Nicki Holmyard

Contributing Editor

Nicki Holmyard lives and breathes the seafood industry. As a specialist freelance writer for 25 years, she has travelled the globe to research in-depth articles, interviews and news stories on all aspects of fishing, aquaculture and processing for international journals and newspapers. She has contributed to books on sustainable seafood sourcing and the effects of climate change on the oceans, and acts as a communications consultant for leading fishing and aquaculture concerns. Nicki is also a director of Offshore Shellfish Ltd, which is developing Europe’s largest rope-grown mussel farm.

Published on
November 16, 2023

Blydoit Fish, a wholesale and retail seafood supplier based in Scotland’s Shetland Islands, is up for sale.

After 20 years in business, its four owners have decided that the time is right to move on. According to James John Shearer, who helped found Blydoit in 2003 as a means of selling the catch from his whitefish fishing vessel, the Mizpah LK173, there is a “tremendous opportunity” for a new owner to further develop the

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Published on
November 8, 2023

The production of breaded or battered langoustine tails, more commonly known as scampi, is facing an attack campaign from the Scottish charity Open Seas.

The nonprofit’s “Say No to Scampi” campaign, launched on 12 October, is urging supermarkets to discontinue stocking this consumer favorite and is encouraging customers to avoid purchasing scampi until its fishery comes under sustainable management.

Open Seas said trawling for

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Published on
November 7, 2023

Iceland Ocean Cluster Founder and CEO Thor Sigfusson has penned a new book providing a deep dive into the world of seafood sustainability.

The book, 100% Fish, investigates how seafood companies around the world are effectively implementing sustainability measures, providing examples others can learn from.

“I aim to highlight the remarkable strides taken by numerous seafood companies that have harnessed technology and expertise to not only

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Published on
July 20, 2023

France, Ireland, and Denmark are among several nations around Europe that have implemented plans to decommission vessels due to increasingly strict E.U. fishing policies and the logistical consequences of Brexit.

Over the past few years, the E.U.’s diverse fishing fleet, which has vessels ranging from under 6 meters to over 75 meters, has steadily declined in terms of tonnage and engine power. The total number of vessels in the fleet fell

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Published on
June 2, 2023

The Scottish government’s commitment to designate at least 10 percent of Scotland’s seas as highly protected marine areas (HPMAs) by 2026 has garnered fierce opposition from fishermen’s associations, salmon farmers, shellfish producers, local councils, community trusts, some members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs) and the U.K. Parliament (MPs), among others.

“This could be the death knell for the salmon farming

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Published on
May 30, 2023

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that Oceanloop uses a biofloc system. The company has developed a custom clearwater system that it plans to use in its large-scale farm under development.

Munich, Germany-based Oceanloop is seeking nothing less than a full-scale remaking of the global shrimp industry.

The company, forged through the combination of Strande, Germany-based land-based shrimp-farming firm Förde

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Published on
May 10, 2023

The share price of Salmon Evolution dropped sharply on the Oslo Bors stock market after it announced it was dealing with a likely outbreak of amoebic gill disease at its land-based farm in Indre Harøy, Norway.

The company’s shares dropped 10 percent in value on 29 April, to a per-share value of NOK 6.90 (USD 0.65, EUR 0.59), after it said it was experiencing a sudden increase in fish mortalities at its phase-one farm. The share

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Published on
May 1, 2023

A “think global, act local” tactic being used by the Norwegian Seafood Council (NSC) is paying dividends by driving awareness and consumption of Norwegian seafood on the domestic market and abroad. 

The NSC, which has honed its use of market insight and localized consumer campaigns to enhance the consumption and value of Norwegian seafood, undertook projects across Europe in 2022, with the premise that encouraging consumption of

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Published on
April 17, 2023

Marks and Spencer Aquaculture and Fisheries Manager Linda Wood is on a mission to use technological innovation to improve the treatment of marine animals eaten for food.

At a recent three-day seminar in Norway held jointly with Optimar, a seafood technology company based in Valderøya, Norway, Wood said it is imperative that better animal welfare standards are implemented across the seafood industry.

“Animal welfare is fast becoming

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Published on
April 5, 2023

Each year, 420 million individual prawns, shrimps, lobster, langoustine, and crab are caught in the United Kingdom and a further five billion are imported, worth a combined GBP 670 million (USD 797 million, EUR 754 million).

With the sentience of decapod crustaceans recently recognized in U.K. law through the 2021 Animal Welfare (Sentience) Act, the non-governmental organization Crustacean Compassion has taken the lead in pushing to use the law

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