International & Trade

HEUKSAN ISLAND, South Korea — June 14, 2014 — South Korea has a generous list of foods some find hard to swallow, among them boiled silkworm pupae and live baby octopuses, which have been known to attach their suction cups to the roofs of diners’ mouths in what appear to be desperate bids to escape.June 14, 2014 — South Korea has a generous list of foods some find hard to swallow, among them boiled silkworm pupae and live baby octopuses, which have been known to attach their suction cups to the roofs of diners’ mouths in what appear to be desperate bids to escape.

But fermented skate from this southern island tops them all. By far South Korea’s smelliest food, the fish, called hongeo, is described by lovers and detractors alike as releasing odors reminiscent of an outhouse. Served most often as chewy pink slabs of sashimi, hongeo is prized by enthusiasts for the ammonia fumes it releases, sometimes so strong they cause people’s mouths to peel.

“I used to think that people could not possibly eat this stuff unless they were crazy,” said Park Jae-hee, a 48-year-old marketing executive. “But like smelly blue cheese, it has no replacement once you fall in love with it.”

It is easy, of course, to poke fun at other nations’ cuisines: Consider Europeans’ wrinkled noses at the American penchant for slathering ketchup on everything from fries to scrambled eggs. But some South Koreans who are otherwise fiercely proud of their fiery, often odoriferous foods, like kimchi, admit to being repelled by hongeo and baffled by its rising popularity.

Read the full story from The New York Times

GENEVA/TOKYO — june 16, 2014 — The Japanese restaurant and food industries are worried that the price of the Japanese eel may climb further, following the decision by an international body to classify the fish as endangered.

The Japanese eel is a migratory fish found in Japan, China, South Korea and a wide expanse of East Asia. Because there are no farms that raise the fish from eggs, most Japanese eels sold in Japan are caught when young and raised until they are mature enough to eat.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature announced on June 12 that the Japanese eel was added to its Red List, recording it as a species nearing extinction. The decision by the Swiss-based scientific organization does not carry any legal obligations. But the Red List is referenced by the secretariat of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, which governs the Washington Convention and international trade and protection of endangered species.

Unless the Japanese eel population recovers, it may be added to the list of species protected under this convention. Such a move would lead to import-export controls, and higher prices.

Read the full story from the Nikkei Asian Review

SEAFOODNEWS.COM [SCOM] by Claire van der Geest and Jerry Scott — June 16, 2014 — While the 2013 meeting of the IOTC was marked by the adoption of a number of conservation and management resolutions, IOTC Members appeared reluctant to take similar strong conservation and management actions at this year’s 18th Session in Colombo, Sri Lanka. All significant conservation and management proposals were deferred until the 19th Session to be hosted by the Republic of Korea in April 2015.

A strong win for the Commission ­– and for tuna sustainability from ISSF’s perspective – was the agreement to implement a mandatory requirement for IMO numbers on eligible fishing vessels. A limited requirement for IMO numbers was adopted in 2013, but some IMO-eligible vessels were not obligated to obtain them. The resolution adopted this year ensures that all fishing vessels that are greater than 24 meters and eligible to obtain an IMO number must do so. This is a significant step toward further combating IUU fishing. Three of the four tropical tuna RFMOs have now implemented this requirement, ensuring that tuna fishing vessels are traceable throughout the world’s oceans.

Another win is the Parties commitment to a series of workshops for science-management dialogue. Three workshops are planned, and they aim to support the development of an integrated management regime for the regions tuna resources including, for example, the use of harvest control rules. This positive action represents a further step toward adoption of harvest control rules (HCRs) for Indian Ocean stocks.

Also of note was the first formal workshop, open to all CPCs, on the topic of HCRs and reference points held in advance of this year’s Commission meeting. The workshop discussed IOTC’s work in this vein, placing such efforts within the context of the Precautionary Approach to fisheries management, which the IOTC is working to implement for the long-term sustainability of the resource and the fishery. Most of the discussion was specific to Resolution 13-10, which will need explicit definitions of certain key elements that will be developed through future workshops.

A further notable outcome this year is the adoption of administrative measures, including amendments to the Rules of Procedure that is the culmination of two years work for IOTC. By streamlining the IOTC Resolutions, Recommendations and Rules of Procedure, the Commission is enabling and supporting members’ compliance with conservation and management measures and facilitating continual improvement of the IOTC itself.

This year’s meeting also marked the start of positive dialogue on FAD management. In response to an increase in FAD fishing and questions about the impact of increasingly efficient purse seine fishing on overall capacity, IOTC delegates debated appropriate mechanisms to manage FAD fishing. While no agreement could be reached on a particular precautionary mechanism for managing the growth of this gear, renewed calls for analysis of FAD management plan data echoed between delegations in order to guide development of appropriate mechanisms at next year’s Commission meeting.

Finally, we were pleased to see an increase in compliance with IOTC obligations, particularly by those parties that received a Compliance Support Mission during the intercessional period. It was disappointing, however, that despite the open acknowledgment by members for the need for strong and continued compliance improvement, a proposal for a Compliance Working Group or a study into the potential for centralized VMS was not supported by the majority of members.

We were pleased to see the IOTC membership grow with the accession of Somalia to the IOTC Agreement and the endorsement of Djibouti as a Cooperating non-Contracting Party. We also applaud the IOTC endorsement of a second performance review and look forward to working with the other representatives on the performance review panel.

These steps are solid strides forward on some critical issues for sustainable fisheries management, especially regarding managing capacity and combating IUU activities. But when it comes to the numerous, equally important tuna conservation issues that were on the table, this 18th Session accomplished little more than create the need for significant intercessional work in preparation for 2015 and beyond.

For example, IOTC Parties were unable to agree on amendments to further prohibit discarding of all fish and sharks from all purse seine vessels, nor could they agree on a recommendation that fishing gears other than purse seine vessels retain their tuna catches. There was, unfortunately, strong opposition again to the adoption of binding measures to prohibit the catch and retention of vulnerable hammerhead and silky sharks, as well as opposition to a non-binding recommendation promoting the retention of shark fins until the first point of landing.

Going forward, ISSF will continue to work with all IOTC parties during the intercessional period in preparation for next year’s 19th Session and in support of our strategic commitment to vigorously advocate for the adoption and implementation of science-based management measures so that tuna stocks and their ecosystem are managed comprehensively and sustainably.

The following story appeared on Seafoodnews.com, a subscription site. It has been reprinted with permission

June 12, 2014 — Secretary of State John Kerry will host the “Our Ocean” Conference at the U.S. Department of State on June 16 and 17. The conference will bring together 350-400 participants from more than 80 nations, including government officials, scientists, and leading international institutions to review the state of the science and determine concrete actions that can be taken at all levels to help protect ocean ecosystems.

The conference will focus on Sustainable Fishing, Marine Pollution, and Ocean Acidification. The confirmed participants include: Prince Albert II of Monaco, President of the Republic of Kiribati Anote Tong, President of the Republic of Palau Tommy Remengesau, Chilean Foreign Minister Heraldo Muñoz, Foreign Minister of the Republic of the Marshall Islands Tony DeBrum, Secretary of Foreign Affairs of the Federated States of Micronesia Lorin Robert, New Zealand Foreign Minister Murray McCully, Norwegian Foreign Minister Børge Brende, Togolese Foreign Minister Robert Dussey, and World Bank President Jim Yong Kim.

Please see the current schedule below for media opportunities. The full schedule of the conference can be viewed on the website. Conference events will be streamed live on www.state.gov/ourocean and will take place in the Loy Henderson Conference Room, unless otherwise noted.

For the latest information on the conference, please see www.state.gov/ourocean, and follow @JohnKerry, @StateDept, and @StateDeptOES on Twitter. You can participate in the many social media efforts surrounding the conference including our first Thunderclap, our Show Your Love of Our Ocean photo campaign, and the Protect Our Ocean Call to Action. Secretary Kerry’s ocean call to action video can be viewed at http://youtu.be/sOifRu6WdXs. You can also follow the conversation on social media using the hashtag #OurOcean2014.

Read the full story from the U.S. Department of State

June 13, 2014 — Two teams of fish face off over fish food. It's all part of a fish World Cup stunt in a Shanghai aquarium planned to coincide with the start of the real soccer tournament in Brazil.

Twenty-three fish split up into teams and a referee swam around in a specially designed tank, covered with plastic grass and complete with goal posts, corner flags, penalty areas and a large lump of feed as the ball.

Watch the video from The Boston Globe

SEAFOODNEWS.COM by John Sackton  – June 13, 2014 — Charoen Pokphand Foods has issued a stinging response to the Guardian's article documenting forced labor in the illegal Thai fishing industry.  They say the industry is at a tipping point, and that they engaged with the Guardian hoping to build support for their efforts to address this problem.

Instead, the paper targeted retailers in the supply chain, without helping them understand the larger issues, and the amount of work CPF and others have done to try and combat illegal fishing and slavery.
 
The result is that CPF- perhaps the leading company in Thailand fighting the slavery and illegal fishing issue, is now desperately trying to protect its reputation with its customers.
 
What does this kind of action – targeting the companies making a difference – say to the more reluctant partners in Thailand – who will continue to buy from illegal vessels. It will make them turn to other markets, like China, and give global buyers less leverage to help their suppliers address these issues.
 
The problem is not simply slavery; it is the failure to control illegal and unregistered fishing vessels.  It is these vessels, that are already pirates, that also employ the forced labor where abuses are taking place.   CPF says the groups "Having lobbied and failed to get any traction from the Thai government, they are turning to the big global brands and industry to drive immediate improvement."
 
CPF says their response has been immediate.  We "are the only representatives of the entire industry who have been prepared to face the cameras and answer questions. Fundamentally CP believes that from factory to fishing boat each and every person who works for CP, with CP as a supplier or through any part of CP’s supply chain must, as an absolute minimum be treated fairly and with dignity at all times.  To this end we are currently in the process of auditing our entire operation to do the following:
 
-Denounce slavery across each and every aspect of our supply chain
 
-Put in place and implement an independent spot check coordinated system for ensuring that our supply chain is and continues to be slavery free.
 
But long term, to tighten the control of fishmeal procurement, CP urges a clampdown on illegal fishing, and CP is committed to drive improvement in Thailand fishing practices.
 
Currently CP sources fishmeal needed to produce fish feed from 55 independent fishmeal processing plants.  40 of them are fully compliant with the Dept of Fisheries Non-IUU certification scheme. The scheme requires the processing plant to produce full documentation including a Marine Catch Purchasing Document, a catch certificate, a Captain’s Statement and a fishing certificate. This represents 73% of CP's suppliers. By 2015  they aim to achieve 100%.
 
Most of the fishmeal used comes from by-products of tuna and surimi production and is all certified Non- IUU.
 
However a portion of the fishmeal also comes from bycatch.   By-catch, sometimes referred to as ‘trash fish’, comes mainly from the seas outside Thailand (typically Indonesia) and is the fraction of a boats catch that is completely unsalable in any other market. Typically this by-catch is frozen in blocks on large vessels called ‘Mother ships’ that are out to sea for months at a time. The frozen blocks are collected by smaller transport vessels to be sold at Thai fishing ports. By-catch and Mother ships are the Guardian’s issue.  There are an estimated 200,000 illegal migrant labourers working in the Thai fishing industry – many of them working on these ‘Mother ships’. 16% of them, according to report by US Dept. of State,  are allegedly exploited by ‘Gang masters’ and Agents who create conditions of forced labor.
 
CP has been addressing the issue of IUU caught by-catch and the associated alleged human rights / labour abuses on these ‘Mother ships.
 
CP’s program to make the Gulf of Thailand Fisheries More Sustainable was launched in April 2013.  It covers the key environmental, social and economic aspects of IUU fishing of which tackling the alleged human rights abuses on Thai fishing vessels forms just part.  CP is working together with our partners, key stakeholders and realistic NGO’s worldwide, to help drive this program forward but it is immensely complex and requires a stepwise approach.
 
CP has a ten point plan and is meeting targets.   A number of points in the plan have a bearing on the social aspect (alleged slavery) which the Guardian has highlighted.
 
CP's focus is on using suppliers who source from by-product as far as possible. "Currently 42% is from by-product and our target is 70% by 2016. As we increase this, our dependency on by-catch is significantly reduced. Our biggest fishmeal supplier – Kingfisher – uses tuna by-product from the Pacific Ocean and is the first fishmeal company in Asia to receive GMP + certification for responsible supply."
 
As an immediate step to encourage all our fishmeal suppliers to participate in the scheme, CP is the only manufacturer paying a supplier premium for fully certified Non- IUU product. At the end of 2013, CPF had paid an additional 48.2 Million Baht in premium payments.
 
As a second step CP is working with the IFFO on the IFFO RS Improvers Program  – an independent auditing scheme to encourage all our suppliers to implement improvements leading to compliance. The prerequisite step for formal adoption onto IFFO RS Improvers Program is to achieve GMP + Feed Responsibility Assurance.  The ten point plan aims for all fishmeal to be from IFFO RS certified suppliers wihtin three years.
 
CP is also the only major manufacturer in Asia to be engaging with the Thai Government (DOF) to help drive improvements and revisions to their fishery laws having held formal meetings with them throughout 2013 and Q1 of 2014. New updated laws are currently going through parliament.
 
Finally, CP is committed to Fishery Improvement Plans  in the Gulf of Thailand & Andaman Sea.  For the first time in history, the eight key Thai Seafood Associations (Thai Feedmill Association, the National Fisheries Association of Thailand, the Thai Overseas Fisheries Association, the Thai Fishmeal Producers Association, the Thai Frozen Foods Association, the Thai Shrimp Association, the Thai Shrimp Association, the Thai Tuna Industry Association and the Thai Food Processors' Association)  have signed a memorandum of understanding in February 2014 with an outline roadmap for the sustainable development of Thai Fisheries. The alleged social ‘slave’ labour aspect will be positively addressed in this work.
 
These plans will cost about $500,000 in payments to SFP and WWF.  Currently CP is actively urging the industry to raise this amount to address IUU fishing, and by extension, slavery, which is a by-product of the piracy of the illegal fishing vessels.
 
CP says "When the Guardian initially contacted us asking questions about our general sustainability plans, we decided to engage with them. As a responsible newspaper we hoped they would help us to raise necessary awareness of the work we are doing – particularly the fishery improvement plans proposed by SPF and WWF. Through the course of this engagement we have supplied answers to questions including macro export stats alongside details of our current supply chain oversight, our fishmeal suppliers and the significant progress we are making to tighten the control of our fishmeal procurement.  For example we highlighted the work we are doing with the IFFO to drive the ‘IFFO RS Improvers Chain of Custody Program’.
 
However, it appears that they have decided to pursue the slavery aspect in isolation without taking on board the fact that this is inextricably linked to the overall fishery improvement plans. "
 
"The Guardian could help by telling the story in context with reference to the work CPF are doing but if they continue down a route of simply targeting the retailers with slavery allegations as they appear to have done, it will potentially make our task more difficult. "
 
"It’s an industry wide issue. CP has a choice. We can simply walk away from fishmeal altogether. We have developed protein substitutes that we can use to replace it. We have already committed to do this by 2021 if necessary .  Or we can continue do the right thing and behave responsibly by using our commercial weight and influence to help drive positive improvement. "
 
We are making good progress request but we are at a tipping point. We can do nothing and witness these environmental and social issues destroy the seas around Thailand and the fishing industry for generations to come. Or we can help to drive the fishery improvement plans proposed by the SFP and WWF Other than CPF sponsoring what we can, we are now in the process of building a case to help raise these essential funds.

This story originally appeared on Seafood.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission.

June 12, 2014 — Rich with vitamins and minerals, eels are credited by many Japanese people for helping them stay in good health and maintain their skin complexion. But eel stocks have plummeted rapidly in recent years and the country is now facing losing the traditional delicacy, which is typically enjoyed in the hot and humid summer.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature added the Japanese eel to its list of endangered species on Wednesday, citing “loss of habitat, overfishing, barriers to migration, pollution and changes to oceanic currents.” Although the list has no legal power, it may help raise awareness about the issue among the international community.

Yoshimasa Hayashi, Japan’s minister of agriculture, forestry and fisheries, told reporters on Thursday he has little choice but to allow fishermen to keep catching baby eels for the time being.

But the Japanese government has been aware of the shrinking eel population for some time and has already taken some steps. It only allows licensed fishermen to catch baby eels. It has accelerated research and development of farming technology and has succeeded in growing eels from eggs to maturity. The Ministry of Environment added the eel to its own endangered species list in 2013.

Read the full story at the Wall Street Journal

June 12, 2014 —  Pacific island nations announced plans Thursday to dramatically increase the fees they charge tuna fishing boats for the right to enter their waters, saying it will boost revenue and help conservation efforts.

Around half the world's skipjack tuna, the most commonly canned variety, is caught in waters belonging to an eight-nation group known as the Parties to the Nauru Agreement (PNA), which opened its annual meeting in Majuro on Thursday.

Much of the fishing is conducted by so-called "distant water" fleets from as far afield as Europe, the United States, China, South Korea, Japan and Taiwan, who pay US$6,000 a day for the privilege.

Marshall Islands President Christopher Loeak said a plan by PNA nations to lift the day rate to US$10,000 in 2015 would help them improve management of a vital natural resource and ensure it was sustainable.

The fee system had allowed Pacific nations to increase earnings from their tuna fisheries from US$60 million in 2010 to more than US$240 million last year, he said.

Read the full story from Agence France-Presse at The West Australian

June 12, 2014 — The International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) has recommended a 10% cut in the Barents Sea cod maximum catch, while increasing its advice for haddock by 10%.

On June 12, ICES announced that it advises, on the basis of the Joint Russian–Norwegian Fisheries Commission management plan, that the total allowable catch (TAC) in 2015 should be set at 894,000 metric tons.

The advice comes as prices for cod are already firming up.

The actual quota level will be set at the Russian–Norwegian Fisheries Commission in October.

“Normally, they follow the advice so this could strengthen the prices further,” one whitefish sector source told Undercurrent News.

“This is quite surprising as the stocks are reported to be in excellent condition. As this comes as a surprise to the market, we expect that this might change the market psychology instantly towards a (rapid) price increase,” wrote Kolbjorn Giskeodegard, an analyst with Nordea.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

June 10, 2014 — Whenever the demarcation of national maritime boundaries isn’t quite clear, fishermen tend to find themselves in the middle. Indian fishermen have an unfortunate habit of finding themselves on the wrong side of the Pakistani border as well.

The situation is particularly acute in East Asia, where China is embroiled in a series of maritime territorial disputes with its neighbours. According to U.S. Naval War College analysis, China may have as many as 8 million fishermen. The law enforcement body charged with policing them, the Fisheries Law Enforcement Command, is a mini-navy with two thousands ships operating in the maritime territories of as many as 35 countries.

Given that China claims virtually the entire South China Sea as its territory, it’s not surprising that disputes have emerged. I wrote recently about the Philippines’ arrest of the crew of a fishing vessel accused of turtle poaching in Filipino waters. Fishing crews have also found themselves embroiled in disputes with Vietnam, North Korea, South Korea, Japan, and the United States. 

Vietnam’s prime minister has explicitly said that fishermen “play a part in protecting the country's sovereignty in the disputed South China Sea.” These fleets are unfortunately caught up in a proxy war between China and its smaller neighbors. Neither side wants to risk an all-out military confrontation, but the arrest, ramming, or even sinking of a fishing boat is the kind of gesture that can send a message without doing anything diplomatically irreversible. The fishing dispute dynamic between India and its neighbors seems similar.

Read the full story at Slate