RUSKIN, Fla. — At Two Docks Shellfishin Ruskin, clams are grown and then sold to restaurants, seafood markets, and distributors throughout the Tampa Bay Area, but lately, the shellfish farmers have been tight on supply.

“There just aren’t as many clams in the world as there should be right now due to those two storms, and that has a series of downstream effects, revenue, employment, and things like that,” said Dr. Aaron Welch, president of Two Docks Shellfish.

Last year, Welch said freshwater flooded the bay during Hurricane Ian, killing millions of clams. He added that the enormous storm surge following Hurricane Idalia the previous month wiped out millions more clams in hard-hit Cedar Key and he does business with clam growers there.

He says the combo of storms has prevented him from expanding his clam business as fast as he would like.

“It’s made it hard for us to continue to grow the business, and it’s hurt our revenue. Since we haven’t gotten our insurance payment from the USDA yet, we’re missing a huge amount of cash that we would be generating right now from selling the animals that died during Ian.”[...]

Author/Source: Rebecca Petit/abcactionnews.com

The Economic Commission of West African States (ECOWAS) has given $78 million as training grant to 150 farmers in Bauchi State and the FCT to boost food security in Nigeria.

The grant will be used to train the farmers in poultry and fisheries, with Massandje Toure-Litse, ECOWAS commissioner for Economic Affairs and Agriculture highlighting that these two subsectors play a vital role in driving the sub-region’s economy and fostering its development.

Read also: Nasarawa to boost food production as 8,200 farmers get inputs

The training will cover a wide range of topics, including animal husbandry, feed formulation, disease management, and marketing.

The beneficiaries are farmers of the Community Allied Farmers Association of Nigeria (COMAFAS). Speaking at the event, Toure-Litse said the grant would increase young people’s capacity to engage in agricultural value chains and food production.

“ECOWAS has designed quality training modules and arranged for the training of 3,032 young people (30 percent women and 70 percent men,” she said.[...]

Source: businessday.ng

Tokyo (Jiji Press)--Japan's exports of fishery products to China in August dropped 70.8 pct from a year before in value, reflecting Chinese restrictions, the Finance Ministry said Thursday.

China imposed a blanket ban on Japanese aquatic products immediately after Japan began releasing treated water from its Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant into the ocean on Aug. 24.

Scallop exports were particularly affected, falling 71.3 pct. Scallops represent the largest portion of Japan's fishery product exports, and about half of them goes to China.

Japan's overall food exports to China slipped 43 pct.

Exports of fishery products to Hong Kong, which has also tightened restrictions on imports from Japan, sagged 11 pct. Hong Kong is the second-largest importer of Japanese fishery products next to mainland China.

US aquaculture expert Megan Sorby, formerly Operations Manager at Kingfish Maine, is planning a new land-based project. She aims to farm red drum, a popular game fish in the United States that is now in short supply.

Red drum (Sciaenops ocellatus), also known as redfish, channel bass or a variety of other names, is found along the US Atlantic coast from Massachusetts to Florida, and in the Gulf of Mexico.

Source: FishFarmer | read the full article here

A German company has revealed details of its plans for a climate-proof floating recirculating fish farming system (RAS) which it claims can solve the problems facing offshore farms and will be cheaper than terrestrial RAS facilities.

Frankfurt-based Next Tuna has designed the RASxFloater in collaboration with Norwegian company Seafarming Systems, a specialist in closed and semi-closed floating containment which jointly developed the Aquatraz semi-closed system used by salmon producer Midt-Norsk Havbruk (now part of SalMar ).

Source: SalmonExpert | Read the full article here

Grow or disappear. It is the dilemma that Conxemar claims to face, which, at the doors of the XXIV edition of the International Frozen Seafood Products Fair, has presented its roadmap to protect the future of the second most important seafood industry fair in Europe and guarantee their permanence in the city of Vigo.

The association takes a step forward in its continuous demand for more exhibition space by proposing to the administrations with powers – Xunta de Galicia and Concello de Vigo – 

Source: Industrias Pesqueras | Read the full article here

The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development, Carmen Crespo, calls for an emergency fund to face decarbonization. Crespo explains in Brussels that the 200 trawlers generate 3,000 jobs in the Andalusian autonomous community

Crespo has shown the determined support of the Andalusian Government for the Andalusian fishing sector in the face of the 2030 Trawl Fishing Action Plan and has defended its interests in Brussels, as he did in the meeting held with those responsible for the DG Mare de the European Commission (EC).

Source: EuropaAzul | Read the full article here

U.S. President Joe Biden signed a presidential memorandum on 27 September to prioritize the restoration of fish to the Columbia River Basin.

“Today, President Biden is directing all relevant federal agencies to utilize existing authorities and available resources – and assess what additional authorities and resources may be needed – to restore these wild fish populations and help ensure that the United States upholds its treaty and trust responsibilities to the Tribes,” the White House said in a statement.

Author: Nathan Strout / SeafoodSource | read the full article here

Scottish Sea Fisheries Statistics 2022 Key Points

Sea fish and shellfish landings in 2022

• The fishing industry value has increased from last year but hasn’t returned to 2019, pre-pandemic levels. The value of landings has risen less than general inflation between 2019 and 2022:
• Scottish vessels landed 429 thousand tonnes of sea fish and shellfish with a gross value of £617 million in 2022. An increase of four per cent in the real value and a two per cent decrease in the tonnage compared to 2021.

Source: FishFocus | read the full article here

Salmon farmer Bakkafrost Scotland made an operating loss of £30 million last year, a smaller deficit than the £45m operating loss made in 2021, according to its newly published annual report for 2022.

Revenue in 2022 – a year of record high prices - was £157m, £3m more than the year before, despite harvest volume dropping from 29,673 gutted weight tonnes in 2021 to 23,800 gwt.

Author: Gareth Moore / Fishfarmingexpert | Read the full article here