American Samoa's governor has warned that a deal between the Samoan government and a United States company to set up a fish loin plant in Apia will cast economic uncertainty over the territory.

Lolo Matalasi Moliga says while there are bright hopes for the territory's economy with the tuna industry and fisheries doing well, the MOU signed between Bumble Bee and the Samoan Government is a threat.

He also says bold investments in fisheries development by China and European countries threaten the competitive advantage of American Samoa's canneries and place them on an unstable footing

He says mandatory minimum wage hikes that apply to American Samoa need to be halted as a safeguard to the viability of the fisheries in the territory.

Source: Radio NZ

NAPLES, florida - New England fishermen had a rare catch for a southwest Florida chef: four colorful lobsters.

Three orange lobsters and a yellow, blue and brown lobster were caught recently off Maine for Bill Sarro, owner of Bill's Steak and Seafood in Naples.

Sarro tells the Naples Daily News that he thought the lobsters had been cooked when saw pictures of them, but his son assured him the lobsters were still alive.

The lobsters won't be cooked. One orange lobster has been named Martha and will be displayed at Sarro's Naples restaurant. The calico-colored lobster will be displayed at Sarro's seafood market in Mansfield, Massachusetts.

Another orange lobster will be displayed at Sarro's restaurant in North Attleboro, Massachusetts, and the third will be donated to the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.

Source: WXVB

When authorities in Kampong Chhnang province on Friday the 18th of July 2014 encountered and pursued the boat of alleged illegal fisherman Chieb Ou, they couldn’t have expected to find themselves being chased instead.

But that’s precisely what happened when, rather than surrendering, the 42-year-old suspect turned his boat towards the pursuing officers and attempted to ram their vessel, deputy provincial fisheries chief Seng Bun Chhern said.

The authorities were forced to flee to safety, eventually returning with 12 men in five boats to take Ou into custody for allegedly fishing with banned electric equipment.

“We never go to crack down alone, because it is dangerous on the river or lake when we meet illegal fishing groups,” Chhern said. “They seem crueller than in the past, and they dare to fight back against us, so we have to come in a group for safety.”

According to a report from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) obtained, arrests for illegal fishing are up to 1,100 in the first six months of 2014, a 50 per cent increase from the 732 cases in the same period in 2013.

Source: Phnomen Post

Over 80 percent of the domestically-consumed fish sauce bearing the Phu Quoc Island name are fake, an official has said.

Nguyen Thi Tinh, chairwoman of Phu Quoc Fish Sauce Association, made the statement while talking to the press on the sidelines of a workshop in Ho Chi Minh City on July 17, news website Thoi Bao Kinh Te Saigon (Saigon Times) reported.

In 2012, Phu Quoc Island fish sauce became Vietnam's first product to qualify for the European Union's Protected Designation of Origin status, which is conferred on products whose entire production takes place in a specific area, place, or country and whose quality or properties are significantly or exclusively determined by the geographical environment, including natural and human factors.

The recognition makes the fish sauce the 11th such product from outside Europe, after Colombian coffee, Darjeeling tea from India, and eight products from China.

Source: Thanh Nien News

A young marine turtle is one of many species that thrive in the Danajon Bank in Bohol and one of six double-barrier reefs in the world. Series of images have been taken from one of the most important marine ecosystems in the entire Pacific Ocean.

Apex predators such as large-bodied sharks and tunas are so scarce in Bohol's Danajon Bank, they don't affect the ecosystem anymore. The fisheries catch has also shifted towards lower trophic level fish and invertebrates. Illegal fishing accounts for almost 25% of the entire municipal fisheries catch, taking away income from fishermen who use legal fishing methods. The sustainability of the entire fishery is now at risk.

The "trophic level" of an organism describes its position within the food web. Primary producers such as plants are Trophic Level 1, and carnivores are at a higher trophic level compared to herbivores. Fishing typically removes top-level predators first. When these predators are fished out, fishermen then shift to target fish at a lower trophic level. This phenomenon is often referred to as "fishing down the food web".

Source: GMA Network

Old Saybrook — On just her third sweep with the long-handled dip net, Ellie Bors found what she was looking for.

"Guys," called Bors, a doctoral candidate at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, to the four marine sciences interns working with her at the Town Dock. "There's huge ... lots of shrimp here. And you know what's interesting? I got all these from the sediment."

She emptied the net into a shallow metal bin, examining each of the translucent, antennaed shrimp, the smallest about the size of a teardrop, before placing them into a sealed container for lab analysis.

"Sometimes it's really hard to tell what kind of shrimp they are until you get them under a microscope," said Bors. "On some level, shrimp just look like shrimp."

Bors and the four interns, part of the Williams College maritime studies program at Mystic Seaport, sampled three sites on the Connecticut River in Old Saybrook Friday as part of an East Coast survey this summer for three types of invasive shrimp, two from Europe and one from Asia. They were also looking for a fourth type native to Florida that was found last year at Woods Hole, far north of its normal range. The purpose of the surveys is to determine the distribution and abundance of these shrimp, and at the same time assess how populations of native grass shrimp are faring.

Source: The Day

KARACHI - “At a time when most people are preparing for Eid celebrations, hunger stalks hundreds of families that live on a shrimp catch from the open sea. Ironically, this happens every year when shrimp fishing gets officially banned for a month or so and there is no support from the Fishermen Cooperative Society (FCS) or the government,” says Sumar, a fisherman operating from the Karachi fish harbour.

A resident of the Bhit Island located in the Manora channel, Sumar, in his 30s, who otherwise earns between PKR 300 and PKR 500 in a single fishing trip, has no source of income these days; his children are too young while he knows no other skill to earn a living.

Asked about the reasons for not fishing other marine species as the ban is imposed only on shrimp and some fresh water species, he points out that shrimp trawling done by a special net is simple and less risky than fishing for other marine species that requires certain skills.

Source: Dawn

The estimated total run of sockeye into Bristol Bay waters stood just under 39 million fish, well beyond the Department of Fish and Game preseason forecast of 26.5 million. The run appeared to peak twice, and seems to be on the waning end of an impressive tail that provided substantial harvest opportunity for commercial fishermen around the bay.

The July 12 2014 interpretation done of catches at the Port Moller Test Fishery through July 10 that year upped the estimated size of the 2014 forecast further. "It seems unlikely that the run will not break 40 million, and more likely it will come in between 40 and 45 million," wrote Scott Raborn of the Bristol Bay Science and Research Institute.

The lion's share of this year's run, and much of the later season opportunity, was to be had in the Naknek-Kvichak district. The meager 190,000 sockeye caught Monday pushed the season's total harvest towards 14 million. With another 5.7 million fish counted as escapement, the total run in the district is poised to easily top 20 million sockeye.

"We're definitely slowing down now," said Area Manager Travis Elison, speaking Tuesday, "but it's been a heck of a run so far."

Source: The Bristol Bay Times

Following the loss of 230,000 farmed salmon in Bantry Bay on February of 2014 as a result of a cage breaking loose from its mooring and upending itself into another cage at Gerahies, the Minister for Marine, Simon Coveney, has declined to release the Department’s report on the loss, according to Save Bantry Bay (SBB) and Friends of the Earth (FIE).

The Minister’s decision asserts that the work is not completed and that the public interest would not be served by the disclosure of the report.
In March, Alex O’Donovan of SBB said they understood after the official count in February that the farm had been “virtually wiped out”. The minister later confirmed the loss of 230,000 salmon.

Despite repeated requests, FIE and SBB have been refused the report, breaking the Minister’s previous precedent of releasing such documents regarding salmon farm escapes, they said.

Source: Irish Times

All plant, animal and fish-based products imported into Mexico must comply with new quarantine regulations from July 29, 2014.

Accordingly, all packaged goods for import must be in containers and secured on export pallets (Article 15, Section 4).

At present, a number of Vietnamese businesses are exporting rice (stored in polypropylene package) and tra fish (stored in polyethylene package) to Mexico, which have been placed in containers without pallets.

The Trade Office of the Embassy of Vietnam in Mexico requests Vietnamese exporters follow Mexico’s new regulations and recalculate export prices owing to additional pallet costs.

Source: Viet Nam Business Forum