Thursday, Sept. 18, 16.00 pm GMT
Top tips for breaking into China
The United Kingdom’s fish exports into China are increasing year-on-year at a rapid pace, and already in the first half of 2014 have reached £60 million – 75 percent more than this time last year.
This is due to a number of reasons – the rise in urbanization, consumerism, extreme wealth, middle classes in China to name a few – and Claire Urry, executive director at the China-Britain Business Council, said that with these large opportunities it is important businesses know how to access the market.
“Bringing product to market is difficult in China, there are many issue you have to address first.” Brand protection is first but also it is important to get the infamous China inspection and Quarantine services, which are extremely risk averse, said Urry. Businesses also need to realize China is not just one market, but a number of markets and regions and the distribution channels are fragmented and complex.
“It would be a good idea to get a good, experienced partner in China, but a lot of it is about personal relationships and mutual trust,” said Urry.
“The key is to take it easy, don’t jump in both feet first,” she said.
-- Dominic Welling
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Thursday, Sept. 18, 15.45 pm GMT
Lower EU processing hits Norwegian whitefish suppliers
“Whitefish processors in Norway and Europe in general have lost money,” Jack-Robert Moller, director UK at the Norwegian Seafood Council (NSC), said.
"This is because in the last few years there has been a huge reduction of processing capacity in Europe, while at the same time there has been a big increase in China, which saw an increase fueled by production yield and lower production costs."
Nevertheless, Norway's exports to Europe have been on the growth path -- led by salmon.
In total, EU seafood imports in the last 10 years remained stable with a 40 increase.
Norway has biggest share of exports with 22 percent, followed by China with 11 percent, Vietnam with 6 percent, the United States with 5 percent, and Iceland with 4 percent. Fifty-two percent of exports was made up of "others."
In terms of whitefish, Moller is predicting three trends emerging in the coming years.
“The rise of 3D scanning in water cutting will improve whitefish production,” he said.
“We can also expect to see an extension to the fishing season, with the same quota bonus from last year in 2015.”
Offshore vessels are showing innovations, Moller told the audience, pointing to an example of an inshore fleet project which finds better ways to handle fish in order to give better quality on land.
For the future, frozen-at-sea will remain a very important sector of Norway's fishery, with last year seeing an increase of price of frozen-at-sea cod fillets, he said.
-- Andrew Cumner-Price
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Thursday, Sept. 18, 14.35 pm GMT
Russia aims to boost landings to 5 million metric tons by 2020
Russia’s fishing industry is currently the fifth largest in the world landing around 4.3 million metric tons in 2013, but the government plans to boost this number to 5 million in the next five years, according to Alexey Pchelintsev from Eurofish.
At the same time, the Russian government is on a mission to bolster fish consumption in the country from its current level of 22 kilos per capita -- 2.1 million metric tons of fish was consumed in 2013 -- to 28 kilos per capita in 2020.
Of this 2.1 million metric tons of annual demand, 333,000 metric is for pelagics species, 300,000 metric tons is for Alaska pollock and there is a demand for 200,000 metric tons of Pacific salmon.
The market consumes around 120,000 metric tons of cod and haddock on a yearly basis, said Pchelintsev.
In 2013, Russia imported 1.02 million metric tons of fish and in the first half of 2014 this figure is already 587,000 metric tons. In terms of exports the country shipped 1.9 million metric tons in 2013 said Pchelintsev and in the first half of 2014 it has already exported 1.2 million metric tons.
As for aquaculture, however, Russia currently ranks 38th in the world in terms of volume with 140,000 metric tons, said Pchelintsev, but the government has big plans to increase this to 410,000 by 2020, he said.
“The government is planning subsidies to invest in smolt, factories, farms, storage, and infrastructure to develop this industry under the State Aquaculture Development Plan.”
-- Dominic Welling
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Thursday, Sept. 18, 14.00 pm GMT
Iceland continues focus on on-land processing
Jonas R Vidarsson, research group leader for Matis, said Iceland is continuing its focus on land-based processing, especially for fresh fillets.
Icelandic suppliers will see more investments in wetfish trawlers and investments in automation and processing capabilities, he said.
Automatic trimming and pin bone removal, CBC and super-chilling were seen as priorities, he said, while more factory trawlers are being decommissioned in the future.
While the stock outlook for Icelandic cod, with quotas gradually being increased, Vidarsson did not foresee the poor haddock stock improving any time soon.
-- Andrew Cumner-Price
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Thursday, Sept. 18, 13.45 pm GMT
ASC touts growth success
“I’m here to tell you that credible certification programs, with rigorous systems of farm assessments, are good tools that can generate impact,” began the Aquaculture Stewardship Council’s Esther Luiten her address at today's Humber Seafood Summit.
“Consumer trust requires info about origin and a credible label,” Luiten said.
Luiten told delegates about the progress the ASC had made in its two years of running. It began with the development of eight standards, with seven of them now active across 88 total certified farms.
“Producers in Vietnam have reinforced the ponds, with less escapes, these have had positive impacts, such as mortality dropped by 10 percent,” she said.
Other examples of certification boards fueling change were shown with the Global Salmon Initiative (GSI).
With 18 members worldwide, it leads by three principles; sustainability, transparency and cooperation, with three priority areas; bio-security, feed and ASC salmon standard by 2020.
Luiten also spoke about the ASC feed program, saying there is a need to “have clear, measurable and auditable requirements for the responsible sourcing of raw materials, and responsible operational practices in order to minimize key environmental and social impacts.”
Getting producers standards higher through improvements progress will lead to recognition in the media, she promised.
-- Andrew Cumner-Price
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Thursday, Sept. 18, 12.36 pm GMT
GAA mulls over zonal management standard
Zone management could become "BAP's fifth star," Dan Lee of the Global Aquaculture Alliance (GAA), said.
Talking about the achievements and challenges of aquaculture at the Humber Seafood Summit, he said while progress has been made with the sustainability of feed, the collaborative efforts of different certification boards such as ASC, GlobalGAP and BAP and other issues, there are a number of issues still to be tackled.
The most pressing one, he said, was what he called "zonal issues" and includes disease and sealice.
He proposed a "zonal management standard," which would contain a technical committee which will focus on conditions that lead to disease, and recommends counter=-measures such as quarantine zones.
“The picture [on aquaculture] is good but there is still some work to be done.”
-- Andrew Cumner-Price
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Thursday, Sept. 18, 12.21 pm GMT
ASC working on own fish feed certification
The Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC), sister to the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), is working on new standards for feed which it hopes to launch in 2015.
According to Andrew Jackson from IFFO, the ASC is looking to use other standards within its own, of which IFFO's RS standard wants to be part.
“I am an advocate of the Russian Doll principle, whereby we can combine different certification standards within one another,” he said.
Jackson said the problem at the moment is there is a plethora of standards at the moment, all certifying different parts of the chain, be it the fishery, social conditions on vessels, the factory, the farming, the processing. Current standards include MSC, RFS, IFFO RS, FOS, but “can you do with one standard for everything?” asked Jackson.
“There is a growing need for it, none of them are perfect,” said Jackson.
In particular, Jackson highlighted the recent uproar in Thailand over the poor conditions on boats used to supply fishmeal producers and trash fish.
“We are very underrepresented in Asia,” he said. Only one plant is IFFO RS certified while many others are not certified by anybody.
“Many Asian fisheries are multi species, and new approaches are needed. We are working with the Asia Pacific Fisheries Commission’s guidelines of getting rid of trash fish and poor social conditions on fishing vessels.”
-- Dominic Welling
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Thursday, Sept. 18, 12.13 pm GMT
Increasing use of trimmings in fish oil
More than 30 percent of global fishmeal/fish oil is now coming from trimmings, according to Andrew Jackson from IFFO.
Approximately six million metric tons of marine ingredients are produced worldwide.
At the moment, IFFO’s RS standard covers 42 percent of factories producing fishmeal, the MSC certifies 7 percent while FoS covers around 8 percent.
-- Dominic Welling
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Thursday, Sept. 18, 11.29 am GMT
Let them eat hake
“Media coverage hasn’t done us any favors”, claimed Louise Vaughan of Accelris, “but there’s some fantastic messages that aren’t being told in this industry.”
The fishing industry needed to work with the media to deliver positive messages, to prevent headlines such as “only 100 adult cod left in the North Sea”, which the room agreed was possibly the worst researched article of all time.
“There are lots of opportunities to bring together the organizers in this sector to project a positive message,” Vaughan said, pointing to Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s use of twitter and Youtube as an example.
“The general public doesn't really understand how the industry works, the fishing industry has done a lot of work over the last 10 years to improve sustainability, and we need to use all available media channels to sway political opinion to our side of the story.”
The National Federation of Fisherman's Organisation's (NFFO) 'Let them eat hake' campaign was cited as a success, which has lead to the NFFO receiving over 500 pieces of positive coverage in main stream media in the last couple of months, though Vaughan said the campaign could have been improved by “teaming with a retailer.”
Vaughan also pointed to the Saucy Fish’s Get Saucy campaign as another success, which has taken an 18-months old brand and is now “listed amongst Britain’s coolest brands.”
Twitter, Vaughan said, is also underused.
“There are 15 million active Twitter users in the UK, if you’re not on there, there’s a big conversation you’re missing out on,” she said.
Vaughan closed her address by offering the opportunity to join the “#CatchOfTheDay campaign,” which is currently looking for support.
The campaign aims to highlight the diversity of UK fleet and the entire industry.
-- Andrew Cumner-Price
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Thursday, Sept. 18 11:15 am GMT
Different fish diets do not impact health benefits of farmed salmon
Replacing fish oil with vegetable oil in fish feed has no obvious downside when it comes to the health benefits of eating farmed fish for consumers, according to Dr Baukje De Roos, from the University of Aberdeen.
Researchers at the university undertook a study on the health effects of consuming two portions per week of Scottish farmed salmon raised on different feeding regimes – one group with fishmeal made with fish oils and the other with meal made with rapeseed oil.
Over a period of 18 weeks, volunteers consumed two portions per week of the different fish. Marine Harvest and Biomar took part in the study.
Overall it found that eating two portions of fish significantly boosts the omega 3 and vitamin D levels in consumers, regardless of the fish’s diet.
“Consumption of two portions of farmed salmon per week significantly raised the omega 3 index by around 2 percent in healthy volunteers,” said De Roos.Consumption also raised levels of vitamin D, she said.
“The beneficial effects on the omega 3 index and vitamin D status were similar in subjects consuming salmon grown on traditional high fish meal fish oil feeds, or those consuming salmon grown on feed where part of the fish oil was replaced by vegetable oil.”
-- Dominic Welling
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Thursday, Sept. 18 10:45 am GMT
UK consumers happy to spend more on fish – particularly if it’s fresh
According to Jonathan Banks from JB Associates, the average price for fish is currently around £11 per kilo and as such has stiff competition from other proteins.
In comparison lamb is £15 per kilo, beef £13 per kilo, pork £7 per kilo and chicken £3.50 per kilo. However, spend on fish is up while volume is flat in the UK retails sector, suggesting people think it is worth spending more on fish.
In particular, fresh fish is rising while frozen is falling, said Banks. In 2013-2014 sales of frozen fish in UK retail has dropped to around 154,000 metric tons but the spend has stayed fairly level at £900 million for the past 4 years.
For fresh fish this has been climbing from levels of 139,000 metric tons in 2011, to 150,000 metric tons today, while spend has also jumped from £1.3 billion in 2010 to nearly £1.7 billion in 2014.
-- Dominic Welling
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Thursday, Sept. 18 10:40 am GMT
Scotland – ‘Do we need it?’
Comparing the difference in obesity levels between the Scots and the English – tenuously linking consumption of seafood and the current referendum going on Scotland – Jonathan Banks from JB Associates jokingly asked the audience at the Humber Seafood Summit: “Do we really need it?”.
Banks discussed some "mega-trends" which the seafood industry should take on board in its quest to satisfy both the shoppers and consumers, and add value to their products.
Namely products should be convenient and practical, healthy and ethical, but at the same time it should also be pleasurable and tasty, Banks said.
But also consumers are concerned with getting value for money – which is why promotions and discounters are becoming more and more important – and also being offered a broad range of products.
“It is breadth not depth they want,” said Banks
Meanwhile, there have been some recent food scares, and a lot of misinformation bounded about which has led to a certain degree of confusion among consumers.
“You should focus on generating trust and then you can encourage consumers to try new and different things.”
-- Dominic Welling
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Thursday, Sept 18 10.36 am GMT
Teaching seafood sustainability
Educating budding chefs about the sustainable and responsible use of fish and seafood is high on the agenda at Westminster College, Jose Souto, senior chef lecturer at the London-based school said.
“What we do is educate chefs on what fish they should use, sustainability and responsibility,” he told delegates at the event.
This includes gear types, climate change, pollution, food fashion, over-fishing and identifying under-used species, he explained.
Working with Seafish in the United Kingdom, it is looking to expand and team up with Carisma UK and the Norwegian Seafood Council.
The student’s education is built on a three-year program, which teaches them to refine what they look at and their buying policies.
“It’s not always fresh fish,” he said, “sometimes frozen is better.”
Souto said students needed to be educated to make sustainability a priority in teaching and practice, and teach them why and how, as well as learning about the fishing process.
“Explaining quotas to a 16-year old is like throwing a bunch of matches in the air and saying ‘pick up a hundred.’”
Teaching starts with “educating the educators”, with lecturers meeting fisherman and seeing the problems in the industry, as well as suppliers and processors.
Students will also go on the exact same trips as the lecturers will, he said.
“We need to teach kids what they should know, not what they think they know.” In the end this can also have a positive impact on retail.
-- Andrew Cumner-Price
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Thursday, Sept. 18 10:35 am GMT
FAO: Global production to reach 180 million tons by 2022 -- but issues remain
Global fish production has jumped 4 percent from 2012, FAO’s Nianjun Shen, told delegates at the Humber Seafood Summit – mainly due to the development in aquaculture.
Global production for the year 2022 is projected to be around 180 million metric tons -- most of which will come from aquaculture, which means there should be an increased focus on risk management, logistics and trade standards of aquaculture.
But while aquaculture is flourishing, wild capture is struggling, with a number of stocks already collapsed or on the verge of doing so.
Around 30 percent of the marine fisheries biomass is over-fished, Shen claimed, while 60 percent were fully fished, with just 10 percent under-fished.
Shen said the reasons for this may be down to modern technology, which allows fishing vessels to find fish more quickly, find fish deeper and stay at sea for a longer time – which leads to problems with restocking.
The growth in the global fish and seafood output is driven by the surge in global demand.
Shen said per capita consumption increased 60 percent compared to 1976, with poultry the only protein source growing faster than fish.
He posed the question if countries should produce for their own domestic demand or internationally.
South Africa produces a lot of fish, but consumes very little, while India consumes quite a lot but produces very little.
“There is more money in producing internationally, but you lose out on a source of protein for your country,” he warned.
With regards to global market trends, China was stated to be the fourth biggest importer and biggest exporting country in the world, with the European Union still the largest market.
Japan saw a decline – with China overtaking Japan as number 1 for imports. At the same time, meat has overtaken fish and is now the most-imported foodstuff, which may be down to the Japanese economy.
In terms of markets, Shen flagged up the issues of supply chain traceability – and the cost incurring for certifications.
“How will developing countries ever afford it? Several countries have raised their concern it has potential to be a trade barrier,” he said.
In addition, the growing number of eco-labels may confuse consumers.
FAO has several projects on the way to find out the best solution for developing countries, Shen said.
-- Andrew Cumner-Price
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Thursday, Sept. 18, 9.17 am GMT
Seafood's future: Vague but exciting
“While the seafood industry used to be straightforward and simple, it is not anymore,” said M&J Seafood’s Mike Berthet in his keynote speech as he “postulated” over the issues facing the seafood industry in the next 30 years.
“It is time to think, what will the world look like, where will the plan take us? We will have to feed nine billion people by 2050 and seafood is the only way to do this,” he told delegates.
Companies must be prepared for a plethora of new species, rapidly growing new concepts such as sushi, new technology, ever changing quotas and global warming challenges, logistics, standards, legislation, and regulations, Berthet said.
At the same time they must be prepared for interference from the government of the day, as well as outside influences -- a prime example today being Russia and its unexpected import ban on fish.
There are also issues that must be tackled head on such as additives, rogue traders, ethical issues, trash fish, food security, pirate fishing, IUU, overfishing.
In particular, Berthet said ethical issues should be "where it belongs: at the top of any company's sourcing criteria." He added that M&J Seafoods will only buy fish from vessels which are at least on their way to becoming part of Seafish's Responsible Fishing Scheme (RFS).
But successful companies in the industry today and in the future will be “those who are able to balance challenges and drive exciting change, while being ready from the unexpected and stand out from the crowd.
“But companies must also celebrate their success and not keep beating themselves up. This is the route to great profitability.”
-- Dominic Welling
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Thursday, Sept. 18, 8.37 am GMT
Seafish launches new RASS system
Last night, Seafish kicked off the soft launch of its new Risk Assessment for Sourcing Seafood (RASS) system.
The new software aims to provide seafood buyers and processors with information on the biological status of fish stocks of fish which are either landed or imported into the United Kingdom, as well as the environmental impacts of fisheries catching these stocks.
Once established, Seafish plans to expand the tool by providing information on social factors such as welfare and ethics, trade flows, as well as sign posting nutritional data and preparation guides and also seasonality.
-- Dominic Welling
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Thursday, Sept. 18, 8.00 am GMT
Young’s Seafood unveiled as lead sponsor for 2015 World Seafood Congress
Seafish announced Young’s Seafood will be the platinum sponsor of next September’s World Seafood Congress event, the bi-annual global conference that will take place in Grimsby.
The announcement was made at the opening night of this year’s Humber Seafood Summit at the Royal Humber Hotel.
“We are delighted to announce that Young’s have joined this exciting project as our platinum sponsor. They are a long-standing, highly respected and prominent voice of the industry here, both in terms of its long heritage and its exciting future,” said Paul Williams, chief executive at Seafish.
Pete Ward, deputy chief executive of Young’s, added; “The World Seafood Congress is an incredibly important institution, bringing together stakeholders from all over the world.
"We’re proud to be supporting the event, welcoming the congress to Grimsby, and playing our part in promoting innovation and sustainable best practice through the supply chain.”
-- Dominic Welling
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Thursday, Sept 18, 7.45 pm GMT
Icelandic, British ties -- linked by the sea
Sigisrdur Ingi Johansson, the Icelandic Fisheries Minister took to the stage last night, to speak about the strong connection the people of Grimsby have always maintained with Iceland.
“We live by the sea, and our livelihoods are strongly linked by the sea”, he said.
He reiterated how important the UK market is to Iceland, referring to to Britain as one of the most technologically sophisticated markets in the world.
Johansson told the summit the importance of keeping up with the times.
“The world is changing, and we have to change with it,” he said, pointing out the increased focus on sustainability and traceability, as well as the importance of heeding scientific advice when making decisions.
He however also warned that with increased environmental sensitivity, the fisheries sector was subject to more scrutiny than before.
“Both times I have decided quotas I have followed scientific advice 100 percent -- and that is progress”, he said.
Johansson also spoke about marketing, an area he admitted Iceland needed to improve in.
“We used to say ‘let us produce the goods, let the Danes do the marketing,’" he joked, but added Iceland could no longer allow itself to rely on that.
-- Andrew Cumner-Price
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Wednesday, Sept. 17, 5.00 pm GMT
No place for complacency
Speaking at the North Sea Fish Conference in Hull Wednesday, in a prelude to the Humber Seafood Summit, Mike Mitchell, CSR and technical director at Young’s Seafood Limited warned in order to persist as an important hub for seafood processors, there is no place for complacency in Grimsby.
After giving a brief history of the port of Grimsby and the region’s fishing industry, Mitchell said that while the port was once famous for fishing, it is now celebrated for its value added seafood processing sector which currently supports over 3,000 jobs in the Humber region.
“However, a word of caution is called for,” he said. “The legacy of our glorious fishing heritage is not a reason why the seafood processing industry should persist on the Humber bank. There is no place for complacency.”
As technology changes and standards are continually raised, it is of vital importance for Humber based processors to keep up with such changes, said Mitchell.
You can read the full story on Mitchell's speech here.
-- Dominic Welling
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Wednesday, Sept. 17, 4.45 pm GMT
All eyes on Grimsby
IntraFish is back in the not-so-sunny seaside town of Grimsby this week for the annual Humber Seafood Summit.
A sell-out crowd is expected to attend the conference over the next two days at the Humber Royal Hotel in Grimsby as the event brings together a panel of respected seafood industry speakers and delegates from the United Kingdom and around the world.
The theme of 2014's Humber Seafood Summit is 'Feeding the Nation: Supply and Efficiency,' with a range of speakers from Britain and beyond set to tackle the key issues.
The Seafish event officially opens tonight, Sept.17, with an evening event showcasing local artisanal food, including Sciolti’s Handmade Chocolates and Ice-cream, Tom Wood’s Beer and Zest Deli’s cheeseboards.
However, there will obviously also be a range of seafood from leading suppliers in the region and beyond including produce from Young’s Seafood Ltd, Chapman’s Fishcakes, Icelandic Seachill, Flatfish Ltd, the Big Prawn Co. and Paramount 21.
Speakers at this year's summit include Mike Berthet from M&J Seafoods, Nianjun Shen from the FAO, Seafish's Tom Pickerell, Andrew Jackson from IFFO and Dan Lee from the Global Aquaculture Alliance among others.
Additionally, the World Seafood Congress 2015, a global event which for the first time will be held in Grimsby, is officially launching at the summit, while the first demonstration of the new Risk Assessment for Sourcing Seafood (RASS) will also take place.
RASS is the first online resource of its kind, developed by Seafish, and is said to revolutionize the way buyers, retailers and restaurants source seafood.
Meanwhile, the Sustainable Seafood Coalition (SSC) announced earlier this week it will launch a new scheme at the summit that will allow consumers to check the sustainability of their fish.
Two new voluntary codes of conduct from the SSC, whose supermarket and supplier members account for more than 80 percent of fish sales in the UK, should mean "consumers will be able to shop safe in the knowledge that [sustainability] claims are meaningful and harmonized across products, retailers and brands," the group said.
"To be fully subscribed with one week to go is a ringing endorsement for the value of this event and its growing popularity year on year," said Paul Williams, CEO of Seafish.
"I am very much looking forward to chairing the event, it’s an interesting program and one which I’m sure will make for a memorable summit for all those attending."
-- Dominic Welling
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