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
China is using its influence in the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) to sway conservation decisions made by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), according to a new academic research paper.
Titled “Seizing A Venue-Linking Opportunity: China’s Strategy To Advance Its Sea Cucumber Interests In Global Environmental Governance,” the paper suggests that China is
… Read More
The administration of U.S. Donald Trump has set plans in motion to shutter the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) in a move that some experts are warning will have long-lasting effects on the U.S.’s own seafood sector.
Kevin Fitzsimmons, an aquaculture specialist and an environmental science professor at the University of Arizona, has consulted on USAID aquaculture projects in Myanmar, among other locations, and said that
… Read More
Weak consumer demand in European markets made 2024 a challenging year for Irish shellfish exports, but increased sales to China and a boost to the domestic processing sector via E.U. grants have helped soften the blow.
Data published in Irish food promotion agency Bord Bia’s “Export Performance and Prospects Report 2024-2025” shows Irish seafood exports overall rose 9 percent by value in 2024 to EUR 595 million (USD 618
… Read More
China has become more receptive to advice and pressure from international NGOs on illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing matters, according to Hang Zhou, a professor at Montreal, Quebec, Canada-based University of Laval.
Zhou, who has a postdoctoral background in fisheries research and has collaborated both with wildlife conservation groups and Chinese international diplomacy groups, told SeafoodSource that international NGOs in the
… Read More
Jiumaojiu International Holdings reports there has been a sharp slump in customer spending at its leading Chinese seafood restaurant chain, Tai Er.
Same store average spending at the quick-service fish soup chain fell by 24.6 percent in the final three months of 2024 compared to the same period in 2023, according to data released by Jiumaojiu to investors. Jiumaojiu International Holdings operates 634 Tai Er locations, the vast majorit of
… Read More
Cedar Seal Agro Limited, a Ghanaian company involved in agribusiness, said it wants an investor to bring cash – as well as know-how – to a project designed to meet fast-growing local demand for seafood.
The company said it is looking to China for USD 10 million (EUR 9.6 million) in funding for a catfish and tilapia farm and processing hub.
After hitting a stalemate on negotiations in October 2024, members of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) and the fishing industry at large are hoping that they can reach a deal soon on krill-fishing catch limits in the Antarctic.
The October meeting of the CCAMLR – the regulatory body overseeing krill fishing in the Antarctic – ended at an impasse after representatives from China and
… Read More
China’s oyster imports softened significantly in 2024, particularly hurting the nation’s key supplier: France.
Official customs data shows China imported 1,570 metric tons (MT) of oysters last year, down on the 2,090 MT imported the year before and down even more than the 2,130 MT China bought in 2022.
France saw its shipments fall from 1,240 tons exported in 2023 to 909 MT last year.
French oysters are coveted in Asia for
… Read More
Ireland has established a new work permit program that allows the nation’s fishing companies to apply for permits to hire workers from outside the European Economic Area (EEA).
However, only four Irish fishing companies have applied to participate in the program, which sets a minimum annual wage of EUR 34,000 (USD 35,300) and a minimum standard of working conditions under each permit.
Ireland’s Department of Enterprise, the
… Read More
A Chinese hotel company has partnered with the government of a small Chinese town to develop a perch-farming project in the village.
Beijing-headquartered Zhongle Group signed the contract with the government of Taitou, a town on the outskirts of Tianjin, which itself is a major port city near Beijing, according to a recent press release.
The hotel group has committed to investing CNY 1 billion (USD 140 million, EUR 130 million) in two phases to
… Read More