IN BRIEF - Chef Balfegó 2025: Red Tuna Competition Opens to All of Europe
SPAIN
Wednesday, June 04, 2025
Four Spanish chefs are already finalists; the European phase will be decided in Paris before the Grand Final in Madrid.
MADRID – Balfegó has announced the international expansion of its VIII professional gastronomy competition, Chef Balfegó 2025, opening it to chefs from across Europe. The Grand Final will be held on October 27 at Le Cordon Bleu in Madrid, solidifying the event's international reach.
Four talented Spanish chefs have already been selected for the final: Guillermo Chávez (Amelia**, San Sebastián), Angelo Duarte (Brugarol, Barcelona), Riccardo Radice (Fishølogy*, Barcelona), and Piero Aponte (El Molino de Urdániz**, Navarra).
Their European rivals will be determined in a semifinal on September 8 at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, where 16 candidates from across the continent will compete. The deadline to apply for this European semifinal is June 30. In total, 12 finalists will compete in Madrid, preparing two red tuna recipes.
The judging panel will be presided over by Martín Berasategui (eight Michelin Stars). The winner will receive 6,000 euros and a trip to Japan, along with a set of specialized Japanese knives. The second and third-place finishers will receive 3,000 and 1,000 euros, respectively.
Chef Balfegó has established itself as a launching pad for young talents. With this European edition, Balfegó reinforces its commitment to haute cuisine and its dedication to red tuna as an international culinary benchmark.
OSAKA – Chile is showcasing its prowess in sustainable seafood and aquaculture at Expo Osaka 2025's "Semana del Mar" (Sea Week), running from June 2-6. The initiative aims to solidify the nation's global leadership and reinforce its position as a reliable, responsible food provider.
With over 6,400 kilometers of coastline, Chile's robust seafood industry is globally recognized for its innovation and commitment to environmental stewardship. A diverse delegation, including representatives from aquaculture innovation, sea urchin, and salmon industry groups (like Salmon Chile and Consejo del Salmón), is present to highlight the nation's premium offerings.
Japan stands as a crucial partner for Chile. Ricardo Arriagada, regional director of ProChile Los Lagos, emphasized its importance, noting that Chilean seafood exports to Japan reached US$1.24 billion in 2024. Chile, the world's second-largest salmon producer, finds Japan as its second-largest market for this product, accounting for 16% of its total salmon exports (approximately US$1.07 billion). Furthermore, Chile is Japan's primary exporter of sea urchins, with 85% of its 2024 sea urchin exports (around US$50 million) destined for the Japanese market.
Beyond trade, Chile's presence at Expo Osaka underscores its focus on the blue economy, active participation from coastal communities, and efforts to attract investment and foster strategic alliances.
Patagonia Fishing S.A.'s "Lu Qing Yuan Yu 280" records the highest volume of Illex squid landed so far this year, solidifying Mar del Plata as a key port for the species.
MAR DEL PLATA – A jigger vessel operated by a Chinese company sailing under the Argentine flag has achieved the largest Illex squid catch to date in the 2025 season. According to the official INIDEP Technical Report, the "Lu Qing Yuan Yu 280", belonging to Patagonia Fishing S.A. (a wholly-owned subsidiary of China's Shandong Bodelong Group), stands as the vessel with the highest quantity of squid caught and landed so far.
The vessel, which began its season in late December, has recorded approximately 3,600 tonnes of frozen Illex squid on board across six fishing trips, with average daily catches reaching up to 28 tonnes.
This significant volume contributes to the Port of Mar del Plata surpassing 80,000 tonnes of frozen squid landed, positioning it as the number one port compared to other Patagonian terminals. Operations in Mar del Plata accelerated notably once the squid fishery shifted north of the 44th parallel.
Although the final figures for the season are not yet closed, projections suggest that the total Illex squid catch within Argentina's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) will exceed 180,000 tonnes in 2025.
Authorities predict a 40% increase over 2024 figures
The current sargassum season in the Mexican Caribbean is shaping up to be one of the most intense in recent years, with more than 2,000 tons of this seaweed collected in the first half of the year alone at the start of the summer tourist season, according to Oscar Rébora, head of the Quintana Roo Environment Secretariat, on Wednesday.
"We are already surpassing 20,000 tons this season," Rébora told EFE.
Iceland Seafood International (ISI), the global salmon and white fish trading company, has reported higher sales and profits during the start of 2025 – thanks partly to reduced salmon prices.
Sales jumped by almost 5% (4.8%) to €119m (£99m) while the EBITDA was €5.4m (£4.5m) to €3.2m (£2.6m).
The company said: “Salmon prices in the quarter were lower than forecasted, and the supply was good. White fish prices, on the other hand, were way up with scarce supply.
Author : Vince McDonagh / Fish Farmer l Read the full article here
A pilot community project to create a new locally sourced fish finger for school lunches is making waves across Plymouth and beyond.
Known as the Plymouth Fish Finger, the project is making use of ‘by-catch’ fish (that which would otherwise go to waste) from local fishers, taste testing them with school children, and co-designing fish fingers, with a plan to serve them in school meals locally.
Fish species involved include whiting, pouting and dogfish, and the project ensures small scale coastal fishers (in vessels under 10m) receive a fair price for something that is normally low-value and underutilised, while getting healthy and sustainable food into local schools.
But salmon sales to China and the US see continued growth
Norway’s seafood exports declined last month by two per cent after ten consecutive months of growth, according to the Norwegian Seafood Council.
Seafood exports for May were worth NOK 13.6 billion (£993.5 million), a decrease of NOK 267 million (£19.5 million) compared with the same period last year.
Source : fishfarmingexpert l Read the full article here
Greenpeace's iconic vessel Arctic Sunrise will not be allowed to enter the port of Nice during the United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC), scheduled for June 9-13. The ban, officially announced by the Nice City Council and the Prefecture, comes days after NGO activists threw rocks into a marine protected area in the Gulf of Lion to block bottom trawling.
The vessel was to join a fleet of more than thirty scientific and environmental vessels invited to the city to bring marine science and conservation to the general public.
Europe is further tightening its zero-tolerance policy against illegal fishing—especially against neighboring coastal states—by establishing new criteria to determine when a third country is considered "non-cooperative" in the fight against IUU fishing. From now on, "undue" delays in responding to requests for information, failure to respond to consultation processes, failure to implement previously agreed conservation or control measures, as well as failure to manage stocks of common interest, including in the context of RFOs, will be considered factors to be taken into account when designating a country as a candidate for a red card, which would imply the closure of the Community market.
Source: Industrias Pesqueras | Read the full article here
Company calls for value chain support to secure future growth.
Veramaris increased its algae oil production by 61% in 2024 while reducing its absolute greenhouse gas emissions by 5.6% compared to its 2021 baseline, according to its newly released Sustainable Development Report.
The company, which produces ASC-MSC-certified microalgae oil for fish and shrimp feed, said it operated at full capacity for the first time in 2024. CEO Gertjan de Koning said this milestone demonstrated that aquaculture can scale responsibly without further dependence on wild fish stocks for essential Omega-3s.
Source: SalmonBusiness l Read the full article here
The Chinese government has agreed on the technical requirements for resuming seafood imports from Japan, according to the Japanese government.
China’s ban was implemented in August 2023 after Japanese authorities approved the release of treated wastewater from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into Japan’s waters. Although the International Atomic Energy Agency determined that the plan would cause negligible impact on the environment or health, multiple neighboring governments announced that they would ban Japanese seafood imports – at least in part.
Author: Nathan Strout / seafoodSource l Read the full article here
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CHILE
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MEXICO
Authorities predict a 40% increase over 2024 figures
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Iceland Seafood International (ISI)
UNITED KINGDOM.png)
Known as the Plymouth Fish Finger, the project is making use of ‘by-catch’ fish (that which would otherwise go to waste) from local fishers, taste testing them with school children, and co-designing fish fingers, with a plan to serve them in school meals locally.
NORWAY.png)
But salmon sales to China and the US see continued growth
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Greenpeace
EUROPEAN UNION
Europe is further tightening its zero-tolerance policy against illegal fishing—especially against neighboring coastal states—by establishing new criteria to determine when a third country is considered "non-cooperative" in the fight against IUU fishing. From now on, "undue" delays in responding to requests for information, failure to respond to consultation processes, failure to implement previously agreed conservation or control measures, as well as failure to manage stocks of common interest, including in the context of RFOs, will be considered factors to be taken into account when designating a country as a candidate for a red card, which would imply the closure of the Community market.
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CHINA
The Chinese government has agreed on the technical requirements for resuming seafood imports from Japan, according to the Japanese government.
