Shem Oirere is a Kenyan journalist who previously worked for daily newspapers as a general news correspondent, business reporter and sub-editor before turning to full-time freelancing. For the more than 20 years, he has covered various sectors of Africa’s economy including agriculture, food processing, and maritime industries. A graduate of the University of South Africa, he has traveled within and outside Africa covering various industry events that have a bearing on the continent’s economy on behalf of different international consumer and trade publications. He currently lives in Nairobi, Kenya.
Author Archive
The government-run Kenya Marine & Fisheries Research Institute (KMFRI) has developed a genetically improved Nile tilapia strain through a selective breeding program, touting the new breed’s faster growth rate, higher body weight, and ability to resist disease and withstand certain effects of climate change compared to previous strains.
The new Nile tilapia strain (Oreochromis niloticus), according to the institute, allows Kenya’s
… Read MoreThe International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) has accused several French and Spanish companies that own tuna fishing vessels of violating international labor laws regarding minimum wage and ignoring the grievances of fishing industry trade unions pushing for fair pay negotiations.
ITF, a global transport industry union, claims the French and Spanish companies –which operate in West Africa’s Gulf of Guinea – are
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Political conflict between Morocco and its southern, semi-autonomous neighbor Western Sahara has jeopardized the renewal of a major fisheries agreement giving several E.U. member nations access to lucrative fishing grounds off the Moroccan coast.
The Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreement (FPA) between the E.U. and Morocco expired on 17 July, 2023, after originally entering into force in July 2019.
The FPA, which entailed the E.U. paying
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South African fishing company Irvin & Johnson (I&J) has, through its parent company AVI Limited, terminated its partnership with consortium group Main Street 198 and begun a similar relationship with Twincitiesworld, a move that angered Main Street enough to threaten a governmental probe for wrongful termination.
The severed partnership with Main Street, a consortium comprising fishing companies Mast Fishing and Ntshonalanga, comes just
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Cape Town, South Africa-based Oceana Group reported a significantly improved performance for the six months ending 31 March 2023, with a 48 percent increase in revenue from its businesses in South Africa, Namibia, and the U.S.
A few years removed from troubling financial reports, and only a year removed from ousting its CFO over allegations of gross misconduct, the beginning of 2023 has seen significant improvements in Oceana’s
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Cape Town, South Africa-based seafood company Premier Fishing and Brands has reported a 15 percent increase in revenue for the six months ending 28 February, 2023.
In its unaudited, consolidated results, publicized 25 May, Premier Fishing and Brands reported revenue for the six months from the end of August 2022 to the end of February 2023 increased to ZAR 258 million (USD 13.9 million, EUR 12.9 million) from ZAR 224 million (USD 12 million, EUR
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Alfred Achar is the managing director and founder of Bayrise Fish Farm, a fast-growing fish farming company on the banks of Lake Victoria, Africa’s biggest freshwater fishery. The firm specializes in rearing, preserving, and distributing naturally bred tilapia. Achar spoke with SeafoodSource about the status of East Africa’s aquaculture sector, the region’s fish market, and how Bayrise intends to leverage available market
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Kenya's earnings from seafood exports increased by more than 60 percent in 2022.
Two reports released in May 2023 by the country's National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) and the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) indicate the country's export earnings jumped to KES 5.6 billion (USD 40.5 million, EUR 37.5 million) in 2022 compared to KES 3.4 billion (USD 24.6 million, EUR 22.7 million) in 2022 as market prices appreciated. The per-kilo average price
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The Fisheries Transparency Initiative (FiTI) has rated Ghana as a poor performer in marine fisheries transparency.
FiTI, an international, multistakeholder partnership that promotes transparency and participation in fisheries governance, has been performing country-by-country studies via the Taking Stock assessment series, which provides investigative analysis highlighting where their fishery transparency efforts currently stand.
The report,
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