This week's picks from the world press
MALTA - Request sent to Dutch government on fish farm attacks
The Ministry for Resources has sent a note verbale to the Dutch government asking it to take measures against the 3 Dutch vessels owned by Greenpeace and Sea Shepherd.
Resources Minister George Pullicino said this in response to a Parliamentary Question by MP Censu Galea following attacks on Maltese tuna vessels. Mr Pullicino said that in all, 4 cases of fish farm attacks had been reported on June 5, 6, 13 and 17. The Ministry is collaborating with the Maltese, Libyan and French Armed Forces, and with the EU’s Community Fisheries Control Agency to make sure that Maltese fishermen and operators are protected. [Source: di-ve.com].
VIETNAM - $1.2b Govt backing for farm tools, including feed mills and aquatic food processing equipment
The Ministry of Industry and Trade has approved a plan to develop the machine tools industry with a focus on agro-forestry and aquatic processing machinery by 2025. The task is expected to cost VND20.955 trillion (US$1.2 billion), including VND3.615 trillion ($191.2 million) by 2015, with the money coming from preferential credit sources, public fund, and the private sector. Vietnamese firms that make agro-forestry and aquatic processing equipment will get support from the National Science-Technology Development Fund for buying designs and technologies, hiring foreign specialists, and training human resources. The plan will focus on making environmentally friendly and energy-saving machines.
Initially, priority will be given to making machinery for rice, cassava, coffee, rubber, sugarcane, cashew, seafood and other key products. They include coffee and cashew sorting machines with a capacity of three to five tonnes per hour, rice whitening machine and polishing machines with a capacity of four to six tonnes per hour, and animal feed production lines with a capacity of 150 tonnes per day.
The machine makers will also get financial support to develop international quality standards for these products. [Source: Viet Nam News]
Organic farm nears maximum output Riba Mljet will next year reach its annual production target of 200 tonnes at which point the organic producer of seabass, seabream and meagre will cap its output. Speaking at the Offshore Mariculture Conference held in Dubrovnik, Croatia, Riba Mljet general manager Ana Milina told delegates that the farm’s owners decided long ago to put the 200-tonne maximum limit on production. Production this year is expected to top 150 tonnes.
“Despite the popularity of our fish, the owners don’t want us producing any more than 200 tonnes,” said Milina. “The idea was never to make huge profits.”
Riba Mljet has the only organic-certified fish farm in Croatia. Half financed by foreign investors – people who originated from Croatia but who are now living in the US and the Netherlands, the idea behind the farm was to help provide a source of income for Sobra’s local community. The island has a population of less than 1,000 people.
Riba Mljet mainly targets German-speaking markets, such as Germany, Austria and Switzerland. It also puts a significant amount of its fish into the US.[Source: World Fishing & Aquaculture].
