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13)
UP FOR AUCTION: ELLIOTT HEADS - PRAWN FARM MELCER ROAD, ELLIOTT HEADS
BUNDABERG Auction (AUD)
Located 26kms, south-east of the sugar city of Bundaberg, gateway to the
Barrier Reef, this land based aquaculture farm has specialised in
Penaeus-Japonicus (Kuruma prawn) production.
Melcer Road, ELLIOTT HEADS
Auction:
10:30 AM - 16 May 2003 - Sheraton Hotel Brisbane.
Property ID# 1448079 (CMQ933)
For further details on this property: Contact Andrew Fowler
Phone (07) 3231 2261
Mobile 0422 961 587
Email
afowler.commercial@raywhite.com
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4)
International Experts on Programme at Deep Sea 2003
Media Release
For Immediate Release
22/4/03
Dr André Punt, an internationally renowned expert on marine population
dynamics and harvesting theory, has been confirmed to deliver a keynote
address at Deep Sea 2003 in Queenstown, New Zealand in December.
The conference, the world’s first on deep-sea fisheries, will provide a
forum for global experts to discuss the issues relating to the present and
future needs for science, conservation, governance, and management of the
continental slope and deep seas around the world. It will be held from
December 1-5 2003.
Dr Punt, a Research Associate Professor with the School of Aquatic and
Fisheries Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, has been involved
in research on marine population dynamics, stock assessment methods, and
harvesting theory since 1986, and has published over 80 papers in the
peer-reviewed literature and 300 technical reports.
Dr Punt graduated with a M.Sc. and a Ph.D. in applied mathematics from the
University of Cape Town, South Africa. He was a Senior Research Scientist
with CSIRO Marine Research in Hobart, Australia before taking up his
position in the USA.
In 1999, he became the third recipient of the K. Radway Allen Award,
presented by the Australian Society of Fish Biology for “an outstanding
contribution in fish or fisheries science”.
His current research focuses on the performance of stock assessment
methods, application of Bayesian approaches in fisheries assessment and
decision analysis, and management strategies for fish and marine mammal
populations.
Andre Punt is also on the Editorial Boards of the journals “Fisheries
Research” and “Population Ecology”.
Other speakers confirmed to attend include: Dr Andy Rosenburg from the
University of New Hampshire, Dr John Gordon from Oban in the UK, Dr Wendy
Craik, Chair of the Australian Fisheries Management Authority, Professor
Douglas Johnson from Canada, Professor Mori Hayashi, Waseda University
School of Law, Tokyo, and Mr Michael Lodge from the International Sea
Authority.
For further information please visit www.deepsea.govt.nz or contact:
Jacqueline Baker
Direct dial 04 917 0388
Cell phone 021 246 2505
Email: jbaker@nbpr.co.nz
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5)
Prime
Minister Helen Clark gets European fisheries 'gift' 23.04.2003
BRUSSELS - European trade commissioner Pascal Lamy had good news for Prime
Minister Helen Clark when they met in Brussels today, telling her the
European Union (EU) supported proposals to rein in fishing subsidies.
New Zealand has advocated the removal of fishing subsidies, as part of the
World Trade Organisation's Doha round. It believed subsidies have led to
over-exploitation of fisheries.
"Just a welcoming gift for the prime minister," Mr Lamy told reporters
after the first meeting of a nine-day visit by the prime minister to
Belgium, France and England.
Miss Clark would no doubt have preferred EU concessions on agricultural
trade, but was pleased nevertheless.
"It's great news from Europe," she said.
"New Zealand has been something of a pioneer in fisheries management to
make sure quotas are sustainable, and we've been campaigning to get rid of
subsidies on fisheries."
She hoped the proposal would eventually result in sustainably managed New
Zealand fisheries increasing in profitability.
European fishers have depleted the northern Atlantic Ocean. They have now
moved on to fisheries off Africa, amid fears they will again over-fish.
Discussions on agriculture crucial to New Zealand took place between Mr
Lamy and Miss Clark behind closed doors at the residence of New Zealand
ambassador Dell Higgie.
The EU uses domestic and export subsidies to make its own products more
competitive, while imposing quotas on agricultural imports from outside
its borders.
While New Zealand farmers can produce goods, ship them across the world,
and still compete with farmers propped up by EU support, they would
welcome the gradual lifting of EU export subsidies.
Mr Lamy told reporters that New Zealand and the EU agreed on the bulk of
25 topics in the trade round, but on agriculture "we obviously are still
quite far part, for understandable reasons".
Mr Lamy said the fisheries decision led the EU "a long way in the
direction of our New Zealand friends, and it just happened that it was
today".
It would be tabled in the World Trade Organisation negotiations.
"The philosophy is quite simple -- there are today lots of subsidisation
of fishing activities," the Frenchman said.
"We all know we have a resource conservation problem, and we want ... to
reduce subsidies that incur capacity increases that can lead to resource
deficiencies."
Miss Clark is making the first visit by a New Zealand prime minister to
Brussels in 10 years.
She will spend much of her time in Brussels visiting commission officials,
right up to President Romano Prodi.
Europe is New Zealand's second largest trading partner.
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6)
$100m bonus for fishing. A European Union proposal to cut some fishing
subsidies has given hope to the New Zealand industry 24.04.2003
By IRENE CHAPPLE
A European Union proposal to cut some
fishing subsidies has given hope to the New Zealand industry, which says
it could earn an extra $100 million a year if the global protections were
dumped.
New Zealand's Seafood Industry Council (SEAFIC) has lobbied for the
removal of tariffs and subsidies which it says are unfair and lead to the
over-exploitation of fisheries.
Its general manager, trade and information, Alastair Macfarlane, said the
news some subsidies might be removed was good but more change was needed.
The European Union's proposal, tabled to the World Trade Organisation,
said "capacity enhancing" subsidies should be prohibited, such as those
for constructions of vessels and those that encourage joint ventures for
fishing in other jurisdictions.
However, other subsidies under the proposal would remain, including
subsidies for the retraining of fishermen and for the modernisation of
fishing vessels to improve safety and product quality.
Macfarlane said such areas should not be subsidised, particularly if
retraining the fishermen meant they were then also able to farm fish.
Macfarlane said the New Zealand industry wanted "all the subsidies that
distort trade to be removed".
The removal of subsidies would be likely to make fish more expensive, and
New Zealand could then increase its prices.
If the EU adopted the proposals, Macfarlane hoped it would pressure
countries such as Korea and Japan to also consider dropping protections.
That would open the market for fish including squid, currently underfished
because it is uneconomic.
Macfarlane said it has been estimated to be worth between $120 million to
$140 million a year if it was fully fished. Currently it is worth $50 to
$60 million.
Global fishing subsidies, according to an OECD study four years ago, are
worth almost US$6 billion annually, with Japan's worth US$2.5 billion and
Korea's worth US$.4 billion.
Macfarlane would "most likely" be going to Cancun, Mexico, in September
where talks on the issue were continuing as part of the World Trade
Organisation's Doha round.
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1)
Seafood industry
crisis as Asian markets dry up
April 25, 2003
A cray fisherman holds a fresh crayfish at the Warrnambool breakwater.
Fishermen have had their income slashed by a third to $30 a kilogram.
(code 030424DW02)
Picture: DAMIAN WHITE
SOUTH-WEST Victoria's seafood industry is nearing crisis point as the SARS
virus dries up its most lucrative export markets in Asia.
The region's largest abalone producer, Southern Ocean Mariculture near
Port Fairy, is losing hundreds of thousands of dollars because of a slump
in demand for the luxury shellfish in Asia.
Lobster prices have also plunged.
Diners in Hong Kong and China are staying home instead of eating at
restaurants for fear of contracting the deadly severe acute respiratory
syndrome.
About 90 per cent of rock lobster (crayfish) caught in south-west Victoria
is exported to Asia, and Southern Ocean Mariculture exports about 98 per
cent of its produce there.
The collapse has seen the price of lobster plunge. Cray fishermen have had
their income slashed by a third and are now receiving about $30 a kilogram
for their catch compared to about $48 at the same time last year.
Southern Ocean Mariculture general manager Mark Gervis said he had called
on the State Government to provide compensation to the industry before it
hit crisis point.
The company employs 11 workers, but Mr Gervis said it was too early to
assess the impact the SARS epidemic would have on its future.
"We have not been able to sell anything for a couple of months, they don't
want any of it," he said.
"We've been operational for seven years and it's only within the last two
years we've started to sell product.
"We've just got to the stage where we were covering costs -- and now
this."
Portland Professional Fishermen's Association president Steven Nathan said
if prices continued to drop the industry would not be viable. He said the
slump would cost the Portland economy more than $500,000.
"It's been really bad for about a month, the price it's at now is cutting
things pretty fine," he said.
Mr Nathan said the rock lobster industry was worth about $20 million a
year in Victoria, about $1.5m of which comes from the Portland region.
He stressed retailers who were not reducing the price of lobster were
profiteering, because the fish was now "dirt cheap".
Ausfish partner Max Trewartha, in Warrnambool, said that without Asian
exports competition for the domestic market would be tougher.
He said Western Australia and New Zealand were facing similar problems and
forecast even tougher times ahead once the two started competing for
Victorian markets.
Port Campbell cray fisherman Kevin Plozza hoped the low price would
attract more local buyers.
He did not go fishing yesterday. "You tend not to get as motivated when
you are only getting $30 a kilo," he said.
A government spokesman said there were no programs available to offer
compensation to abalone producers, but it could provide assistance in
finding new markets and help with any business planning needed to cope
with the situation.
SARS slump could affect tourism
THE region's peak tourism body is bracing itself for a slump in the number
of international tourists visiting the south-west as the SARS epidemic
continues to spread.
Shipwreck Coast Tourism manager Adam Ruggero predicted a decline in the
short term. "I think tourists are taking the `wait and see' mentality with
the war in Iraq going on and SARS," he said.
``It is worrying at the moment. As an industry, we have gone from one
extreme to another with September 11, then the collapse of Ansett, then
the Bali bombing, the conflict in Iraq and the SARS virus. But it's too
early to predict how big an impact it will have.''
Some south-west Victorian accommodation providers have already reported
cancellations by international visitors.
Mr Ruggero said while domestic travel was still strong, it would not
compensate for the amount of money injected by overseas tourists.
Rod Hay, of Southern Ocean Motor Inn in Port Campbell, said he had
received a number of international cancellations since the outbreak.
"There has definitely been a downturn in the number of bookings and
inquiries on an international level," he said.
Richard Douglas, of Oscars Waterfront Boutique Hotel in Port Fairy, said
there had been one cancellation from travellers who had ended up stranded
in Hong Kong when the virus was first detected.
But he said business was strong and international travellers were still
passing through the area.
- Report: KRISTY HESS
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2)
Islander soldiers no longer our forgotten heroes (Fishing related)
THEY were not citizens of Australia, nor did they have the right to vote.
But in 1942, when enemy forces were on Australia's doorstep and the
government looked to the Torres Strait for help, the islanders answered in
their hundreds, leaving families and jobs to protect the country's
vulnerable northern gateway.
The 812 men of the Torres Strait Light Infantry played a vital role as the
flank for the allied push into New Guinea during World War II, piloting
ships through the treacherous waters, and hunting and fishing to subsidise
the meagre army rations of Australian and US servicemen.
Now, 57 years after the men of the TSLI downed arms and returned to the
struggling island communities they left four years earlier, with no
tickertape and little acknowledgement, they are finally to get
recognition.
Ten surviving members of Australia's first indigenous battalion will today
receive the 1939-45 star medal, recognising active service in a combat
zone.
The Torres Strait suffered more enemy bombing raids than Darwin as
Japanese fighter pilots launched eight separate attacks on Horn Island
between March 1942 and June 1943.
While the soldiers who served in Darwin were eventually awarded the star
medal in 1992, it has taken a further decade for Canberra to acknowledge
its northernmost servicemen.
"We were the forgotten servicemen, but now this has happened we're no
longer forgotten," 82-year-old sergeant Waraka Adidi said yesterday as the
last surviving veterans gathered on Thursday Island for today's Anzac Day
service.
The former schoolteacher, who became the region's highest ranking Torres
Strait Islander, enlisted in September 1942 after a Japanese submarine
crept past his island and enemy pilots attacked neighbouring Yam Island,
targeting women and children.
"There was a war and the enemy were here . . . everybody on the islands
was aware we had to stand up and fight," Mr Adidi said. After five
submissions in seven years by federal Member for Leichhardt Warren Entsch
and local historian Vanessa SeeKee, the decision to award star medals to
Torres Strait veterans or their families marks the correction of one of
several injustices. The men of the TSLI received just 50 per cent of a
white soldier's pay until the battalion mutinied in 1944 and the army
raised their wage to 60 per cent.
"The recognition owed to these men is long overdue," said Mr Entsch, who
will help present the medals today.
It will almost certainly be the last time surviving islander veterans are
reunited.
"Lots of our fellow men are today no longer with us," said Mr Adidi.
"There are only a few of us left, but the men are very excited."
By Amanda Hodge April 25, 2003
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11)
EU Calls For Global Subsidy Ban
Published on: April 23, 2003
THE EU has tabled a proposal to the World Trade Organisation to ban all
subsidies which cause overcapacity in the fisheries sector. In line with
the EU's internal fisheries reform adopted last December, the proposal to
the WTO calls for international action to put an end to overfishing.
EU Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy said: "This is another example of the
EU's commitment to sustainable development, a key goal of the Doha
Development Agenda. By banning these subsidies today, we can indeed help
to ensure a sustainable future for fishermen around the world".
EU Farm and Fisheries Commissioner Franz Fischler said: "In its internal
reform, the EU recognised the link between subsidies and the overcapacity
which exists in the fisheries sector and that measures need to be taken to
ensure a balance between the fishing fleets and the resources available.
The solution to deal with this problem is simple: the complete ban of all
subsidies which enhance capacity."
Under the EU proposal capacity-enhancing subsidies should be prohibited
for marine fishing fleet renewal (e.g. construction of vessels, increase
in fishing capacity); subsidies for the permanent transfer of fishing
vessels to third countries, including through the creation of joint
enterprises with third country partners should also go.On the other hand,
subsidies aimed at reducing fishing capacity, and mitigating negative
social and economic consequences of the restructuring of the fisheries
sector should be considered, permitted and therefore non-actionable.
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3)
The cough heard around the world is already affecting small industries
worldwide Fishing Related
April 25 2003
As nations ready to handle an outbreak of severe acute respiratory
syndrome, Keith Bradsher reports on how the disease is already affecting
small industries worldwide.
Michael Glynn rested barefoot on the deck of his fishing boat at the dock
in Port Douglas, Far North Queensland, after unloading his catch, and
talked about how an outbreak of disease 5500 kilometres away had wrecked
his livelihood.
Restaurants in Hong Kong, by far the biggest buyers of live Australian
reef fish, stopped buying four weeks ago when severe acute respiratory
syndrome, or SARS, prompted diners to stay home in large numbers. The
restaurants have barely bought any since, and fish prices have collapsed.
"A lot of the guys have thrown their arms up and stopped fishing," says
Glynn, who had to go out fishing anyway for three straight days and two
nights on the Great Barrier Reef because he has just bought a house. "The
mortgage won't go away."
The troubles of Great Barrier Reef fishermen, who operate Australia's
largest fishing fleet, show how even small, out-of-the-way industries are
feeling the effects of SARS. The disease - and more importantly, fears of
the disease - is causing measurable economic and commercial harm around
the world, particularly in parts of the Asia-Pacific region.
SARS is causing the worst economic crisis in South-East Asia since the
wave of bank failures and currency devaluations that swept the region five
years ago. The economies of Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan have not just
abruptly stopped growing but have begun shrinking; the economies of
Malaysia and Thailand are probably next, and even China's booming
industrial expansion is beginning to slow, says Andy Xie, an economist
with Morgan Stanley. "Outside of China, the whole region is contracting
because of this crisis," he says.
With nervous customers staying away from stores and restaurants in areas
where cases have been reported, and travellers cancelling or postponing
trips, industries that offer services to people, from restaurants and
hotels to airlines and cinemas, are being hit particularly hard. Also
hurting are suppliers to service industries, like Glynn and NAV Canada,
which plans to start charging more for air navigation services partly
because SARS is cutting the number of flights.
Other heavily affected industries involve those that make discretionary
products, especially luxury goods, rather than necessities.
With fewer than 5000 cases of SARS reported worldwide, manufacturing
companies are so far experiencing little or no disruption at their
factories but face thinning order books as buyers stop attending trade
fairs and commercial events.
In places like Paris and London, executives at luxury goods companies are
finding that the grounding of many business travellers by companies afraid
of SARS, together with a slump in tourism, has meant fewer sales of
Burberry raincoats and other costly items frequently sold at or near
airports, hotels and tourist areas.
"The SARS virus has clearly had an impact on Asia, with many airlines
cutting their capacity," says Michael Metcalf, Burberry's chief operating
officer.
"The Hong Kong consumer has been choosing to stay rather more at home, and
not to get out there and shop as usual."
LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton, for its part, has been annoyed by photos
in European fashion magazines, including Elle, showing Hong Kong residents
wearing masks to protect from SARS that bear fake Louis Vuitton logos.
By contrast, workers and executives at companies making things such as
cars and consumer electronics say there has been little effect so far on
production. But the biggest story is that many buyers have deferred orders
because of a reluctance to travel to East Asia, even to countries like
Taiwan with few reported cases and no deaths.
Peter Chang, the sales manager for a communications equipment company, has
put in long hours in his company's booth at the Taipei International
Electronics Spring Show, which opened on Friday, but has made so few sales
that he expects his business will produce 20 to 30 per cent less equipment
in the six months until the next big trade show. "Most of my buyers didn't
come this year," he says.
Even if the outbreak proves shortlived, the effect is already apparent in
travel-related industries around the globe. Hotel occupancy is down to 20
per cent in Singapore and even lower at many Hong Kong hotels, while
retail sales have been cut by as much as half in both cities.
Cathay Pacific, based in Hong Kong, has cancelled two-fifths of its
flights, while other airlines with large Asian operations, like Singapore
Airlines, have undertaken more modest reductions in service. The Singapore
Government has unveiled an $80 million aid package for the tourist
industry. Announcing the package, the Government said visitor arrivals to
Singapore had dropped by 61 per cent in the first 13 days of this month,
and retail sales by 50 per cent.
The main variable in every economist's calculation of the effects of SARS
lies not in the number of industries affected but in how long the outbreak
could last - a question that economists, like doctors, are at a loss to
predict. Economists must guess not just how long the disease will persist,
but also how long fears about the disease will last.
If the outbreak and related fears prove enduring, one casualty could be
the growing integration of the global economy, which has been extending
beyond manufacturing to include service industries. Many companies have
found gains in efficiency by moving operations to whatever country offers
the highest productivity at the least cost, but some say they may have to
reconsider these moves.
Polaris Software, a computer software company based in Madras, India, has
been reviewing its recent opening of a data centre in Singapore.
"Singapore is considered a neutral zone, but with SARS we began viewing
the country in a new dimension," says S. R. Ramaswami, the company's head
of audits and risk management. "Just as business got used to the idea of
the globe being a village, along comes a virus that affects something as
fundamental to business as travel itself."
Polaris is just one among many companies in service industries that need
to be available to consumers at all times. SARS is forcing managers in
such industries to think about how they would stay in business if one or
two employees fall sick and all their co-workers must be sent home for a
week to 10 days.
Financial services companies, from commercial and investment banks to
brokerages, cannot afford even brief shutdowns. Regulators in financial
centres like Hong Kong require such companies to have back-up sites and
elaborate business continuity plans, and some of those plans are being
tested now, as institutions like HSBC start using back-up trading floors
originally intended as precautions against disasters.
As financial institutions try to decide what to do if problems grow worse
in Hong Kong and Singapore, some are looking to Sydney, partly because of
its relatively low cost of living and the fact that it is is only two
hours ahead of the two South-East Asian nations.
Some big banks expanded their back-up facilities in Australia after the
terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. One bank, which insisted that it
not be named, has rented three separate offices in the Sydney area that it
keeps empty but ready: one near the airport, one in a beach suburb and one
in an outer suburb.
The Macquarie Bank has given Australian employees in Hong Kong the option
of coming home, with most doing so. Most banks have been wary of making
any move to pull out of Hong Kong or Singapore for fear that doing so
might invite retaliation by the governments in either place.
Some banks have put decisions on moving employees on hold for now because
as Good Friday and Easter Monday were public holidays in many former
British possessions, including Hong Kong, many bankers have taken last
week and this as vacation time. By the end of the month, however, many
companies will be assessing whether to begin transferring expatriate
employees out of Hong Kong for good if the problem does not appear under
control, one investment banker says.
"You've got most of the expat population offshore already, the families at
least, and if this goes on, people will start to say, 'Why don't you
relocate me?"' the banker says.
Some parts of the world are experiencing little economic impact from SARS.
In South America, nervousness about the spread of the disease has been
growing, especially since Brazil reported its first case - that of a
British journalist arriving in Sao Paulo from Malaysia to cover a Grand
Prix.
Meanwhile, operations like Chuk Yuen Seafood Restaurant in Hong Kong's
Kowloon have seen little recovery so far. Until SARS hit, the restaurant
used to buy 200 live coral trout a month, which arrived by air from
Australia in large bins filled with specially oxygenated water.
The fish, a species of cod that lives among staghorn and brain coral
formations on the Barrier Reef, is speckled with blue spots and in
beautiful shades of red, pink and brown. The restaurant kept them in some
of the 18 aquariums that line its entrance. Following a popular Chinese
practice, the restaurant would let customers choose the fish they wanted
for dinner. But it has sold only 20 coral trout in the past month and has
not ordered any more, says John Yuen, the general manager. "Since SARS, no
one has parties any more," he says.
When Hong Kong health officials announced a new outbreak of the disease a
month ago, restaurants and wholesalers across the territory stopped buying
coral trout while trying to sell the fish they still had alive.
After loading his catch aboard a truck in Port Douglas, Douglas Glynn
stayed on his boat and recalled that the price at the dock for live coral
trout had dropped from $14 a kilo to $6 and then $4.50.
It has recovered gradually, but is only $6.70 now, a price that barely
covers fuel costs. To travel 70 to 500 kilometres to coral trout fishing
grounds and bring the fish swiftly back to port alive requires fast,
diesel-guzzling boats that are uneconomical for use in fishing for other
species.
So Glynn finds himself struggling to cope with the effects of SARS. "I
didn't think that it would be the struggle that it has been in Australia,"
he says. "And it doesn't seem to be over yet."
The New York Times
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7)
Search
for sailors abandoned Friday,
Apr 25, 2003,
New Zealand maritime authorities said yesterday they have given up
attempts to find 18 sailors believed drowned after their Taiwanese fishing
boat sank in a storm earlier this month. Trying to find the 32m Lih Fa and
its crew would be like "looking for a needle in a haystack," said Maritime
Safety Authority compliance deputy director Bruce Maroc. "There is no
active search being conducted at the moment," he said. An extensive air
and sea search was launched for the vessel after its captain sent a
distress message shortly after midnight on Thursday last week during the
storm 800km west of New Zealand.
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10)
Highlights
of this edition include information about the new SeaStar OrbBuoy,
an introduction to two new SeaStar Agents in Panama, Dr. Linda's valuable
advice column on interpreting SeaStar data, as well as our usual company
updates, information tidbits, and OrbMap User Tips. We hope you will find
it useful and enjoyable reading! And, as always, thank you for your
contributions.
This latest edition of the SeaStar News includes:
Captain's Corner 1
Over the Horizon 2
Agent Spotlight 3
OrbView-2 Featured Image 4
Hopkins Joins Orbimage 4
Honor Marine 5
Andy Peters Joins Orbimage 5
Ask Dr. Linda 6
Improving Interpretations 6
OrbMap User Tips 7
SeaStar Agent Directory 8
Click here to read pdf format
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9)
Peterhead Is Ahead Of The Game:
WHITEFISH value may be down at Peterhead, but overall, fish business at
the key fishing centre is ahead of last year.
Figures issued by Peterhead Harbour Trustees show that white fish handled
for the first three months of this year totalled 9,650 tonnes worth
£8,864,669 compared with 9,205 tonnes worth £9,904,590 in the same period
of last year.
Shellfish business was up again, with 1,020 tonnes worth £1,223,270,
compared with 711 tonnes worth £1,036,242.
Meanwhile mackerel trade continued its rise with 24,566 tonnes worth
£11,973,335 handled over the three month period, compared with 20,977
tonnes worth £9,064,273.
Total fish business at the port for the three-month period this year
stands at 35,236 tonnes worth £22,061,274 compared with 31,003 tonnes
worth £20,029,819.
Harbour trustees' chief executive John Paterson said today that the white
fish price was down 14.6% so far this year with white fish volume up by
4.6% although there appeared now to be some signs of improvement in market
price levels.
But it was clear that pelagic business returns would play a key role in
filling any earnings gap caused by lower white fish revenues although he
was not hearing very good news over this year’s herring price.
But Mr Paterson agreed that the increasing mackerel business underlined
the importance of both port diversification and the investment commitment
from processors in the port.
“Compared with last year, in overall fish business we are ahead of the
game,” he said.
Published on: April 22, 2003
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12) Top Award Won By Scots Company:
THE Queen’s Award for Services to International Trade has been won by
Peterhead,Scotland, based, Fresh Catch Limited, one of Europe’s largest
pelagic fish processors.
Fresh Catch has achieved impressive export sales growth in a difficult
market area. Company founder and Managing Director, Chris Anderson
explained: “The UK domestic consumption of mackerel and herring is
relatively small so we have had to expand our horizons and develop
alternative markets such as Russia, Korea, Japan, Germany, Africa and the
Middle East."
Based quayside in Peterhead, Fresh Catch pumps fresh mackerel and herring
direct from fishing vessels to its the state of the art processing
facility.
Fresh Catch employ 170 staff in Peterhead and have sales offices in
England and Denmark with plans to open more overseas offices in the near
future to secure the hard won exports the company has.
Mr Anderson adds “Our factory is one of the most modern of its kind in the
world and we have just committed a further £5m investment for a new cold
store and blast freezing facility to compete with the larger processors in
Norway and Holland. This will be complete and operational by the herring
season in July.”
Published on: April 22, 2003
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8)
A TOTAL of 177 skippers have applied to scrap their boats under the
Scottish £40million
A TOTAL of 177 skippers have applied to scrap their boats under the
Scottish £40million decommissioning scheme which has now closed for
applications.
A spokesman for the Scottish Executive said today the number represented
completed applications returned before the shutters came down on the
scheme.
But Scottish Fishermen’s Federation chief executive Hamish Morrison said
the figure was likely to reduce given that some of the applications would
be invalid.
“These are simply returned applications and some will be knocked out on
the grounds of invalidity, so the final figure will be something below
177.
"It is disappointing to see so many people showing an active interest in
leaving the industry but from memory, it is rather less than those who
were expressing interest in the comparable period of the last scheme.
“And the number reinforces the federation’s long-term view that the
Executive’s package is unbalanced. We feel appropriate figures are
£25million for decommissioning, £10million for quota transfer and
£15milllion for transitional aid.”
Published on: April 22, 2003
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14)
(POSITION VACANT) Fisheries Outreach Officer – South East Asia
Applications due by: 12 May 2003
Refer this to an associate, colleague or friend
Overall Aim
The aim of this position is the pursuit of the MSC’s mission of improving
the sustainability of fisheries via certification and ecolabelling, with a
focus on fisheries in South East Asia (* ).
Duties
1. Identify and liaise with stakeholders in fisheries (government,
catching sector, post harvest, researchers and non-government
organisations) to increase knowledge of the role of the MSC and the value
of certification to the MSC Standard.
2. Represent the MSC at meetings and conferences where fisheries issues
are the major item for discussion and where ecolabelling may be relevant.
3. Identify markets where MSC labelled fisheries products may be of
interest to consumers and encourage seafood retailers/food service outlets
to make MSC labeled seafood available to consumers.
4. Work with relevant sections of the MSC to disseminate information about
the MSC.
5. Any other duty as directed by the Line Manager.
Essential requirements
1. Knowledge of fisheries in South and East Asia and related issues,
including post harvest aspects such as supply chains.
2. Degree in fisheries, environmental management or natural resource
management, or equivalent work experience to a high level.
3. Demonstrated ability to work with the stakeholders (government,
catching sector, post harvest, researchers and non-government
organisations) involved in fisheries.
4. Knowledge of the role of ecolabelling and the MSC Standard.
5. Knowledge of international trade issues associated with seafood.
6. Demonstrated oral and written communication skills.
7. Ability to work unsupervised from a home office.
8. Willingness to travel internationally.
Desirable
1. Minimum 5 years experience in the management, research or production
aspects of fisheries.
2. Specific knowledge of fisheries, supply chains and management
arrangements in South and East Asia.
3. Knowledge of seafood markets in the United States and Western Europe.
4. Ability to speak a second language (particularly Chinese or Japanese)
* Defined for this position as the area north from Indonesia to Korea, as
far west as Myanmar and east to Japan.
This position is responsible to the MSC’s Asia Pacific Regional Director.
The position is based in Sydney, Australia.
Salary and benefits : a package in the vicinity of $A70 000 will be
offered to the successful applicant.
More information:
Duncan Leadbitter
Regional Director – Asia Pacific
PO Box 3051
Stanwell park NSW 2508
Australia
Tel.: +612 4294 3728
Duncan.Leadbitter@msc.org
Applications due by: 12 May 2003 Refer this position to an associate,
colleague or friend |
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