Minister Coveney recently welcomed the announcement made by the Chinese authorities via the Irish Embassy in Beijing, that commercial exports of Boarfish from Ireland may now be imported to China. 

This development follows the visit last April to China of the largest ever Irish agri-food delegation to China which was led by the Minister. Commenting on the announcement, Minister Coveney said “China is a key strategic trade partner for Ireland and has a strong demand for imports of high quality seafood, given the size of its population. Ireland is well placed to be a key supplier of sea food, meats, dairy products and beverages as well as other products and services to China. I am delighted that this announcement on Boarfish imports, which was the subject of specific discussions on my mission last April, is yet another positive development from that trade mission”.

BIM have achieved a considerable amount of work in this area including new product trials using 12 tonnes of Irish boarfish with a seafood processor in Quigdao. The commercial trials will confirm what formats from a Chinese perspective work best, whether its skinless fillets, headed and gutted, surimi type products or simply whole fish.

BIM has rejected as irresponsible, damaging and unjustified a call for a boycott of Irish Smoked Salmon at one of the busiest times for the industry.

It is incredible that organisations that purport to have an interest in the Irish seafood industry could call for a damaging boycott without a robust justification.

A boycott, if it were to be orchestrated, would cost Irish jobs and damage the industry, in its many guises, from smoke houses to restaurants.

This irresponsible call also has the potential to damage the exceptional reputation enjoyed internationally by Irish organic farmed salmon; a reputation which is reflected in the 50% price premium it receives over product produced elsewhere.

Following assistance from BIM’s Route to Market Scheme, Atlanfish Limited and Rockabill Shellfish jointly launched a new international brand ‘Atlantic-Gold’ aimed specifically at the Chinese market in October. The new brand, encompassing a range of shellfish (prawns, crab, lobster, razor clams, scallops) and whitefish products, was developed to service the growing demand for quality seafood in the Chinese market.

The selling points for the Atlantic-Gold brand attracted a great deal of attention amongst buyers in China at this year’s China Seafood Show in Dalian. Both Atlanfish and Rockabill run successful seafood businesses, employing 170 people between them, with collective revenues of €30 million, processing facilities and their own fishing vessels. Together, the companies can offer a greater volume of high end seafood. With 75% of the total catch of Irish prawns, 65% of Irish whitefish and 50% of Irish crab, the companies can guarantee volume, quality, consistency, full traceability and reliability in the marketplace. In addition to these products, razor fish is caught, kept live on-board in tanks and then flown live to China.

Also benefiting from BIM’s Route to Market Scheme and assistance from Bord Bia this year were the joint venture company Jade Ireland.

In order to drive innovation in the Irish Seafood Sector and to promote the services available through BIM’s purpose built innovation facility in Clonakilty, Co. Cork; a series of well attended innovation workshops were held from September to December. 

Breizon Limited, a well established Irish seafood company based in Connemara, with assistance from BIM’s Collective Route to Market Scheme, has successfully established a joint venture company with two French partners in Lorient, France.

The new business venture will involve a collective agreement between Breizon and Keem Bay Fish Products to supply seafood products (shellfish supplied by Breizon and smoked seafood from Keem Bay) to meet the growing demand of the French market. The joint venture company set up by Breizon and French partners Argis Galacsea and Les Viviers de Keroman in Lorient will act as a hub to enable the partners to deliver fresh Irish seafood produce direct to retailers, restaurants and fish mongers.

Following the official launch of the ‘Axis 4 – Sustainable Development of Fishery Dependent Areas Programme’ last month; BIM is pleased to announce the establishment of four out of six of the Fisheries Local Action Group’s or FLAG’s in the South-East, West, North and North-West regions. The remaining FLAG’s in the South and North-East will be in place in early 2013.

The Axis 4 programme aims to empower fishing and aquaculture reliant communities to use the valuable resources they have at their disposal to develop and implement a strategy to increase revenue and employment opportunities for their respective areas.

Following the launch in Dublin on the 10th October of ACRUNET (Atlantic Crab Resource Users Network), an international project funded by the Interreg Atlantic Area to develop the brown crab fishery, there has been considerable progress made.
An Industry workshop is planned for late January to seek feedback and request collaboration on the project...
 

Three oyster companies recently engaged with BIM’s new Aquaculture Business Development service to help focus on the direction their companies should take in the market place. Following an initial consultation with BIM, a strategy was drafted for each of the companies. The tailored strategies outlined how to target key customers and develop effective communication to carry the brand message.

Robert Walsh, one of BIM's experienced trainers visited Mayo recently to provide Basic Safety Training and GMDSS Radio Communications training aboard BIM's custom built Coastal Training Unit (CTU)

The CTU was based at BIM's offices in Newport from mid October until mid December and both courses were well attended.

Please visit www.bim.ie for further information on the diverse range of training courses provided by BIM

The following training courses will be available in the New Year on our Coastal Training Units (CTU's) and in our colleges so don't forget to book your place by contacting 01-2144100 or e-mail training@bim.ie
The CTU and BIM's training instructors will also be available at the 2013 Irish Skipper Expo, sponsored by BIM on the 1st and 2nd March