Despite natural fluctuations, fishers, divers and scientists are becoming increasingly concerned about unexplained structural decline of European Lobster (Homarus gammarus) in the Netherlands’ Eastern Scheldt lobster fishery. Precise stock assessments are essential for understanding these declines and implementing sustainable management, but scientific knowledge on lobster stocks in the Netherlands is lacking.
Seeing a need for action, local fishers in the Association of Professional Fishers Oosterschelde, Westschelde and Voordelta (OWV) developed a fishing plan to improve regional fisheries management. They engaged with the government and stakeholders to develop science-based fishery management strategies.
Assessing stocks with a little bit of help from the EU
Using the European Maritime and Fisheries Funds (EMFF), OWV teamed up with Wageningen University & Research to implement ‘LobStAR’, a plan to improving stock assessments through scientific innovations and improvements in research and technology. As Sinke Sinke, chair of OWV explains: ''The lobster stock goes up and down due to natural factors. But how the lobster stock develops over time is not clear, while that information is important for sustainable management.”
At the 33rd annual meeting in Vancouver, Canada, Vladimir Belyaev, Advisor to the Director of the Russian Research Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography (VNIRO), was elected President of the North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission (NPAFC). This appointment underscores the authority of Russian fisheries science and strengthens the country's role in managing transboundary marine resources.
The NPAFC, comprising five member countries, has established critical objectives for the upcoming term. Key priorities include tracking the migration, abundance, and survival of Pacific salmon. Following below-average catch volumes in 2025, the commission will focus on developing data-driven recommendations to protect vulnerable populations. Additionally, member states will coordinate strict measures to combat illegal fishing across the high seas.
"Conserving salmon stocks cannot tolerate disunity," stated Belyaev. "Sustainability depends on honest cooperation to forecast population dynamics and ensure protection in the convention area."
Atlantic Sapphire has entered into a restructuring agreement with a group of major shareholders and convertible loan holders aimed at securing long-term financing, reducing debt, and taking the land-based salmon farmer private.
The investor group includes Nordlaks Holding, Condire Management, Nokomis Capital, Strawberry Capital, and Joh. Johannsson Eiendom. Together, the group represents around 63% of Atlantic Sapphire’s shares and 93% of its outstanding convertible loan.
The transaction includes a voluntary offer of NOK 0.80 (€0.07) per share, followed by a planned squeeze-out of minority shareholders and a delisting from Euronext Oslo Børs.
Source: SalmonBusiness | Read the full article here
A new free trade deal in the Middle East is expected to provide a boost for Scottish exports amid global economic uncertainty, Scotland’s salmon farming trade body has said.
Salmon Scotland said the deal between the UK and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) ensures permanent tariff-free access for UK goods to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Oman, Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, removing five per cent tariffs on some salmon exports.
Salmones Austral officially launched its direct operations in Asia with the opening of its new commercial office in Tokyo, under the name Japón Austral.
The launch event took place on May 19 at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in the Japanese capital. The event brought together approximately 50 attendees, including key clients from the region, trade attachés from ProChile, and senior company executives, marking a strategic milestone in the firm's internationalization plan.
The new Japón Austral office will primarily focus on coordinating and expanding the company's business in various Asian markets, excluding China.
The Chilean Undersecretariat of Fisheries and Aquaculture (Subpesca) is monitoring and evaluating a new situation affecting the jack mackerel fishery, this time in the Atacama and, to a lesser extent, Coquimbo regions, where artisanal and industrial vessels have detected a high presence of the resource, but with specimens that do not reach the minimum legal catch size.
This situation adds to the difficulties already faced by the Biobío Region, where to date only about 34% of the available quota has been caught due to the low presence of jack mackerel in the area, explains Subpesca, which is maintaining constant monitoring of the situation.
Source: Industrias Pesqueras | Read the full article here
The Nueva Pescanova group has launched a research project applying technological solutions based on sensors and artificial intelligence (AI) to optimize the detection of foreign bodies in fish products and advance automation, as announced this Thursday in a press release.
According to the statement, the project, called Sensomare, will be developed by a multidisciplinary consortium made up of technology and food sector companies, with the collaboration of the canning industry association Anfaco and the University of Vigo.
Source: La Voz de Galicia | Read the full article here
After nearly four years of work, the AquaWind project, coordinated by the Canary Islands Agency for Research, Innovation and the Information Society (ACIISI), has demonstrated that, under real-world conditions, renewable energy production and aquaculture can not only coexist but also complement each other to optimize the use of the sea.
The prototype combining floating offshore wind and aquaculture is no longer just a concept; it is a physical reality in the Atlantic. Following this technological success, the next step is administrative. As indicated at the results presentation, the main bottleneck is no longer technical but regulatory and administrative, in addition to the need to strengthen public acceptance.
Source: iPac.aquaculture | Read the full article here
Scotland’s salmon industry has been given a big new lift following a key trade deal between the UK and the Middle East.
It follows a similar trade agreement with South Korea last December.
The industry trade body Salmon Scotland said the deal between the UK and the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) ensures permanent tariff-free access for UK goods to the United
Arab Emirates (UAE), Oman, Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, removing five per cent tariffs on some salmon exports. Scottish salmon exports to the region hit £6.5 million in 2025 with 670 tons.
Author: Vince McDonagh / Fish Farmer | Read the full article here
EUROPEAN UNION
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RUSSIAN FEDERATION
NORWAY
Atlantic Sapphire 
UNITED KINGDOM.png)
A new free trade deal in the Middle East is expected to provide a boost for Scottish exports amid global economic uncertainty, Scotland’s salmon farming trade body has said.
Salmones Austral
CHILE
The Chilean Undersecretariat of Fisheries and Aquaculture 
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The 
After nearly four years of work, the AquaWind project, coordinated by the Canary Islands Agency for Research, Innovation and the Information Society (ACIISI), has demonstrated that, under real-world conditions, renewable energy production and aquaculture can not only coexist but also complement each other to optimize the use of the sea.
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
Scotland’s salmon industry has been given a big new lift following a key trade deal between the UK and the Middle East.
