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
Venezuela’s Minister for Fisheries and Aquaculture Juan Carlos Loyo has announced the South American nation has secured a trading protocol with China that will allow it to send wild-caught and farmed species to the top seafood import market in the world starting in 2025.
This follows protocol agreements that China recently signed with several African markets along the same lines.
“Venezuela will be one of only 15 countries with the
… Read More
The Norwegian Seafood Council (NSC) has been making a concerted push this year to grow sales of Norwegian seafood in China, and according to the council’s latest data, that push has been paying off.
Through October, imports of Norwegian salmon into China reached 98,000 metric tons (MT) in round weight, a growth of 8.6 percent on the same period last year, according to Sigmund Bjorgo, the director of the NSC’s China
… Read More
The latest round of negotiations on ending harmful fishery subsidies have stalled at the World Trade Organization (WTO) after an intervention by India, which is again seeking major alterations to the draft text negotiators were hoping to finalize before the end of the year.
In response, Icelandic Ambassador to the WTO Einar Gunnarsson, who has been chairing the negotiations, said he will not bring the draft text to the table at this
… Read More
The Lavinia Corporation, an Athens, Greece-based shipping company, has teamed up with the Liaoyu Group, a Dalian, China-based fishing firm, to establish a joint venture aimed at building reefer vessels destined for use in the Antarctic krill fishery.
According to a statement issued by Lavinia, the new venture, which will trade under the name Fresh Cool Logistical Services and will be based in Dalian, has plans to order two reefer vessels
… Read More
A new report from the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has highlighted China’s weak efforts to revive fish stocks in its own waters, suggesting a need for China to implement more stringent controls on its fleet’s landings and collect better data to effectively measure the impacts of those controls.
Titled “Unselective, unsustainable, and unmonitored trawl fisheries?” the report states that efforts
… Read More
China Harbor Engineering (CHEC), a state-owned construction company based in Beijing, is seeking to secure a contract to build a fishing port and processing center in the West African country of Guinea, becoming the latest Chinese company attempting to cash in on African infrastructure projects.
CHEC recently held negotiations with Guinea Minister of Fisheries Fatima Camara to work on redeveloping the fishing port in the western city of
… Read More
China recently announced that it will once again allow for the import of live lobsters from Australia – more than four years after exporters of Australian rock lobster lost access to the Chinese market due to trade tensions between the two countries.
In response to the news, Australian rock lobster companies are aiming for their products to be back on Chinese tables for New Year festivities taking place at the end of January 2025.
Marc
… Read More
Oslo, Norway-based krill-fishing and biotech company Aker BioMarine has increased its sales in China by 60 percent year over year in the first three quarters of 2024.
This growth has occurred during a time of change at Aker, which recently sold a 60 percent stake in its fishing and feed ingredients business to private equity firm American Industrial Partners, planning to now focus on consumer-facing products.
While Aker has found solid
… Read More
Icelandic Ambassador to the World Trade Organization (WTO) Einar Gunnarsson, who has been chairing negotiations on a deal to end harmful fisheries subsidies around the world, has signaled that he will step back from his role in the talks if delegates can not agree on a deal before the year ends.
Gunnarsson recently said at the WTO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, that he hopes a draft text aimed at limiting subsidies that lead to
… Read More
One of China’s fastest-growing grilled fish restaurant chains has opened its first store in the nation’s capital of Beijing.
Kaojiang Spicy Grilled Fish recently opened a new outlet in the Joy City malls in Beijing’s Chaoyang district. Founded in 2013, Kaojiang has 70 outlets nationwide and serves full, grilled, lower-priced fish, such as pangasius, perch, and tilapia.
Headquartered in the city of Chengdu in the province of
… Read More