Cabinet secretary for rural affairs and the environment, Richard Lochhead will make a series of visits around Orkney this Monday and Tuesday.

Minister for Environment Roseanna Cunningham today commented on the findings of the 2008 Scottish Shellfish Farm Production Survey.

Scientists from the Marine Institute in Galway and Newport are playing a key role in 'Prevent Escape' - a major international project aimed at reducing the escape of farmed fish and their impact on wild stocks.

Welsh Scallop Fishermen have joined forces with their colleagues around the UK and marine biologists to prevent the closure of the Cardigan Bay Scallop fishery, and are calling on the Welsh Assembly Government to undertake rigorous scientific research before attempting to ban scalloping.

A NEW European Union strategy on aquaculture for member states has been agreed at a Fisheries Council meeting in Luxembourg.

THE fishing industry in Cornwall is being urged to rethink its plans for modernising Newlyn Fish Market - the largest in the region - following a funding blow from the Marine and Fisheries Agency.

The conservation credentials of Shetland's fisheries take a major step forward this week with the launch of new selective gear trials.

Scottish mussels produced by the Scottish Shellfish Marketing Group are set to become the first rope-grown mussels in the world to achieve Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification as a sustainable and well managed resource.

Farm Manager of the Year - presented by Will Jewison, Salmon Sales Manager of Skretting, to Steven Jamieson, Scottish Sea Farms.

Aquaculture Ambassador of the Year - presented by Heather Jones from Marine Scotland to Steve Bracken from Marine Harvest.

Stocks of the UK’s Atlantic salmon along with varieties of domestic brown trout could be under threat from a deadly parasite according to research led Bournemouth University (BU) published in the International Journal of Parasitology.

The Abalone Aquaculture Dialogue will convene its next meeting in Pattaya, Thailand to encourage producers, conservationists, scientists and others to provide input on the development of global standards for the abalone farming industry – an industry that produces almost 70 per cent of the abalone consumed worldwide.

Professor Randolph Harvey Richards CBE, director of the Institute of Aquaculture at the University of Stirling, recently travelled to the Faroe Islands to receive the prestigious award for Excellence in European Aquaculture.

THE 400 plus strong workforce at Farne Salmon and Trout production's centre at Duns on the Scottish Borders could soon find they are under a change of leadership.

Stirling University’s reputation as a world-class centre for marine sciences has been bolstered by the appointment of Professor Brian Austin as the head of the Institute of Aquaculture.

The agricultural certification organization, GLOBALGAP, is organizing a series of aquaculture workshops across the world for auditors, quality managers and technical advisors.

The Centre For Environment Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (CEFAS) is hosting a Tilapia Workshop on 18th June 2009.

(SARNISSA) web-site has issued a call for authors to write case studies on African aquaculture for inclusion in the CABI Aquaculture Compendium

The French Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries has announced a ban on exports of Pacific Oysters (Crassostrea gigas) from certain areas experiencing abnormal mortalities in oysters along the Mediterranean coast and Atlantic areas of France. Restrictions have also been placed on the movement of oysters into affected areas. The French Marine Research Institute, IFREMER, is carrying out an investigation to identify the cause of the mortality.

FEARS are growing that a proposal to build a new nuclear power station around the South East Essex area of Britain could pose a threat to Britain's oldest fishery - the Colchester oyster.

Greenpeace is calling on retailers to face up to their responsibilities, as overfishing, contamination and climate change threaten the world’s oceans. More than 75 per cent of the world’s fish stocks have been totally exploited, overexploited or depleted. Overfishing, in particular, has driven the depletion of almost 90 per cent of big predator fish, such as cod, tuna and swordfish.

Stirling’s reputation as a world-class centre for marine sciences has been bolstered by the appointment of Professor Brian Austin as the head of the Institute of Aquaculture.

A BRIGHT new future is being predicted for Norway's farmed salmon after some difficult times, according to a new report.

Rupert Howes, chief executive of the Marine Stewardship Council, has

been presented with a WWF ‘Leaders for a Living Planet’ Award. Each

year, WWF presents awards to individuals who make significant personal

contributions through their inspiring leadership and example.

The Greek aquaculture company, Nireus SA which holds or controls over one third of the shares in the Norwegian company, Marine Farms ASA, has announced that it has precipitated major changes in the Marine Farms’ Board of Directors.

A group of 16 international organisations have urged climate negotiators to ensure that fisheries and aquaculture are not neglected in ongoing discussions regarding a successor to the Kyoto Protocol.

Inverness-based marine equipment and supplies company Gael Force has secured a contract to supply consumable marine and industrial supplies to leading fish farm operator Marine Harvest.

Lighthouse Caledonia ASA have issued a preliminary report on their first quarter 2009 figures saying that harvest volumes were well down on from those in the same quarter in 2008 however this was compensated by prices which were £0.40/kg higher. Operating revenue for the quarter came to £6.2 million with earnings before taxes of £755,000.

A Sutherland-based salmon producer has received a prestigious award from the RSPCA’s farm assurance and food labelling scheme Freedom Food.

The NAFC Marine Centre has announced the appointment of Dr Martin Robinson to the new position of head of marine science and technology. Currently employed as research development manager at the Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology, Martin will take up his new post in Shetland on 1 August.

The final step in the process of creating global standards for tilapia farming began today, when the Tilapia Aquaculture Dialogue kicked off the last public comment period for the draft standards. 


Responding to the launch of ‘A Fresh Start’, the renewed strategic framework for Scottish aquaculture, announced in the Scottish parliament last week, Scott Landsburgh, chief executive of Scottish Salmon Producers' Organisation (SSPO), said: 'We welcome the widespread recognition of the importance of our sector and the support for its sustainable development.

London, 22 May 2009. At an awards ceremony held in London’s Grosvenor Square last night, Seafish, the authority on seafood, announced the winners of the 2009 Seafood awards.

The presence of infectious salmon anaemia (ISA) has been confirmed on a fifth salmon farm within the existing ISA control zone in the South West of Shetland.The farm is close to the farms confirmed as being infected earlier in the year.

A new strategy aimed at increasing Scotland's share of the world's fastest growing food-producing sector has been unveiled.

As the largest producer of farmed salmon in the European Union, and the third largest in the world, Scotland's aquaculture industry is a major success story.

An historic partnership of the Marine Stewardship Council and the Scottish Government has come together today to launch a new project that will boost the environmental credentials of Scotland’s fisheries. The MSC Scottish fisheries project is part-funded by the Scottish Government and will make it easier for Scottish fisheries to access MSC certification and the coveted MSC eco-label for sustainable and well-managed fisheries.

The presence of Infectious Salmon Anaemia (ISA) has been confirmed on a fourth salmon farm within the existing ISA control zone in the South West of Shetland.

Last Monday morning we began assembling the two exhibition halls for the Fish Expo Faroes 2009. The exhibition halls stand on a football pitch in the valley of Gundadalur in central Tórshavn, Faroe Islands, which indicates the size of the exhibition. It will be exciting to see how this, by comparison, huge arrangement will come off this close to the town centre.

BRIXHAM'S revamped fish market swung into action this week when two fish wholesalers received the keys to new larger units to allow them to develop their businesses.

The Scottish shellfish industry supports hundreds of jobs and investment in rural areas. According to Seafish, the UK authority on seafood, strong home-grown industries are vital in these times of global economic downturn, especially for remote rural communities and the shellfish farming industry in Scotland is an outstanding example.

The Norwegian based salmon and trout farming company, Grieg Seafood ASA has reported substantial profits for the first quarter of 2009, compared to a loss in the first quarter of 2008.

Aqua Farming International, an exhibition devoted to aquaculture and celebrated under the umbrella of the World Fishing Exhibition, will host the APROMAR Sectorial Conference. On September 17 the meeting entitled “Times of change: experiences and opportunities” will take place at the Exhibition centre José Nogueira Dalmás.

The Honourable Gail Shea, Canada’s Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, and the Honourable Tom Hedderson, Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture today announced $266,604 in funding for early commercialization of submersible technology that will enable development of deep water mussel aquaculture in areas exposed to arctic ice in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Finland and FAO have signed a 1.76 million euro Trust Fund Project to improve fisheries and aquaculture management in the Kyrgyz Republic during the period 2009 - 2012.

Salmon farmers have made major capital investments in the Scottish economy over the last three years as they prepare to meet the growing, global demand for high quality salmon, according to the Chairman of the SSPO as the representative organisation publishes its first Annual Report.

Two men have died and another is in hospital following an accident on a fish farm feed barge moored at a Scottish Seafarms site in Loch Creran in Argyll, west Scotland.

As they released their figures for the first quarter of 2009, Åse Aulie Michelet, chief executive officer of Marine Harvest said that with strong demand, increasing prices and decreasing costs, she has an optimistic view on the development for the rest of 2009.

The world’s largest aquaculture company, Marine Harvest has completed the pre-sale of a private placement raising €35 million to shore up their Chilean salmon farming division.

Despite mounting first quarter 2009 losses reported by the Norwegian fish farming and fish feed company, Cermaq, their CEO Geir Isaksen remains upbeat saying that the situation will improve.