Saving Seafood

Benchmark maintains strong start to 2021

May 18, 2021 — Stirling, U.K.-headquartered aquaculture biotechnology business Benchmark achieved higher revenues and percent earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization and impairment (adjusted EBITDA) of GBP 59.5 million (USD 84.5 million, EUR 69.2 million) and GBP 7.9 million (USD 11.2 million, EUR 9.2 million) for the six months ending on 31 March, 2021, citing a strong performance in its advanced nutrition division and solid trading in genetics and health.

Overall, the company posted a first-half operating loss of GBP 4.6 million (USD 6.5 million, EUR 5.3 million), compared with a loss of GBP 3.9 million (USD 5.5 million, EUR 4.5 million) in H1 2020.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

France, UK escalate fight over post-Brexit fishing access

May 6, 2021 — The row between the United Kingdom and France over post-Brexit fishing rights continues to escalate.

On Thursday, 6 May, dozens of French fishing boats set off for Saint Helier, the main port of Jersey, a British Crown dependency, threatening to mount a blockade. In response, the U.K. sent two Royal Navy gunboats to keep watch. Fishing crews set off flares, sounded their horns and displayed banners. The two sides currently remain in a stand-off, and thus far, the protest has remained peaceful.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Seafood industry angered by UK-Norway fisheries deal collapse

May 3, 2021 — The bilateral fisheries agreement negotiations between Norway and the United Kingdom that ended with no deal reached between the two nations on Thursday, 29 April has sparked uproar in the regional seafood industry.

While both sides said that they worked hard to secure a deal, the countries said their positions continued to be too far apart to reach an agreement for 2021. Talks had been ongoing since January.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

UK ramps up surveillance to deter illegal fishing

March 30, 2021 — Vastly increased offshore patrols, aerial surveillance, and monitoring have ensured that illegal fishing has been kept at bay in England’s seas since the U.K. became an independent coastal state on 1 January this year, according to the country’s Marine Management Organisation (MMO).

With additional government investment of GBP 32 million (USD 44 million, EUR 37.5 million), the MMO has enhanced its surveillance and fisheries control capacity. It has also put more marine officers on shore, more patrol ships at sea, and increased aerial and radar surveillance to complement existing electronic monitoring systems.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

British diplomat looks to advance offshore wind collaboration on virtual Maine visit

March 17, 2021 — The British diplomat covering New England met with Gov. Janet Mills on Tuesday to discuss energy issues, including the offshore wind turbines that are integral to Maine’s long-term climate goals.

The meeting is part of a week-long virtual trade mission that Peter Abbott, the British consul general to New England, is making in Maine as a follow-up to an agreement the United Kingdom and Maine signed in December to advance clean energy to meet respective climate goals. It is the only agreement like it between the U.K. and an American state.

Abbott’s virtual visit comes as Mills looks to offshore wind as a significant opportunity for economic recovery from the coronavirus-induced recession and as his own country, now separate from the European Union, tries to negotiate a free trade agreement with the United States.

Read the full story at the Bangor Daily News

Fishers at risk in ‘perfect storm’

March 12, 2021 — Stormier weather will increasingly force fishers to choose between their safety and income, researchers say.

Climate change is causing more extreme weather in many locations. Storms will likely increase around the UK in the future, while many fishers in the UK also face .

The new study—led by the University of Exeter—worked with fishers in Cornwall to understand how they balance the risks and rewards of fishing in varying conditions.

Factors that made skippers more likely to risk fishing in  or waves included: being the main earner in their household, poor recent fishing success, and having a crew to support.

“Climate change and economic insecurity create a ‘perfect storm’, putting ever-increasing pressure on skippers,” said lead author Dr. Nigel Sainsbury.

“Fishing is already the most dangerous peacetime profession in the UK, and the combination of more  and financial challenges will only make this worse.

Read the full story at PHYS.org

Brexit red tape likely to see demise of small fishing businesses, MPs told

March 3, 2021 — Small fishing businesses will “probably” go under due to the increased costs of complying with Brexit red tape when sending their catch to Europe, industry experts have warned.

MPs were told that some fishing firms are even looking at relocating parts of their operation to the European Union in order to by-pass costs and bureaucracy, with Brexit changes expected to hit profits by as much as £500,000 per year.

Some businesses have reported requiring more than 70 pages of paperwork to transport one lorry of fish into the EU.

The Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee heard that the combination of Brexit and the Covid-19 pandemic had caused the “perfect storm”.

“You just could not have written it any worse if you had wanted to for the industry,” said Sarah Horsfall, co-chief executive of the Shellfish Association of Great Britain.

Read the full story at Yahoo! News

UK seafood disruption support extended to shellfish, aquaculture sectors

February 24, 2021 — Seafood and aquaculture businesses previously omitted from the United Kingdom’s Seafood Disruption Support Scheme are now able to apply for some of the GBP 23 (USD 32.4 million, EUR 26.7 million) financial aid after the government extended the scheme.

The country-wide fund, initially announced on 19 January, is intended to provide financial assistance to businesses that suffered a financial loss because of delays related to the export of fresh or live fish and shellfish to the E.U. during January.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Brexit: UK fishermen fear losing their homes as export ban bites

February 22, 2021 — Since 1 January, the European Union has stopped British fishermen from selling oysters, scallops, clams, cockles and mussels, known as live bivalve molluscs (LBM), that are caught in so-called “Class B” waters.

The government says it is seeking an “urgent resolution”, while the European Commission told Sky News the ban, on health grounds, applies to all third countries and “is not a surprise” to the UK.

The Sailors Creek Shellfish company in Falmouth, Cornwall, has seen 99% of its business disappear.

Read the full story at SkyNews

UK Seafood Disruption Support Scheme opens, meets with criticism from industry

February 11, 2021 — Seafood businesses across the United Kingdom that have been affected by post-Brexit requirements for exporting to the European Union are now able to apply for financial support from the government, with up to GBP 23 million (USD 31.8 million, EUR 26.3 million) available through the new Seafood Disruption Support Scheme.

The countrywide fund, first announced on 19 January, will provide financial assistance to businesses that suffered a financial loss because of delays related to the export of fresh or live fish and shellfish to the E.U. during January.

Read the full story at Seafood Source