INDUSTRY NEWS
The Asean bloc still has the appetite for Vietnamese pangasius as it emerged the fourth-top buyer during the first seven months, according to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers.
THAILAND TOP IMPORTER
Asean 4th-largest buyer of Vietnam pangasius
Vietnamese pangasius exports to the Asean region during the first seven months were valued at US$79.8 million, up 0.2% compared with the same period last year.
Within the bloc, Thailand, Singapore and the Philippines emerged as the top three buyers, recording year-on-year increases of 1.3%; 1.6% and 4.4%, respectively, according to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers. During this period, Asean was the fourth-largest importer of Vietnamese pangasius, after the US, EU and China-Hong Kong.
Vietnam mainly exported frozen pangasius fillets and frozen pangasius steak to fellow Asean members, which also include Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia and Myanmar. In particular, Thailand was the largest importer, accounting for 35.8% of Vietnamese exports to the region and 3.1% of total pangasius exports of Vietnam.
Vietnamese pangasius exports to Asean in the fourth quarter are expected to increase 10% over the same period in 2015.
REDUCED ANTI-DUMPING DUTY
India sees rise in shrimp exports to US
The US government has reduced its anti-dumping duty on Indian frozen shrimp imports, leading Indian exporters to predict a rise in shrimp shipments.
"The final average duty is fixed at 2.2%. The preliminary duty finalised earlier was 4.98%. The reduction will open up opportunities for small exporters, too," Ajay Dash, president, Seafood Exporters Association of India, Odisha region, was quoted as saying in a news report by Business Standard.
Dash added that his association was trying to have the duty eventually scrapped.
Frozen shrimp continued to be the principal item exported to US, with 94% (of total seafood exports) in dollar value. Export of Vannamei shrimp rose 22.5% in quantity but dropped by 5.3% in dollar terms. Similarly, export of black tiger shrimp improved by 6.6% in quantity but decreased by 30.3% in dollar earnings," a recent official statement said.
The US is India's largest market for frozen shrimp (134,144 tonnes), followed by the European Union (81,849 tonnes), Southeast Asia (65,188 tonnes), Japan (34,204 tonnes), West Asia (17,477 tonnes), China (9,542 tonnes) and others (31,464 tonnes).
FIGHT AGAINST SEA LICE
Mucosal mapping method wins GAA innovation award
Norway's Quantidoc AS is the winner of the Global Aquaculture Alliance's (GAA) fourth annual Preferred Freezer Services Global Aquaculture Innovation & Leadership Award.University of Bergen Prof. Karin Pittman (pictured below) will accept the award for Quantidoc's mucosal mapping technology at GAA's GOAL 2016 conference at the White Swan Hotel in Guangzhou, China, on Thursday, Sept. 22. She will give a presentation after being presented with a plaque and a US$1,000 cash prize.
Quantidoc is the commercialisation of Pittman's fish biology research, which employs stereology to measure and better understand mucous on gill, gut and skin tissues--the first line of defense for fish. These tissues are crucial in the fight against aquatic diseases and parasites like sea lice, a major challenge for the salmon farming industry.
The application was submitted by Quantidoc CEO Ole Jacob Myre. Quantidoc is a commercially functioning unit, not just an idea.
"We are very pleased and proud to receive this award from GAA, because the goal of the program aligns with ours, namely providing the solid basis for a sustainable aquaculture industry," said Pittman. "If we can strengthen the barrier tissues of skin, gills and guts, then all our animals will grow better and with better health. Mucosal mapping is a very good addition to the aquaculture toolbox, and we look forward to using it to help farmers raise healthy animals."
"Quantidoc's technology for non-sacrificial evaluation of the health status of fish is a valuable new tool to improve the management of disease, a primary factor limiting the growth of aquaculture," said GAA President George Chamberlain, one of the four judges.
This is the third consecutive year that Preferred Freezer Services has sponsored the award. GAA--an international, nonprofit trade association dedicated to advancing environmentally and socially responsible aquaculture--established the award in 2012 to recognise those who are finding new solutions to the challenges faced by aquaculture as well as those who provide the leadership required to champion such developments in responsible aquaculture.
This year, GAA received eight applications for the award. Four of the nominations were for forward-thinking individuals whose leadership advanced an aquaculture-related cause. Two involved advancements in shrimp breeding, while another nomination involved seaweed bacterial engineering resulting in a bacterial supplement that reduces the need for antibiotics and increases production and survivability in farmed shrimp.
Last year's recipient was Werner Jost, director of Camanor Produtos Marinhos Ltda. in Brazil. Camanor's AquaScience® technology and its high-density, land-based facility in Natal, Brazil, recycles water for multiple production cycles while preventing environmental degradation and the use of chemicals or antibiotics. The 2014 recipient was Rodrigo Prado, a civil engineer and director of USONIC Ltda. in Puerto Montt, Chile, and the 2013 recipient was Dr. Amir Sagi, a professor at Ben Gurion University of the Negev in Israel.
FROM €3.5M TO €7M
Estonian fish exporters aim to double shipments to Japan
Estonian fish exporters aim to double their sales to Japan in 2017 from this year's exports, which are estimated to reach €3.5 million (US$3.9 million).
Valdur Noormägi, manager of the Estonian Association of Fishery, said this on the first day of a recent fish fair in Tokyo, Japan, adding "interest in Estonian fish products is absolutely there", The Fish Site reported.
Mr Noormägi said the Estonian fish products being sold in the Japanese market include sprats in oil, sprats in tomato sauce, salmon products and smoked eel fillets.
The association, meanwhile, is helping local fish processor Avektra OÜ--one of the largest companies in the Estonian fish processing industry--find non-EU markets for its range of salmon and trout products, which have already found their way to the German, Swedish, Danish and other EU markets, as well as to Ukraine, Belarus and other former Soviet Union countries.
The Estonian Association of Fishery currently has more than 30 member entities including Arso EE As, Avektra OÜ, Freshrex Group OÜ, Interfish Balti AS, Kajax Fishexport AS and Saare Fishexport OU.
SMALL FARMERS AFFECTED
Pollution causes fishkill in Vietnam
Some 72,000 fish raised in 800 cages in Vietnam's Phu Yen province have died due to water pollution, concerned officials said.
The dead fish accounted for almost 90% of the total fish raised by 100 households in An Ninh Dong commune in the province's Tuy An district, according to a report by fis.com.
Officials said the fishkill resulted in a loss of VNÐ2 billion (US$89,680).
Based on results of the tests taken on samples of the dead fish, the fishkill was caused by Vibrio bacteria contamination due to water pollution, said Pham Ngoc Tuan, vice chairman of the commune's People's Committee.
WORLD'S FIRST
Evonik opens shrimp feed plant in Antwerp
Chemicals giant Evonik has inaugurated the world's first plant for the production of a new source of methionine specifically for shrimp and other crustaceans.
The product, sold under the name AQUAVI® Met-Met, is an aquaculture feed additive to make shrimp farming more efficient and sustainable. The plant's modular design allows for increasing production capacity in order to meet customer demand, Evonik said in a press release.
"With AQUAVI® Met-Met, we are launching another product for healthy and sustainable animal nutrition. Based on our scientific and technological expertise, we have developed a product innovation that we can now offer to our customers worldwide," said Dr. Reiner Beste, chairman of the board of management of Evonik Nutrition & Care GmbH, at the inauguration ceremony.
Since shrimp farming is concentrated in warmer seas close to the equator, the main markets for AQUAVI® Met-Met are located in Asia as well as in South and Central America. Evonik said it has begun to supply customers from these regions with the new product as the plant is ramped up to capacity.
We are pleased that Evonik built the first production facility for AQUAVI® Met-Met in Antwerp," said Frank Daman, Evonik site manager in Antwerp. "The new plant affirms our site's key position in Evonik's global production network for methionine." The Antwerp site, with its harbor, is seen as an ideal hub for shipping the product to customers worldwide.
AQUAVI® Met-Met is produced in conjunction with an existing methionine plant in a fully backward-integrated process. Evonik said the environmentally friendly production process is water-based and uses no organic solvents.
AQUAVI® Met-Met, a dipeptide made up of two DL-methionine molecules, achieves the same weight increase in shrimp and crustaceans as conventional methionine sources, but uses only half the active substance. "This is mainly due to the fact that the dipeptide must be enzymatically broken down in the digestive system of the shrimp and is therefore available for protein synthesis at the right time. That in turn means that a higher share can be processed", Evonik said. In addition, AQUAVI® Met-Met is considerably less water-soluble than other methionine sources and therefore does not leach out of feed as quickly. This relieves the burden on the water.
Evonik has over 60 years of experience in the manufacture of essential amino acids and their derivatives.
TO BUILD MORE FARMS
NZ firm King Salmon to raise US$22M from IPO
New Zealand King Salmon hopes to raise some NZ$30 million (US$21.94 million) from its initial public offering (IPO) to build more farms and boost sales to Asia and the US.
The firm's chief executive, Grant Rosewarne said the float would see majority shareholder Oregon Group shed its shareholding from 51% to 40%, while Oregon Group has yet to decide how much of its 42% stake to sell, according to a newsstory posted on scoop.co.nz.
Three new salmon farms are planned to be built in the Marlborough Sounds with the new capital raised. These are expected to increase the company's harvests of salmon to around 9,500 tonnes by 2021 from the present 6,300 tonnes.
The three-decade-old company will list on both the New Zealand and Australian stock exchanges.
LATEST RECOGNITION
Thai Union awarded ESG100 by Thaipat
Leading seafood supplier Thai Union Group has received the ESG100 award (Environmental, Social and Governance) from the Thaipat Institute.
The award recognises the Group's induction into the top 100 publicly listed companies which the Thaipat Institute assessed from out of 621 Thai firms.
Dr. Darian McBain, group director of sustainable development, received the ESG100 award on behalf of Thai Union from Sutisha Charoenngam, deputy director of Thaipat, at the Thai Union Group office in Bangkok, Thailand.
The ESG100 list is based on six data sources: corporate social responsibility as reflected in the annual report, TISCO ESG Investment Fund, data used for the granting of Sustainability Report Awards, CG Scoring surveys, sustainability development ratings, and Media and Stakeholder Analysis.
MARCOS MOYA
BAP manager of supply dev't relocates to Europe
The Global Aquaculture Alliance's Best Aquaculture Practices division has announced that it is repositioning its international business development team with the relocation of Marcos Moya, BAP's manager of supply development, to Europe, specifically Valencia, Spain.
Being based in Spain, according to BAP, would allow him to focus more on the alliance's business development activities in the European marketplace while continuing to work on BAP's supply development activities in Latin America, Asia and other regions.
Moya has been instrumental in BAP's growth. Since joining GAA on a full-time basis in January 2015, the number of BAP-certified processing plants, farms, hatcheries and feed mills ballooned from 881 to 1,325, as of the end of July 2016. He has also overseen the development of BAP's iBAP program—designed to provide assistance and encouragement to aquaculture facilities interested in pursuing BAP certification—since its inception in January 2015. So far, more than 60 facilities have graduated from iBAP, and more than 50 facilities are currently enrolled in the programme.
In Europe, Moya will work with BAP's market development team, including UK-based Mike Berthet, to assist BAP's retail and foodservice partners, with sourcing responsibly farmed and processed seafood. Currently, more than 100 retail and foodservice companies worldwide are committed to sourcing seafood from BAP-certified facilities.
"Committed to our objective to expand responsible aquaculture worldwide, we will strengthen our European team, offering the European marketplace the opportunity to support and promote BAP certification to their supply chain", Moya said.
