Mark Godfrey is an Irish journalist covering the agriculture and fisheries sectors in Asia, with a focus on China. Proficient in Mandarin, he has frequently traveled across China's fisheries and aquaculture regions and learned the inner workings of China's corporate world during a nearly three-year stint at the Financial Times' “China Confidential” publication. He has also reported widely across Southeast Asia and the former Soviet Union. He has educational certificates in agriculture and food science, as well as Mandarin.
Author Archive
“Blind” overuse of chemicals in the Chinese aquaculture sector is posing a threat to human health, according to Liu Xiao Yan, the deputy director of the Biological Pesticide Center at the Hubei Academy of Agricultural Sciences.
Speaking at the recent National People’s Congress, Liu pointed to the overuse of such chemicals as chloramphenicol, enrofloxacin, and green malachite, which are used to control bacteria in aquaculture,
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China’s seafood-processing industry, as well as the country’s manufacturing sector as a whole, are facing multiple obstacles that will require rapid adaptation to hurdle, according to David Jiang, the managing director of seafood processing and distribution firm Unibond Seafood International.
“Rising wages, an aging workforce, and younger generations’ reluctance to enter traditional factory roles are all impacting our
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Global trade volatility has made some Irish crab and lobster exporters wary of relying on China as a growth market.
“China is a significant importer of our products, but we are not looking to increase this,” said Enda Carey, the manager of County Mayo, Ireland-based West Coast Crab Sales. “The current trade wars going on globally are a threat to any business exporting; for this reason, we are not looking to increase volume to
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A recent study of Chinese consumer buying preferences shows a majority of seafood buyers in the country are willing to pay extra for products certified by authoritative third-party auditors.
The report, titled “‘Consumption Patterns and Willingness to Pay for Sustainable Aquatic Food in China,” offers encouragement to certification schemes that have faced difficulties in the country
Written in collaboration with the Global
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The head of a Chinese tuna-fishing firm is calling for more fisheries collaboration between Hong Kong and China, explaining that possible synergies between the two are not being taken advantage of.
Henry Tan, the CEO of Luen Thai Holdings, which oversees Chinese fishing companies Liancheng Overseas Fishery, China Southern Fishery Shenzhen Co., and Liancheng Overseas Fishery Co., spoke at the recent annual meeting of China’s parliament in
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A Chinese bank has promised to lend CNY 20 billion (USD 2.8 billion, EUR 2.6 billion) in the near term to the distant-water fishing industry in the southeastern province of Fujian.
Fuzhou-based Haixia Bank has signed a strategic framework agreement with the provincial Ocean and Fisheries Bureau, pledging to lend CNY 100 billion (USD 14 billion, EUR 13 billion) in the province's marine-related fields over the next five years, with CNY 20
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Catholic charity Stella Maris, which provides chaplain services to fishermen and other seafarers around the world, wants to play a leading role in crafting an internationally recognized seafood certification focused on improving labor standards.
Founded in Scotland in 1920, Stella Maris now has a network of chaplains in over 60 countries who offer pastoral guidance to workers at sea. The group has also actively promoted workers’ labor
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China’s government has reaffirmed its efforts to bolster the nation’s mariculture sector.
“We will actively develop open-sea and deep-sea aquaculture and implement countywide trials on green and circular aquaculture,” a recent report published by the Chinese National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and sent to the National People’s Congress said.
The report, titled “Report On the Implementation of the
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Attempts from the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump to shutter the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) have resulted in over USD 1 million (EUR 920,000) of funding being cut off to an Australian research organization that has heavily reported on China’s fishing ambitions.
The Australian Strategic Policy Institution (ASPI), a Canberra, Australia-based defense and strategic policy think tank, reportedly
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Australia’s orange roughy fishery is set to be certified to the Marine Stewardship Council’s (MSC) Fisheries Standard following several failed attempts from the nation’s fishing industry to get it certified.
The certification, which will be valid for five years, has faced significant pushback from environmental NGOs on the basis that orange roughy is a listed threatened, endangered, or protected (TEP) species.
“No species
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