Tag Archives: worldwide

Seafood Biz Braces For Losses Of Jobs, Fish Due To Sanctions

The worldwide seafood industry is steeling itself for price hikes, supply disruptions and potential job losses as new rounds of economic sanctions on Russia make key species such as cod and crab harder to come by. The latest round of U.S. attempts to punish Russia for the invasion of Ukraine includes bans on imports of seafood, alcohol and diamonds. The impact is likely to be felt globally, as well as in places with working waterfronts. One of those is Maine, where more than $50 million in seafood products from Russia passed through Portland in 2021, according to federal statistics. “If you’re getting cod from Russia, it’s going to be a problem,” said Glen Libby, an owner of Port Clyde Fresh Catch, a seafood market in Tenants Harbor, Maine. “That’s quite a mess. We’ll see how it turns out.” >click to read< 13:39

While cargo shipments boom, ship strikes imperil whales in California and worldwide

Earlier this year, horrific photos of two fin whales pinned to the hull of an Australian naval ship gained worldwide attention. The vessel had been conducting exercises in the waters near San Diego. The two bodies, one 65 feet long, the other just 25 feet, were draped over the hull. “Anywhere you have major shipping routes and whales in the same place, you are going to see collisions,” said Russell Leaper, an expert with the International Whaling Commission. “Unfortunately, that’s the situation in many places.” While gray whales and humpbacks make up 70% of the reported strikes in the government’s database, it’s the endangered and threatened populations such as North Atlantic right whales and the gargantuan Pacific blues that concern scientists the most. For those whales, each death comes with a risk of population or species extinction. >click to read< 12:06

Fishing industry slump demonstrates vulnerability of food security in Coronavirus crisis

Measures are needed to avoid a worldwide Covid-19 slump in agriculture and food production, such as already exists in the fishing industry. Fishing fleets and fish farmers were among the hardest hit by COVID-19, and not just in Ireland. Businesses in the United States and elsewhere supplying high-value food products like lobster and other crustaceans to restaurants in China have also been crippled by the pandemic.,, Demand for seafood slumped dramatically. Many Irish trawlers are now tied up at the piers, with their crews having handed out free fish,,, >click to read< 14:59