Analysis & Interviews

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• Partners in seafood quality not crime

  The nightmare for anyone in the seafood sector is to wake up and find their export consignment condemned because of contamination with banned products. The Chief Executive of the UK Veterinary Medicines Department (VMD), Steve Dean, talks to Peter O'Neill about how trust and scientific inspections can help everyone, producer and consumer, at the local, national and international levels. - Someone, somewhere along the chain may have made a mistake -- or cheated with additives in the processing plant to increase the shelf life of wild fish. We all know the ‘nightmare words’ - malachite green, chloramphenicol, illegal antibiotics… 25 Jan 2006

• Licence application flood delays South African fishing season

  An unexpected flood of applications for 10- and 15-year fishing licences has meant many had not been processed by the January start of the fishing season, reports Jean LeMay from Cape Town. Officials have said they hope licences for all 20 fisheries will be done by the end of this month. 25 Jan 2006

• Fishermen, stakeholders in the future of coral reefs

  Coral reefs provide an environment in which one-third of all marine fish species and tens of thousands of other species are found and from which 6 million tons of fish are caught annually. This not only provides an income to national and international fishing fleets, but also for some local communities, which in addition rely on the local fish stocks to provide nutritional sustenance. The annual global value of coral reefs has been estimated to be around $375 billion US dollars. Modern reefs have lasted about 50 million years. The question is: how much longer can the reefs survive? 24 Jan 2006

• Swedish fish turn Norwegian

  Ikea, Ericsson, Volvo, Abba... The roll call of Swedish giants is global. But if you look closely at the seafood industry in Sweden you will find that the largest and most successful enterprises have Norwegian or Icelandic shareholders. That also applies to Abba, which is also the country's biggest seafood company, reports Hans Morten Sundnes. 09 Dec 2005

• How the mighty fallen are rising

  One of the great fishing nations is now in deep, irreversible decline on the high seas. However, Lech Kempczynski, director of fisheries at the Polish ministry of agriculture and rural development tells Peter O'Neill how they are using centuries-old Polish creative strategy to reverse their fortunes. 01 Dec 2005

• US controls & too many boats jeopardise Tsunami aid impact

  A year after the 26 December 2004 tsunami devastated fishing communities around the Indian Ocean, the picture emerging is one of potential hope for the survivors, but also of threats to their long-term future. 25 Nov 2005

• Le Drezen's fishing gear simulations

  23 Nov 2005

• Fishermen and processors join scientists in management review

  An innovative meeting on fisheries management was held last month, in Kilkeel, Ireland, which will lead to the establishment of a new laboratory there, reports Menakhem Ben-Yami who also participated in the conference. 27 Oct 2005

• $25 billion a year? Who gets it?

  To subsidise or not to subsidise fisheries has been the subject of a long debate in the industry. David Hayes interviews Hoon-Chong Yi, manager and chief negotiator of the team which will be promoting subsidies for the Korea Fisheries Association at December's World Trade Organization Summit and finds out why he feels state aid is justified. 27 Oct 2005

• Taiwan - from fishing boats to yachts

  Taiwan's development of a significant deep-sea fishing industry has been assisted by the growth of a large equipment industry that produces everything from fishing hooks to large purse-seiner and long-liner fishing vessels. 27 Oct 2005

• Tuna in the eye of a storm

  Tuna has been in the summer headlines and shows why fishermen, whatever their catch, must keep on top of a complex of issues. Peter O'Neill explores the information 'war' and how different lobbies respond. 10 Oct 2005

• Føroyar - explosively small!

  The 18 main Faeroe (Føroyar in Faeroese) isles are not just volcanic in geological origin. The thrusting power of this population of some 50,000 souls (mainly Lutheran) reaches across the fishing world. Faeroese visitors were all over the Icelandic Fisheries Exhibition, including fisheries minister Björn Kalsö. Editor Pilar Santamaria found out what makes the fisheries minister and the Faeroese tick, starting with his views on the stocks, of course. 10 Oct 2005

• Apocalypse now

  Katrina may stand as the greatest natural disaster the USA has had to cope with, writes Menakhem Ben-Yami. When hurricanes and tsunamis hit land everyone suffers but the frontline casualties on the coastlines and at sea are the fishermen, their vessels, businesses and communities and they bear a large burden of the damage. And so it was this time in the south of Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi. 01 Oct 2005

• Norwegian 'Danes' in salmon squeeze

  Norway's ownership of, and supply to EU companies, in order to its raw salmon into the EU is the old trick of those on the outside trying to get into the club without paying for a ticket. The Brussels' bouncer's recent arm lock on the Norwegians means the Danes are now also being squeezed out --- through the same backdoor. Hans Morten Sundnes reports from Norway. 01 Sep 2005

• Danish fishing industry faces new challenges

  Ever small domestic quotas and unseen changes in the pattern of international fish trade (including an alleged Norwegian herring vendetta with Denmark against the EU's restrictive sal-mon policy), points to an alarming shrinkage in supply for the Danish processing industry. Karsten Bräuner listens to fears from Peter Bamberger, chairman of the Danish Fishing Industry and Export Association, that the solution may mean an extended shut down of plants in Denmark and the opening of new ones in low-wage countries. 01 Sep 2005