Nicki Holmyard

Contributing Editor

Nicki Holmyard lives and breathes the seafood industry. As a specialist freelance writer for 25 years, she has travelled the globe to research in-depth articles, interviews and news stories on all aspects of fishing, aquaculture and processing for international journals and newspapers. She has contributed to books on sustainable seafood sourcing and the effects of climate change on the oceans, and acts as a communications consultant for leading fishing and aquaculture concerns. Nicki is also a director of Offshore Shellfish Ltd, which is developing Europe’s largest rope-grown mussel farm.


Author Archive

Published on
June 14, 2024

Companies, government officials, NGOs, and even some protestors all converged on London, England, to discuss what innovations are needed to maximize the potential of the blue economy. 

The 2024 Blue Food Innovation Summit, which ran from 21 to 22 May in London, brought together global seafood industry stakeholders to share knowledge and brainstorm how to scale blue food production sustainably.

During the conference, art collective Ocean

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Published on
May 31, 2024

The Shetland Islands, situated off the northwestern coast of the U.K., boasts major annual landings of pelagic and whitefish species, as well as thriving salmon- and shellfish-farming operations.

To facilitate further growth on the isles, the University of the Highlands and Islands’ (UHI) campus in the Shetland Islands town of Scalloway has rebranded as the Centre for Sustainable Seafood, with the aim of reshaping the campus as a focal

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Published on
May 20, 2024

Motorway service areas across the U.K. typically have a few fast-food outlets, a coffee shop, and maybe some grocery offerings, among other small amenities.

Three service stations in Gloucester, Tebay, and Cairn Lodge, owned by Westmorland Family – a family business started by the family of the same name – and which span the country’s motorway network, have instead become culinary destinations, with kitchens producing food from

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Published on
May 7, 2024

Härnösand, Sweden-based foodtech company Agtira has big plans to streamline the Scandinavian country’s food supply chain.

Employing a Farming-as-a-Service (FaaS) strategy, Agtira aims to grow vegetables and fish close to Sweden’s major retailers. Through long-term supply agreements with those retailers, the products will be sent directly to nearby grocery stores.

“Agtira represents a technology shift that can be

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Published on
May 3, 2024

On 30 April, the U.K. introduced border checks on fresh food products entering the country from the E.U. – over four years after the country left the bloc through Brexit.

The new requirements mandate that E.U. exporters of animal and plant products, including seafood chilled and frozen meat, dairy products, berries, and some cut flowers, must present export health certifications (EHCs) to U.K. authorities upon entry. The checks also

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Published on
April 8, 2024
For those working on the supply side of the seafood industry, clearly and accurately communicating the sustainable credentials of their products has become essential, but remains difficult for small-scale fishers to achieve, as they often don’t have the resources to attain certification or communicate effectively with consumers, according to Community Catch Director Andrew Hough. Community Catch, based in London, U.K., aims to address this… Read More
Published on
April 3, 2024

A Norwegian aquaculture startup has announced as plan to win an offshore salmon-farming license in the first licensing round Norway plans to host in 2025.

Lovund, Norway-based Utror, which is majority-owned by salmon farmer Lovundlaks, said it hoped to overcome current complications with Norway's offshore salmon-farming permit system, obtain a permit, and begin farming by 2028.

“We have spent significant time over the past year on an

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Published on
April 1, 2024

U.K. retailer Marks & Spencer (M&S) has been named the top performer in the second edition of Crustacean Compassion’s benchmarking report on decapod crustacean welfare.

Conducted by West Sussex, U.K.-based Chronos Sustainability, the report, “The Snapshot,” outlines 30 seafood companies’ performances related to the welfare of crabs, lobsters, prawns, and nephrops in their supply chains, judging on criteria such as

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Published on
March 22, 2024

The founders of Saarbrücken, Germany-based Seawater Cubes, a startup that has developed a plug-and-play recirculating aquaculture system for fish, are seeking EUR 3 million (USD 3.3 million) in funding to scale up production and marketing.

Seawater Cubes was founded in 2018 by business and marketing specialist Carolin Ackermann, automation technologist Kai Wagner, and mechanical engineer Christian Steinbach. Through the

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