Mark Godfrey

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

… Read More

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

… Read More

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

… Read More

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

… Read More

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

… Read More

In recent years, China has become one of the world’s fastest-growing markets for salmon, but not all of the salmon the country imports is destined for human consumption. A sizeable portion of the imports goes toward satisfying demand from the nation’s pet food sector.

Susan Xing, the managing director of pet food consultancy firm Lamb Consultancy – which will host the sixth annual China International Companion Animal Food

… Read More

A consortium of civil society organizations is calling on the government of Hong Kong to urgently fix what it terms are systemic failings in the city’s seafood import regulatory regime. Representatives from ADM Capital Foundation, Bloom Association Hong Kong, WWF-Hong Kong, the Hong Kong… Read More

Fujian Zhengguan Fishery Development Co. has launched what it calls China’s largest and most modern krill fishing vessel.

The Fu Yuan Yu 9199 recently set sail for Antarctica with plans to commence fishing in April, and according to Fujian Zhegguan the new vessel is equipped with what it terms the country's only fully automatic krill product production line. The 132-meter-long vessel – which departed the port city of Fuzhou on 9

… Read More

New tariffs on Chinese goods introduced by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump are causing havoc for Chinese seafood exporters, according to Landy Chow, the marketing manager of seafood import/export firm Siam Canadian.

Chow, who is based in China, told SeafoodSource that the impact of the new tariffs could be devastating for processors of breaded shrimp products exported from China to the U.S. – a seafood category in which

… Read More

By a wide margin, China blocked more food imports at its ports of entry year over year in 2024. Data released by the Chinese Administration of Customs shows food products from the U.S. were rejected the most, with 595 batches from the Western market seized. In 2023, 225 batches of American… Read More