Quick Dips
Curated topical articles on the Blue Economy

Seafood Sector Giants Focus Action on Closing Ports and Supply Chains to Illegal Fishing

• Institute of Food Technologies • Fisheries & Aquaculture • Shipping & Ports

Today, five of the most influential industry and multi-stakeholder platforms in the seafood sector have released a joint statement calling for action to combat the scourge of illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing.

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The seafood sector and governments must join forces to combat illegal fishing

• Jim Leape, World Economic Forum • Fisheries & Aquaculture

Illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing is putting fish stocks, human rights and marine ecosystems in peril.

Defeating IUU fishing can only be achieved if industry and governments join forces to ensure IUU fishers cannot find buyers or land their catch.

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Canadian salmon farmers driving innovation in ocean aquaculture

• Fabian Dawson, SeaWestNews • Fisheries & Aquaculture

New high-tech vessel joins aquaculture armada in BC as the government is schooled on the role of innovation and technology in the Canadian aquaculture industry.

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Seafood giant Thai Union secures $400m in first sustainability loan

• Marimi Kishimoto, Nikkei Asia • Fisheries & Aquaculture

Thai Union Group, the world's biggest canned tuna producer, has secured its first sustainability-linked loan of $400 million from a group of financial institutions, Nikkei Asia has learned. If the company achieves set targets such as strengthening the traceability of its seafood, the interest rate will be lowered by the lenders.

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Cultivating an ocean food revolution

• Jason Holland, Global Aquaculture Alliance • Fisheries & Aquaculture

Mariculture has a key role to play in getting the global ocean economy firmly on track, finds top-level study.

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Second Outlaw Ocean Report Tackles Illegal Fishing and Labor Abuses from a Business and Technology Perspective

• Hanna Payne, Stanford Center for Ocean Solutions • Fisheries & Aquaculture

Illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing is a complex, systemic issue with impacts that resonate through global supply chains and can particularly harm those most vulnerable: the workers on fishing vessels.

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Researchers eye sea cucumbers as potential fish farming impact solution in Europe

• Jason Holland, Seafood Source • Fisheries & Aquaculture

A team of aquaculture researchers is exploring how sea cucumbers might be used to help reduce the environmental impact of fish farming, using techniques already being used in agriculture.

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As the oceans become more acidic, threat to sealife and industry grows, new study finds

• Gal Tziperman Lotan, The Boston Globe • Fisheries & Aquaculture

The ocean’s growing acidity, which goes hand in hand with climate change and other human-driven factors, could have a devastating effect on the state’s coastal waters and the shellfish industries that rely on their ecosystems, according to a new report.

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Mapping of undersized fish, crustaceans may help sustainable fishing efforts

• Brooks Hays, United Press International • Fisheries & Aquaculture

By mapping where undersized fish and crustaceans are congregated, researchers hope to help fisheries managers better protect vulnerable fish and crustacean stocks.

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Federal grant could help to quadruple US seaweed aquaculture volumes

• The Fish Site • Fisheries & Aquaculture

The fledgling North American kelp farming sector has received a boost after Connecticut Sea Grant was awarded a $766,650 federal grant to lead a three-year, multi-state initiative.

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New Research to Explore Seaweed for Ocean, Economic Health

• Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences • Energy Solutions • Fisheries & Aquaculture

A nearly $900,000 grant awarded to Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences will be used to explore how kelp aquaculture can remediate negative effects of climate change. The international project is funded by World Wildlife Fund with support from the Bezos Earth Fund.

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New Online Platform Creates Knowledge Portal for Aquaculture Farmers

• Writing Staff, SEVENSEAS Media • Fisheries & Aquaculture

The Gulf of Maine Research Institute announced the launch of The Maine Aquaculturist — a free-to-use online knowledge portal designed to help Maine’s sea farmers access an array of existing business resources across the state.

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Methane-Busting Seaweed Farms on Track for 2021 Production

• Andrew Spence, SEVENSEAS Media • Energy Solutions • Fisheries & Aquaculture

Construction of the first farm and processing plant to turn red seaweed into a feed supplement for cows to reduce their methane production by 90 per cent is expected to begin mid next year in South Australia.

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Eight small-scale Indonesian tuna fisheries earn MSC certification

• Madelyn Kearns, SeafoodSource • Fisheries & Aquaculture

The International Pole and Line Foundation (IPNLF), in partnership with IPNLF member Asosiasi Perikanan Pole and Line dan Handline Indonesia (AP2HI), has announced that eight Indonesian one-by-one tuna fisheries have achieved Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification.

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Sea Grant awards $4.7 million to strengthen economics of U.S. aquaculture

• Hallee Meltzer, NOAA • Fisheries & Aquaculture

Sea Grant today announced $4.7 million in federal funding to support 12 research projects to advance the understanding of the economics of aquaculture businesses and provide the industry with important market information to aid sustainable growth in the U.S.

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Scientists and scallop industry team up to study effects of ocean acidification

• National Ocean Service, NOAA • Fisheries & Aquaculture

Understanding vulnerability to coastal acidification: scientists, oyster growers and restoration specialists working together in the Chesapeake Bay.

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Can Macroalgae Save the Planet?

• Clayton Starr, The Liquid Grid • Fisheries & Aquaculture

Nature-based or natural climate solutions involve managing ecosystems to respond to climate change. One strategy with increasing buzz is macroalgae aquaculture and restoration. 

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Four themes that will shape aquaculture in 2021

• Sarah Riddle, The Fish Site • Fisheries & Aquaculture

Sarah Riddle, director of business engagement at the Scottish Aquaculture Innovation Centre (SAIC), looks at four key areas where the sector is likely to evolve during the next 12 months.

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Helping small-scale shrimp farmers gain sustainability recognition

• The Fish Site • Fisheries & Aquaculture

A new initiative to promote promote both social and environmental sustainability in small-scale shrimp farms in Southeast Asia has been launched this week.

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Only a third of UK’s key fish populations are not overfished

• Fiona Harvey, The Guardian • Fisheries & Aquaculture

Only a third of the UK’s key fish populations are in a healthy state, and catches of key species such as cod should be reduced this year as the UK negotiates fishing rights with the EU, according to the first post-Brexit assessment of the UK’s fisheries.

Read more → (5 minute read)