French tuna canners are urging retailers to raise the retail price of their products, and if the demands aren’t met, they will be less likely to invest in sustainable fishing due to lower profits, says Pierre Commere, director of Adepale, the country’s association of processors.

The Government of Equatorial Guinea Thursday expressed its intention to continue talks with the European Union (EU) in order to reach a new agreement that will renew the previous accord dated 2001.

Prices for Norwegian salmon hiked 34 percent to NOK 33.35 (€4.50/$6) in the second week of January, compared to NOK 24.92 (€3.30/$4.50) in the same period last year, according to Nordea's weekly salmon update, indicating a "very strong underlying market."

The latest Seafood Intelligence Report from analysts at Marko Partners shows cod imports from key Southern European countries fell sharply during the first 10 months of 2012, with Spain showing a whopping 17.4 percent decline in imports.

The US shrimp industry seems to operate under the following theory _ if they do the same thing, over and over, the result will eventually be pleasantly rewarding. Twice since 2004, the industry has pressured trade officials to investigate the "dumping" of frozen shrimp from Thailand, the biggest supplier of shrimp to the US. Twice they were defeated. But the persistent protectionists are at it again, hoping once again for a different result and a better life financed by huge fines against Thailand.

The forecast for the global shrimp industry this year is cloudy at best. “Grim” is the best word to describe the shrimp panel at the National Fisheries Institute’s (NFI) Global Seafood Market Conference in Santa Monica, Calif. last week.

In 2012, the consumption of animal and aquaculture feed in Indonesia was to reach 13.9 million tonnes.

The U.S. firm Akin Gump was hired by the Ecuadorian government to address the legal defence of the countervailing duty demand filed by the Coalition of Gulf Shrimp Industries (Cogsi) against the shrimp industry in Ecuador and five other countries.

Japan’s government wants to stave off the country’s declining fish consumption by promoting boneless "fast fish" products that are easy to prepare. Traditionalists, in turn, are complaining about the microwavable products because it constitutes disrespect toward Japan’s fish food culture.

In November, the average price at Customs of fresh fillets was down 3% on that of the previous month and 2% on that of November 2011. The price of the frozen presentation was up 2% on that of the previous month and down 1% on that of November 2011.

As a product, tilapia ticks many boxes. It is available in large volumes; it’s mild in flavor and easy to cook; it freezes and defrosts well; and it’s very affordable. From a production perspective, the fish is sustainably farmed using little, if any, marine feeds; and it’s a very fast growing and resilient species.

Let’s hope the new year can bring some major positive changes to the troubled U.S. canned tuna market because 2012 saw its imports shrink momentously by a whopping one quarter. The devastating blow to exporters came as American tuna brands struggled to stay afloat amid record high raw material costs, declining consumer demand and the continued negative publicity on mercury and tuna.

Exorbitant demand for fish in China is becoming threat to Japan's skipjack fisheries, and fish consumption. China now consumes 4 times the amount of seafood as Japan, and Chinese consumption is growing at more than 10% a year.

A recent analysis of seafood markets in France, Spain and Italy, undertaken by Correard Consulting for Seafood Scotland, showed some marked differences in the way the economic downturn has affected the seafood industries in France, Spain and Italy and impacted on sales strategies.

The US remained Vietnam’s top seafood market in January although it has raised a number of trade barriers against the country’s exports, according to the General Department of Fisheries under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.