covered by Brussels’ list – from aircrafts to chemicals and agri-foods. In total, these goods are estimated at around USD 20 billion (EUR 17.7 billion).

In terms of seafood, the many products currently listed for additional import duties if they are originating in the United States include frozen Atlantic, Danube, and Pacific salmon, frozen albacore and yellowfin tuna, frozen cod and Alaska pollock, frozen and live lobster, frozen coldwater shrimp, scallops, and squid.

In a statement, E.U. Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström said that European companies must be able to compete on fair and equal terms.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

NGO outcry as latest EU report shows little improvement in ending overfishing

April 12, 2019 — Environmental NGOs have decried a new European Commission report, claiming it shows species such as sardine, hake, and cod could suffer commercial extinctions in European waters in the short term.

The 2019 report by the Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries (STECF) led Oceana to state that overfishing is “plaguing EU seas”. Around 40% of Atlantic stocks and 87% of Mediterranean ones are found to be fished unsustainably, it said.

“As the 2020 deadline for ending overfishing is fast approaching, scientists confirm, with just months to go, the EU countries are still nowhere near reaching the legal obligation of the common fisheries policy (CFP).”

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

European price-fixing investigation focused on Norwegian salmon industry

February 21, 2019 — A European Commission investigation – which was announced yesterday after E.C. officials raided Scottish and Dutch corporate offices of several seafood companies – is focused on anticompetitive practices in the Norwegian farmed salmon sector, according to SeafoodSource sources and public statements issued on Wednesday, 20 February.

European Commission investigators, along with U.K. and Dutch national competition authorities, took part in raids on Mowi’s facilities in Rosyth, Fife, Scotland and in Sterk, The Netherlands; at Grieg Seafood’s plant in Lerwick, in the Shetland Islands; and a facility in Stirling, Scotland that is operated by Scottish Sea Farms, which is jointly owned by SalMar and Lerøy Seafood.

On Tuesday, 19 February, Mowi, Grieg, and SalMar issued public statements responding to the raids; Lerøy Seafood issued its own on 20 February.

“E.U.’s competition authorities (European Commission Director General Competition) has conducted an inspection at the premises of Scottish Sea Farms Ltd. – a company owned 50 percent by Lerøy Seafood Group ASA (LSG). The purpose is, according to the competition authorities, to investigate accusations of anti-competitive cooperation in the salmon market,” the company said. “In connection with the inspection, the E.U. competition authorities [have] also requested for information from the shareholders in Scottish Sea Farms Ltd. LSG will assist the authorities in order to facilitate an efficient completion of the investigations.”

Read the full story at Seafood Source