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
January 8, 2026
Chinese abalone firm Fujian Xiangbin recently acquired Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) two-star certification in an effort to expand sales in the domestic premium market and also grow international sales of its products.
Securing BAP two-star status in late 2025 marked a “milestone breakthrough” for the company, according to Xiangbin CEO Xiuying Chen.
“We are the first and currently only abalone company in China to obtain BAP two-star… Read More
Published on
January 8, 2026
Conservation NGO Friends of the Irish Environment (FIE) has asked Ireland’s High Court to reinstate a 2019 decision that discontinued Mowi Ireland’s permit to farm salmon at a site in Southwest Ireland.
Ireland’s Ministry of Agriculture, Food, and the Marine canceled Mowi’s license in 2019 over breaches of a 500-ton annual harvest limit at the firm’s Deenish site, located in Ballinskelligs Bay in County Kerry. Mowi Ireland then… Read More
Published on
December 18, 2025
The Irish fishing industry wants the country’s government to sue the E.U. over recent sharp cuts to Ireland’s fishing quotas for 2026.
After it was recently decided by E.U. officials that Ireland’s quotas for 2026 would drop 57,000 metric tons year over year, Irish fishing groups are “already taking legal advice” on how its government may be able to sue the E.U.
More specifically, the Irish fishing industry is seeking a challenge… Read More
Published on
December 16, 2025
If little action is taken around the world to mitigate the impacts of climate change, seafood companies and investors are likely to take a massive financial hit in the coming decades, according to a new report.
London, U.K.-based nonprofit think tank Planet Tracker has warned in a new report titled “Catch It Like It’s Hot” that in a high-emissions scenario, climate change could cost the global seafood industry as much as USD 15 billion… Read More
Published on
December 15, 2025
Several countries have gained access to send their wild-caught seafood products to China this year.
After Brazil and Honduras secured deals with the giant Asian market earlier this year, E.U. member nations Bulgaria, Denmark, Malta, and Estonia signed similar agreements.
According to Fan Xubing, the CEO of Beijing, China-based seafood consultancy firm Seabridge International, the deals do not necessarily mean China is seeking an influx of major… Read More
Published on
December 9, 2025
A World Trade Organization (WTO) deal struck in 2022 aimed at ending harmful fisheries subsidies around the world recently entered into force, and a particular clause in the deal may significantly impact the bottom line of China’s distant-water fishing fleet.
The deal, which officially entered into force in September after two-thirds of WTO member nations ratified it, bans subsidies linked to IUU fishing, overfished stocks, and fishing on the… Read More
Published on
December 5, 2025
Aquafeed experts are warning climate change and fishery management restrictions could affect wild catch of forage fish and lead to a 70 percent decline in the output of certain high-value farmed species if the production of alternative feed ingredients is not scaled up.
The warnings have come in a new study titled “Unstable Supply and Future Shortages Of Wild Forage Fish Heighten Risks to Global Fed Aquaculture Production,” which suggests… Read More
Published on
December 3, 2025
The Irish government is progressing on plans announced earlier this year to establish marine protected areas (MPAs) via changes to existing marine planning legislation.
Ireland, which has long been criticized for lagging behind the vast majority of E.U. member nations in designating portions of its waters as MPAs, is planning to amend its Maritime Area Planning Act of 2021 to establish such protections, rather than introduce standalone… Read More
Published on
December 2, 2025
Chinese fishing company Shanghai Kaichuang Marine International has largely expanded its krill catch in 2025 and, therefore, saw its profits soar over the first three quarters of the year.
During the nine-month period, the firm’s krill catch rose 198 percent year over year, amounting to 55,377 metric tons (MT). Simultaneously, the company’s tuna catch rose 16 percent and it experienced a 145 percent spike in government subsidies, all of… Read More
Published on
November 26, 2025
A World Trade Organization (WTO) deal struck in 2022 aimed at ending harmful fisheries subsidies around the world recently entered into force, requiring nations that have ratified the deal to meet several new reporting requirements.
Sven Biermann, the executive director of the Fisheries Transparency Initiative (FiTI), said his organization now has a great opportunity to become governments’ preferred mechanism through which they meet the… Read More
