The Aquaculturists

“Towards Sustainable Aquaculture in the Middle East” will be the theme of this first edition, which will focus on vital industry issues affecting the key Middle Eastern aquaculture producing countries. DWTC, Dubai, April 5-6, 2015

Plenary speaker Ahmad Al Ballaa (MD of National Aquaculture Group and Chairman, Saudi Aquaculture Society):

"Aquaculture has a pivotal role to play in global food future. Conservative estimates indicate that output from aquaculture must at least double to meet the demand for aquatic protein by 2050. With a current population of more than 400 million, the Middle East region has an increasingly important role to play in this future, on both the demand and the supply side. In order to meet that future opportunity, we must however develop aquaculture responsibly. Contributions at MEAF from world renowned experts and local farmers on their hard earned lessons in issues such as rearing practices, disease management, diversification and markets will provide valuable information which will dramatically shorten the costly learning curve for new ventures in the region. This forum will be the first of many such meetings that will offer a important and timely opportunity for researchers, governments and investors to jointly develop a roadmap for sustainable aquaculture in the region.”

MEAF15, the forum where Middle East Aquaculture Experts will discuss the future of sustainable aquaculture in the Middle East, includes:

-       Biosecurity: Dr Melba Reantaso (FAO) will deliver the keynote in the health session chaired by Dr Victoria Alday. All Middle East Aquaculture Experts and government delegates are invited to participate in the round table discussion: “Biosecurity: developing a regional aquatic initiative”.

-       Nutrition: Dr Albert Tacon will give a plenary presentation on ‘'Future feeds for a growing aquaculture sector in a hungry world”, with Dr Muhammed Alsaiady from Arasco feed company delivering the keynote presentation of the nutrition session.

-       Industry: Eng. Ahmad Al Ballaa will give a plenary presentation on the first day of the event.

-       Synbiotics and probiotics: Prof. Einar Ringo will give the keynote presentation showing the latest results in this field.

-       Outlook of Aquaculture in the Region: latest updates will be provided by Dr Haydar Alsahtout.

-       Dr Farshad Shischensian (President Asia Pacific Chapter of the World Aquacultue Society) will talk about: “The status of shrimp farming and new advance systems in Asia”.

-       Dr Sherif Sadek will deliver a talk on “The concept of integration of aquaculture and agriculture in the Middle East”. This presentation  will focus on the culture of various species using fresh ground water (tilapia/catfish/carp/freshwater prawn) and/or brackishwater (red tilapia/blue tilapia/seabream/seabass/shrimp).

The Middle East Aquaculture Forum, Dubai, 5-6 April 2015 will be hosting workshops, industry presentations and an exhibition for aquaculture suppliers and producers.and is sponsored by the European Aquaculture Society (EAS) and the World Aquaculture Society (WAS), with the Arab Aquaculture Society (AAS), the Pakistani Aquaculture Society (PAS) and the Saudi Arab Aquaculture Society (SAAS) as affiliate sponsors. All these societies are welcome to hold their annual meeting at MEAF15 and invite all their members to Dubai to join this unique forum.

Abstract submission is open until 15 February 2015: click here.

Advanced online registration is recommended: click here.

There are just a few booths left now. Industry partners can contact us by e-mail to find out about sponsorship opportunities: mario@marevent.com.

For regular programme updates please visit the site here or contact info@meaf.ae.

Looking forward to seeing you in Dubai at this exciting Forum.

Middle East Aquaculture Forum Secretariatinfo@meaf.ae

Read more HERE.

The Aquaculturists
This blog is maintained by The Aquaculturists staff and is supported by the
magazine International Aquafeed which is published by Perendale Publishers Ltd

For additional daily news from aquaculture around the world: aquaculture-news

A stray cat got its paws on a gourmet feast courtesy of an airport delicatessen, after managing to get inside the fish counter, the BBC reports.

The tabby was filmed by staff at Vladivostok airport, in eastern Russia, helping itself to marine delicacies including squid and dried octopus. The cat was seen scrabbling at packaging and happily munching away on the contents.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-news-from-elsewhere-30446314

It was a costly break-in for the store's owner, who had to bin the entire contents of the fish counter, worth about 60,000 roubles (US$1000; UK£660). Nobody knows how the cat managed to get into the store, although according to airport staff it's a local stray and sometimes wanders into the airport.

But it seems the cat is now a minor celebrity, with "fans" lining up to visit the scene of the crime.

"Our staff practically can't work because of the flow of fans,” says Irina Kuzmina, the shop's owner.

"From the arrival hall, people come directly to us with questions about the cat. But they don't buy anything, they only ask questions.”

And some members of the public are concerned about the moggie's fate, because it hasn't been seen since being busted mid-meal. The airport has received letters from dozens of concerned people offering the animal a home.

Read the article and watch the video HERE.

Landings at Shetland’s white fish markets reached record levels for the second year in a row in 2014. Abundant stocks of fish in the rich waters around the islands have enabled boats to land more than 5000 boxes for 39 out of the 52 weeks this year, the Shetland Times reports.

Shetland is now the second biggest port in the UK for white fish landings after Peterhead and overall more fish is put down on the quaysides in Lerwick and Scalloway than in England, Wales and Northern Ireland combined.

http://www.shetlandtimes.co.uk/2014/12/15/fish-landings-break-record-again

Today’s landings of more than 2200 boxes brought the year’s total to more than 305,000 boxes – up on last year’s total of 303,233.

Landings last year smashed the previous record since the electronic auction system was introduced in Shetland in 2003 of 263,729, set in 2008.

Martin Leyland of Shetland Seafood Auctions said: “It has been another remarkable year for fish landings in Shetland.

“The quantity and quality of fish are high, helping to ensure prices through the electronic auction have remained very good. In one week in October more than 10,000 boxes were landed which nobody could remember having happened in Shetland for a quarter of a century.”

The final total is likely to rise slightly as the last market of the year is on Friday 19th December. The first market of 2015 will, unusually, be on a Saturday – 3rd January.
Shetland Fish Producers’ Organisation chief executive Brian Isbister said he was delighted that boats had been able to consolidate last year’s record landings.

“Despite quota cuts in 2014 for a number of our important whitefish stocks, including haddock and whiting, landings have remained good across the year for all stocks,” he said.

“I’m particularly pleased to see improved catches of high value species such as megrim and monkfish.”

He added that the market had been buoyant, with improved prices for haddock in particular.

“Looking ahead, we have a major pier expansion in Lerwick which will eventually result in a new, modern market being built at Mair’s Quay. The good landings demonstrate the need for this and we look forward to working with Lerwick Port Authority to create a first-class facility.”

Shetland Fishermen’s Association executive officer Simon Collins said the record landings demonstrated what European Commission bureaucrats were only partially beginning to grasp – that stocks of haddock and cod in particular are sufficiently healthy to allow for substantial quota increases.

That would be a critical factor in determining the success of the discard ban, which will be introduced for these species in January 2016.

Mr Collins said: “The European Union managed to secure slight increases in haddock and cod quota for the North Sea during the recent EU-Norway talks which effectively set the amount of fish our men will be able to catch next year.

“But if the discard ban is going to work – and a great deal of progress is still required to make sure it does – the very least that needs to be done is significantly to raise these quotas further.

“If you take a walk through the fish markets in Lerwick or Scalloway in the morning you can see that the fish exude health and quality. These are better times for our fishermen – let’s not destroy that with unworkable regulations.”

Read the article HERE.

Fisheries ministers from across the EU are gathering in Brussels to begin to thrash out the rules under which the industry will operate next year, the BBC reports.

Much of the discussion will centre on how to deal with a ban on discarding unwanted fish back into the sea.

This will come into force in January for species such as herring and mackerel, and a year later for cod and haddock.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-30477517

Agreements have already been reached on quota levels.

Scottish Fisheries Secretary Richard Lochhead said: "December Council this year is not just important in terms of our usual fishing priorities of getting the fairest quota deals and ensuring no cuts to the number of days fishermen can actually go to sea, it is also hugely significant because the first phase of the landing obligation comes into force early next year.”

Otherwise known as the discard ban, it will fundamentally change the way we fish and as a result we also need to rethink the fundamentals of how we manage fishing.

"The implications of the discard ban will also be felt by Scotland's hugely important onshore supply chain and I will therefore be asking the Scottish Seafood Partnership to assess those implications and to develop a strategy to address any impact.”

Fishing boats will be obliged to land unwanted species caught in their nets.

The practice of throwing dead fish back into the sea increased because of strict EU quotas on which fish could be landed, part of efforts to conserve fish stocks.

In 2009, Scottish vessels were forced by the Common Fisheries Policy to discard almost 28,000 tonnes of fish, about a quarter of the white fish catch, valued at £33m.

The practice was changed after public outcry, reflected in TV shows such as Hugh's Fish Fight, presented by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall.

Read the articleHERE.

What Does Vladimir Putin Have to Do With the Price of Fish? At least when it comes to salmon, quite a lot, Bloomberg reports.

In the tit-for-tat sanctions between Russia and nations opposing its annexation of Crimea, one retaliation by President Vladimir Putin in August was to include fish in a banned list of products from the European Union, Norway, Canada, the US and Australia.

That made Chilean salmon farmers happy as Russia came knocking to replace the 110,000 tons of the fish it buys from Norway alone in a year, driving up prices.

Didn’t last. The ruble’s 29 percent slump against the dollar since October 1 caused Russian demand to plunge, said Akiyo Matono, managing executive officer at Nippon Suisan Kaisha Ltd.

Matono’s company is one of the biggest fish suppliers in Japan, which in turn is the world’s largest consumer of salmon. Explaining his business and the Putin effect in an interview in Tokyo, Matono said the world faces shortages of salmon and other marine products such as shrimp.

That’s creating acquisition opportunities that Japan’s global trading houses, Itochu Corp, Marubeni Corp and Mitsubishi Corp are grabbing.

Fish farming isn’t for the faint of heart. An earthquake off Chile in 2007 destroyed hatcheries in that country, while the quake and tsunami in 2011 did the same along Japan’s Pacific coastline. Virus epidemics have also reduced the world’s salmon population.

Demand, though, keeps rising as more people in emerging economies adopt new diets that come with more disposable income, according to Matono. Prices for one kilogram (2 pounds and 3.3 ounces) of salmon are at US$9 this year compared to the 2013 average of US$7.50, he said.

“We’re seeing people in China, Singapore and other places in Southeast Asia starting to eat salmon,” Matono said.

“As demand in the traditional markets of Europe, Japan and North America remains, the world’s wild fish population is maxing out. The only way to meet demand is through farming.”

Nippon Suisan, known as Nissui, invested in Chile’s salmon farms in the late 1980s as the government privatized an industry that at the time produced 5000 tons a year. Nissui’s main operation in Chile aims to produce 50,000 metric tons of salmon in 2018 from 30,000 tons now. Another 2000 tons will be added from a revival of fish farming in Japan since the tsunami three years ago. Overall Nissui aims to expand production at its salmon farms by two-thirds by 2018 as consumers in China and Brazil add the fish to their menu.

Japan’s biggest trader Mitsubishi agreed to buy Norwegian salmon farmer Cermaq ASA in September in a deal that valued the target at US$1.4 billion. The purchase is likely to spark further industry mergers, Advisory Research Inc, a fund with stakes in several salmon farmers including Cermaq, said in October.

“Recently Japanese traders have been putting quite a bit of money into marine products,” Matono said.

“That’s good for raising the value of assets in the industry. If they preserve their assets it should be good for the future. From now on, the traders are very much a competitor.”

Nissui, too, is looking for acquisitions, Matono said. He declined to give any details beyond saying the search is global.

Read more HERE.

Simon MacLellan, the talented 24-year-old aquaculture trainee working for Marine Harvest in Lochaber and winner of the Lantra Scotland Aquaculture Learner of the Year Award 2013, is leading a new wave of Modern Apprentices into an expanding fisheries and aquaculture management sector.

With new Government targets for marine production set to increase to 210,000 tonnes and shellfish to 13,000 tonnes by 2020, there are significant and growing career opportunities for school leavers and college graduates looking for a challenging and highly skilled occupation.

The aquaculture industry is currently worth at least UK£800m per year across the UK, with over 560 aquaculture businesses employing nearly 6000 people. According to Lantra Scotland, the sector skills council for the land-based, environmental and aquaculture industries, about 50 percent of these are based in Scotland, with Scottish businesses employing about a third of the entire UK workforce.

The introduction of new talent into the sector has been spearheaded by the success of the Scottish Government’s Modern Apprenticeship programme, which provides a very successful route into work for young people and access to new talent for employers. The programme offers a unique mix of college-based learning and practical on-the-job training which gives young people all the theoretical and practical skill sets that they need to succeed in their chosen careers.

Aquaculture trainee Simon MacLellan is cutting his teeth at the sharp end of fisheries management, working with one of Scotland’s leading producers, Marine Harvest. He is employed in the salmon hatchery side of the business, whilst undertaking the theoretical part of his Modern Apprenticeship Level 3 at Inverness College.

Simon explains: “I chose aquaculture because I can see this is an industry that is only going to grow. Thankfully, as a society we have come to realise that commercial fishing is unsustainable, and with only 2 percent of the world’s oceans farmed, this represents a big opportunity for us all. It is very satisfying to be part of an industry that is geared towards sustainable fish production and I believe being part of the Modern Apprenticeship programme has given me the ideal start to my career.”

Lynn MacFarlane, Training and Human Resources Officer, Marine Harvest, comments: “As a company we are keen to support our staff with their learning, and we have found that doing the SVQ (Scottish Vocational Qualification) alongside working on the farm is an effective combination for gaining knowledge and learning skills. Simon’s success as the Aquaculture Learner of the Year 2013 is a great inspiration for all our SVQ students. We have another employee, Jake Handley, who won Student of the Year for SVQ Aquaculture at Inverness College UHI earlier this year. So we are extremely pleased with how well staff are doing.”

Kevin Patrick, Interim Director of Lantra Scotland adds: “The aquaculture sector in Scotland has grown steadily over the last few years, and we have seen a rise in demand for skilled personnel. The Aquaculture Modern Apprenticeship programme is a very effective route into work for young people and provides employers with access to new talent. The framework is unique in that it provides a mix of college-based learning with practical, on-the-job training. This provides all the necessary theoretical and practical skill sets that young people need to succeed in their chosen careers.

We’re also grateful to Marine Harvest for helping sponsor our land-based and aquaculture learner of the year awards, and to our main sponsor, the Scottish Salmon Company.”

Press contact:
James Walter
Candid Media
Office: 0131 467 4663
Mobile: 07796 445 753
e-mail: james@candidmedia.biz

Read the Lantra article HERE.

Biorigin is a Brazilian company which mobilizes knowledge and technology to promote health and quality of life. Using biotechnological processes, it produces natural ingredients for flavor enhancement, sodium reduction, shelf life extension in the food market and nutritional enrichment of feeds and substitutes for antibiotics.

It is a business unit of Zilor, a company with more than 65 years of experience and one of the largest Brazilian producers of ethanol, sugar and electricity from sugar cane.

Biorigin was founded in 2003, and in 2008 acquired the companies PTX Food Corp in The United States and Immunocorp and Animal Health in Norway, expanding and strengthening its international presence.

Read the article HERE.

Britain’s fishermen will be allowed to increase their catch of cod and other key fish species next year after late-night wrangling between EU ministers in Brussels resulted in a new set of fishing quotas that flout scientific advice, the Guardian reports.

The quota for cod catches for 2015 will increase by 5 percent on last year, though scientific advice suggested that it should be cut by 20 percent.

The UK’s fisheries minister, George Eustice, hailed the deal as a triumph for Britain’s dwindling fishing fleets.

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/dec/16/fishing-quotas-defy-scientists-advice

He said: “Although these were difficult negotiations, I am pleased that we were able to secure the best possible deal to ensure sustainable fisheries and a strong UK fishing industry. While fishermen had feared there would be major cuts, we were able to keep the same quota as last year for many species, in addition to important increases to the North Sea cod and haddock quota, which will benefit Scottish fishermen.”

UK fishermen will also be allowed to catch 15 percent more prawns than last year and 15 percent more plaice in the North Sea, while the haddock catch has been increased by 6 percent. But in the Celtic Sea, fewer cod and haddock will be allowed to be caught – though the number is still more than scientists advised – and the number of sole to be caught in the Bristol and Eastern channels has been reduced.

Conservationists said the deal, reached after a day and a half of negotiations in Brussels, was not in line with what scientists had advised. After nearly four years of tense negotiations, the EU’s Common Fisheries Policy was finally reformed this year. In its new state, it is supposed to guarantee that fish stocks are managed at what scientists deem to be sustainable levels, known as the maximum sustainable yield.

Andrew Clayton, of the Pew Charitable Trusts, which advocates a sustainable fisheries policy, said: “After decades of failing to get to grips with overfishing, the new common fisheries policy was supposed to bind ministers to setting sustainable fishing limits this year. Instead, they have set a considerable number of [quotas] in excess of the level scientists advised, failing to meet the targets they set themselves for overfishing. These are weak decisions, jeopardising the livelihoods of fishermen and the sustainability of stocks.”

The reforms are supposed to mean that fishing fleets must land all their catch, rather than discarding those specimens or species that are lower value.

Discarding - the wasteful practice of throwing healthy fish back to sea because they are of lower value or because a boat has already reached its quota - has been a particular target of green groups in the last three years, with a campaign spearheaded by the chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall.

However, there are significant gaps in the new regulations that mean many fleets will be able to continue to discard large quantities of fish for several years.

The new European commissioner for the environment, Karmenu Vella, said after the deal was concluded: “We have succeeded in increasing the number of stocks that are now managed at sustainable levels. I can therefore say that sustainably managed stocks are now a broadly accepted concept across the EU. This will allow fishermen to progressively reap more and more benefits in terms of higher catches for these stocks. This is because science-based decision-making is increasingly becoming the norm.”

But he admitted that many of the decisions on quotas were contrary to scientific advice.
“We have worked with [ministers] to ensure that where we do not follow science, member states take the necessary decisions to avoid a real disaster happening later.”

Greenpeace EU fisheries policy director Saskia Richartz said: “It is unacceptable that many of the fishing quotas agreed today fail to end overfishing. Ministers gave no justification for postponing action to recover fish stocks, despite new laws requiring that any delay is justified with appropriate evidence.”

Read more HERE.

The impact of binging on high-fat foods at Christmas could be lessened by adding fish to the menu, Stirling University scientists have found, the BBC reports.

Research at the university found that fish oil provides important protective qualities to muscles in a high-fat diet.

The study saw healthy young men take on a fat-heavy 4000-calorie-a-day diet.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-tayside-central-30500226

Those who replaced some of the fat with fish gained weight in a different fashion from those who did not.

Research student Sophie Wardle, who led the study, explained that the oils in the fish resulted in the increase of a protein which helps break down fat in muscles.

She said: "This suggests there may be some benefits to consuming more oily fish in place of other fats during periods of excess fat intake.

"Those who only had the high fat diet and no fish oil gained weight mainly around their stomach, whereas those taking the fish oils gained weight in different areas.

"This finding could be relevant for long-term risk as fat accumulation in the central stomach area is strongly associated with obesity and diabetes."

The study also found subjects had a reduced sensitivity to insulin following the short high-fat diet, meaning they were less able to handle a high load of sugar.

Ms Wardle added: "The fact that many of us are flexible enough to deal with such a high fat load is quite impressive, but the findings do come with a health warning, especially at Christmas.

"Everyone enjoys eating more than usual at this time, but this diet over a longer period of time is not the way to go."

Read the article HERE.

Atlantic Canada's largest aquaculture company — Cooke Aquaculture — says it has been forced to delay key elements in a CAN$150-million expansion planned for Nova Scotia by several years, CBC News Nova Scotia reports.

New Brunswick-based Cooke blames a moratorium on new aquaculture sites imposed by the previous New Democratic government in 2013, when it ordered a study of aquaculture.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/cooke-aquaculture-s-150m-expansion-delayed-by-years-1.2875631

Cooke's applications for new aquaculture sites have also been on a shelf for two years.

"That part of our business plan has stalled. That's not our doing. That's the nature of the review," says Nell Halse, vice-president of communications for Cooke.

The results of the review by Dalhousie law professors Meinhard Doelle and Bill Lahey was issued Tuesday.

Halse says a state-of-the art salmon processing plant promised for Shelburne — and other plans — are now years behind schedule.

"We had hoped everything would be in place for our plant to be open in 2015, but clearly with this tremendous delay, we are not there. We still need additional farm sites and production," she says.

In 2012 the province committed CAN$25 million to help finance a Cooke expansion in Nova Scotia. In addition to a processing plant in Shelburne, the company also planned a new fish hatchery in Digby and an expanded feed mill in Truro.

In order to justify the expansion, Cooke says it needs to double salmon production in Nova Scotia to three million fish in the water.

Nell Halse says the company is still committed to the Nova Scotia expansion but does not know when it will proceed.

"It will definitely be in a few years time … it might be as long as 2018," she said.

Cooke is now urging Nova Scotia's Liberal government to lift the moratorium while it studies the report ordered by the NDP.

One of the report's recommendations is to keep the moratorium in place until tougher rules governing aquaculture are established.

"We need to hear from them, that they are not going to delay this process any further," Halse says.

Nova Scotia says it is still studying that report ordered by the NDP.

Read the article HERE.

Evonik is one of the world's leading specialty chemicals companies. Profitable growth and a sustained increase in the value of the company form the heart of our strategy, which is supported by our owners, RAG-Stiftung (74.99 percent) and funds managed by CVC Capital Partners (25.01 percent). Our specialty chemicals activities focus on high-growth megatrends — especially health, nutrition, resource efficiency, and globalization — and our goal is to enter attractive future-oriented markets.

In 2011 Evonik’s roughly 33,000 employees generated sales of €14.5 billion and an operating result (EBITDA) of €2.8 billion. More than 70 percent of sales are generated outside Germany, providing convincing evidence that our business is global.

Read the article HERE.

During a routine stop at the grocery store, Miles Medina had a random thought, FIU News reports. Why couldn’t the store grow the very produce it sells on its roof?

That random thought led Medina to explore the world of aquaponics, a journey that has earned him first place for his master’s thesis in ‘Outstanding Thesis in Food and Agricultural Science Competition’ hosted by the US Department of Agriculture-National Institute of Food and Agriculture (USDA-NIFA), American Association of Hispanics for Higher Education (AAHHE), and Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi.

http://news.fiu.edu/2014/11/alumnus-finds-solutions-for-food-insecurity-through-aquaponics/82843

“After doing some research, I learned a start-up company based in New York City was trying to do just that with hydroponics. I looked into it and didn’t feel satisfied that hydroponics could reduce the negative environmental impacts associated with agriculture,” Medina said.
“Then I discovered aquaponics and became really interested in getting some hands-on experience and contributing to the research being done on it.”

Aquaponics is a food production system that integrates aquaculture, or raising aquatic animals in tanks, and hydroponics, or growing plants in water. A basic aquaponic system is made up of a fish tank, solids filter, biofilter and vegetable grow bed. Water is pumped from the fish tank to the solids filter where bits of waste are removed. The water then flows through the biofilter where naturally occurring bacteria break nutrients down into inorganic forms that feed the plants in the vegetable grow bed. Finally, the filtered water returns to the fish tank and the cycle continues. According to Medina, aquaponic farmers tend to rely on fish feeds that are rich in phosphorous and nitrogen and formulated for fish-only aquaculture.

“Although what the fish excrete is good fertilizer for the plants, it’s not perfect. Oftentimes, you end up having plants that eventually show certain nutrient deficiencies,” Medina said.

“That’s what motivated me to do this study. I wanted to compare the difference in how the plants grow based on the feed that’s given to the fish. No matter what, fish waste is always good fertilizer, but there’s always room for improvement. There’s always the opportunity to find what’s missing.”

Medina designed and built six aquaponic units at the FIU Organic Garden in order to compare the effects of two aquafeeds – one formulated for fish-only aquaculture and one plant-based feed formulated for aquaponic cultivation. Using blue tilapia and red amaranth, a nutritious leafy vegetable, Medina found aquaponic farmers can achieve higher crop yields using less nitrogen and phosphorous inputs. In other words, aquaponic farmers can produce more crops by using a plant-based feed formulated for aquaponics cultivation.

Medina also found the improved crop yield from the lower-protein aquafeed can
compensate for associated reductions in fish yield to increase total aquaponic farm revenue.

“As our global population increases and more of us live in cities, we have to find opportunities and develop new ways to provide for ourselves in a way that’s environmentally sustainable,” Medina said.

Read more HERE.

Above the waters of the Hauraki Gulf, a marine farm might appear only a tidy row of racks, or a small bunch of ropes and buoys dotted against the blue.

But below the surface lie unseen clusters of oysters or mussels - and the hope for a sustainable economy potentially worth hundreds of millions of dollars more to the Auckland and Waikato regions, the New Zealand Herald reports.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11376241

Aquaculture in the gulf is becoming increasingly important not just for New Zealand's primary industry economy, but for the wellbeing of the communities that depend on its survival.

With nurture, the industry forecasts nationwide growth of aquaculture in New Zealand could reach NZ$1 billion by 2025.

Much of that growth would come from the gulf, which presently provides nearly 60 percent of the country's farmed oysters and a quarter of its mussels.

Their combined value in the gulf is worth around NZ$60 million, contributing to the economy around NZ$170 million and providing more than 900 jobs in the region.

"When people talk about 'the economy' I think they have a picture of large companies in big cities," said Callum McCallum, a long-time leader in the oyster industry and chairman of Sea Change's aquaculture roundtable.

"But aquaculture provides jobs and turnover in coastal communities that really need them, like Coromandel and Clevedon - so when we talk about 'economy' we're talking about benefits to local people in the Hauraki Gulf."

In the gulf today, there are over 1270 hectares of mussel and oyster farms - the equivalent space of around 1270 international rugby fields.

The oyster industry took off from the moment in the early 1970s that marine farmers in Mahurangi Harbour, north of Auckland, discovered a new type of oyster growing among the native rock oysters they'd traditionally farmed.

The Pacific oyster, thought to have been carried to New Zealand on the hulls of freighters from Japan, was first seen as a nuisance by farmers who tried to eradicate it. But as it could grow three times bigger and faster than its native counterpart, it soon became an industry mainstay.

In 2010 a herpes virus nearly wiped out the country's Pacific oysters, but industry breeding programmes helped it recover.

The industry also now has its own oyster hatchery and is working to develop a herpes-resistant strain, Mr McCallum said.

"The natural spat has also become more resistant to the virus, so after four poor years, we are starting to produce better volumes of oysters."

By the end of the 1970s, the first mussel farm had been established at Waiheke Island, before mussel farming in the Coromandel began in the early 1980s. The relatively clean waters of the gulf were ideal for oysters and mussels, which as filter feeders pump out water after sucking in tiny drifting plants.

Mr McCallum said because they performed a service in the ecosystem, there wasn't a clash of environment and economy.

"The industry has carried out a lot of research to prove that aquaculture in the gulf has very little negative effect on the environment and is hugely beneficial for water quality."

According to the results of a Colmar Brunton survey commissioned by the Ministry for Primary Industries this year, most New Zealanders agree.

73 percent had positive views of aquaculture, while 91 percent believed New Zealand should look for opportunities to sustainably grow the industry.

As mussel farms acted like artificial reefs and attracted snapper and other fish, aquaculture had also attracted fishing and charter fishing boats.

"That means more jobs and more income for local communities," Mr McCallum said.

The Auckland region has about 251 hectares of existing marine farms, and last year there were applications under way for a further 4600 hectares for farms and spat catching.

Most of these are in the western Firth of Thames, and about half of them were transferred to the Waikato Regional Council when the boundaries were re-aligned.

The 1900 hectares of space allocated in Waikato includes farms already operating. Nearly 400 hectares for finfish farming have also been allocated.

Those who apply for consent from councils must prove their operation will have little environmental impact, as well as undergoing an undue adverse effects test required by the Ministry for Primary Industries.

Farms are also regularly checked for ‘trigger points’ that can signal environmental concerns, such as water quality and what animals are living on the floor beneath the farms.

Environmental groups have expressed specific worries, including whether there was enough water movement around farms or if they could negatively affect other species.

Despite the relatively tiny area that farms make up in the gulf, there have been some rare cases of threatened Bryde's whales becoming entangled in mussel spat collecting lines.

"In the past we've been engaged in endless debates about where marine farms should go and where they shouldn't, but now we are looking at the big picture and seeing the benefits to the environment and to coastal communities," Mr McCallum said.

The roundtable's aim had been to determine the role, needs and impact of aquaculture in the gulf.

"The process has been really encouraging because for the first time, we have people from every viewpoint around the same table talking positively about the industry, its benefits and its future in a sustainable world," he said.

"One of the key needs for aquaculture is research and experimental provisions that allow the industry to test the benefits and effects of farming new species."And the gulf would be an ideal location."

Read the article HERE.

Bangladeshi shrimp farmers and processors have sunk into hard times after a slump in demand and depreciation of major importers' currencies, the Daily Star reports.

Industry operators said many buyers have pushed back the shipment of their orders, while a section of them are even seeking discounts. As a result, stockpiles are rising at the processors' end.

“It is a very bad situation. Prices are falling fast, while sales are down. The business has been dormant for the past two months,” said Khan Habibur Rahman, deputy managing director of Lockpur Group, one of the main shrimp processors.

The ample production of vannamei shrimp in India and Vietnam has been blamed for the most part for the slump in demand for the locally-grown black tiger shrimp.

http://www.thedailystar.net/shrimp-farmers-staring-at-losses-55912

“Exporters in these countries are offering very low prices,” Rahman said.

A pound of black tiger shrimp is now selling for US$6.50, which was US$9.20 as recently as two months ago, said Shoyeb Mahmud, general manager of Jahanabad Seafood Ltd.

“I doubt if the farmers will be able to break even, but the small ones will definitely be hit hard.”

So dire is the situation that many buyers are renegotiating prices of already placed orders, he said, adding that stocks are piling up in almost every factory. The sinking euro and the recent slide of Russian rouble against the US dollar have added salt to the injury.

The rouble has lost 60 percent of its value against the dollar since the beginning of the year, hit by Western sanctions over Russian's support for the separatist insurgency in Ukraine and the fall in oil price.

The two currencies' slide increased the import costs in Europe and Russia, which together account for nearly 75 percent of the country's shrimp exports, said Md Amin Ullah, president of the Bangladesh Frozen Foods Exporters Association (BFFEA).

“We are completely stuck. Many buyers have totally stopped buying. And the tension in Ukraine instigated by Russia has compounded our woes,” he said, adding that many of the buyers have asked local processors to halt the shipment of previous placed orders and some have even withdrawn orders.

Although shrimp exports started the fiscal year on a good note, it began falling in the latter months. Between July and November, it raked in US$276 million, down 4.55 percent year-on-year, according to Export Promotion Bureau.

“Come the end of December, the decline might be 15 percent,” the BFFEA president said.

The sector logged in US$550 million in exports last fiscal year, a 21 percent rise from the previous year.

The sector provides livelihood for 833,000 farmers who cultivate shrimp on 275,000 hectares of land in the coastal areas of the southwest, according to the Department of Fisheries.

“All of us, from large farmers to small ones, are counting huge losses because of the price collapse,” said Mohammad Shah Alam Sheikh, a shrimp farmer from the Chandpai union under Mongla, the southwestern coastal sub-district.

Read more HERE.

From small-town entrepreneur to worldwide leader. With a little ingenuity and a lot of hard work, brothers Joe and Louis Wenger founded Wenger Mixing Company in a small town in Kansas, USA 1935. They went on to design a machine that blended molasses with dry feedstuffs and produced pellets in 1948.

Theirs was the first extrusion cooking system and the basic technology for all commercial extruders used today. The Wenger brothers' novel idea created a worldwide industry. And 75 years later Wenger Manufacturing Inc is still a family-owned business committed to groundbreaking innovation in the extrusion market.

Read the article HERE.

A new record has been set for the world's deepest fish, the BBC reports.

The bizarre-looking creature, which is new to science, was filmed 8145m beneath the waves, beating the previous depth record by nearly 500m.

Several other new species of fish were also caught on camera, as well as huge crustaceans called supergiants.

The animals were discovered during an international expedition to the Mariana Trench, which lies almost 11km down in the Pacific Ocean.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-30541065

The 30-day voyage took place from the Schmidt Ocean Institute's research vessel, Falkor, and is the most comprehensive survey of world's deepest place ever undertaken.

The Hadal Ecosystem Studies (Hades) team deployed unmanned landers more than 90 times to depths that ranged between 5000m and 10,600m. They studied both steep walls of the undersea canyon.

Dr Jeff Drazen, co-chief scientist from the University of Hawaii, US said: "Many studies have rushed to the bottom of the trench, but from an ecological view that is very limiting.

"It's like trying to understand a mountain ecosystem by only looking at its summit."

The University of Aberdeen's Hadal Lander - the UK's deepest diving vehicle - recorded more than 100 hours of deep-sea footage.

Until this expedition, the deepest fish had been found in the Japan Trench, also in the Pacific Ocean. A 17-strong shoal of pink gelatinous snailfish (Pseudoliparis amblystomopsis) were recorded 7700m down.

Dr Alan Jamieson, from Oceanlab at the University of Aberdeen said: "After we found these, we started seeing them in other deep trenches. Each trench has its own snailfish species.

"And we saw one in the Mariana Trench at more than 8000m and we think it's a new species."

The team thought they had broken the deepest-fish record, but then another pale pink species came to feed at the lander, which is loaded with bait, even further down at 8145m.

Dr Jamieson said: "We think it is a snailfish, but it's so weird-looking; it's up in the air in terms of what it is.

"It is unbelievably fragile and when it swims, it looks like it has wet tissue paper floating behind it.

"And it has a weird snout - it looks like a cartoon dog snout."

Without catching the fish and bringing it back to the surface the team is unable to confirm that it is a new species, but Dr Jamieson said it did not look like anything he'd seen before or knew of.

The new record-breaking creature is close to the depth-limit at which scientists believe fish can survive.

They researchers also captured another bizarre species - supergiants - on camera.

These creatures are a type of amphipod, which are normally around 2-3cm long. The super-sized version can reach up to 30cm.

Dr Jamieson said: "We've got more than 20 hours of footage of them, and we're learning the way they swim, the way they feed and the way they fend off predators.

"They clamp down on the bait, and bore their head into it and put their spiky tail in the air like a thorn bush.

"Anything that goes for it gets stabbed in the nose."

The dives made during the expedition were all conducted by unmanned vehicles, but humans have visited the world's deepest place.

In 1960 US Navy Lt Don Walsh and Swiss oceanographer Jacques Piccard made an incredibly risky journey to the bottom of the Mariana Trench in a bathyscaphe called the Trieste.

And in 2012 Hollywood director James Cameron made a solo descent to the seafloor in his sub called the Deepsea Challenger.

He described the place as a desolate, alien world.

Read the article HERE.

An Australian Senate review of seafood labelling laws has called for takeaway shops and restaurants to be required to state which countries fish comes from, the Guardian reports.

The rural and regional affairs and transport references committee recommended that the hospitality industry have 12 months until the “mandated extension of seafood country-of-origin labelling would be enforced”.

The committee’s report said the adoption of such labelling would “not be onerous” to the industry, citing the existing regime in the Northern Territory which requires prepared seafood be labelled “imported” if it is from another country.

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/dec/19/seafood-country-of-origin-labelling-may-be-extended-to-fish-and-chip-shops

Elsewhere in Australia, supermarkets or fish markets selling uncooked fish must have country-of-origin labelling but there is an exemption to these rules for restaurants, fish and chip shops and other takeaways.

An extension of labelling laws has been backed by environmentalists behind the Label My Fish campaign, certain fishers, the Greens and the independent senator Nick Xenophon, who wants the name “barramundi” protected so it can only apply to Australian-caught fish.

Pavo Walker, a commercial tuna fisherman from Queensland, said: “A tuna caught in the high seas by a vessel from Europe or Asia is a different prospect to one caught by a commonwealth fisherman in Australia.

“We need proper seafood labelling so the Australian fishing industry can distinguish its product from imports and reap the proper rewards for complying with a high level of regulation.”

Matt West, president of the Australian Prawn Farmers Association, said: “Next Christmas all seafood lovers should know exactly what they are buying. I am delighted that at last a powerful Senate inquiry has finally found the political will to make a firm recommendation in the consumers and the national interest.”

The Greens senator Peter Whish-Wilson said still more should be done to protect the sustainability of Australia’s fisheries.

“The inquiry’s recommendations, whilst a step in the right direction, could still go further to achieving better ocean sustainability outcomes, which are long-term requirements for both the marketplace and marine stewardship,” he said.

“On the evidence presented at the inquiry, the Greens recommend a staged approach that would go beyond country-of-origin labelling by requiring mandatory fish naming standards, and sustainability and provenance labelling.”

Whish-Wilson said a bill would be presented to parliament in 2015 on seafood labelling. The government has yet to indicate its response to the committee’s report.

Read the article HERE.

White-tailed sea eagles eat more lamb than fish, despite their name, according to images captured on the west coast of Scotland, the Telegraph reports.

A camera study set up in the Lorn area of Argyll to determine what the eagles were eating found that the birds brought eight or nine lambs back to the nest, and just seven fish.

Nearly 7000 images were taken of the nest during the breeding season earlier this year using motion sensitive cameras.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/earth/wildlife/11302220/Sea-eagles-eat-more-lamb-than-fish-despite-their-name-according-to-research.html

The study, carried out under a Scottish Natural Heritage licence, recorded 117 prey items being taken to the nest between January and July, nearly 70 of which were unidentifiable.

A total of 21 mammals were identified, as well as 14 birds, seven fish and a number of lambs.

The camera trial was set up after farmers and crofters repeatedly complained that sea eagles were responsible for killing their lambs.

Crofters on the Gairloch peninsula said in 2008 that the controversial raptors, which have been the subject of a successful reintroduction programme in Scotland, took 200 lambs in a single season.

Earlier this year, Willie Fraser, a crofter from the area, told a cross-party Hoyrood group earlier this year that some people had reduced the number of sheep they were keeping and others had given up altogether.

The trial is likely to be extended to other nests in 2015 to get a wider picture of what the birds are eating.

A sea eagle “steering group”, including representatives from SNH, the National Farmers’ Union, the Forestry Commission and the RSPB, has been set up in a bid to balance the needs of sheep farmers and crofters with the conservation of sea eagles.

A number of local “stakeholder groups” are also being established, covering areas including Mull, Argyll, Lochaber, Skye and Wester Ross.

Lachie Maclean, chairman of the Mull/Argyll/Lochaber group, said the photographs gave objective information on the number of lamb carcasses being brought to the nest and how often it occurred compared to other food sources.

He added that the survey provided a better idea of when lambs were most likely to be taken by sea eagles.

The group agreed cameras should be used at other nests next year, and that attempts to divert the attention of sea eagles from lambing areas should be trialled, including the use of scaring devices and diversionary feeding.

Earlier this year, SNH claimed the predation of lambs by the birds of prey was not widespread. But according to farmers in Argyll, there is now one lamb-eating sea eagle for every sheep farm in their area.

In May, Britain's biggest raptor was photographed in the skies over the Ardnamurchan peninsula carrying a lamb to its eyrie.

Read the article HERE.

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Read the article HERE.

Season’s Greetings to our readers from all of us here at Perendale Publishers! A big thank you for following our blog this year, and here’s wishing you a great holiday and a Happy New Year!

15/12/2014: Middle East Aquaculture Forum (MEAF)

15/12/2014: Stray russian cat enjoys US$1000 fish feast

15/12/2014: Shetland fish landings break record again

16/12/2014: Ministers meet for EU fish discard talks in Brussels

16/12/2014: Putin effect drastically alters international salmon trade

16/12/2014: Local apprentice leads new wave of young blood into burgeoning Scottish aquaculture sector

Biorigin company profile

17/12/2014: EU green-lights increased fishing quotas

17/11/2014: Fish could help fatty festive diets - Stirling University

17/12/2014: Cooke Aquaculture's CAN$150M expansion delayed by years

Evonik company profile

18/12/2014: US alumnus finds solutions for food insecurity through aquaponics

18/12/2014: New Zealand's Hauraki Gulf aquaculture a boon to the region

18/12/2014: Bangladeshi shrimp farmers staring at losses

Wenger company profile

19/12/2014: New record depth for deepest fish

19/12/2014: Australian fish and chips may be subject to country-of-origin labelling

19/12/2014: Sea eagles eat more lamb than fish

ANDRITZ Feed Technologies company profile

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