With odd advertising campaigns, breakthroughs fighting disease, and small fish causing big problems, it's been a busy year in the international seafood industry. Here are some of this year's biggest stories reported on SeafoodSource.
10) From the strange to the tongue-in-cheek, two ad campaigns show us there is no limit to the imagination of European seafood promoters. Earlier this year, the Norwegian Seafood Council presented an amusing series of commercials showcasing performance artists pretending to be Human Sushi, as a way of promoting Norwegian sushi products. More recently, FishLove presented an eye-catching series of photos in its annual campaign featuring naked celebrities cradling various sea creatures, geared toward promoting sustainable fishing practices. Both campaigns turned heads and were met with mixed reactions from the general public.
9) An ongoing dispute over sea lice in Irish salmon pens is becoming more controversial as time goes on. What started as an investigation by the European Commission into the problem has led to an internal investigation by the Irish government into allegations that some public officials withheld a key report on the problem to the commission, in order to hide how bad the problem is. Now, both the commission and the Irish government are investigating to see what, if anything, was covered up.
8) An unexpected drama unfolded this year over the fate of Peruvian fishmeal and fish oil producer Copeinca. China Fishery Group made headlines in February with its takeover attempt, seen by one of our writers as a possible first of many such acquisitions to happen in the next few years. Then, out of the blue, Norwegian fish farmer Cermaq also submitted an unsolicited bid, but later withdrew amid efforts by rival Marine Harvest to buy out Cermaq itself. In the end, China Fishery wound up buying the Peruvian company, securing a needed supply of fishmeal.
7) A pollock fishery in the Russian Sea of Okhotsk came under scrutiny earlier this year when the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) listed it as worthy of certification as a sustainable fishery. That drew criticism from a number of groups, including the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). The groups said the fishery should demonstrate better catch accounting, and offer stronger evidence that it wasn't having an adverse effect on the environment. In the end, an independent adjudicator overrode the objections and cleared the fishery for certification.
6) An unlikely collection of corporate leaders, government officials, scientists, educators and environmental activist groups assembled to form a panel to discuss the future of the world's oceans, and over several months, created a series of standards that could shape the future of millions of dollars in investment in fisheries improvement projects worldwide. The panel, organized in part by the World Bank, issued a report with its recommendations in October.
5) In June, the United States State Department put Thailand on its Tier 2 watch list for human trafficking for the fourth year in a row. According to the department, Thailand has not done enough to curb the widespread problem. The department's report came a month after the Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF) issued its own report, citing interviews with people alleging to be victims of trafficking in the Thai fishing industry. According to the EJF, victims were lured onto fishing boats, then taken out to sea to work long hours for little to no pay. Those who objected were often bound, beaten and, in extreme cases, murdered on board.
4) The European Parliament cleared its final procedural hurdle this year to approving an updated version of the European Union's common fisheries policy (CFP). A series of guidelines for regulation of the fishing industry, various environmental protection groups, including Greenpeace and the World Wildlife Fund, have argued the CFP was long overdue for an update. Those critics gave mixed reviews to the new CFP, welcoming the change but charging that not enough has been done. Among the key changes were a new discards ban, and a promise of a more decentralized control system, giving more authority to regional officials.
3) A dispute between the European Union and Iceland and the Faroe Islands over mackerel has been going on for years now, but things reached a fever pitch over the summer, when E.U. officials finally fulfilled their promise to levy trade sanctions. The E.U. has accused Iceland and the Faroes of overfishing the stocks, while both countries have said the stocks in their waters have increased significantly due to migrations northward. With sanctions in place against the Faroes, and more promised against Iceland, all parties are now in the middle of last-minute negotiations to try to keep the situation, dubbed the "Mackerel Wars," from getting any worse.
2) Perhaps the most shocking corporate seafood industry news came from Pescanova, starting in February, when the Spanish seafood giant declined to disclose its debts as required by Spanish law. That triggered an investigation that unraveled a long series of practices regulators are describing as massive malfeasance and fraud that may have been going on for years. Over the months since, the investigation has created a media firestorm, both in Spain and beyond, and called the company's future into question. It has led to the resignation of the company's chairman, Manuel Fernandez de Sousa, along with the company's entire board of directors, and the legal battle, both in criminal and civil court, is ongoing.
1) A landmark scientific breakthrough may have signaled the beginning of the end of the shrimp disease known as acute hepatopancreatic necrotic syndrome, more commonly known as early
