MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Fisheries News.-

Headlines:
NZ crusade against poachers; Protectionist measures for farmed salmon industry; Chile, first world salmon producer; Controversial salmon study finds support; US-Brazilian shrimp dispute could reach WTO.

NZ crusade against poachers

New Zealand officials say they are shocked by the level of illegal fishing uncovered during a weekend blitz in West Auckland. Authorities checked on roughly 150 cars parked near Cornwallis Beach, and arrested six people for either having harvested too many fish or being in possession of undersized fish. This is the second successive year that police and authorities have cooperated in an official operation to catch poachers. The extent of the lawlessness was shocking, according to fisheries officer Sonia Hoyes. Hoyes said that officials were especially distraught over the amount of undersized paua found at the scene. The continuing illegal harvesting of undersized paua is placing the species under immense strain and officials say that they have not seen legal-sized paua harvested in the area for about five years now. One couple arrested during the official operation had more than three times the legal limit of pipis and twice the legal limit of cockles. The couple was fined NZD 1,500. The legal daily catch limit for shellfish for the Auckland/Coromandel area is 10 paua (ordinary and yellow foot), 20 scallop, 25 green-lipped mussels, 50 cockles, kina pipi, tuatua and dredged oysters, 100 rock and pacific oysters. People are also allowed to harvest up to nine snapper per day at the minimum length of 27 cm. However, some people were found with snapper that were less than half that size at 12 cm, according to the New Zealand Herald. Most people caught during the operation were cooperative, although one man strongly objected to authorities searching his vehicle, and had to be calmed down. He was fined NZD 250 for being in possession of two undersized fish. Meanwhile, a surveillance operation in Wellington resulted in the arrest of four men from the same family, found with 800 paua that were all undersized. The paua were destined for the international black market, according to officials. The legal limit for paua is ten per day per person, and their harvest would have earned them around NZD 20,000, officials said. The family of divers had been observed over the holiday period by authorities, which confronted the group at Moa Point. The family's vehicle was also confiscated during the operation. The accused men are now scheduled to appear in the Wellington District Court. (FIS/MP).-

Protectionist measures for farmed salmon industry

The British Government is to ask the European Union to adopt new measures that will protect the Scottish salmon farming industry, which is currently battling a tide of cheap farmed Atlantic salmon imports from non-members of the EU, according to Trade Minister Mike O'Brien. The UK Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is hoping that they will be joined in this application by Ireland, where salmon farmers are faced with the same dilemma. Cheaper imports of farmed salmon from Norway, Chile and the Faroes are undercutting Scottish farmed salmon produce, thus causing economic hardship to local communities, which are particularly dependent on fish farming, said Mr O'Brien in a press statement. The cheaper foreign produce means that more and more local salmon fisheries are going into receivership. The local industry is now under immense pressure, and is still suffering the after-effects of a damaging report published by a group of US scientists, which advised consumers to confine their farmed salmon consumption to no more than once a month, because of high levels of toxins found in large samples of salmon. International experts have since disputed the report, but the perception of the industry and its produce may have been irreparably harmed. The minister says he is particularly concerned that Norway has breached a 1997 agreement on fishing by allowing its industry to overproduce. The EU has certain "safeguard measures" that are intended to restrict imports. They could operate in a number of ways, such as through a tariff quota whereby the imports above the quota limit attract punitive rates of duty. These measures, however, can only be taken when there is a risk of serious injury to a Community industry. In this instance, the serious injury is attested by the growing number of independent Scottish salmon producers going into receivership. "The Scottish salmon industry is important to us," said Mr O'Brien. "It provides the consumer with sustainable and reliable supplies. Applying for the safeguard measures is not a decision that the UK Government has taken lightly. We would normally strongly resist protectionism, but the salmon industry presents unique and serious problems which can only be dealt with by considering this exceptional action." Mr O'Brien claims that Norway has amended its rules to allow for over production of salmon, thus undercutting the market for locally produced salmon. This is unfair practice, he said, and the Scottish salmon industry should receive temporary assistance to help it weather the storm. "I spoke to EU Trade Commissioner, Pascal Lamy last week to emphasise to him how vital it is that we get approval for the safeguard measures. I will also be discussing with the Irish Government the option of making a joint application to the EU. We need the help of the Irish Government in order to initiate the inquiry procedure which can in due course allow safeguards to be applied. We cannot get the EU to impose this measure without the help of the Irish". The Scottish salmon farming industry is worth around GBP 150 million a year. (FIS/MP).-

Chile, first world salmon producer

"Chile is today the first salmon producer in the world," stated the executive president of the Dutch holding Nutreco, Wout Dekker, during a visit to the aquaculture plants in the south of the country. The head of the Nutreco group said that although the salmon activity was not good during 2001 and 2002, the panorama "reverted in 2003." Nutreco is the most important Chilean salmon producer, through the company Marine Harvest Chile, and leads the fish food market with the company Skretting. Mr. Dekker also announced that the Chilean salmon industry is going to increase between 10 and 15% in 2004, while it is expected that European industry will decline due to losses suffered between 2002 and 2003. "For the European producers, especially for Norway, 2003 was terrible," he said. In a recent interview with the newspaper El Mercurio, Mr. Dekker pointed out the great challenge industry has to face developing products with higher added value. "Chile is a small country that needs to export its products and that will require, as leader at the international level, that the products are constantly being improved," he considered. Nutreco's president stated they have felt "very comfortable" doing business in Chile, referring to the relationship between industry and government. "Government allowed huge improvement in the south of Chile. This country has an excellent reputation and the international investors perceive it," he added. Mr. Dekker highlighted that the group's years in Chile have been "extremely positive," given that during that period the country became one of the four most important countries worldwide. "Nutreco is present in 20 countries. Holland and Spain are the most prominent in the agriculture sector, and Chile and Norway, in aquaculture," he indicated. The holding's gross annual sales reached almost 5 billion US dollars last year, according to Mr. Dekker. Today the group employs more than 14,000 people, 2,800 of which are Chilean, mainly from the country's administrative X Region. Mr. Dekker also spoke of their latest investment in Chile, 25 million US dollars earmarked for the Skretting company most modern fish-food plant in the world to be built in Puerto Montt. (FIS/MP).-

Controversial salmon study finds support

The controversial US study, published earlier this month that warned consumers to avoid eating farmed salmon more than once a month has now received the support of other scientists. The report claimed that farmed salmon carried high levels of cancer-causing dioxins, which had entered their system through the food chain. Farmed salmon are fed a diet of processed fish pellets, which contain high levels of toxins. The report, which was published in the scientific journal Science, has caused uproar among the global farmed salmon industry, and criticism has come from many quarters. However, leading scientists have now come out to support the report while the editor-in-chief of Science, Donald Kennedy, pointed out that the journal's peer-review process is among the most rigorous in the scientific community. One such supporter is George Lucier, a former director of the US Department of Health's national toxicological programme. "It is based on sound science and the results are undeniable," said Mr Lucier. At least three other independent US experts support his statement. An outspoken critic of the report is Professor Charles Santerre, who is attached to Purdue University in Indiana. Professor Santerre has strongly criticized the report, yet failed to disclose that he is a paid consultant to the industry group, Salmon of the Americas. The salmon farming industry has also been pointing at the financial backers of the report, the Pew Charitable Trust. The Trust funds research into global pollution, but although it funded the farmed salmon study, it has flatly denied influencing the outcome of the report in any way. Mr Kennedy supports this statement, saying that the authors of the report were free to publish their results without review by Pew, reports the Sunday Herald. Despite this assurance, Brian Simpson, chief executive of Scottish Quality Salmon (SQS), believes that the industry is a victim of global conspiracy. Another accusation is that the study was flawed because of the lack of wild Atlantic salmon in the sample. The researchers rejected this criticism and said that too few Atlantic salmon were available commercially to be used in such a sample, but that they were able to use Pacific wild salmon Another important point is that the actual levels of contamination found were not disputed by the Foods Standards Agency and the SQS. Both agencies say that these levels of toxins have been in the public domain for many years now. However, it has recently been revealed that scientists from the Central Science Laboratory have challenged the safety of acceptable toxin levels in fish. Anyone consuming more than one portion of salmon a week would exceed the World Health Organisation (WHO) safety limit for dioxins. The Scottish Green Party has called for a proper inquiry, a call supported by David Hunter, a consultant to the fish farming industry. Mr Hunter has urged the Scottish Executive to act decisively in an effort to rescue the reputation of the Scottish salmon. (FIS/MP).-

US-Brazilian shrimp dispute could reach WTO

Brazilian fishing authorities requested, via United States Ambassador Donna Hrinak, that the US government withdraw dumping accusations against Brazilian shrimp producers. They argued that additional tariffs on shrimp not only harm the local industry but also American companies operating in Brazil. An official release issued by the Department of Aquaculture and Fisheries (SEAP), reports that, in the meeting held last 12 January with SEAP officials Ambassador Hrinak asked for the list of American companies farming shrimp in Brazil which amount to around ten. During the hearing with Ms. Hrinak, Brazilian Fisheries minister José Fritsch presented evidence showing no unfair commercial practices by the Brazilian shrimp industry or subsidies from the Brazilian government. Last December 31, the Southern Shrimp Alliance filed dumping charges against Brazil as well as against China, Thailand, Vietnam, India and Ecuador. The meeting between Brazilian Fisheries authorities and the US ambassador preceded the hearings of the International Trade Commission (ITC) scheduled for this Tuesday January 20, when following the preliminary analysis of the case a course of action for further investigation will be decided. Mr. Fritsch extended an invitation for US experts to visit and corroborate in the field the current situation of the Brazilian shrimp industry. However the official SEAP release added that, "should the diplomatic or legal channels be insufficient," Brazil does not dismiss the possibility of turning to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to prove that Brazilian producers are not involved in dumping. (FIS/MP).-