An Alabama, U.S.A.-based seafood company has been ordered to cease production after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) documented serious food safety violations at its processing plant.
BEK Catering, which operates as Floppers Foods in Daphne, Alabama, was handed a permanent injunction by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Alabama on Tuesday, 5 July after the FDA showed the court the results of multiple inspections it
… Read MoreSeveral wild salmon fisheries in Russia are nearing Marine Stewardship Council certification following a multi-year effort by industry representatives, government officials and scientists to improve their sustainability.
A draft certification report performed by MRAG Americas of pink, chum and coho salmon fisheries in Kamchatka, in Russia’s far east, recommended full MSC certification with seven conditions for continued improvement, according
… Read MoreNew Zealand fisheries are in good shape and have great future potential, Seafood New Zealand Chief Executive Tim Pankhurst said this week.
The government of New Zealand has set a goal of doubling export returns by 2025, and that the fishery was capable of doing that in a sustainable way, Pankhurst said at the Marine Societies of New Zealand and Australia conference at Victoria University of Wellington on Wednesday, 6 July.
“We have a
… Read MoreRatings agency Fitch has downgraded the credit of China Fishery, the parent company of Pacific Andes, and one of its executive directors resigned on Thursday, 7 July, following the company’s declaration of bankruptcy on 30 June.
Fitch Ratings downgraded China Fishery Group’s issuer default rating from “RD” to “D,” the agency’s lowest possible rating. China Fishery’s previous “RD” rating
… Read MoreRecently cleared of its own allegations of illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, Sri Lanka now finds itself fighting a battle against thousands of Indian trawlers from the Tamil Nadu state of India, which allegedly commit IUU fishing violations in Sri Lankan waters with regularity and impunity.
A 2015 report by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nation’s Asia-Pacific Fishery Commission lists the Sri Lankan
… Read MoreHong Kong-based Pacific Andes International, which has struggled financially in recent years, filed for bankruptcy in the United States on Thursday, 30 June, according to the Wall Street Journal.
In court documents, Pacific Andes listed assets of USD 4.7 billion (EUR 4.2 billion) and debts of USD 2.5 billion (EUR 2.2 billion) in court filings. The bankruptcy filing comes after the company’s creditors, including HSBC and Bank of America,
… Read MoreThai Union announced Tuesday, 5 July it has purchased a majority stake in Canadian lobster processor Les Pecheries de Chez Nous.
New Brunswick-based Chez Nous logged approximately CAD 50 million (USD 38.6 million, EUR 34.7 million) in sales in 2015. Terms of the deal were not announced, though Francois “Frankie” Benoit, Chez Nous’ previous owner and CEO, will retain a minority share of the company and will remain a partner in the
… Read MoreAs expected, the U.S. State Department’s Trafficking in Persons Report 2016 upgraded Thailand’s ranking on human trafficking, while unexpectedly lowering the ranking of neighboring Myanmar.
The report was officially released on Thursday, 30 June but Reuters had previously reported that Thailand was likely to receive an upgrade to the State Department’s Tier 2 Watch List, for countries “making significant efforts”
… Read MoreNorway’s AKVA Group, a technology and service provider for the aquaculture industry, has announced the departure of chief financial officer Eirik Børve Monsen.
Monsen, who has been at AKVA for five years, will continue with the company through the end of 2016, when he will take over the CFO role at Lyse AS, a Norwegian industrial group focusing in the energy and broadband sectors.
“AKVA group regrets Monsen's decision to
… Read MoreThe National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) will offer reimbursements for at-sea observers it requires on all boats in the New England groundfish fleet, according to an announcement made last week by the authority that regulates commercial fishing the United States.
Trips beginning on or after 1 July will be eligible for reimbursement of an estimated 85 percent of total monitoring costs through a new program NOAA is developing with
… Read More
