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https://www.nationthailand.com/international/40003766

Hatchery-reared selective-breeding mussels lead aqua-industry more sustainable, profitable in New Zealand

According to Ministry of Primary Industries (MPI) of New Zealand, the most striking improvements, especially in terms of commercial value to mussel farmers, are the certainty of supply spats compared with the wild catch, much faster growth of selectively bred mussels, and uniformity of mussel size and quality.

Situated on a remote, quiet and scenic coast in Marlborough Sounds, South Island of New Zealand, SPATnz hatchery has made Greenshell mussel breeding hatchery more sustainable and profitable.

According to figures of stats NZ, the export revenue of Greenshell mussel last year was 287.7 million NZD.

SPATnz stands for shellfish production and technology. It is a scientific program collaboration between Ministry of Primary Industries (MPI) and Sanford, a fishing company of New Zealand with a century long history.

Greenshell mussel is a very common-seen sea product in New Zealand. They are naturally sustainable and with good culinary qualities. Besides, mussel oil and powder have great potential in nutraceutical business. But how to raise mussels more economically and environmental-sustainably was a question haunted Kiwi mussel farmers for decades.

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Although a single female mussel could produce more than 1 billion eggs throughout lifetime, very few of them could survive in nature. The headache for farming mussels was that people had to get the spat (baby mussels) through wild catch, which allows little control over the timing and quantity of spat supply or the characteristics of the crop.

SPATnz General Manager Rodney Roberts said, “Normally these mussels breed in the wild and we wait for their babies, known as spat, to wash up on beaches attached to seaweed or land on catch ropes. That made life difficult for New Zealand mussel farmers, who had to cross their fingers and hope they would have enough spat for their farms from year to year.”

But now, with selective-breeding technology adopted by experts from SPATnz hatchery, mussels farming stepped onto a new stage.

“We use traditional selective breeding, on top of that, DNA fingerprinting, which is genome sequencing that helps us understand the biology of the animal so we will take full control of the breeding process.”

“The program is not aiming to produce a single ‘super mussel’ but to maintain a wide range of high performing lines to choose from. It is different from genetic engineering,” said the manager.

Undated photo provided by Sanford, a fishing company of New Zealand, shows the swimming baby mussels sized around 0.1 mm (called larvae) under microscope.

With the selective-breeding technology, scientists settled on a combination of light and temperature to encourage mussels to produce with maximum quantities and best quality of sperm and eggs.

According to Ministry of Primary Industries (MPI) of New Zealand, the most striking improvements, especially in terms of commercial value to mussel farmers, are the certainty of supply spats comparing with the wild catch, much faster growth of selectively bred mussels, and uniformity of mussel size and quality.

Undated photo provided by Sanford, a fishing company of New Zealand, shows staff members helping mussels spawn at SPATnz hatchery near Nelson, New Zealand.

Mussel farmers are excited about the results. Bruce Hearn, who farms in the Marlborough Sounds said, “One of the advantages of hatchery spat is that we will know when we are getting it and we can plan for it. That will make a huge difference.”

In addition, as to period of a mussel’s maturity from a seed size around 50 mm to sale size, it usually takes 31 to 36 months in the wild but under 17 months for the hatchery selective seeds.

The effectiveness and certainty for baby mussel production in hatchery brings huge profits to the business.

Sanford, one of the oldest and biggest fishing companies in New Zealand, as well as the co-sponsors for SPATnz program, secured profitable paid-off.

The sales figure from the company’s 2020 annual report shows that mussels was the second largest sales of the company, and mussel overall sales revenue grew steadily due to the strong demand from China and U.S. markets in particular despite of COVID-19 pandemic.

The technology is more than commercially valuable indeed.

Experts believe that the mussel breeding program could help mitigate the impact of climate change on the aquaculture sector. The technology also helped the mussel industry against threats like ocean acidification and disease.

An independent evaluation report issued in 2020 said it also brought benefits to nature. Thanks for the effectiveness of baby mussels produced in the hatchery, aquaculture has been altered the way it was by minimizing the costs of wild-catch mussel seeds in terms of transport, sorting and disposal.

And growers can seed ropes in suitable growing sites at higher density by lighter touch on the nature.

Given that roughly only 20 percent of mussel farms throughout New Zealand have adopted SPATnz technology so far, Roberts predicts the commercial potential of the technology will be very optimistic.

For instance, he believes that a Marine Extracts Centre will increase the capacity to produce high value products through mussels.

Actually, Sanford acquired a mussel powder company and commenced developing its nutraceutical business, and this will drive more demand for spat in future. (1 New Zealand dollar equals 0.6958 U.S. dollar)

Undated photo provided by Sanford, a fishing company of New Zealand, shows a staff member checking the algae, the basic food for baby mussels, in waterpipes at SPATnz hatchery near Nelson, New Zealand.

Published : July 26, 2021

By : xinhua

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https://www.nationthailand.com/international/40003765

Philippines records 4th death from COVID-19 Delta variant

The Philippines has recorded the fourth death from the highly infectious COVID-19 Delta variant, and the country now has 119 Delta variant cases.

The Philippines has recorded the fourth death from the highly infectious COVID-19 Delta variant, the Department of Health (DOH) said Sunday.

The DOH said that the country now has 119 Delta variant cases after detecting an additional 55 cases.

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“One case has died while 54 cases have been tagged as recovered,” the DOH said in a statement, adding that six of the new cases are Metro Manila residents.

“We call on both public and private sectors to ensure active case finding, aggressive contact tracing, immediate isolation or quarantine, and compliance to minimum public health standards in their respective localities and even workplaces,” the DOH said.

The Philippines has reported a total of 1,548,755 confirmed COVID-19 cases as of Sunday, including 27,224 deaths.

Published : July 26, 2021

By : xinhua

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

https://www.nationthailand.com/international/40003764

Hong Kong Customs finds 61kg of suspected heroin in snacks consignment from Thailand

Hong Kong Customs officers seized 61 kilograms of suspected heroin, with an estimated market value of about $65 million, from a seaborne consignment that arrived from Thailand on July 22.

The drugs were found concealed in instant rice vermicelli seasoning packets, in the consignment declared as snacks, HK Customs said.

Two men and a woman, aged between 31 and 42, were arrested in the Kwai Chung area on July 23.

The arrested persons are charged with one count of attempting to traffic a dangerous drug.

They will appear at the Tuen Mun Magistrates’ Courts on Monday.

Hong Kong Customs finds 61kg of suspected heroin in snacks consignment from Thailand

A series of anti-narcotics operations from July 12-24 led to seizure of drugs worth a total of above $230 million, Hong Kong Customs said.

The raids were conducted in various districts and at the Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA).

The seizures included about 145 kilograms of suspected liquid methamphetamine, 72 kilograms of suspected cocaine and 61 kilograms of suspected heroin in three separate cases, Hong Kong Customs said.

Four men and a woman, aged between 31 and 60, were arrested during the operations.

In the first case, Customs officers raided an industrial building premises in Fo Tan on July 12. About 72 kilograms of suspected cocaine with an estimated market value of about $85 million were seized from plastic bottles labelled as health food products, Hong Kong Customs said.

Follow-up investigation led to the arrest of a 43-year-old man in Sha Tin on July 15, suspected of alleged involvement. The arrested man has been released on bail pending further investigation.

In the second case, officers at the HKIA inspected an air cargo consignment declared as avocado food oil that had arrived from Mexico on July 20. About 145 kilograms of suspected liquid methamphetamine with an estimated market value of about $80 million were seized from 288 glass bottles, each with around 500 grams of the suspected drugs. Subsequent investigation resulted in the arrest of a 60-year-old man in Tsing Yi on July 24, Hong Kong Customs said.

Hong Kong Customs finds 61kg of suspected heroin in snacks consignment from Thailand

Under the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance, trafficking in a dangerous drug could get a maximum penalty upon conviction of a fine of $5 million and life imprisonment.

Published : July 26, 2021

By : THE NATION

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https://www.nationthailand.com/international/40003757

Asean sees fall in new Covid cases but Malaysia hits record numbers

Southeast Asia saw a decline in new Covid-19 cases for the second consecutive day after crossing over 100,000 on Friday.

Asean reported 90,148 new cases on Sunday, lower than Saturday’s 97,990, with 1,965 deaths, lower than the previous day’s 2,288.

The number of Covid-19 cases crossed 6.73 million, while deaths rose to 131,365.

Malaysia reported a record 17,045 new cases, taking cumulative cases in the country past the million mark to 1,013,438, with 7,994 deaths.

Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said on Sunday that in the next few days the government would consider relaxing disease control measures, which include dining in at restaurants and interstate travel, for people who have been vaccinated at required doses.

Vietnam meanwhile, reported 7,526 new cases on Sunday, bringing cumulative cases in the country to 98,465 with 370 deaths.

The United States on Sunday delivered 3 million doses of Moderna vaccine to Vietnam under the Covax programme, which will provide 5 million doses. Vietnam is also negotiating with the US for the manufacture of mRNA vaccine domestically. It is expected that the process could start by the fourth quarter of 2021 or early 2022 with a capacity of 100 to 200 million doses per year.

Published : July 26, 2021

By : THE NATION

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https://www.nationthailand.com/international/40003756

UN chief calls for leadership of G20 on climate action

Guterres urged all G20 and other leaders to commit to net-zero by mid-century, present more ambitious 2030 national climate plans and deliver on concrete policies and actions aligned with a net-zero future.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Sunday called for leadership of the Group of 20 (G20) on global climate action.

“The world urgently needs a clear and unambiguous commitment to the 1.5-degree goal of the Paris Agreement from all G20 nations. There is no pathway to this goal without the leadership of the G20,” he said in a statement on the G20 ministerial meeting on environment, climate and energy.

“This signal is desperately needed by the billions of people already on the front lines of the climate crisis and by markets, investors and industry who require certainty that a net-zero climate-resilient future is inevitable,” he said.

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Science shows that in order to meet this ambitious, yet achievable goal, the world must achieve carbon neutrality before 2050 and cut dangerous greenhouse gas emissions by 45 percent by 2030 from 2010 levels. But the world is way off track, said Guterres.

With less than 100 days left before the UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, Scotland, he urged all G20 and other leaders to commit to net-zero by mid-century, present more ambitious 2030 national climate plans and deliver on concrete policies and actions aligned with a net-zero future, including no new coal after 2021, phasing out fossil fuel subsidies and agreeing to a minimum international carbon pricing floor as proposed by the International Monetary Fund.

The Group of Seven and other developed countries must also deliver on a credible solidarity package of support for developing countries, including meeting the 100-billion-U.S.-dollar goal, increasing adaptation and resilience support to at least 50 percent of total climate finance and getting public and multilateral development banks to significantly align their climate portfolios to meet the needs of developing countries, he said.

Guterres said he intended to use the opportunity of the upcoming UN General Assembly high-level session to bring leaders together to reach a political understanding on these critical elements of the package needed for Glasgow.

Published : July 26, 2021

By : xinhua

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https://www.nationthailand.com/international/40003754

China renews second-highest alert for Typhoon In-Fa

Chinese authorities on Wednesday raised the emergency response for flood control to Level II, the second-highest level in the response system, as heavy downpours continued to lash the central China province of Henan.

Extremely heavy rainfall hit Henan on Tuesday, with precipitation in Zhengzhou, the provincial capital, exceeding the highest level on local weather records, the Ministry of Emergency Management (MEM) said.

The rainstorm has caused the water level in a reservoir to rise rapidly, said the ministry, adding that all residents downstream were relocated in advance.

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From 8 a.m. Saturday to 8 a.m. Wednesday, the average rainfall in Zhengzhou was 458.2 mm, with accumulated precipitation in some areas even surpassing the city’s total average yearly rainfall, the China Meteorological Administration said.

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday demanded that authorities at all levels must give top priority to ensuring people’s safety and property, and carefully and strictly implement the flood prevention and disaster relief measures.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remarks in an important instruction after continuous heavy rainfall hit regions including central China’s Henan Province, causing heavy casualties and property losses.

The death toll from torrential rains in central China’s Henan Province has risen to 25, with seven people missing, local authorities told a press briefing on Wednesday afternoon.

Since July 16, over 1.24 million people have been affected by the extremely heavy rainfall, and about 164,710 people have been relocated to safe places, said Xu Zhong, director of the office of the Henan provincial flood control and drought relief headquarters.

China has a four-tier flood-control emergency response system, with Level I being the most severe.

EMERGENCY WORK

Government bodies, organizations, and companies have been moving quickly regarding emergency work in Henan Province.

The MEM has dispatched a working team to the affected areas in Henan to help local authorities with disaster relief work.

A rescue team of 1,800 firefighters has been deployed to the flood-hit region from seven neighboring provinces, together with boats, pumping vehicles, and flood rescue kits.

The heavy rainfall has caused cuts in electricity and coal supply shortages, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said.

The NDRC is working to increase clean-energy power generation and enhance gas-power generation output to deal with the coal shortage problem.

By 8 a.m. Wednesday, the power supply was restored to 450,600 households, according to the NDRC.

The All-China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU) immediately activated its emergency response and allocated 2 million yuan (about 308,475 U.S. dollars) to its Henan subsidiary to assist the disaster-affected employees.

The ACFTU said it would pay close attention to the disaster conditions and is well-prepared for future relief work.

The State Post Bureau (SPB) also launched an emergency response timeously, calling for preparations for heavy rainfalls and efforts to ensure the safety of employees in the express delivery industries.

By 9 a.m. Wednesday, no casualties were reported in the express delivery sector in Henan Province, said the SPB.

Traffic has been disrupted in up to 30 sections of national and provincial highways in Henan due to flooding and collapsed roads, the Ministry of Transport said.

As of 7 a.m. Wednesday, 26 expressways in the region have reported partial closures, but there are not currently high numbers of vehicles and travelers stranded, said the transport ministry.

Floods and downpours have also affected flight and train services. With a red alert for flight delays in place from 8 p.m. Tuesday to noon on Wednesday, all flights due to land at the airport in Zhengzhou were canceled.

Parts of the Zhengzhou-Xi’an high-speed railway and the Lianyungang-Lanzhou railway saw tracks and equipment flooded, as well as trackbed collapses, said the China State Railway Group.

To restore the storm-damaged communication networks in Zhengzhou, local telecommunication companies rushed to repair at least 6,300 base stations and 275 kilometers of optical fiber cables as of 10 a.m. Wednesday, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said.

WEATHER FORECASTS

China’s national observatory Wednesday morning renewed an orange alert for rainstorms, the second-highest alert in its color-coded weather warning system, in many parts of the country, including Henan.

From Wednesday morning to Thursday morning, heavy rains and rainstorms will continue in Henan and its neighboring provinces, the observatory said. Parts of Henan and Hebei will see rainstorms with up to 280 mm of daily precipitation.

The observatory warned that some areas are likely to see over 70 mm of hourly rainfall, accompanied by thunderstorms and gales. 

Published : July 26, 2021

By : xinhua

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https://www.nationthailand.com/international/40003736

Turkeys COVID-19 cases surge amid calls for vigilance

Turkeys COVID-19 cases have surged while hundreds of thousands of holidaymakers flock to resorts to spend the holiday of Eid al-Adha. Health experts warn that the Delta variant, spreading in Turkey, could cause a new wave of infections in August.

The daily COVID-19 cases across Turkey have jumped to over 11,000 for the first time since mid-May, while authorities call for renewed vigilance as holidaymakers seem to have cast aside hygiene and social distancing rules.

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Turkey recorded 11,094 cases and 60 deaths on Friday, according to the health ministry. Health Minister Fahrettin Koca, who frequently uses Twitter to warn citizens, said “if you want tomorrow to be better than today, comply with the measures. Get vaccinated.”

“We have to return to strict compliance with hygiene rules and drop our relaxed attitude towards the virus,” Koca also warned.

He was referring to hundreds of thousands of holidaymakers who have flocked to crowded coastal towns and resorts in western and southern Turkey this week to spend the holiday of Eid al-Adha, or feast of sacrifice.

TV channels have shown the images of mass gatherings for the holiday in many towns and lots of people on the beaches, most of them without masks and without complying with social distancing.

Turkey started a mass vaccination campaign in January, with the Chinese Sinovac and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines. The country has administered over 65 million doses, including third booster shots for people over 50 years old.

People enjoy leisure time at the seaside in Igneada, a small Turkish resort town of the Black Sea province of Kirklareli bordering Bulgaria, on July 20, 2021.

But health experts fear that the Delta variant, spreading in Turkey, could cause a new wave of infections in August.

“There has been a massive tourist movement in coastal regions, and people didn’t respect sanitary rules as they did in their hometowns,” Gule Cinar, a virologist from capital Ankara, told Xinhua.

“This surge of infections is worrying. We do not want our health system to be challenged again in the coming months. Everyone should be very careful and get vaccinated,” she said, calling on citizens not to “relax.”

Turkey managed to lower daily new cases of COVID-19 from around 60,000 in April to 4,000 in June through closing restaurants, shops, and cafes, imposing weekend curfews, and pushing forward the vaccination campaign.

Virus-related restrictions have been lifted on July 1, paving the way to a normalization process.

“The Delta variant gives an extra burden of infections, and we have to prevent it,” Alper Sener, a member of the Coronavirus Scientific Advisory Board, told the state-run Anadolu agency. “Social distancing is a way to prevent infections.”

A healthcare worker receives the third dose of COVID-19 vaccine in Istanbul, Turkey, on July 1, 2021.

Amid an ongoing vaccination drive, distrust and misinformation are still at the core of hesitancy in Turkey. Media reports said that Turkish authorities may impose restrictions for those abstaining from having their vaccines soon.

Pedestrians walk on a street in Ankara, Turkey, on July 1, 2021.

Published : July 25, 2021

By : xinhua

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https://www.nationthailand.com/international/40003735

Asia Album: Philippines evacuates thousands amid flood threat

The Philippines has evacuated more than 15,000 people in Metro Manila and some other parts of the country amid flood threat, according to disaster management authorities.

Nonstop heavy monsoon rains has flooded many areas of the country this week.

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A family is seen inside an emergency modular tent as they take shelter at an evacuation center in Marikina City, the Philippines on July 24, 2021.

A grandmother takes care of her grandchild inside an emergency modular tent as they take shelter at an evacuation center in Marikina City, the Philippines on July 24, 2021.

People wade through the flood water brought by heavy monsoon rains in Rizal Province, the Philippines, July 24, 2021.

People wade through the flood water brought by heavy monsoon rains in Rizal Province, the Philippines, July 24, 2021.

People are seen onboard a truck to avoid the flood brought by heavy monsoon rains in Rizal Province, the Philippines, July 24, 2021.

People are seen on a boat to avoid the flood brought by heavy monsoon rains in Rizal Province, the Philippines, July 24, 2021.

People wade through the flood water brought by heavy monsoon rains in Rizal Province, the Philippines, July 24, 2021.

People wade through the flood water brought by heavy monsoon rains in Rizal Province, the Philippines, July 24, 2021.

People wade through the flood water brought by heavy monsoon rains in Rizal Province, the Philippines, July 24, 2021.

Published : July 25, 2021

By : xinhua

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

https://www.nationthailand.com/international/40003733

Five cultural sites in Saudi Arabia, Europe inscribed on UNESCOs world heritage list

The Hima Cultural Area in Saudi Arabia, the Great Spa Towns of Europe, the Lighthouse of Cordouan in France, the Darmstadt Artists Colony in Germany, and a selection of fresco cycles painted in the 14th century in Italys city of Padua, have been inscribed on the world heritage list.

Five cultural sites in Saudi Arabia and Europe have been inscribed on the world heritage list, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) announced on Saturday.

The decision was made during the UNESCO World Heritage Committee’s 44th session held online and chaired from Fuzhou, China.

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Hima Cultural Area in an arid, mountainous area of southwest Saudi Arabia won the status as it contains a substantial collection of rock art images depicting hunting, fauna, flora and lifestyles in a cultural continuity of 7,000 years, said UNESCO in a press release.

Travelers and armies camping on the site left a wealth of rock inscriptions and petroglyphs through the ages and until the late 20th century, most of which are preserved in pristine condition.

The transnational site, “The Great Spa Towns of Europe,” comprises 11 towns located in seven European countries — Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom.

The spa buildings and facilities of this site “are all integrated into an overall urban context that includes a carefully managed recreational and therapeutic environment in a picturesque landscape” and “embody the significant interchange of human values and developments in medicine, science and balneology,” said the committee.

The other sites include the Lighthouse of Cordouan on a shallow rocky plateau in the Atlantic Ocean in France built at the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries as “a masterpiece of maritime signaling”; the Darmstadt Artists’ Colony in west-central Germany, established in 1897 as a center for emerging reform movements in architecture, arts and crafts and now “a testimony to early modern architecture, urban planning and landscape design.”

In Italy’s historic walled city of Padua, a selection of fresco cycles painted in the 14th century by different artists for different types of patron and within buildings of diverse functions, was inscribed because they “illustrate how, over the course of a century, fresco art developed along a new creative impetus and understanding of spatial representation.”

The World Heritage Committee session reviews candidates for entry to the list and examines the state of conservation of existing sites. The inscription is scheduled to continue through July 28. 

Published : July 25, 2021

By : xinhua

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

https://www.nationthailand.com/international/40003723

Bali faces oxygen shortage, as nearly 2,300 Covid-related deaths reported in Asean

The death toll in Asean hit a new high on Saturday, although there was a decline in new Covid-19 cases, collated data showed.

New Covid-19 cases on Saturday fell to 97,990 compared to 100,068 on Friday, while 2,288 people died compared to 2,184 the previous day.

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Health Ministry officials in Indonesia’s Bali Island said that they are facing oxygen shortage due to the increasing number of Covid-19 cases.

As of Thursday, patients’ demand for oxygen was 113.3 tonnes, but hospitals across the island have only 40.5 tonnes of oxygen, officials said.

Recently, Indonesia had imported oxygen from countries, such as the US and China.

The government is currently holding discussions on whether the strict Covid-19 measures covering Bali, Java and 15 other provinces should be extended beyond Sunday.

The Vietnam government has imposed 15-day lockdown measures on its capital, Hanoi, in a bid to contain the spread of Covid-19.

Under the measures, people are not allowed to hold gatherings, while only government agencies, hospitals and some necessary businesses were allowed to open.

Bali faces oxygen shortage, as nearly 2,300 Covid-related deaths reported in Asean

Published : July 25, 2021

By : The Nation