Fast-growing farm-raised salmon and trout that are sterile can now be produced using a method developed by scientists from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA)'s Agricultural Research Service (ARS). The ARS says blocking reproduction can enhance growth, and is “important for fish being reared in situations where reproduction is undesirable,” hinting at situations where farmed fish escape into the wild and pose the threat of reproducing with local/endemic wild fish. The ARS fish physiologist Gregory Weber and biologist Marl Hostuttler from the ARS National Center for Cool and Cold Water Aquaculture (NCCCWA) have improved on the triploidy method used for rainbow trout, and preliminary studies have expanded its application to Atlantic salmon, brook trout and brown trout. They are also in the process of breeding these fish for experiments that will determine whether these three-chromosome-set fish are good performers in terms of production traits such as growth to market size, stress tolerance, and disease resistance. More details below...

Grieg Seafood Hjaltland’s wholly-owned UK subsidiary - ‘Hjaltland Seafarms’, the largest salmon farming and processing company in Shetland - won a court case Friday (July 23rd) against the operator of the MS Anglian Sovereign, which provided a service to the Maritime Coastguard Agency (MCA) and which ran aground on Balta Skerry, an island off the south-west coast of Shetland, on 3 September 2005. The fuel tank of the ship was fractured, allowing 84 tonnes of diesel to be discharged into the marine environment, and the salmon farming firm took the precautionary step of suspending feeding and harvesting in the vicinity for a three-day period. “What this case establishes for the industry in relation to future oil spills and any consequent suspension of feeding, is that the suspension of feeding is a recognised and appropriate course of action for the industry to take and one which is a foreseeable consequence of an oil spill,” commented on Friday Grieg Seafood Hjaltland’s MD, Michael Stark, on the Hjaltland Seafarms Ltd v. Klyne Marine Services Ltd verdict. “Furthermore, the case establishes that it is natural and foreseeable that any feeding suspension will result in a reduction in growth of the affected fish and that that loss of growth can never be made up during the life cycle of those fish. The salmon firm was awarded over £35,000 in damages, something which satisfied also the CEO of the Oslo Bors-listed parent company Grieg Seafood. More details below...

The Catfish Farmers of America are shopping a report that “seeks to create a food safety scare in order to regulate its competition out of business” - pointed out Thursday (July 22nd) the US seafood industry's main representative body, the National Fisheries Institute (NFI), which represents both US seafood (wild & farmed) producers, importers and retailers. The NFI - which has seen the report - commented that the notion that imported pangasius ('catfish') is a major contributor to antibiotic resistance in the US “is an absurd exaggeration”. The NFI points out that antibiotics are used in red meat and poultry—products that, combined per capita, Americans eat nearly 200 lbs of annually, whereas they eat 'only' 0.259 lbs per capita of imported pangasius annually. The NFI also goes on in rebutting the allegation that “imported catfish from Vietnam were “twice as likely as domestic fish to be contaminated by salmonella”...”This campaign is more of the same from a group that does not mind abusing public trust in an effort to wipe out its competition.” commented the NFI. Lets remind SeafoodIntelligence readers that lobbying in Washington DC by the US catfish producing lobby has been successful in the past, and resulted in anti-countervailing duties to be imposed on catfish imports (and an ensuing international trade WTO battle); together with the forbidding of the word 'catfish' to be applied for products containing imported siluriformes (tra, basa 'catfish' and pangasius). More details below...

Oslo Børs-listed Marine Harvest Group – the world's largest farmed salmon producer - achieved an operational EBIT (earnings before interests and tax) of NOK 792 million in the second quarter (Q2) of 2010, compared to NOK 268 million in the corresponding quarter of 2009. Earnings per share (EPS) improved from NOK -0.02 to NOK 0.21, the firm said this morning (July 21st) as it released its results. Strong demand for salmon compounded by reduced industry supply lead to increasing prices also in Q2. Harvest volumes were 68,263 tonnes compared to 83,960 tonnes in the second quarter of 2009. However Marine Harvest Norway showed a weak price achievement in the quarter, the firm adds. Based on the strong cash-flow in the first half of 2010, the Board has resolved to call an EGM in August where a half-year dividend of NOK 0.20 per share will be proposed. This morning at time of publication, the MHG shares were one of the Top 5 Best Performers of the Børs; with shares up at 6.87% at 10.59 GMT+1. Indicative of the progress made in the firm's restructure programme in the ISA disease-impacted South American country, the Chilean farming operations have in Q2 2010 achieved a break-even operational EBIT. More details below...

Attorneys General representing five Great Lakes states (Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Pennsylvania and Ohio) have on Monday (July 19th) filed a federal lawsuit against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago in efforts to force what their (Illinois-based) opponents call “short-term, costly and ineffective solutions to the prevent Asian carp from entering Lake Michigan.” The complainants argue they are seeking emergency action to block Asian carp from entering Lake Michigan, and accelerate efforts to develop a permanent solution to protect the Great Lakes; as they complain of the Army Corps' “dismal record of inaction in confronting Asian carp.” “President Obama and the Army Corps of Engineers have failed to fight Asian carp aggressively,” said Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox. “Asian carp will kill jobs and ruin our way of life. We cannot afford more bureaucratic delays - emergency action must be taken to protect the Great Lakes.” The lawsuit is supported by affidavits from experts at the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment (DNRE) and Wayne State University, and includes a motion for preliminary injunction seeking immediate action to address the threat that Asian carp will enter Lake Michigan. The imminence of this threat was made clear by the recent capture of a live bighead carp in Lake Calumet, six miles from Lake Michigan and beyond any barriers. The lawsuit has been qualified as “counterproductive” by a coalition of industry (“and concerned citizens”) - UnLock Our Jobs - whose interests lie in maintaining the Chicago locks open to commerce. Full details on the lawsuit & previous coverage below...

The European Union's fishing and aquaculture industries must not be exposed to 'unfair competition' from imports, says a resolution adopted by Parliament on July 8th 2010, which calls for fishery products to be classified as "sensitive" in global trade talks. Fisheries and aquaculture do not lend themselves to a purely free-trade approach, believe Members of the European Parliament (MEPs). European production falls well short of EU demand: already 60% is met by imports, acknowledges the resolution on the future EU fisheries import policy, drafted by Alain Cadec (EPP, FR). However, MEPs strongly insist that the future EU import arrangements must not affect the overall goal of the upcoming fisheries reform: to preserve viable fishery and aquaculture sectors. July 8th's resolution, which seeks to influence the upcoming reform of the common fisheries policy (CFP), was adopted by 374 votes to 13, with 11 abstentions. The Cadec Report emphasises - among many other things - the "urgent need" to introduce stringent and transparent criteria for the eco-certification and labelling of European fishery and aquaculture products "in order to put an end to the uncontrolled proliferation of private certification systems." When it comes to aquaculture specifically, the report's authors see: “a determined policy of supporting and developing sustainable aquaculture, with a reduced environmental impact, in the EU as one of the key aspects of a strategy to reduce dependence on fishery and aquaculture imports, stimulate economic activity in the EU and offer a more plentiful and varied supply in response to the rapidly rising demand; stresses, in this connection, the need to aggressively pursue R&D concerning European aquaculture products.” More details - EC response – below...

Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) certification for farmed seafood - such as shrimp - has become a key element of the Seafood Sustainability Policy of Kroger Co., the United States' largest traditional grocery retailer. Kroger Co. operates over 2,400 grocery retail stores in 31 U.S. states under the names of Ralphs, King Soopers, Dillons, Fry's, City Market and others. “This is an important message from one of the largest seafood retailers in the U.S., and we believe that it will have an immediate and meaningful impact in the industry,” Kroger Co.'s Seafood Sustainability Policy states. Kroger says that as part of its work with the Global Aquaculture Alliance (which creates these BAP standards), it has informed its suppliers that for all species with standards in place; “our suppliers should achieve Level 1 processing standards by the end of 2010.” Initially thus, the measures will demand that Kroger's seafood suppliers source their products from BAP-certified aquaculture facilities and will require the BAP retail mark to appear on its private-label shrimp, tilapia and channel catfish. Kroger has also urged the GAA, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) - which spearheads and co-funds the Aquaculture Dialogues, which aims also to establish what is construed by some as 'rival' standards for a dozen farmed marine species including the likes of farmed Atlantic salmon, catfish Sp. etc. - and other organisations “to work together to continuously improve farmed seafood sustainability”. Meanwhile, it also announced that it has also created a company-wide merchandising effort to promote wild-caught, sustainable Alaskan salmon. More details below...

Independent DNA tests on 240 random samples have shown that Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certified fish continues to perform well in traceability tests. All of the samples showed that they came from the fish labelled on the pack and none of the products was mislabelled. These early results establish DNA analysis as a valuable tool in combating the fraudulent use of ecolabels. As a result, the MSC plans to expand the testing of species later this year. The first DNA tests were developed for three species: Alaska salmon, Alaska pollock and South Georgia toothfish ('Chilean sea bass'). Scientists took reference samples of these three species from MSC certified fisheries and analysed their DNA profiles. Evi Mateboer, MSC supply chain manager, commented: “These results are very encouraging, not only for our existing partners but also for the future development of the sustainable fish market and those producers considering seeking MSC certification. Traceability is a very hot topic in the seafood industry: mislabelling is a recognised problem and undermines confidence in the supply chain.” Several recent reports have in recent months focused on the fact that mislabelling (whether 'accidental' or fraudulent), 'species susbtitutions' and short-weigthing (whereby consumers pay [a lot] for the ice content in frozen seafoods) were rampant (i.e. of double-digit percentage proportion) problems in the USA. Mis-labelling also represents hundreds of US$ millions in lost tax/duties income for the authorities. Some companies such as Florida-based Beaver Street Fisheries - a top Wal-Mart seafood supplier – now systematically take DNA-testing samples from all grouper shipments to ensure no species substitution has taken place. “As the momentum behind the MSC programme increases and market demand for MSC-certified products grows, so too does the incentive for fraudulent use of the MSC ecolabel,” commented last week Rupert Howes, the MSC chief executive. More details

In the first half-year (H1) of 2010, exports of Norwegian farmed Atlantic salmon increased by NOK 3.3 billion to NOK 13.9 billion compared to the same period last year. This corresponds to an impressive 31% increase on last year's figures and sets a new record for the value of Norwegian Salmon exports in a first half-year period. 279,000 tonnes were exported in H1, compared to 255,000t in H1 2009. “The growth in exports of Norwegian Salmon is attributable to an increase in both volume and price as the result of strong global demand for salmon and reduced competition,” commented Paul Aandahl, market analyst at the Norwegian Seafood Export Council (NSEC) on the release of the figures Thursday (June 8th). “Farming of Norwegian Salmon and measures to combat salmon lice have received much media attention in Norway in 2010,” added Christian Chramer, NSEC director of information. “In the international media, with the exception of a French TV documentary [NB: click here for SeafoodIntelligence's Top Article last week], these issues have attracted very little attention outside Norway. We take the criticisms that have been made extremely seriously, but to date there has been no negative impact on buying patterns or preference for Norwegian Salmon.” The biggest export markets for fresh whole Norwegian salmon continue to be France and Poland. The Russian market grew by 60%, while exports of salmon fillets to the USA shot by a whopping 104%, fuelled by the shortfall in supply from ISA disease-stricken Chile. Exports of overall Norwegian seafood in H1 2010 totalled NOK 24 billion, marking also the highest export value ever recorded for a first half-year period, said the NSEC. Salted fish & clipfish exports were up, but mackerel & herring exports values were down 8%, due to falling prices. More details below...