Fish Update Briefing, Friday, January 5

NORWAY SALMON VOLUMES ON THE RISE
THE volume of salmon in cages at Norwegian fish farms, as measured by weight, rose by nine per cent year-on-year during November, said Seafood Norway. The industry lobby group, which represents most of the country\’s seafood companies, said the quantity was estimated at 752,000 tonnes of salmon. The biomass for October rose by ten per cent.
DEATH OF US SEAFOOD PIONEER
SHIRLEY Flowers, one of North America\’s best known seafood restaurant pioneers, has died at the age of 95. With her late husband Brice, she began selling surplus crabs in Ocean City, Maryland, in the 1950s, before opening a 1,400-seater restaurant in the town. The business, Phillips Seafood, then expanded into other cities and now has outlets at a number of airports and at the Washington Redskins football stadium. A member of the Daughters of the American Revolution and a big supporter of Methodist church causes and anti-drug and alcohol abuse charities, she is survived by two sons, ten grandchildren and ten great grandchildren.
CHRISTMAS SPARKS SEAFOOD RUSH
MORE than 100,000people flocked to Sydney Fish Market on Christmas Eve in Australia\’s biggest festive seafood rush yet. Traders sold 750 tonnes of seafood over the period, with prawns by far the most popular species, providing a boom for Queensland fish farmers. As traditional British culinary tastes diminish, partly due to exceptionally hot weather at this time of year, chilled seafood has now replaced traditional turkey as the main Christmas dish in most Australian homes.
HOW SEL-FISH IS THAT?
SCIENTISTS at Washington State University School of Biological Sciences have become intrigued by the habits of the mangrove killfish, which can flourish in both freshwater and seawater high in salt content and can live up to two months on land by breathing through its skin. But its star turn is the fact that it is only one of two vertebrates that is able to fertilise itself, which means it doesn\’t need a mate to start a family. Further studies are being carried out on the mangrove killfish.