One story that stole the headlines this week was IntraFish's exclusive story on Patagonia Provisions dropping a subsidiary of Canadian aquaculture giant Cooke for its use of netpens.
Patagonia's battle cry to end netpen salmon farming in the US Pacific Northwest garnered plenty of criticism from members of the aquaculture industry, who said the company is doing "little to foster a broader understanding of the great strides aquaculture has made in the past decade to become a more sustainable, environmentally responsible, industry."
Meanwhile, Danish Environment Minister Lea Wermelin is proposing two new bills that would seek an end to the expansion of traditional netpen aquaculture. If approved, the new measures are expected to take effect in January.
One solution to netpen salmon farming that has been proposed by NGOs working with Patagonia such as the Wild Fish Conservancy is to move to land-based systems. But readers were keen to read the story by IntraFish reporter Dominic Welling for why, despite an explosion of new projects, there remains much to be proven.
“With all these projects, the technology is not yet fully proven and only a few have received financing, so to get up and running there is still a lot of convincing to be done," Christopher Robin Vinter, an equity analyst at SpareBank 1 Markets, told IntraFish.
Global salmon producer Mowi made waves this week with its appointment of Fernando Villarroel as chief operating officer for its Americas farming operations following the resignation of Per-Roar Gjerde in June.
The announcement comes after the salmon farming giant landed its Alaska pollock portions in US Lidl stores, and added a US-centric seafood brand to its portfolio.
IntraFish Editor Rachel Mutter's analysis of how Australia and New Zealand are evolving salmon to meet the world's climate change crisis also garnered reader interest over the past week.
To respond to a changing climate, salmon are now being bred to be more resistant to the higher water temperatures, providing a genetic handle for a breeding program designed to create a fish for the future.
Authorities around Europe are tightening restrictions on eating and drinking establishments aimed at combating the increase in COVID cases.
That's why salmon exporters are already fretting about Christmas sales amid concern about further closures of bars, restaurants and cafes in Europe.
Back in the United States, US land-based salmon farmer AquaBounty Technologies identified Mayfield, Kentucky as the next US location for its planned large-scale farm, where it will produce its AquAdvantage genetically modified salmon.
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