Saving Seafood

Norway Posts Record Fish, Salmon Exports Despite Russian Embargo

SEAFOODNEWS.COM [Agence Press France] — January 6, 2016 — Norway registered record fish exports in 2015 thanks to a weaker currency which compensated for a Russian food embargo, an industry body said Tuesday.

Norway’s fish exports totalled 74.5 billion kroner (7.75 billion euros, $8.35 billion), more than double the level 10 years ago and a rise of eight percent from the record year of 2014, according to the Norwegian Seafood Council.

“In a year with trade restrictions in several markets and an import embargo in Russia, the result was better than expected,” director Terje Martinussen said in a statement.

Russia suspended food imports from most Western countries in August 2014 in retaliation for sanctions the West imposed on Moscow over its role in the Ukraine crisis. Russia had until then been one of the biggest markets for Norwegian fish exports.

China, which froze diplomatic ties with Oslo after the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to imprisoned dissident Liu Xiaobo, has also imposed drastic restrictions on Norwegian salmon imports, officially citing veterinary concerns.

But the weaker Norwegian currency, partly caused by plummeting prices for oil, another main Norwegian export, helped compensate for the Chinese and Russian declines.

In volume, Norway’s exports decreased by 2.2 percent to 2.6 million tonnes.

Salmon, Norway’s star product, and trout, accounted for two-thirds of seafood exports, for a sum of 50 billion kroner which was also a new record.

Two-thirds of exports went to the EU, where Poland, Denmark and France were the main takers.

This opinion piece originally appeared on SeafoodNews.com, a subscription site. It has been reprinted with permission.

Vietnam Shrimp Farmers Suffer from Uncontrolled Expansion, Gov’t Vows Enforcement on Antibiotics

SEAFOODNEWS.COM [ Vietnam News Brief Service] January 5, 2016 — Authorities in the Mekong Delta, the biggest aquatic pond in Vietnam, are striving to tighten control over local shrimp farming toward sustainable way amid rising concerns on antibiotics contamination, disease outbreak and polluted environment.

Tran Quoc Tuan, director of the Industry and Trade Department of Tra Vinh province, said he supported efforts to tighten the management of antibiotic use in shrimp farming and boost dissemination of information to farmers and processing companies.

He said state management agencies still have to make farmers aware of the risks, and companies must change their way of doing business by co-operating with farmers to build clean material areas. In doing so, the seed, farming methods, feeding and medicines will be strictly controlled in order to produce quality products, he said.

Profitable shrimp farming produced a rapid transformation in the quality of life for Vietnamese people in the Mekong Delta region, but the unplanned expansion in production has also had negative effects on the environment and domestic shrimp trade.

Due to its favorable natural conditions, farmers in coastal communes of many Vietnamese southern provinces started to switch from rice cultivation to shrimp farming 15 years ago. The rapid success and high income that the industry ushered in pushed many local people to invest in this sector.

Due to attractive profits, farmers in other areas of unfavorable natural conditions also did whatever it took to raise shrimp. Farmers spontaneously drilled wells to bring in salt water and made ponds to raise shrimp.

The rapid growth of shrimp farming and poor infrastructure has led to disease outbreaks, massive shrimp death and huge losses for farmers in many places.

Many farmers in Ben Tre, Bac Lieu, Kien Giang and Tra Vinh have been forced to give up shrimp farming as shrimp disease broke out.

Meanwhile, a large volume of Vietnamese seafood, including shrimp, has been rejected by importing countries. According to statistics of relevant agencies, in the last two years, 32,000 tons of Vietnamese seafood, mainly shrimp were not allowed to enter foreign markets because of antibiotic contamination.

In the first nine months of 2015, 38 foreign countries returned 582 batches of seafood products to Vietnamese providers for the same reason, stating that they would tighten the inspection of shrimp shipments from Vietnam.

There are various types of antibiotics displayed for sale, but farmers are mostly unaware of their toxicological effects. On the other hand, processing factories keep buying shrimp without proper inspection, so farmers become negligent in utilizing antibiotics.

This opinion piece originally appeared on SeafoodNews.com, a subscription site. It has been reprinted with permission.