Saving Seafood

“Tide has not yet turned” – nonprofit calls for equity in the seafood industry

May 9, 2019 — Speaking at a special event at Seafood Expo Global, Marie Christine Monfort, the executive director International Organisation for Women in the Seafood Industry (WSI) said women still face extraordinary obstacles in obtaining positions of leadership in the industry.

Monfort was taking part in the first ever “Women in Leadership in the Seafood Industry,” sponsored by expo organizer Diversified Communications and the Mission of Canada to the European Union, which took place on Wednesday, 8 May. Also participating was Tesa Diaz-Faes Santiago, director of communications for Grupo Nueva Pescanova; Dan Costello, Ambassador of the Mission of Canada to the European Union; Clearwater Seafoods CEO Ian Smith; British Columbia [Canada] Seafood Alliance Executive Director Christina Burridge; Sunrise Fish Farms Owner and General Manager Laura Halfyard; and Mary Larkin, president of Diversified Communications. [Editor’s note: Diversified Communications also owns and operates SeafoodSource].

The 90-minute event covered “What Government and the Private Sector Can do to Support the Inclusion and Advancement of Women in the Seafood Industry,” and panelists discussed their experiences and examples of what they are doing to attract, support, and promote women at all levels.

Monfort stressed the importance of including and advancing women in the industry – something she said is still not being done extensively, despite substantial data showing that doing so improves overall business performance.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Largest Seafood Expo Global to date opens this week in Brussels, Belgium

May 6, 2019 — Thousands of seafood industry professionals from around the world are arriving in Brussels, Belgium this week to attend the 27th edition of Seafood Expo Global/Seafood Processing Global – the largest iteration of the event since its inception, according to organizer Diversified Communications.

Taking place from 7 to 9 May at the Brussels Expo, the 2019 exposition will feature a record 2,007 companies – an increase of 61 companies over 2018 – from 88 countries exhibiting their newest seafood products, services, processing innovations, and packaging equipment. The event is set to cover 40,559 net square meters of exhibit space, surpassing last year’s record by 1,237 square meters, Diversified confirmed.

“We’re excited to see the event’s healthy growth over the years.  It is an indication that companies find value in the face-to-face meetings and see the event as an opportunity to maintain current relationships, develop new ones and expand their business into new markets,” said Wynter Courmont, event director for Diversified Communications, the producer of Seafood Expo Global and Seafood Processing Global [Editor’s note: Diversified Communications also owns and operates SeafoodSource]. “The expo in Brussels continues to be the most important annual event for the global seafood industry.”

To accommodate the event’s recent growth, Seafood Processing Global will be expanding into Hall 3 in 2019. The expo’s processing segment now encompass both Halls 3 and 4, Diversified said, with Halls 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, and the Patio reserved exclusively for seafood exhibits.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Lund’s Fisheries Now Proud to Offer MSC-Certified Illex Squid

May 3, 2019 — The following was released by Lund’s Fisheries:

Lund’s Fisheries is pleased to announce that the U.S. Northeast Northern Shortfin Squid (illex) fishery has been certified as sustainable against the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) fisheries standard. Lund’s now offers the only two species of squid in the world to have obtained MSC certification: the company’s loligo squid fishery was certified as sustainable last year.

“Lund’s is at the forefront of providing consumers with fresh, sustainably harvested seafood,” said Wayne Reichle, President of Lund’s Fisheries. “MSC certification for illex squid is just the latest example of our commitment to ensuring that all of our products are responsibly harvested and sustainably sourced.”

With an MSC label, consumers can be sure that their seafood comes from a fishery that is managed effectively and sustainably, and from one that minimizes its environmental impact. MSC certification is widely considered one of the strictest certification labels in the world, the “gold standard” of sustainable seafood. Through its active pursuit of the MSC label for its squid and Atlantic sea scallop products, and its sustainable sourcing of the rest of its product line, Lund’s is a leader in bringing environmentally friendly products to the U.S. and European markets.

“Consumers can be confident that when they purchase squid, scallops, or any other seafood from Lund’s, it comes with a commitment to support the long-term health of our oceans and marine life,” Mr. Reichle said.

Illex squid are migratory and occupy a large range, from Newfoundland to Florida. Unlike many other species of fish, illex squid likely to not be significantly affected by climate change, and some studies indicate that the species may even benefit from warmer ocean temperatures. Fisheries managers are confident enough in the future health of the species that they are proposing to raise the quota this year from 22,915 mt to 24,825 mt, an 8 percent increase.

Lund’s will be showcasing its sustainable squid products at this year’s Seafood Expo Global, taking place in Brussels, Belgium from May 7-9. Stop by booth 6-1225 to meet with our U.S. and European sales staff, who are dedicated to providing sustainable squid and scallop options for you and your customers.

Read the full release here

Peruvian giant squid, shrimp, hake, and more to be featured at Seafood Expo Global

May 3, 2019 — A collective of 23 Peruvian businesses will be exhibiting at this year’s upcoming Seafood Expo Global event, taking place from 7 to 9 May in Brussels, Belgium.

The group will showcase a variety of products under the Superfoods Peru brand name at the expo, including giant squid, scallops, shrimps, tuna, mahi mahi, canned fish, anchovy, hake, mackerel, anchovies, and octopus. Peruvian canned fish, anchovies, hake, mackerel, and octopus will also be on display at the collective’s 252-square-meter stand.

Peru’s Export and Tourism Promotion Board, PROMPERÚ, has arranged for the Peruvian delegation to attend the expo, it confirmed in a press release. “Taking in consideration the commercial agreements generated in previous editions,” for 2019, the delegation expects to exceed USD 120 million (EUR 107 million) in profits, to be realized over the upcoming 12 months, PROMPERÚ said.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

As UN’s SDG14 targets approach, MSC’s Seafood Futures Forum highlights path forward

April 24, 2019 — There’s just one year left to deliver the 2020 targets for the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals for Life Below Water (SDG14), and the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) is making a concerted push to reach those goals.

The MSC’s efforts to help the world reach the goals in SDG14 is a big topic at this year’s Seafood Futures Forum, taking place at Seafood Expo Global in Brussels, Belgium on 8 May, from 8 to 11 a.m. Central European Time. The forum is an opportunity for members of both the seafood industry and of environmental NGOs and conservation groups to come together to both get an update on MSC’s current and future efforts to address unsustainable fishing and to discuss what each sector can do to help.

“This year’s Seafood Futures Forum will cut through the talk to explore how the seafood industry and ocean conservation community can work together to deliver meaningful change,” Dr. Yemi Oloruntuyi, head of accessibility at the MSC and a panelist at the forum, said.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

2018 Seafood Expo Global broke attendance and exhibitor records

June 15, 2018 — Diversified Communications, the producer of Seafood Expo Global and Seafood Processing Global, announced on Thursday, 14 June that its 2018 edition of the event set attendance and exhibitor records.

SEG/SPG took place 24 to 26 April, 2018, in Brussels, Belgium, and the largest ever in the event’s 26-year history, Diversified reported. A total of 29,130 buyers and sellers were in attendance from 152 countries, while 1,946 exhibiting companies from 78 countries showcased their seafood products, equipment, and services at the expo. The total exhibitor space occupied in the Brussels Expo exhibit space was 39,322 net square meters, including 72 national and regional pavilions.

“It is incredible to see this event growing year over year,” Diversified Communications Group Vice President Liz Plizga said.  “Not only have we expanded the event in terms of exhibit space, but we again reached a record high in the number of visitors who came to the event. This shows the ongoing importance of the business value that both buyers and suppliers in the global seafood industry find in this event.”

Read the full story at Seafood Source

New poll shows dent in consumer confidence in MSC

May 8, 2018 — Results of a new poll commissioned by the Make Stewardship Count coalition, released at Seafood Expo Global in Brussels, Belgium, on 25 April, have given the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) cause for concern.

The MSC is already the subject of increasing scrutiny by marine conservation, species, and industry experts who are concerned about the credibility of seafood certifications in the marketplace, but this study shows that consumers are now expressing their own fears about the rigor of its standards, according to Make Stewardship Count, a coalition of more than 60 environmental organizations and individual advocates.

Carried out in April 2018 with a sample of 5,574 consumers in France, Germany, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom, the poll showed that the MSC could face significant loss of confidence from seafood buyers due to the way in which the certification body is handling critical issues.

The survey found that 78 percent of respondents would either stop buying MSC products or buy fewer products if they found that some MSC fisheries involve eco-unfriendly practices, as has been suggested by WWF and other organizations. Of particular concern to consumers were the bycatch of endangered and threatened species, the deliberate encirclement of dolphins, shark-finning, and habitat destruction.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

 

Russia pushes MSC recertification for pollock from Sea of Okhotsk

May 4, 2017 — Russia’s Federal Agency for Fisheries announced at the 2017 Seafood Expo Global that it would seek Marine Stewardship Council recertification for pollock from the Sea of Okhotsk, according to the agency.

The Alaska trawl fishery in the Sea of Okhotsk was first certified by MSC in 2013 and Russia is seeking a recertification that would extend MSC approval of the fishery by the standard five years.

Russian Deputy Minister of Agriculture of Russia and Head of the Federal Agency for Fisheries Ilya Shestakov said the government “supported and encouraged” recertification for the fishery.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

“No tuna disaster” as global stocks deemed healthier than expected

April 25, 2017 — Fishing effort in most tuna fisheries has grown steadily in recent years, a trend that has been largely led by the constantly increasing purse-seine harvest. At the same time, these stocks remain in a healthy state and are much less overfished than many other coastal resources, delegates heard at the sixth European Tuna Conference in Brussels, Belgium.

Speaking at the biennial forum, held on the eve of the 2017 Seafood Expo Global, Alain Fonteneau, a renowned tuna fisheries scientist from the French Research Institute for Development (IRD), confirmed that the total global tuna catch has grown to a level of around five million metric tons (MT), with skipjack accounting for around 66 percent the total.

Fonteneau highlighted that the purse-seine fleets’ heightened productivity – averaging 2.5 percent annually over the last two decades – was chiefly responsible for this growth and that their improved efficiency was directly due to the increased number of fish aggregating devices (FADs) deployed in recent years.

Over the last 10 years, FADs have been responsible for approximately 50 percent of the total purse-seine catch, including 53 percent of the skipjack that has been caught during this period.

“If we were to lose all of the FAD fisheries tomorrow, we would lose most of the skipjack catch,” he said.

While the amount of skipjack caught in most fisheries has continued to increase – a trend that Fonteneau said is indicative of healthy stocks – most of which are still not yet exploited to their maximum sustainable yield (MSY), including the 2 million MT currently coming from the Western Pacific. He is, nevertheless, pessimistic about the Indian Ocean’s stock, despite it currently being in “good shape,” as his “personal feeling” is that the next stock assessment, expected in October, will suggest its over-exploitation.

Read the full story at SeafoodSource.com

Canada and the European Union Work Together to Fight Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing

April 29, 2016 — BRUSSELS, Belgium — Canada and the European Union signed a joint statement today to work together more closely to fight illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing in the world’s oceans.

Hunter Tootoo, Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard, and Karmenu Vella, European Commissioner for Environment, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, signed the statement after their meeting during Seafood Expo Global in Brussels, Belgium.

“The world has to step up and join together to protect our oceans and our fisheries,” said Minister Tootoo. “We cannot afford to turn a blind eye to illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, nor can we try to address it on our own. It is a global problem and it needs global solutions. We look forward to working with the European Union and our other world partners to solve this problem.”

Read the full story at Yahoo! Finance