Mark Godfrey

Contributing Editor

Mark Godfrey is an Irish journalist covering the agriculture and fisheries sectors in Asia, with a focus on China. Proficient in Mandarin, he has frequently traveled across China's fisheries and aquaculture regions and learned the inner workings of China's corporate world during a nearly three-year stint at the Financial Times' “China Confidential” publication. He has also reported widely across Southeast Asia and the former Soviet Union. He has educational certificates in agriculture and food science, as well as Mandarin.

Published on
October 24, 2022

Ireland looks set to scrap a work-permit scheme introduced in 2015 for non-European fishery workers after a review ordered by government recommended a transition to regular employment permits given to other immigrants.

On 11 October, after a delay of seven months, the Irish government finally approved the publication of the Review of the Atypical Scheme for non-EEA Crew in the Irish Fishing Fleet. Three governmental departments –

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Published on
October 20, 2022

Seafood trade experts remain divided on the ultimate impact of any free trade deal between China and Ecuador for the shrimp trade.

With rumors circulating the deal will be inked before the end of 2022, the impact of zero-tariff access could be a driver of Ecuadorian shrimp prices by unleashing Chinese demand, according to general manager of Bangkok, Thailand-based seafood trader Siam Canadian Group's Guangzhou office Landy

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Published on
October 20, 2022

Menlo Park, California, U.S.A.-based alternative feed producer Calysta has released a study showing it achieved better results from feeding the company’s branded feed to largemouth bass compared to similar fish fed fishmeal-based feed.

Calysta produces its vegetarian FeedKind brand feed through a proprietary fermentation-based process.

In a 10-week growth study carried out by the Institute of Feed Research at the Chinese Academy of

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Published on
October 19, 2022

A scaling back in spending by China’s big online commerce corporations has allowed a leading Chinese seafood snack-maker to reboot its sales. 

China Shenghai Group has reported substantial sales recovery “attributable to the slowed industry consolidation” of China’s fast-growing snack market.

A major buyer of shrimp and squid for its dried seafood snacks business, Shenghai’s revenue from its food business

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Published on
October 18, 2022

Farming shrimp intensively in vertical, urban settings is the mission of John Diener, the CEO of Vertical Oceans, one of a range of aquaculture start-ups that have chosen to locate in Singapore, a city-state keen to increase its self-sufficiency in food and to become an innovation hub for the wider region. 

Vertical Oceans, formerly known as Akualogix, has pioneered a form of land-based shrimp aquaculture including modular grow-out

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Published on
October 17, 2022

The manager of a leading Argentine red shrimp firm has said that Chinese investment has allowed his firm to expand its fleet and add more workers.

“Our sales volume continues to grow,” said Hugo Vence, CEO of Altamare SA, a shrimp and fishing fleet operator and processor based in Puerto Madryn, Argentina. Vence said the company has hired 393 more workers – 357 of them Argentinian – since state-owned Shanghai Fishery Group

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Published on
October 17, 2022

Three men from the west of Ireland have been convicted of false imprisonment, assault, and obstruction in relation to an effort they made to evade law enforcement officers who were pursuing them for alleged illegal fishing.

The men were also convicted of possessing illegally-caught wild Atlantic salmon in charges brought by Inland Fisheries Ireland. Each received six-month jail terms – suspended for two years – and were also ordered

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Published on
October 13, 2022

A Nigerian fishing port project has pivoted amidst a pullback from China in its global infrastructure investments.

Originally proposed in 2019, the Andoni Fishing Port and Processing Zone was to be built on a 2,500-hectare site in Nigeria’s Rivers State, and would have included a fishing port, processing facilities,, warehousing, and ship-maintenance yards at an estimated cost between USD 1.5 billion and USD 2.5 billion (EUR 1.3

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Published on
October 12, 2022

The impact of the pandemic on Chinese consumption has been laid bare in the results of a leading restaurant chain serving seafood across the country.

Jiumaojiu International Holdings reported a 6.1 percent drop in revenue year-on-year for the first six months of the year to CNY 1.89 billion (USD 263.4 million, EUR 271.3 million). Profit for the period decreased by 69.5 percent to CNY 62.5 million (USD 8.7 million, EUR 9 million) ... 

Photo

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Published on
October 12, 2022

Bord Bia, Ireland’s food marketing agency, has sought to stoke Chinese hunger for Irish seafood with a promotion at the Xanadu Hotel, one of the most-expensive addresses in the wealthy southern city of Guangzhou. 

Located on the International Bio Island in the city’s Hai Zhu district, the hotel is hosting an Irish Seafood buffet lunch at CNY 148 (USD 20.63, EUR 21.27) that features Irish crab, oysters, whelks, and langoustines,

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