Mara Seaweed goes into administration

A new owner is urgently being sought for Mara Seaweed, an award-winning Scottish seaweed harvesting and food products business. Mara, which is headquartered in Glenrothes, Fife, has been placed into the hands of administrators Callum Carmichael and Chad Griffin, partners with FRP Advisory. Founded in 2011 as Celtic Sea Spice Company, the business rebranded as…

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Middle East export barriers eased for Norway’s salmon

Norway has negotiated a series of rule changes to make it easier for its salmon industry to export to three Middle Eastern countries. Working with the Food Safety Authority and Norwegian embassies in Israel, Jordan and Saudi Arabia, Norway’s government has been able to improve market access and remove some of the earlier regulatory barriers.…

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Bakkafrost backing Islands athletes

Salmon producer Bakkafrost Scotland has presented the Western Isles athletic squad with new kit ahead of their participation in the NatWest International Island Games, taking place in Guernsey next month. Bakkafrost Scotland is the main sponsor for the Western Isles Island Games Association (WIIGA), which will be flying out from Stornoway in the Hebrides on…

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Andfjord Salmon placement raises NOK 615m

Norwegian land based fish farmer Andfjord Salmon last night boosted its balance sheet by the equivalent of £45m. The company announced it has allocated 15,974,026 offer shares through a private placement at a subscription price of NOK 38.50 per share, raising gross proceeds of approximately NOK 615 million. Earlier this month Andfjord Salmon announced debt…

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This year’s model

The example of the Lamlash Bay No Take zone shows that fish farm’s and biodiversity can co-exist happily, argues Dr Martin Jaffa, and it also provides one more reason to be sceptical about SEPA’s sea lice risk model. Read his article in the June issue of Fish Farmer, which you can view online or download…

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Pilot finds data sharing can make seafood supply chains work better

A “digital one stop” approach can help make data sharing throughout the seafood supply more effective, a pilot study carried out by Fisheries Innovation & Sustainability with industry body Seafood Scotland. Although the initial studies involve two catch fishing sectors – haddock and nephrops – the potential application to farmed seafood is clear. Fisheries Innovation…

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Bakkafrost funds primary school facilities

A local primary school is the latest beneficiary of community grant funding from salmon farmer Bakkafrost Scotland. Kirn Primary School, in Argyll and Bute, on the west coast of Scotland, received a donation towards outdoor facilities through Bakkafrost’s latest round of Community Fund awards. Thanks to the donation, Kirn Primary School has been able to…

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Simply Blue aims to combine wind farms and seaweed

Ireland’s Simply Blue Group and Norway-based Arctic Seaweed have signed a memorandum of understanding which will see them exploring solutions for co-locating seaweed farms among offshore wind farms. The aim is to develop prototype seaweed farms, as a precursor to exploring larger scale solutions within offshore wind farms. This will require seeding and harvesting processes scaled to…

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Innovasea names Turpin as CFO

Aquaculture technology group Innovasea has appointed Jean Turpin as the company’s Chief Financial Officer. The US-based company said Turpin has a strong track record in international business finance, including experience in strategic consulting, competitive analysis, business analytics, business transformation, due diligence and post-merger integration. Prior to joining Innovasea, he served as Vice President of Strategy…

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Seafish sets out five-year plan for UK industry

UK industry body Seafish has launched its new five-year corporate plan for the sector. It includes making overseas trade easier, ensuring a safer and better trained workforce and responding to climate change emergency. Seafish, which is publicly owned, says it is a strategic roadmap that reflects the organisation’s vision for a thriving seafood sector and…

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