Seafood industry in call to scrap “employer tax”

Norwegian industry organisation Seafood Companies is urging the government to remove the employer tax on the seafood industry so more salmon and other fish can be processed at home. Much of Norway’s salmon, for example, is processed hundreds of miles away in Poland and Denmark. Robert H. Eriksson, managing director of Seafood Companies (“Sjomatbedriftene” in…

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Thistle Seafoods optimistic despite profit slump

Despite a big drop in profits last year, the Scottish company Thistle Seafoods has issued an upbeat assessment on future prospects for the business. Profits were down by 90% from £3.3m in 2021 to £303,000 during the year, largely due to higher raw material costs and external factors. Thistle bought the Dawnfresh factory at Uddingston near Glasgow…

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New salmon processing plant opens in Bergen

A new salmon processing factory has opened in Bergen, Norway to meet growing export demand. The company behind the project is First Seafood, which is part of the larger Insula group and, until recently, had been used by that group to produce fish cakes. Insula’s parent company is Kverva, the investment vehicle set up by…

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Steady as she goes for Samherji

Samherji, Iceland’s largest combined fishing, aquaculture and seafood business, has reported a solid increase in operating profits for last year. The operating profit came to ISK 9.9 billion (almost £60m), an increase of ISK 800m (£4.8m) on 2021. Sales remained relatively unchanged from the previous year at ISK 54 billion (£320m). Officially known as the…

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Iceland Seafood nets nine Great Taste awards

Iceland Seafood International (ISI) is celebrating nine successes at the 2023 Great Taste Awards, seven of them salmon products. The awards also saw success for, among others, Bakkafrost Scotland and Loch Fyne Oysters. ISI’s awards were all achieved through its Oceanpath Irish operation, which includes salmon specialist Dunn’s of Dublin, Ireland’s oldest seafood company. Iceland…

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Skaginn 3x closes one Iceland base with loss of 27 jobs

The Icelandic seafood technology company Skaginn 3x is closing its base in the important fishing and fish farming town Isafjord with the loss of 27 jobs. CEO Sigstein Gretarsson said things had become very difficult over the past few months with unrest in the markets following Covid and the outbreak of war in the Ukraine.…

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Young’s confirms Grimsby factory closure

Young’s Seafood yesterday confirmed the closure of one of its Grimsby production sites with the loss of more than 200 jobs. The decision is thought to be the result of losing key contracts to rival Grimsby seafood processors. The company first announced in mid June that its factory in Marsden Road, Grimsby was no longer…

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UK government funding for Scottish fisheries and aquaculture

Mowi’s planned broodstock project at Ardessie, the Scottish Sea Farms post-smolt facility at Barcaldine and mussel farmer Inverlussa Shellfish are among the recipients of the latest round of UK Government funding for the Scottish fishing and aquaculture sectors, through the UK Seafood Fund. A total of £18.7m is being awarded to 10 projects across Scotland…

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Seafood features in Excellence Awards shortlist

Salmon and salmon-based products have made a strong showing in the shortlist for the Scotland Food & Drink Excellence Awards 2023. St James Smokehouse’s Smoked Salmon Pure Royal Fillet, Belhaven Smokehouse’s Belhaven Cured Cold Smoked Salmon and Bakkafrost Scotland’s Native Hebridean Scottish Salmon are all in the running in the Fish & Seafood Products Category.…

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GSA Processing Standard 6.0 out for consultation

A revised version of the Global Seafood Alliance (GSA) Processing Standard has been released for public consultation. Seafood Processing Standard (SPS) Issue 6.0 has been restructured to include a core set of requirements for all processing plants, with separate modules to accommodate production processes that may not occur at every processing facility. With this new…

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