Fish industry news

Significant increases in support from consumers, restaurants, cafes and workplace canteens - and a number of important supply chain announcements - have made Australia's annual Sustainable Seafood Day (SSD) event, held on March 18, by far-and-away the most successful in its history, reports www.megafishnet.com

Huon Aquaculture Group Pty Ltd is conducting a recall of the above product due to Listeria monocytogenes contamination, reports www.megafishnet.com

Effective March 24, GEA Group Aktiengesellschaft successfully concluded the takeover of Convenience Food Systems (CFS), who are headquartered at Bakel, Netherlands. The result of CFS will be consolidated for the remaining nine months of 2011 in GEA's statements. On a pro forma basis however, GEA will in the future disclose key figures of the acquired business for the whole year. Revenues of CFS during the prior business year amounted to ca. EUR 407 million, reports www.megafishnet.com

The 15th Plenary Session of the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) was held in Colombo, Sri Lanka from 18 to 22 March. A three-day meeting of the IOTC Compliance Committee had preceded the plenary. The Plenary outcome was rather disappointing for the EU. While the Organisation made considerable progress in its first country-based compliance exercise, which scrutinised each and every IOTC member and cooperating party, the Plenary marked a step backward compared to 2010; it was mainly held back by some North-East Indian Ocean Coastal States, which run some of the less controlled fleets in the area, reports www.megafishnet.com

Demand for BC farmed salmon and interest in learning about developments in the BC industry kept BC Salmon Farmers Association members busy at this year's International Boston Seafood Show, reports www.megafishnet.com

"The TBS results for the fourth quarter 2010 reflect the ongoing downward pressure on dry cargo freight rates that have continued into the first quarter of 2011, as evidenced by the Baltic Dry Indices, reports www.megafishnet.com

The Global Aquaculture Alliance and Diversified Business Communications will present a special session based on the insights gained at GOAL 2010 during the March 21 conference program for the International Boston Seafood Show, reports www.megafishnet.com

NOAA continues to re-test seafood from the Gulf of Mexico to demonstrate to American and worldwide consumers that it is safe to eat, and announced today it will continue this re-testing into the summer, reports www.megafishnet.com

The DFPO North Sea Plaice fishery was certified sustainable against the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) environmental standard for sustainable and well managed fisheries. Around 2500 metric tonnes, roughly a third of the Danish North Sea plaice quota, will now be eligible to display the blue MSC ecolabel in the market place. Consumers can now make a positive choice to buy Danish plaice that comes from a certified sustainable source, reports www.megafishnet.com

This month the company's featuring Bumble Bee's Premium Seafood Pouches, reports www.megafishnet.com

With the arrival of 10,000 specially-bred Coho salmon eggs last December, Miller Hutterite Colony south of Bynum began operation of the first private, commercial salmon farm in the state using cutting-edge filtration technology that recirculates 99 percent of the groundwater used in the fish tanks, reports www.megafishnet.com

Busan Marine Fisheries Resources Research Institute(BMFRRI) announced that they succeeded in the artificial seed production of serrated swimming crab and released 500,000 crab for the first time on 11th March, reports www.megafishnet.com

Nordic Naturals, the industry leader in omega-3 fish oil, introduces Kenai WildTM Alaskan Salmon Oil to address the growing demand for salmon oil supplementation and to ensure that consumers have a choice that has been third-party tested for heavy metals including, arsenic, cadmium, lead, and mercury, and other contaminants such as PCBs, reports www.megafishnet.com

Overcoming many difficulties, export turnover of Thuan An Production Trading and Service Co., Ltd (TAFISHCO) in 2010 reached US$25 million in which frozen pangasius fillets accounted for US$15 million and the rest was fishmeal and fish oil, up 5 percent compared to the year plan, reports www.megafishnet.com

The European Commission, the European Investment Bank and the International Maritime Organization today launched a study under the Facility for Euro-Mediterranean Investment and Partnership (FEMIP) on maritime cooperation in the Mediterranean. Key issues for promoting the maritime sector in the Mediterranean by identifying and disseminating best practices in three major areas of key relevance will be addressed: social aspects, maritime surveillance and safety, and investment in maritime infrastructure, reports http://www.megafishnet.com

Clearwater Seafoods Limited Partnership has entered the Banquereau and Grand Bank Arctic surf clam fishery into independent, third-party assessment in the Marine Stewardship Council's (MSC) certification program for sustainable and well managed fisheries, reports www.megafishnet.com

Mike Picchietti, President of Regal Springs Trading Company (RST), is retiring from RST, a company he helped start in the early 1990s. Picchietti was the early pioneering face for tilapia in North America and an ideal match for Regal's farms in Indonesia and Honduras, reports www.megafishnet.com

A very successful three days for Marel at the International Boston Seafood Show, with highlights including the sale straight from the stand of the Geba SC 250 multi-angle salmon slicer which was on display and is now being shipped to its new owner in Chicago, reports www.megafishnet.com

55 years ago I&J introduced South African families to fish fingers, and today, more than 5 million of them are enjoyed every single month, reports www.megafishnet.com with reference to I&J.

THE UK's leading independent supplier of seafood has opened a £1m extension to its Cumbrian operation - generating revenue and safeguarding jobs, reports www.megafishnet.com