Mark Godfrey

A Vanuatu court has dismissed a charge of illegal fishing against the crew of two Chinese vessels seized in early 2021 by Vanuatu authorities.

Two captains and 11 crew members of the Dong Gang Xing 13 and Dong Gang Xing 16 were found not guilty in a recent judgment issued by Vanuatu Supreme Court Judge Dudley Aru. The vessels and their crews were taken into custody in early 2021 after being found allegedly fishing illegally in Vanuatu’s

An EUR 80 million (USD 79.8 million million) scheme to retire a third of the Irish fishing fleet won’t have the effect of preserving fish stocks and needs to be accompanied by a plan to make the sector “greener and more innovative,” according to the Irish Fish Producers Organisation (IFPO), a fishing representative body.

On 28 July, 2022, Ireland Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue confirmed the

Zhangzidao Group, Shandong Homey Aquatic Development, and Fujian Tianma Science and Technology Group are among 121 companies singled out by the Chinese government for cultivation into international players in the aquatic seedlings market.

The firms are named in a new document from China’ Agriculture Ministry, “Notice on Supporting the Development of National Seed Industry Formation Enterprises,” which also includes over 150

The World Bank is funding a new program by the Pacific Island of Tuvalu, aiming to maximize the country’s earnings from tuna access deals by engaging a New Zealand satellite firm to monitor its waters.

The Tuvalu government’s fishery department engaged New Zealand firm Starboard Maritime Intelligence to complete 60 satellite scans of its exclusive economic zone (EEZ) under the World Bank-funded Pacific Islands Regional Oceanscape

An increased effort by Canada and the United States to combat illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing isn’t being matched by a tightening of import controls that would prevent illegally sourced seafood from entering domestic markets, according to a letter sent from 26 seafood industry stakeholders to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.

The letter, which was signed by Buy-Low Foods, Sobey’s, and Ocean Brands, as well as

Kiribati, a small island nation in the Southwest Pacific, is over-reliant on income from access payments by distant water fishing fleets, according to a newly published study.

An examination of climate change vulnerability of the island found that the country has become over-reliant on revenue from offshore foreign-flagged purse seine tuna fishing vessels. The country earns around 80 percent of its revenue from fees charged to tuna companies

Global Fishing Watch is welcoming a stepped-up global response to the scourge of illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing.

Two separate anti-IUU initiatives have been launched in the past two months: the Joint Analytical Cell and the Indo-Pacific Partnership for Maritime Domain Awareness.

Founded by the USAID-funded International Monitoring, Control, and Surveillance Network as well as data focused monitoring groups Global Fishing

Any hope that China has stopped barring foreign seafood exporters from shipping goods on COVID-19 grounds appear to have been dashed with the China Administration of Customs announcing new bans.  

Three more international firms have been barred from doing business in China, the Chinese Administration of Customs reported. Korean-based firm Dai Han Fisheries Co Ltd., Indonesian firm Pt. Rembang Sportindo Mandiri, and  Vietnam-based

Hong Kong-based alternative proteins firm Green Monday launched operations at a new Chinese processing plant just as its OmniSeafood range has hit the shelves at Whole Foods Market, and online at Ocado.

The firm has termed the launch of its products at the two retailers as “another big step to protect our oceans.” And while it hasn’t offered details on projected output volumes at the new Chinese plant it has put the investment