Saving Seafood

New partnership puts millions in play to fund aquaculture projects

September 22, 2017 — A new joint venture between a Wall Street firm and a Norwegian lender plans to make millions available for medium- and large-scale fishing and fish farming projects.

The effort between New York City-based Simpler Funding and Oslo, Norway’s Lighthouse Finance will bring the seafood sector access to an estimated $300 million to $400m annually via a method known as asset finance that serves as an alternative to conventional methods, the firms’ executives told Undercurrent News.

Traditional loans typically rely on a business’s physical assets as collateral, which can be repossessed and resold relatively easily in case of default. That works well for assets such as real estate, but investors without deep knowledge of an industry such as seafood are often reluctant to risk putting themselves in the position of repossessing collateral such as a recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) facility that they don’t know how to operate.

Asset finance

Asset finance works a bit differently. For an experienced aquaculture operator that wants to operate a RAS facility, for example, a corporation known as a special purpose vehicle (SPV) is formed to finance up to 100% of the cost of the asset’s construction. Outside investors fund the SPV, an independent entity that remains the owner of the RAS facility, which is then leased to the operator.

In Norway, where salmon farming has emerged as an economic force almost rivaling energy, Lighthouse CEO Roy Hoias said that he and colleagues in asset finance realized two things very quickly in the early days: That the industry was poised to grow quickly, and that that aquaculture wasn’t “the first choice for banks” and for traditional financing markets.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

Nations Will Start Talks to Protect Fish of the High Seas

August 2, 2017 — UNITED NATIONS — More than half of the world’s oceans belong to no one, which often makes their riches ripe for plunder.

Now, countries around the world have taken the first step to protect the precious resources of the high seas. In late July, after two years of talks, diplomats at the United Nations recommended starting treaty negotiations to create marine protected areas in waters beyond national jurisdiction — and in turn, begin the high-stakes diplomatic jostling over how much to protect and how to enforce rules.

“The high seas are the biggest reserve of biodiversity on the planet,” Peter Thomson, the ambassador of Fiji and current president of the United Nations General Assembly, said in an interview after the negotiations. “We can’t continue in an ungoverned way if we are concerned about protecting biodiversity and protecting marine life.”

Without a new international system to regulate all human activity on the high seas, those international waters remain “a pirate zone,” Mr. Thomson said.

Lofty ambitions, though, are likely to collide with hard-knuckled diplomatic bargaining. Some countries resist the creation of a new governing body to regulate the high seas, arguing that existing regional organizations and rules are sufficient. The commercial interests are powerful. Russian and Norwegian vessels go to the high seas for krill fishing; Japanese and Chinese vessels go there for tuna. India and China are exploring the seabed in international waters for valuable minerals. Many countries are loath to adopt new rules that would constrain them.

Read the full story at the New York Times

Scandinavian biologists see threat in crossbreeding by American, European lobsters

June 7, 2017 — Scandinavian biologists say American and European lobsters are crossbreeding and their offspring can survive in European waters, but it is too early to tell if the hybrids can reproduce.

Susanne Eriksson of the University of Gothenberg in Sweden and Ann-Lisbeth Agnalt of the Institute of Marine Research in Norway presented their findings on the threat that American lobsters found in the northeast Atlantic Ocean pose to their smaller European cousins Tuesday during the second day of the International Conference and Workshop on Lobster Biology & Management in Portland.

“American scientists said your lobsters couldn’t survive in European waters, but we have proof they are not only surviving, but competing with the European lobster for food, shelter and mates,” Eriksson said. “They are crossbreeding, the hybrid eggs are hatching, and the larvae are surviving in our tanks, and in our oceans. We don’t know if they can reproduce yet, that’s a year or two away, but we know the males can produce sperm.”

Last year, Sweden asked the European Union to list the American lobster as an invasive species after scientists there found evidence of crossbreeding. The EU bans the import of invasive species, so a listing would have put an end to the $200 million annual export business. The evidence persuaded the forum of EU scientists who study alien species to support a ban, but not the EU politicians who must approve such a listing.

The EU said it might one day explore other protective measures that would not be so disruptive to trade if Sweden returns with further proof of an invasion.

That’s why Scandinavia is continuing to look at how American-European hybrids will fare in the northeast Atlantic, especially once they hit sexual maturity.

Read the full story at The Portland Press Herald 

Cod Fishing Catches Plummet in Waters off New England

March 24, 2017 — ROCKPORT, Maine — The cod isn’t so sacred in New England anymore.

The fish-and-chips staple was once a critical piece of New England’s fishing industry, but catch is plummeting to all-time lows in the region. The decline of the fishery has made the U.S. reliant on foreign cod, and cod fish fillets and steaks purchased in American supermarkets and restaurants are now typically caught by Norway, Russia or Iceland in the north Atlantic.

In Maine, which is home to the country’s second-largest Atlantic cod fishery, the dwindling catch has many wondering if cod fishing is a thing of the past.

“It’s going to be more and more difficult for people to make this work,” said Maggie Raymond, executive director of the Associated Fisheries of Maine.

State records say 2016 was historically bad for cod fishing in Maine. Fishermen brought less than 170,000 pounds (77,110 kilograms) of the fish to land in the state last year.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at U.S. News & World Report

Norway’s Per Sandberg provides post-Brexit insight for the seafood sector

February 6, 2017 — Britain’s seafood industry will be radically transformed once it uncouples from the EU Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), with much more emphasis placed on establishing management agreements and eradicating trade barriers, according to Per Sandberg, the Norwegian Minister of Fisheries.

Sandberg, who has now held the minister position for 30 months, was in London to discuss his country’s fisheries management with delegates at a new whitefish conference organized by the Norwegian Seafood Council (NSC). In his speech, he shared tales of his experiences working alongside the CFP from the perspective of being a non-E.U. member state.

“Being outside the CFP has naturally had an effect on how fisheries management has developed in Norway,” he said. “Although we have a good record of cooperation with the EU, being outside opens the door to more adaptive fisheries management. For instance, if we find that a measure is not having a desired effect, we can just change it without lengthy procedures. This makes our decision making process simpler and more transparent.”

Sandburg also addressed Brexit and how it will affect Norway.

Read the full story at SeafoodSource.com

The gross reason your salmon is about to get (even more) expensive.

January 25, 2017 — The bad news is you may have to cut back on how much salmon you eat. The good news is when you find out the gross reason why, you might not have much of an appetite anyway.

Salmon farms in Norway and Scotland, two of the world’s largest exporters, have been decimated by sea lice, a parasite that has feasted on the blood and skin of salmon for millennia. Farther south in Chile, a toxic algae bloom has killed enough of the fish to fill several Olympic swimming pools.

As the salmon die by the millions, it’s causing a supply-and-demand ripple effect that’s reaching deep into American wallets.

Worldwide farmed salmon production fell by 8.7 percent in a year, according to the Financial Times. And the Nasdaq Salmon Index showed a nearly 15 percent jump in salmon prices in the last three months.

In the near future, it only promises to get worse. And the dying fish and rising prices could fan the debate about whether growing salmon in giant ocean farms is sustainable.

For fans of salmon nigiri or frozen fillets plucked from supermarket freezers for quick, heart-healthy protein, expect salmon portions to shrink — and prices to grow, experts say.

Read the full story at the Washington Post

Survey names top five best-managed fisheries

January 23, 2017 — A survey of 28 countries, including the 20 countries that catch the most fish globally, found New Zealand, the United States, Iceland, Norway and Russia had the five best-managed fisheries.

The study was completed by Michael Melnychuck, a research scientist at the School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences at the University of Washington, and three co-authors, and was published by Washington’s National Academy of Sciences.

The study found the three most important characteristics of a thriving fishery were the scientific assessment of the stock, limiting fishing pressure, and enforcing regulations.

Seafood New Zealand Chief Executive Tim Pankhurst said the study confirms his belief that New Zealand’s fisheries are properly managed.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

The global chain that produces your fish

January 16, 2017 — PARIS — That smoked salmon you bought for the New Year’s festivities has a story to tell.

The salmon may have been raised in Scotland — but it probably began life as roe in Norway.

Harvested at a coastal farm, the fish may have been sent to Poland to be smoked.

It may even have travelled halfway around the world to China to be sliced.

It eventually arrived, wrapped in that tempting package, in your supermarket.

Globalisation has changed the world in many ways, but fish farming is one of the starkest examples of its benefits and hidden costs.

The nexus of the world fish-farming trade is China — the biggest exporter of fish products, the biggest producer of farmed fish and a major importer as well.

With battalions of lost-cost workers, linked to markets by a network of ocean-going refrigerated ships, China is the go-to place for labour-intensive fish processing.

In just a few clicks on Alibaba, the Chinese online trading hub, you can buy three tonnes of Norwegian filleted mackerel shipped from the port city of Qingdao for delivery within 45 days.

“There is a significant amount of bulk frozen fish sent to China just for filleting,” said a source from an association of importers in an EU country.

“The temperature of the fish is brought up to enable the filleting but the fish are not completely defrosted.”

The practice has helped transform the Chinese coastal provinces of Liaoning and Shandong into global centres for fish processing.

Read the full story at Yahoo

MAINE: Global scallop summit coming to Portland next year

December 27, 2016 — Maine’s largest city will host an international forum about scallops next year.

The event is called the International Pectinid Workshop and it is taking place in Portland from April 19 to 25. The event attracts scientists, students and seafood industry representatives from all over the world and has taken place biennially since 1976.

The organizers of the conference say its main goal is to bring stakeholders in scallops together to network and share research and practices. The event’s committee includes representatives from countries including Norway, England, Ireland, Chile and Australia.

Energy companies bet long on offshore wind

December 23, 2016 — On Dec. 15 Norway-based Statoil put in a winning $42 million provisional bid for a nearly 80,000 acre lease off New York — by far the biggest offshore wind deal brokered by the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, which up to then had brought in $16 million for a combined 1 million acres in wind leases.

The sale still faces a federal court challenge from commercial fishermen, who say BOEM did not listen to their concerns about impacts on scallop and squid fisheries. But it was the most competitive wind lease with six rounds of bidding, showing the potential developers see for selling into the power-hungry New York metro region.

“The U.S. is a key emerging market for offshore wind — both bottom-fixed and floating — with significant potential along both the east and west coasts,” said Irene Rummelhof, Statoil’s executive vice president for New Energy Solutions. Statoil is investing in floating turbines for deeper-water sites with its Hywind project.

“Statoil is well positioned to take part in what could be a significant build out of offshore wind in New York and other states over the next decade,” Rummelhof said. “This effort is in line with the company’s strategy to gradually complement our oil and gas portfolio with viable renewable energy and other low-carbon solutions.”

The Trump camp has sent signals of hostility toward wind energy. One advisor has called for tighter environmental reviews, and the president-elect himself fought an offshore turbine plan within view of his golf resort in Scotland.

Read the full story at WorkBoat