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.
Author Archive
Chris Aurand is a Bangkok, Thailand-based open innovation leader at Thai Union Group and has a front-row seat to the innovation occurring Asia’s seafood industry. He will be speaking at the Asia Pacific Agri-Food Innovation Summit in Singapore from 31 October to 2 November and, in advance of that event, spoke to SeafoodSource about what’s emerging from the region’s seafood innovators.
SeafoodSource: There have been a bevy of
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Oceana, a Washington, D.C., U.S.A.-based environmental nonprofit, has described China’s self-imposed bans on its squid fleet as a PR stunt that does nothing to address overfishing, with analysis from the NGO finding that these annual bans avoid areas where Chinese vessels actually fish.
In 2022, China introduced a voluntary ban on squid fishing lasting from 1 July to 30 September in the high seas of the North Indian Ocean outside the
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Irish fisheries representatives have claimed that Norway inflated its mackerel stock data to trade quota with the U.K. in a deal that, in addition to engaging in IUU practices, doesn’t include E.U. coastal member states like Ireland.
Norway State Secretary Vidar Ulriksen, a vocal opponent of Irish criticism, retorted that the allegations are “completely unsubstantiated and incorrect,” telling SeafoodSource that the press
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The continually worsening Chinese economy, amid increased scrutiny toward companies listed on stock exchanges, has prompted the cancelation of an initial public offering (IPO) listing from Ocean Family, one of the country’s most ambitious tuna and squid fishing and processing firms.
Zhejiang-based Ocean Family, also known by its Mandarin name Da Yang Shi Jia, recently canceled its listing on the Shanghai Stock Exchange after the
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Following a recent ban on all Japanese seafood imports into China due to the controversial release of treated cooling water into the Pacific Ocean from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, international seafood suppliers and domestic producers alike are lining up to fill the gap in supply.
China, including Hong Kong, bought 42 percent of Japan’s seafood exports prior to the ban, and the relationship was mutual, as Japan has
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China’s recent embrace of deepwater mariculture is generating massive opportunities for the country’s seafood industry, but it’s also presenting challenges for certification bodies, which are finding it difficult to assess these facilities properly.
China has been doubling down on deepwater offshore mariculture and pushing major expansions of the sector in recent years. Major state corporations, including Shandong Marine Group
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Chinese companies and multinational krill exporters alike are extolling the health benefits of krill oil, heavily marketing the product to China’s aging population as a cure to many of the demographic’s ailments.
This advertising push comes amid an outcry from environmentalists, stating that geopolitical tensions have prevented the further protection of already fragile Antarctic marine ecosystems where trawlers harvest the tiny
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Chinese seafood processors are sounding the alarm over fears of a supply glut, labor issues, high inflation, and weak demand.
They’re claiming they have experienced potentially irreparable damage from the Covid-19 pandemic, from which some fear they might never fully recover.
David Jiang, managing director at Unibond Seafood International, which sources seafood in China for European customers, is predicting a dire outlook for the sector
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Sweeping sea views from a hotel window, with a steaming cup of coffee on a glass table, are not images one typically associated with a deepwater fish farming facility, but that’s exactly how Chinese news outlets have advertised the new Min Tou Number 1 fish farm, billing the facility as the future of Chinese mariculture.
The footage from the Min Tou Number 1 platform, shown on provincial and national broadcast news recently, depicts
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At a company event at its headquarters in Chengdu, China, in June 2023, Tongwei Foods President Chen Bo announced a trebling of the conglomerate’s processed seafood sales in 2022.
Tongwei, which is a major player in solar power and which has installed panels above many of its aquaculture facilities, has been keen to improve on its profit margins and shift away from reliance on its staple, low-margin aquafeed business. Tongwei recorded a
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