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
Published on
July 2, 2026
Due to multiple limiting factors, many Filipino fishers seeking litigious action against exploitative labor agencies recruiting for foreign trawling operations have been forced to drop their cases and return to work in similarly manipulative conditions, according to a labor advocacy group in the Philippines.
Joefel Resol, a regional coordinator at the Western Visayas Migrants Network, which is a coalition of organizations representing overseas… Read More
Published on
June 30, 2026
The African Development Bank (AfDB) recently signed a memorandum of understanding with Shanghai Ocean University, aiming to offer African entrepreneurs across the blue economy access to training, scholarships, short-term professional programs, collaborative research opportunities, and more.
AfDB Vice President Jacques Edjangue said the deal should help modernize how Africa approaches its aquaculture and wild capture operations.
"Shanghai Ocean… Read More
Published on
June 25, 2026
Chinese tourists appear to be traveling to Malaysia to eat a Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES)-protected fish that is banned in China.
Humphead wrasse (Cheilinus undulatus), which is a tropical fish typically found among coral reefs in the Indo-Pacific region, is listed as endangered on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species. As a result of the listing, trade… Read More
Published on
June 24, 2026
Iceland will hold a vote in late August to determine whether it should restart negotiations on attaining E.U. membership.
To persuade Iceland to join the bloc, European Commissioner for Fisheries and Oceans Costas Kadis told the Financial Times that any deal could include both fisheries and aquaculture exemptions to E.U. rules.
Such exemptions, according to Eirikur Bergmann, a professor of politics at the University of Bifröst in Iceland, could… Read More
Published on
June 18, 2026
China’s newly revised fisheries law, which came into force in early May, is set to not only transform the nation’s wild capture sector through greater efforts to combat illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing, but also its aquaculture industry by modernizing production and cracking down on antibiotic overuse, among other changes.
According to Xuefei Shi, an affiliated researcher at Bergen, Norway-based Chr. Michelsen Institute,… Read More
Published on
June 17, 2026
Migrant fishers and the organizations that represent them are hopeful that reports of a nearly finalized deal between the U.S. and Iran to cease hostilities and reopen the Strait of Hormuz will offer some semblance of relief to the sector.
Chris Williams, the fisheries section coordinator at the International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF), told SeafoodSource that the war on Iran has had “major impacts for seafarers but also fishers as a… Read More
Published on
June 12, 2026
An aquaponics system developed by a Chongqing government-backed firm has been shipped to the district of Jhapa in Eastern Nepal, marking the latest piece of Chinese aquaculture technology sent abroad.
Zhai Xuliang, deputy director of the Chongqing Municipal Fisheries Technology Extension Station, told the People’s Daily that the aquaponics system would increase the output of both fish and vegetables in Jhapa by 50 percent, guaranteeing local… Read More
Published on
June 10, 2026
A research trial in Ireland recently found that hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) used as a fuel source in fishing vessels results in decreased emissions compared to diesel fuel, presenting the sector with a viable alternative.
Research conducted by Irish fisheries agency Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM) showed that the life cycle emissions of HVO fuel resulted in a 12 percent reduction of emissions compared to diesel. When analyzing “well-to tank”… Read More
Published on
June 9, 2026
Demand for land-based aquaculture technology from China is rising rapidly in the North African country of Algeria, according to a Guangzhou-based supplier of recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS).
Marcel Verbrugge, the director of aquaculture technology firm Dahui Aquaculture, told SeafoodSource that Algeria has become an especially lucrative market for exports of Chinese aquaculture equipment, mainly focusing on the inland farming of… Read More
Published on
June 8, 2026
Krill firm Aker BioMarine and a coalition of NGOs will continue their joint involvement in a research organization dedicated to protecting biodiversity in the Antarctic, despite both sides disagreeing on the Marine Stewardship Council’s (MSC) decision earlier this year to recertify krill stocks.
The Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition (ASOC), which is an alliance of over 150 environmental organizations in over 40 countries aiming to protect… Read More
