Santa Monica Seafood, a family-owned seafood company based in Santa Monica, California, made a donation to Alaska Sea Grant for its research program aimed at rebuilding Alaska’s collapsed red and blue king crab stocks.
David Christie, director of Alaska Sea Grant, welcomed the donation. Chistie said the money will be used to support research being done by the Alaska King Crab Research, Rehabilitation and Biology Program (AKCRRAB), a partnership between Alaska Sea Grant, regional fishermen's groups, coastal communities, NOAA Fisheries, the Alutiiq Pride Shellfish Hatchery and Chugach Regional Resources Commission, and the UAF School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences.
Drawing on lessons learned each year, AKCRRAB scientists at the Alutiiq Pride Hatchery in Seward, Alaska, have steadily applied what they’ve learned about water temperature, flow rate, and artificial habitat to improve larval survival and hatchery productivity. They also experimented with types of food as well as feeding procedures for growing crab larvae. This year, 2.7 million red king crab successfully hatched from some 18 female red king crab.
Understanding the details of hatching and raising king crab in a hatchery is considered by commercial fishermen and researchers as a key step toward providing state fishery managers with the information they need to decide whether hatchery enhancement can help rebuild depleted king crab stocks.
source: Alaska Sea Grant
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Scottish Mussels Awarded FoS Certification
Scottish Shellfish Marketing Group (SSMG) rope grown mussels are the first farmed seafood in the UK to be awarded Friend of the Sea (FoS) certification.
The SSMG group consists of 14 mussel farms which are located on the Scottish west coast and Shetland. SSMG represents about 70% of total Scottish mussel production.
SSMG mussels are collected naturally as tiny free-swimming larvae or spat from the sea on lines suspended in open water. They then grow naturally by feeding on plankton carried by currents off the Scottish west coast and Shetland.
The SSMG group consists of 14 mussel farms which are located on the Scottish west coast and Shetland. SSMG represents about 70% of total Scottish mussel production.
SSMG mussels are collected naturally as tiny free-swimming larvae or spat from the sea on lines suspended in open water. They then grow naturally by feeding on plankton carried by currents off the Scottish west coast and Shetland.
Sunday, September 26, 2010
FDA Hears Comments on Genetically Modified Salmon
AquAdvantage salmon, developed by Aqua Bounty Technologies, Inc., are genetically modified (GM) to grow twice as fast as conventional Atlantic salmon and are as safe to eat as other Atlantic salmon, U.S. regulators said as they weighed approval of the first DNA-altered animal for Americans' dinner plates.
According to the FDA, it saw "no biologically relevant differences" in vitamins, minerals or fatty acids and is highly unlikely to cause “significant harm” to the environment.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has set a three-day public meeting starting 19 September on the DNA-altered fish. If approved, this decision will open the flood gates for approval of any and all genetically engineered animals including trout, tilapia and hogs.
Farmed salmon opponents site numerous concerns including: current harm by fish farms to wild salmon and water quality; farmed fish are less nutritious than wild fish; farmed salmon devalues wild salmon and, as a result, flowing rivers; and fish escaped from fish farms may compete with wild populations.
Massachusetts-based Aqua Bounty says the technology could boost the nation's fish sector and reduce pressure on the environment from overfishing. Ronald Stotish, the company's President and Chief Executive said the genetically modified fish can become a sustainable source of food for an exploding global population.
source: Fishlink Sublegals
According to the FDA, it saw "no biologically relevant differences" in vitamins, minerals or fatty acids and is highly unlikely to cause “significant harm” to the environment.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has set a three-day public meeting starting 19 September on the DNA-altered fish. If approved, this decision will open the flood gates for approval of any and all genetically engineered animals including trout, tilapia and hogs.
Farmed salmon opponents site numerous concerns including: current harm by fish farms to wild salmon and water quality; farmed fish are less nutritious than wild fish; farmed salmon devalues wild salmon and, as a result, flowing rivers; and fish escaped from fish farms may compete with wild populations.
Massachusetts-based Aqua Bounty says the technology could boost the nation's fish sector and reduce pressure on the environment from overfishing. Ronald Stotish, the company's President and Chief Executive said the genetically modified fish can become a sustainable source of food for an exploding global population.
source: Fishlink Sublegals
Thursday, September 23, 2010
2010 Florida Cedar Key Seafood Festival
For 2010, the 41st Annual Cedar Key Seafood Festival will be held at Cedar Key City Park on October 16 and 17. The festival celebrates the area's fishing heritage with two days of seafood, music, and fun.
The festival features a variety of booths selling local seafood. Cedar Key church groups, school clubs, nonprofits, and oyster and clamming associations are expected to serve fresh grouper sandwiches, oysters, clams, clam fritters, crab cakes, smoked mullet, and all the trimmings. The festival also featured over 200 arts and crafts exhibits, live music, and a parade on Saturday morning.
The historic Seahorse Key Lighthouse is hosting an open house on both days of the festival. The lighthouse is the oldest still standing on Florida's west coast. Visitors can tour the lighthouse, look at the exhibits, and explore the island, which is part of the Cedar Keys National Wildlife Refuge.
The Cedar Key Seafood Festival takes place Saturday and Sunday, October 16 and 17, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day.
For information, contact Thelma McCain at (352) 543-5436 or visit www.cedarkey.org/events.html
source: FDACS press release
The festival features a variety of booths selling local seafood. Cedar Key church groups, school clubs, nonprofits, and oyster and clamming associations are expected to serve fresh grouper sandwiches, oysters, clams, clam fritters, crab cakes, smoked mullet, and all the trimmings. The festival also featured over 200 arts and crafts exhibits, live music, and a parade on Saturday morning.
The historic Seahorse Key Lighthouse is hosting an open house on both days of the festival. The lighthouse is the oldest still standing on Florida's west coast. Visitors can tour the lighthouse, look at the exhibits, and explore the island, which is part of the Cedar Keys National Wildlife Refuge.
The Cedar Key Seafood Festival takes place Saturday and Sunday, October 16 and 17, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day.
For information, contact Thelma McCain at (352) 543-5436 or visit www.cedarkey.org/events.html
source: FDACS press release
MSC Blue Label Awarded to Osprey Trawlers North Sea Twin-rigged Plaice Fishery
The Osprey Trawlers North Sea Twin-rigged plaice fishery has been awarded the Marine Stewardship Council certificate, making it the second North Sea plaice fishery to achieve MSC certification for sustainable and well-managed fisheries. The vessels of the Osprey Group will from now be able to affix the blue MSC ecolabel to their catches.
The fishery targets plaice (Pleuronectes platessa) using twin-rigged demersal trawl in the north east Atlantic. Its vessels catch approximately 2,000 Metric Tonnes annually (about 3% of EU North Sea quota). The Osprey Group's fishing season runs from 1 April to 15 November in order to avoid the spawning season for plaice.
The use of twin otter trawls to fish for plaice is a relatively recent innovation. The main reason for the change to twin rigs is the reduction in fuel used and improved condition of the landed fish. The nets have a number of features designed to reduce the discarding of unwanted by-catch and to reduce the impact on the sea floor. To protect the sea bed the Osprey Group avoids fishing in a number of areas which correspond with those previously closed by Ekofish Group.
The plaice is landed at Urk and Insula in The Netherlands but supplies markets selling whole and filleted (fresh & frozen), and breaded plaice fillets throughout the EU.
The plaice is a type of flatfish with a smooth brown or greenish brown upper-side with many vivid orange spots and bony knobs behind the eyes. Mostly nocturnal, they feed on bottom-living animals.
The fishery targets plaice (Pleuronectes platessa) using twin-rigged demersal trawl in the north east Atlantic. Its vessels catch approximately 2,000 Metric Tonnes annually (about 3% of EU North Sea quota). The Osprey Group's fishing season runs from 1 April to 15 November in order to avoid the spawning season for plaice.
The use of twin otter trawls to fish for plaice is a relatively recent innovation. The main reason for the change to twin rigs is the reduction in fuel used and improved condition of the landed fish. The nets have a number of features designed to reduce the discarding of unwanted by-catch and to reduce the impact on the sea floor. To protect the sea bed the Osprey Group avoids fishing in a number of areas which correspond with those previously closed by Ekofish Group.
The plaice is landed at Urk and Insula in The Netherlands but supplies markets selling whole and filleted (fresh & frozen), and breaded plaice fillets throughout the EU.
The plaice is a type of flatfish with a smooth brown or greenish brown upper-side with many vivid orange spots and bony knobs behind the eyes. Mostly nocturnal, they feed on bottom-living animals.
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