The Poseidon trawl doors that have been a long-term development project for Polar Trawl Doors have finally had the opportunity to show what they are capable of on a pelagic vessel fishing for blue whiting south-east of the Faroes.
Vigo fishing company Rampesca has placed an order with the Nodosa shipyard for a second squid catcher for Falklands waters, for delivery in 2020 to joint venture company Ferralemes.
130 metres long and built at a cost of NoK1.10 billion (€113 million), Aker BioMarine’s new krill catcher is the first purpose-built vessel of its kind in the world, and its construction has been a venture on an ambitious scale.
The European Fisheries Alliance (EUFA) has taken note of yesterday’s vote in the House of Commons and states that while a managed exit and a mutually beneficial fisheries and trade agreement remain EUFA’s objective, the vote is a backwards step, although not an unexpected one – and the ensuing political uncertainty are of concern to the European fishing industry.
BCG Digital Ventures and WWF Australia are launching OpenSC, a new digital platform that uses blockchain and other technologies to track food and products, and helps people and business to avoid illegal, environmentally-damaging or unethical products.
The Icelandic Coast Guard has twice in recent days had to warn fishing vessels off operating around undersea cables.
The expected defeat inflicted by the UK Parliament on Theresa May’s government and the deal agreed with the EU hasn’t escaped notice in Europe, and the President of French industry body CNPMEM commented that the vote has taken the situation from sailing in fog to one of steaming through troubled waters.
A study by the Spanish tuna fleet in the Indian Ocean, three years after the introduction of its Code of Good Practice, integrated into its Fisheries Improvement Project (FIP), shows that the contribution of the purse seine gear to the mortality of main by-catch species is practically zero, compared to figures recorded for other gears such as longlines and drift nets. This study estimates levels of fishing mortality at 0.15%, for sharks and rays (Chondrichthyes), less than 0.3%, for turtles and zero for marine mammals.
2018 saw landings by Norwegian fishing vessels for the first time surpass a value of NoK20 billion, an increase of NoK1.4 billion on 2017 as catch values ticked over to the big number.
The Marine Stewardship Council has renewed its certification of the longline fishery for toothfish that takes place around Kerguelen and the Crozet Islands in the Southern Ocean. The French fishing companies operating in the area have welcomed the fishery’s re-certification.