Jason Holland

While the U.K. retail market tends to be about price, first and foremost, pangasius is probably too cheap for its own good. That’s the opinion of one of Europe’s biggest importers of the species.

Speaking at the 5th annual Billingsgate School Sustainable Fish & Shellfish Awards, held recently at London’s Billingsgate Fish Market, Klaas Jan Mazereeuw, quality assurance manager at Dutch company Seafood Connection B.V., said the fish has

… Read More

Line-caught tuna and Norwegian king crab are to share the Billingsgate School Sustainable Award 2013 after the two products received the same number of votes at the  5th annual Billingsgate School Sustainable Fish & Shellfish Awards, held Wednesday 20 November at London’s Billingsgate Fish Market.

The case for line-caught tuna was presented by Emily Howgate, program director for the International Pole & Line Foundation (IPNLF),

… Read More

France’s Pacific oyster (Crassostrea gigas) producers have been on a bumpy ride in recent years as a result of the widespread ostreid herpes virus-1 (OsHV-1), while across the English Channel, Britain’s oyster industry has remained relatively unscathed. However, a third outbreak in four years in U.K. waters is reason for concern.

The virus, which is harmless to humans but deadly to juvenile Pacific oysters, was first found in U.K. waters in

… Read More

The U.K. seafood industry is on the up — that’s the conclusion from a new study into the country’s largest seafood companies.

A new pricing guide released by business analysts Plimsoll Publishing evaluates the largest 595 seafood companies operating in the U.K. market using their latest available accounts and finds the total sector has grown by 1 percent. However, within that modest growth some 147 firms have seen their value rise by 20

… Read More

The aquaculture industry has never been one to bellow its achievements from the rooftops, it’s only when the sector gathers together that it becomes clear just how far it has come in what is a relatively short period of time, particularly when benchmarked against thousands of years of land-based farming.

At the Global Aquaculture Alliance’s (GAA) GOAL 2013 conference, held earlier this month in Paris, delegates learned the rate of total

… Read More

Opinion is divided about how much detail should be given in the on-pack labeling for seafood sold in Europe. There are those involved in the sector that believe too much information puts retail consumers off buying products, while others feel it provides the assurances that shoppers now want.

The recent Westminster Food & Nutrition Forum Keynote Seminar, “Next steps for U.K. fishing — consumer attitudes, sustainability and implementing

… Read More

The European eel (Anguilla anguilla) has turned a big corner: not in terms of population — scientists claim the stock is still 95 percent less than it was 30 years ago; but what has happened is there’s a growing army of support that wants to ensure this mysterious fish isn’t lost forever.

There are many elements conspiring against the eel’s survival. Almost all of these are the result of man’s activities, such as the removal of natural

… Read More

Not wishing to state the very obvious, but September has arrived. For many Brits, that means the kids have returned to school after lengthy, patience-sapping summer vacations. But there’s equal enthusiasm for the ninth month of the calendar year from shellfish lovers because 1 September brings the traditional start of the oyster-eating season.

As far as U.K. shellfish enthusiasts are concerned, the “r” at the end of “September”

… Read More

Until recently, the caviar industry was a complex, murky world shrouded in crime and corruption. While it isn’t completely free of such unsavory activities yet, the advent of sturgeon and caviar aquaculture has proved an important, Usain Bolt-like stride in the right direction.

Caviar’s gourmet appeal hasn’t waned in recent times; if anything the demand has grown. As a result and also because of various clampdowns on the wild sturgeon

… Read More