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
The World Trade Organization (WTO) announced on 15 September that its 2022 deal to end harmful fisheries subsidies has officially entered into force.
"At a time when the international trading system faces profound challenges, the Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies sends a powerful signal that WTO members can work together in a spirit of cooperation and shared responsibility to deliver solutions to global challenges,” WTO Director-General
… Read More
Chinese trout-farming firm Longyang Zhixian recently announced that its 2024 export totals increased 10-fold year over year, rising to CNY 300 million (USD 42.1 million, EUR 35.9 million) worth of rainbow trout.
Located in the sparsely populated Chinese province of Qinghai, vertically integrated Longyang’s trout farm sits on a glacial lake on the Tibetan Plateau and features more than 200 cages. The farm produces over 10,000 metric tons of
… Read More
A World Trade Organization (WTO) agreement to end harmful fisheries subsidies, originally signed by WTO member nations in 2022, is set to enter into force after the requisite number of countries have now ratified the deal.
The agreement prohibits global subsidies that support vessels engaging in illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing activities, fishing overfished stocks, and operating on the unregulated high seas.
“For far too long,
… Read MoreChinese restaurant group Jiumaojiu counting on international performance as domestic slump continues
Jiumaojiu International Holdings – the operator of one of China’s largest seafood restaurant chains – reported a 10.1 percent drop in sales during the first half of 2025 compared to the same period last year, signaling that Chinese consumer sentiment remains tenuous.
Profits at Jiumaojiu, which operates the popular Tai Er chain of restaurants, fell 13.7 percent year over year to CNY 58.7 million (USD 8.2 million, EUR 7 million)
… Read More
A Chinese company has transformed a nearly 20-year-old cargo vessel into a mobile salmon farm in a process that offers significant cost savings compared to operating a land-based salmon farm.
Alan Cook, who has served as the COO of New Zealand King Salmon and the managing director of Mowi Canada East, among several other roles in the seafood industry, told SeafoodSource that the Zhedai Yuyang 60001 may be just one of many similar vessels to come
… Read More
Chinese seafood firm Zhangjiang Guolian Aquatic Products announced plans to supply shrimp and tilapia to domestic restaurant operator Yum China, the latest move by a Chinese company attempting to reap the benefits of focusing more on the domestic market.
“Many companies now much prefer to sell domestically,” Didier Boon, the head of Beijing, China-based East China Seas, which sources shrimp and tilapia for export, told SeafoodSource.
… Read More
Chinese fishing firm Liaoyu Group set nationwide krill catch records in the most recent Antarctic fishing season, which wrapped up in early August.
Dalian, China-based Liaoyu said that its krill catch totals for the most recent season eclipsed 70,000 metric tons, (MT) and its daily high during the season exceeded 1,019 MT, both of which are records for the Chinese distant-water fleet, according to the local newspaper Liaoning Daily.
The records
… Read MoreChina offers summer aquaculture, fisheries training programs, aiming to fill widening soft power gap
China is doubling down on efforts to become the global partner of choice for developing countries seeking to expand their aquaculture and fisheries sectors, and the country’s latest outreach initiatives have come in the form of summer training programs led by Chinese officials.
One such program included a delegation of Southeast Asian fishery officials undergoing a 14-day aquaculture training program in southwestern Yunnan Province, which
… Read More
Earlier this year, China ratified the Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) Agreement on Port State Measures to Prevent, Deter, and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) Fishing – also known as the Port State Measures Agreement (PSMA).
Among many actions China needs to take to ensure it properly adheres to the agreement, Hong Kong needs to improve the traceability of seafood imported into the city, according to the
… Read More
The European Commission recently proposed a Multiannual Financial Framework for the seven-year period between 2028 and 2034 that would, among several other moves, absorb the E.U.’s European Maritime Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund (EMFAF) into a broader EUR 865 billion (USD 1.03 trillion) funding pool shared with projects in agriculture, regional development, and other areas.
The current EMFAF runs from 2021 to 2027 and provides subsidies
… Read More
