The first in-person event of Seagriculture Asia-Pacific will be premiering in Adelaide over 18-20 March 2025. This marks a pivotal moment for the Seagriculture Conferences, expanding their borders and venturing into a new region, bringing together participants from the Asia-Pacific region within the seaweed value chain. Seagriculture Asia-Pacific was launched in 2023 as an online edition. More than 180 participants from 31 countries participated in the First International Seaweed Conference Asia-Pacific during two online conference days. The second edition will take place in the Adelaide Conve ..read more

Krill harvesting company Aker BioMarine has said earnings and growth for the first quarter of 2024 were signficantly up, year-on-year. The operating results before depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) came to US $15.2m (£12.1m) against US $6m a year ago. The Q1 operating income rose from $68.1m (£53m) to $78.3m (£62.5m) , a rise of 13%. The ordinary operating loss came in at minus $5.6m (£4.47m) compared to a loss of $9.4m (£7.5m) in Q1 2023. Aker BioMarine CEO Matts Johansen said the production volume of krill came in at 21,306 tonnes, up from 19,852 tonnes in the first quarter last year. H ..read more

The Lerøy Seafood Company has been hit by claims of a new discovery of the listeria bacterium at one of its Norwegian sites, according to Norway’s national broadcaster NRK. NRK says the discovery is at a Lerøy Midt slaughterhouse in Trondelag county. The Norwegian Food Safety Authority has told Lerøy that it must inform its customers of the discovery. Two years ago several people in Sweden were taken ill with listeria complications resulting in seven deaths. The Swedish Food Safety Authority said salmon was the likely source but Lerøy has challenged claims that it came from its sites. The Norw ..read more

The Prairies, renowned as Canada’s breadbasket, is not the first place you would expect to find a fish farm – let alone one of the largest of its kind in the world. But the location’s excellent water quality will be key to the success of what will be Canada’s biggest Arctic charr farm, says the company behind the plan. Sandy Neil reports But for an ambitious company near Winnipeg, “The Gateway to the Prairies”, the temperate grasslands provide an “exceptional” site to grow Arctic charr (also known as charr), a popular salmonid on restaurant dinner plates across North America and Europe. This c ..read more

Today sees the launch in Shetland of a new research centre that aims to help the seafood industry become more sustainable. The Centre for Sustainable Seafood will be based at the UHI (University of the Highlands and Islands) Shetland Scalloway Campus. UHI Shetland says its aim is to become an international leader in innovation and sustainability. Professor Ray Hilborn (pictured), of the School of Aquatic and Fisheries Sciences at the University of Washington, will officially open the Centre today. Professor Hilborn is the author of several books and over 200 peer-reviewed articles on the topic ..read more

HRH The Princess Royal will officially open the Seawork trade show and conference on Tuesday 11 June 2024, marking the 25th edition of Europe’s leading commercial marine exhibition.  The Princess Royal has visited Southampton many times, however, this will be her first visit to the city’s Mayflower Park for the Seawork exhibition. Seawork takes place over 11-13 June, offering unique combination of purpose-built undercover exhibition space, open air displays and over 70 vessels, floating plant and equipment on the quayside and pontoons. Attendees will include representatives of HM Governme ..read more

US lobby group Stronger America Through Seafood (SATS) is officially requesting that funding for offshore aquaculture be approved by Congress. SATS has submitted a letter to the Chair of the Senate Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies, calling for support of US $25m (£19.9m) for the National Marine Fisheries Service’s (NMFS) Office of Aquaculture and US $14.08m (£11.2m) for Ocean and Atmospheric Research (OAR) for the Sea Grant Aquaculture Research programme. If approved, the funding for the organisations, which are both part of the US National Oceanic and Atmospheri ..read more

Sea cucumbers may not look too appetising to the Western consumer, but their potential in the export market is huge, Robert Outram finds In a series of man-made lagoons in the Bahía de Cádiz Natural Park in southern Spain, a species is being farmed that is destined to be consumed on the other side of the world. Guatizamar, the company operating the farm at San Ramón de Chiclana de la Frontera, near Cádiz, is still at the developmental stage and is raising funds for the investment needed to carry out its first commercial harvest. Even so, its Chief Executive, Antonio Fernandez-Perez, is confide ..read more

Seafood processing specialist BAADER has won a major contract to fit Grieg’s new seafood centre with a state-of-the-art filleting system. The deal was announced today at the trade show Seafood Expo Global/Seafood Processing Global in Barcelona. BAADER will supply processing equipment for Grieg’s new plant at Gardermoen Airport near Oslo, which is due to be completed in the summer of 2025. The BAADER delivery encompasses a complete processing line, from raw material reception to finished product packaging, featuring the BA581 Pro for maximum yield and the BA1860 for precise sorting. Modulf Bars ..read more

Physical checks on plant and animal products imported from the EU into the UK will start from 30 April. Will the UK’s seafood exporters feel that they have a level playing field at last? Sandy Neil investigates The UK left the EU’s Single Market and Customs Union on 31 December 2020, leaving the UK and EU with separate customs and regulatory regimes. On New Year’s Day 2021, the EU applied its usual third-country regime to goods imported from Great Britain (GB) to the EU to ensure correct taxes (for example, tariffs, VAT and excise duty) are paid, safety and security obligations are fulfilled ..read more