Russian research institutions have once again recommended extending the supplementary closed season for directed herring fishing in the western Bering Sea through 2027, covering waters west of 179°W from June 1 to September 30; the corresponding draft order from the Ministry of Agriculture has been prepared. In 2026, the herring catch in these waters reached an all-time high of more than 183,000 tonnes.
Russia's Ministry of Agriculture has opened public consultation on a draft order setting 2027 Bering Sea fishing restrictions, proposing to extend winter-spring fishing bans in the West Bering Sea and Karaginsky subzones for another year. Industry scientific surveys show that total pollock biomass in 2026 grew nearly 1.5-fold compared with 2024, with fishing efficiency recovering to the 27-year average.
According to the annex to the 2025 federal budget execution law signed by the Russian President, quota auctions in the previous year brought the federal budget more than RUB 50.3 billion in revenue, of which crab investment quota auctions contributed over RUB 46.6 billion.
In August 2026, Seafood New Zealand CEO Lisa Futschek visited the Chatham Islands for the first time, touring the Moana New Zealand processing plant, meeting with fishers, divers and quota holders, and attending the local science festival.
Russia's Ministry of Agriculture has submitted a draft order proposing additional restrictions on commercial fishing of snow crab (краб-стригун опилио) in the West Bering Sea fishery zone: targeted fishing would be banned from early December 2026, and from January 1 to March 1 in 2027.
The Northwest Customs Administration of Russia reported on October 20 that since late July, 47 batches of live crab totaling more than 280 tonnes have been exported under the supervision of the Pulkovo Airport customs post in St. Petersburg, with export volume nearly tripling year-on-year, mainly destined for East Asian countries.
Kevin Jørgensen, who spent two years each at Lerøy Seafood Group and ScaleAQ, announced in October 2026 the founding of recruitment company Blue Talent Partners, targeting specialized recruitment services for the seafood and aquaculture industry. He noted that the number of job ads on Finn.no fell by nearly 12% from 2024 to 2025, the third consecutive year of decline, with the downward trend continuing in 2026.
On October 20, 2026, Khabarovsk Krai Governor Dmitry Demeshin said at a press conference held at the TASS Far East news center that red caviar produced locally remains a reserve resource for promoting the regional brand, and proposed changing the approach to products such as “Okhotsk caviar” and “Chumikan caviar” that have not yet been fully branded.
Gigante Salmon had fish in all three farming pools simultaneously for the first time in Q3 2026, but no routine slaughter took place during the quarter, resulting in zero sales revenue and EBIT of -NOK 10.1 million.
Negotiations in London set 2027 total allowable catches for blue whiting and herring in line with ICES advice, with blue whiting recommended to rise to 1.064 million tonnes and herring to 588,000 tonnes, but countries failed to agree on quota allocation.
Data published by the Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries on 20 October show that Norway's standing biomass of farmed salmon at the end of September was 887,558 tonnes, down 0.2% from 889,020 tonnes in the same period last year, levelling off at a high level.
Data released by Shrimp Insights on October 20 shows that China's cumulative warm-water shrimp imports from January to September 2026 totaled 805,705 tonnes, up 20% year-on-year, with an import value of US$4.019 billion, up 14% year-on-year. Ecuador remained the largest source country, exporting 616,843 tonnes to China in the first nine months, up 23% year-on-year.
The Dutch mussel farming season in 2026 shows clear divergence: growth in the Wadden Sea is close to normal, the Eastern Scheldt is 13% below expectation, and meat yield briefly fell to 26% to 28%; meanwhile, Omdraai has produced consumption mussels with a meat yield of about 35% for the first time in years.
A study by the Norwegian Institute of Marine Research found that warming waters in the Barents Sea may make the recovery of cod more complicated. Cod quotas in these waters have been cut sharply for several consecutive years, falling to a 30-year low of 269,550 tonnes in 2025.
Ireland's Department of Climate, Energy and Environment launched a public consultation in October 2026 seeking views from the public and stakeholders on the management and protection of wild Atlantic salmon. The consultation runs until October 30 and aims to inform management measures for the 2027 fishing season.
U.S. President Trump signed the Illegal Red Snapper and Tuna Enforcement Act on October 15, 2026, requiring NOAA Fisheries to work with NIST to develop a standard method for testing seafood country of origin, with red snapper and tuna as the pilot-phase targets.
The Marine Conservation Society (MCS), a UK-based environmental non-profit headquartered in Herefordshire, released the biannual update of its Good Fish Guide on October 20, reviewing more than 100 ratings, of which 29 were downgraded, 11 upgraded and 64 unchanged, and for the first time rating Atlantic bluefin tuna caught in UK waters.
The Royal New Zealand Air Force disclosed on October 20 that its MC-12K King Air aircraft has completed a two-week maritime surveillance and reconnaissance patrol in Vanuatu's jurisdictional waters. Personnel from the Vanuatu Police Maritime Unit, the Fisheries Office and the Transnational Crime Unit embarked on the aircraft on a ride-along basis, with the focus on "dark ships" that deliberately switch off their tracking and identification systems.
The Russian Ministry of Agriculture has published a draft order on regulation.gov.ru proposing localized fishing bans for northern shrimp and sculptured shrimp in parts of the Sea of Japan in 2027, and extending the closed season for northern shrimp to February–March.
Russian research institutions have once again recommended extending the supplementary closed season for directed herring fishing in the western Bering Sea through 2027, covering waters west of 179°W from June 1 to September 30; the corresponding draft order from the Ministry of Agriculture has been prepared. In 2026, the herring catch in these waters reached an all-time high of more than 183,000 tonnes.
Russia's Ministry of Agriculture has opened public consultation on a draft order setting 2027 Bering Sea fishing restrictions, proposing to extend winter-spring fishing bans in the West Bering Sea and Karaginsky subzones for another year. Industry scientific surveys show that total pollock biomass in 2026 grew nearly 1.5-fold compared with 2024, with fishing efficiency recovering to the 27-year average.
According to the annex to the 2025 federal budget execution law signed by the Russian President, quota auctions in the previous year brought the federal budget more than RUB 50.3 billion in revenue, of which crab investment quota auctions contributed over RUB 46.6 billion.
In August 2026, Seafood New Zealand CEO Lisa Futschek visited the Chatham Islands for the first time, touring the Moana New Zealand processing plant, meeting with fishers, divers and quota holders, and attending the local science festival.
Russia's Ministry of Agriculture has submitted a draft order proposing additional restrictions on commercial fishing of snow crab (краб-стригун опилио) in the West Bering Sea fishery zone: targeted fishing would be banned from early December 2026, and from January 1 to March 1 in 2027.
The Northwest Customs Administration of Russia reported on October 20 that since late July, 47 batches of live crab totaling more than 280 tonnes have been exported under the supervision of the Pulkovo Airport customs post in St. Petersburg, with export volume nearly tripling year-on-year, mainly destined for East Asian countries.
Kevin Jørgensen, who spent two years each at Lerøy Seafood Group and ScaleAQ, announced in October 2026 the founding of recruitment company Blue Talent Partners, targeting specialized recruitment services for the seafood and aquaculture industry. He noted that the number of job ads on Finn.no fell by nearly 12% from 2024 to 2025, the third consecutive year of decline, with the downward trend continuing in 2026.
On October 20, 2026, Khabarovsk Krai Governor Dmitry Demeshin said at a press conference held at the TASS Far East news center that red caviar produced locally remains a reserve resource for promoting the regional brand, and proposed changing the approach to products such as “Okhotsk caviar” and “Chumikan caviar” that have not yet been fully branded.
Gigante Salmon had fish in all three farming pools simultaneously for the first time in Q3 2026, but no routine slaughter took place during the quarter, resulting in zero sales revenue and EBIT of -NOK 10.1 million.
Negotiations in London set 2027 total allowable catches for blue whiting and herring in line with ICES advice, with blue whiting recommended to rise to 1.064 million tonnes and herring to 588,000 tonnes, but countries failed to agree on quota allocation.
Data published by the Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries on 20 October show that Norway's standing biomass of farmed salmon at the end of September was 887,558 tonnes, down 0.2% from 889,020 tonnes in the same period last year, levelling off at a high level.
Data released by Shrimp Insights on October 20 shows that China's cumulative warm-water shrimp imports from January to September 2026 totaled 805,705 tonnes, up 20% year-on-year, with an import value of US$4.019 billion, up 14% year-on-year. Ecuador remained the largest source country, exporting 616,843 tonnes to China in the first nine months, up 23% year-on-year.
The Dutch mussel farming season in 2026 shows clear divergence: growth in the Wadden Sea is close to normal, the Eastern Scheldt is 13% below expectation, and meat yield briefly fell to 26% to 28%; meanwhile, Omdraai has produced consumption mussels with a meat yield of about 35% for the first time in years.
A study by the Norwegian Institute of Marine Research found that warming waters in the Barents Sea may make the recovery of cod more complicated. Cod quotas in these waters have been cut sharply for several consecutive years, falling to a 30-year low of 269,550 tonnes in 2025.
Ireland's Department of Climate, Energy and Environment launched a public consultation in October 2026 seeking views from the public and stakeholders on the management and protection of wild Atlantic salmon. The consultation runs until October 30 and aims to inform management measures for the 2027 fishing season.
U.S. President Trump signed the Illegal Red Snapper and Tuna Enforcement Act on October 15, 2026, requiring NOAA Fisheries to work with NIST to develop a standard method for testing seafood country of origin, with red snapper and tuna as the pilot-phase targets.
The Marine Conservation Society (MCS), a UK-based environmental non-profit headquartered in Herefordshire, released the biannual update of its Good Fish Guide on October 20, reviewing more than 100 ratings, of which 29 were downgraded, 11 upgraded and 64 unchanged, and for the first time rating Atlantic bluefin tuna caught in UK waters.
The Royal New Zealand Air Force disclosed on October 20 that its MC-12K King Air aircraft has completed a two-week maritime surveillance and reconnaissance patrol in Vanuatu's jurisdictional waters. Personnel from the Vanuatu Police Maritime Unit, the Fisheries Office and the Transnational Crime Unit embarked on the aircraft on a ride-along basis, with the focus on "dark ships" that deliberately switch off their tracking and identification systems.
The Russian Ministry of Agriculture has published a draft order on regulation.gov.ru proposing localized fishing bans for northern shrimp and sculptured shrimp in parts of the Sea of Japan in 2027, and extending the closed season for northern shrimp to February–March.
From September 1 to 3, the Global Shrimp Forum (GSF) held its fifth annual meeting in Utrecht, the Netherlands, with nearly 600 representatives from the global shrimp industry in attendance. Data disclosed at the event show that farmed shrimp exports from major producing countries in 2025 are estimated at close to 3.8 million tonnes, up nearly 4.5% year on year; European retail shrimp sales in 2025 totaled approximately 615,000 tonnes, up more than 11% year on year.
