DFO Cracks Down on Peaceful Crab Protest in Port Au Choix

SEAFOODNEWS.COM [The Northern Pen] by Kyle Greenham - October 17,2017

PORT AU CHOIX, NL – Harvesters who took part in a protest in Port au Choix last May have now been told they will be charged with obstruction of justice and placing crab pots in a wrong zone.

Fisherman Dean Offrey was called in for a meeting Wednesday, Oct. 11, and was informed he and the other harvesters involved in the protest would be facing these two charges.

“It was a peaceful demonstration,” Offrey said. “We just wanted to show that we should have the right to fish in this zone, and now they’re looking to charge us.”

In early May, nine crab harvesters took ...

New Chicken of the Sea Ad Campaign Tackles the Question: Is It Chicken or Is It Fish?

SEAFOODNEWS.COM [Seafood News] - October 17, 2017

In a subtle nod to past reality TV stars, Chicken of the Sea is celebrating October as National Seafood Month by testing a national advertising campaign that revisits the age-old question: Is it chicken or is it fish?

Albany, N.Y., and Hartford-New Haven, Conn., will serve as test markets for a national Chicken of the Sea advertising campaign themed to the rhetorical chicken-or-fish question. The two test cities were chosen for their size, media importance and ...

Newfoundland Snow Crab Survey Likely to Show Further Decline According to DFO Biologists

SEAFOODNEWS.COM [The Telegram]  by Ashley Fitzpatrick October 16, 2017

Royal Greenland Looking to Buy More Snow Crab and Coldwater Shrimp Access, CFO Tells Japanese

SEAFOODNEWS.COM [SeafoodNews]  October 16, 2017

During a recent visit to Japan, Mr. Nils Duus Kinnerup who is CFO of Royal Greenland, spoke to the fisheries press about his company's plans to increase its access to both snow crab and shrimp.  They are actively looking for new acquisitions in Canada, said Kinnerup.

Royal Greenland purchased Quin-Sea, a major Newfoundland snow crab supplier, in March of 2015.  Kinnerup said they hoped to increase the amount of snow crab sales to Japan.

Japan is an important market for Royal Greenland, and it has a 25 year history of sales there.

Kinnerup said it was essential for his company to secure raw materials in order to expand sales...

Alibaba's New Hema Fresh Supermarkets Generating Overwhelming Response in China

SEAFOODNEWS.COM [HZ Daily] translated by Amy Zhong - October 16, 2017

The first store of Hema Fresh Food in Hangzhou earned a revenue of close to 1 million yuan (~$150,000 USD) on its opening day.

Jinhua Road of Hangzhou was very crowded on the evening of Sept. 28 due to the opening of the first store of Hema Fresh Food in this city. Online platform Alibaba has nurtured the new retail model, such as Hema, that attempts to merge both online and offline shopping experiences. New technology and data have helped ...

Kodiak May See a Small Tanner Crab Fishery This Year

SEAFOODNEWS.COM [Fish Factor] Laine Welch - October 16, 2017

Kodiak crab come back? For the first time since 2013 Kodiak crabbers might be able to drop pots for Tanners in mid-January.

“I’d say it’s the best chance we’ve had in the last five years,” said Nat Nichols, area shellfish/groundfish manager at the Alaska Dept. of Fish and Game in Kodiak.

Crab stocks must reach strict number thresholds before a fishery is allowed to open. Preliminary data from the summer survey indicate two Kodiak districts might have enough legal sized males – the only crabs that can be retained - to allow for a fishery.

“We will be looking very closely at the southwest...

Thai Union Forms New Management Structure in Europe Headed by Paul Reenan of John West

SEAFOODNEWS.COM [SeafoodNews] by Peggy Parker - October 16, 2017

Thai Union announced today a new management structure in Europe as part of its global program to harmonize and streamline operations. The announcement comes on the heels of Thai Union Europe’s CEO Elisabeth Fleuriot retiring after four years of overseeing growth and development of the company’s European brands.

Paul Reenan, currently Head of Northern Europe Ambient managing John West, King Oscar and Rugen Fisch, was named regional president for Europe, responsible for commercial marketing, sales and service. Reenan will report directly to Thiraphong Chansiri, Thai Union’s CEO.

The new structure will organize the company to focus on four critical areas of commercial marketing, sales and service; supply chain management; finance and business services, and ...

Walton Foundation Flops As NOAA Demands an Outrageous Paper They Funded on IUU Fishing be Retracted

SEAFOODNEWS.COM  [News Analysis] by John Sackton October 13, 2017

The Head of NOAA Fisheries, Chris Oliver, has called for a major paper on IUU fishing published in Marine Policy to be retracted in its entirety due to egregious factual errors and misreporting as regards US fisheries.

The paper, Estimates of Illegal and Unreported Seafood Imports to Japan,  was funded by the Walton Family Foundation (WFF).The lead author, Ganapathiraju Pramod conceived the design, conducted the study, analyzed information and drafted the paper. He has made a career out of constructing a model of trade in illegal fisheries, and has previously published a paper claiming up to 32% of US Fisheries Imports are from IUU fish.

He used the same basic methodology in both papers.  First, he develops estimates for trade flows, including fish processed in 3rd countries.  Then he searches for all possible indications of IUU fishing from news accounts, literature citations, government and fisheries association reports, consultants reports, NGO reports, Oral or Written interviews, and finally, peer reviewed academic papers.

He takes the mishmash of sources and assigns a weight to IUU fishing in each major sourcing area...

Tilapia Prices Drop after National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival in China

SEAFOODNEWS.COM [Shuichan] translated by Amy Zhong - October 16, 2017

China’s tilapia price index is reported to be 101.24 points for those between 0.6 to 1 jin (~ 0.25-0.5 kg) each on October 10. The number contracts by 0.71 points from September 25. The index is 100.44 points for those about 1 to 1.6 jin (~0.5-1.25 kg) each, which has declined by 0.54 points.

The average price decreased after National Day compared with the price before the holiday. So did the purchase prices of processing plants as well as ...

Captain D’s Franchisee Opens Second Restaurant In Less Than 60 Days

SEAFOODNEWS.COM [Seafood News] - October 17, 2017

Captain D’s, a leading fast casual seafood restaurant, announced recently the opening of its newest franchised location in Horn Lake, Mississippi. Owned and operated by Joe Springer, operating partner of SonFish, LLC, this new restaurant is Springer’s second Captain D’s restaurant to open in less than two months.

The new Horn Lake Captain D’s marks the brand’s 28th location in the state and emphasizes Captain D’s continued development in Mississippi and throughout the Southeast.

With more than 15 years ...

Maryland Could Potentially Increase Imports of Egg-Bearing Female Crabs

SEAFOODNEWS.COM [Seafood News] by Amanda Buckle - October 12, 2017

In late September Maryland’s Department of Natural Resources’ Blue Crab Industry Advisory Committee voted to increase the period where seafood businesses would be able to import sponge crabs, also known as egg-bearing female crabs.

It’s been illegal to harvest sponge crabs in Maryland, but the decision to lift that ban stems from the “depressed harvest” that Maryland crabbers experienced in 2017. However, not everyone is on board with this new ...

Aramark Working to Ensure 100% Of their Seafood Purchases Meet Seafood Watch Recommendations 

SEAFOODNEWS.COM [Seafood News] by Amanda Buckle - October 12, 2017

Aramark – a global provider of dining solutions for businesses, schools, universities, hospitals and stadiums – is transitioning to purchase 100% of its U.S. contracted seafood from sources that meet Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch program recommendations.

The company announced on Thursday that 90% of their frozen finfish and 100% of their canned tuna purchases meet the Seafood Watch recommendations. By the end of 2018 Aramark is aiming to have transitioned their salmon and shrimp products as well. Their efforts to source sustainable seafood is part of their ...

Corporate Players Make Big Commitments At 2017 Our Ocean Conference

SEAFOODNEWS.COM [Seafood News] by Amanda Buckle - October 12, 2017

Executives from Dow Chemical, PepsiCo, Thai Union and other multinational corporations joined reps from 112 countries at the Our Ocean conference in Malta earlier this month. The event, which was founded by former US Secretary of State John Kerry, was created as a way to discuss issues that are affecting ocean health, including ...

Few Bright Spots in Bering Sea Crab Outlook

SEAFOODNEWS.COM [SeafoodNews] by Peggy Parker - October 12, 2017

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game met with members of the crab industry earlier this week to summarize the status of snow (opilio), tanner (bairdi) and king crab.

There was little joy and many questions at the meeting, the first since major changes were made to the Bering Sea tanner crab harvest strategy last May.

The TACs are set at 18.961 mlbs for Bering Sea snow crab, 6.601 mlbs for Bristol Bay red king crab, and 2.5 mlbs for Western Bering Sea tanner crab. 

There is no fishery for the Eastern stock of Bering Sea tanners, for Pribilof blue or red king crab, or for St. Matthew’s blue king crab...

How an Underwater Nursery Is Helping to Replenish Marine Fish Stocks

SEAFOODNEWS.COM [Seafood News] by Amanda Buckle - October 12, 2017

French company Ecocean is working to replenish marine fish stocks through underwater nurseries.

The organization, which was founded by two marine biologists in 2003, specializes in “developing and implementing radical new technologies for the sustainable use and management of the marine environment.” One of the projects that they’re currently working on is harvesting baby fish ...

Wenzhou City Seafood Import Volume Grows, Primarily Due to Oysters

SEAFOODNEWS.COM [ZJ News] translated by Amy Zhong - October 12, 2017

Wenzhou people eat 5,000 imported oysters every day. At the same time, the city’s seafood import volume grew by 15 times in the third quarter from the same period last year.

One Wenzhou trading company, Haowoga, imported 320 kg of oysters from the Netherlands on Sept. 29. All these oysters were sold out within one day. The situation was similar with the 432 kg of oysters it had imported earlier. Haowoga imports two batches of live seafood like oysters from the Netherlands every week, ...

Rafael to Keep Majority of His Vessels, Permits Despite Cheating, Judge Destroys NOAA Enforcement

SEAFOODNEWS.COM  by John Sackton [News Analysis] October 11, 2017

Federal District Court Judge William Young issued a stunning decision in Boston today denying the government’s right to seize 13 vessels and permits from Carlos Rafael.

Instead of approving the forfeiture of 13 vessels, Judge Young allowed the seizure of only four vessels and their permits, representing a value of $2,258,850.  The other 9 vessels and permits, including the two vessels that also have scallop permits, were left to Rafael to sell or dispose of as he sees fit.

The court accepted without question that Rafael was guilty of a crime for which the Lacey Act mandated forfeiture of vessels.

But the Judge then got hung up in a long discussion of the constitutionality of the value of such a forfeiture.

It appears that NOAA’s lawyers and the Justice Department completely failed to assert their absolute control over permits regardless of their market value...

Plot by Dept. of Commerce and Congressional Leaders to Gut Magnuson Revealed in Red Snapper Memos

SEAFOODNEWS.COM [SeafoodNews] by Peggy Parker - October 11, 2017

Internal memos between Earl Comstock, Director of the Office of Policy and Strategic Planning, and Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross show that both men intentionally violated the Magnuson-Stevens Act to allow sports fishermen in the Gulf of Mexico a summer of weekend openers for red snapper.

As a result of the decision, the quota for red snapper was exceeded by an estimated 50 percent. Prior to the decision, red snapper stocks in the Gulf were halfway through a successful rebuilding program. The damage done to the stocks will be assessed this year and likely would result in further cuts to all sectors -- recreational, commercial, and charter -- next year.

But the insistence to break the law had more nefarious motives...

Bering Sea Pacific Cod Quota May Drop by a Third for 2018

SEAFOODNEWS.COM [SeafoodNews] by Peggy Parker - October 13, 2017

The data is still preliminary, but a reduction in the catch of Bering Sea Pacific cod for 2018 is all but inevitable. The question is how much, and an early look at survey numbers indicate that it will be about a third lower than 2017. 

The reduction is not as stark as estimates for the P-cod Gulf of Alaska TAC, where preliminary data suggest three sequential year classes of P-cod did not survive to ages 2 or 3 due to conditions brought about by the Blob in 2014-2016. Biologists are estimating that once the data has gone through the model and been peer reviewed, there may be half to two thirds less than last year...

ANALYSIS: Traders Outlook Positive Amid New Seasonal Mahi Production

SEAFOODNEWS.COM [Seafood News] by Nicole West - October 13, 2017

After back-to-back low production years traders are hopeful production will pick up for the 2017-2018 mahi fishing season...

American Fisheries Society Strongly Objects to EPA’s Recent Effort to Reverse its Own Protection of Bristol Bay from Pebble Mine

SEAFOODNEWS.COM [SeafoodNews] by Peggy Parker - October 16, 2017

Last Friday the American Fisheries Society (AFS) sent a strongly worded letter to Administrator Scott Pruitt of the Environmental Protection Agency in response to a proposal to withdraw the EPA’s July 2014 Clean Water Act 404(c) Proposed Determination to “restrict the use of certain waters as disposal sites for dredged or fill material associated with mining the Pebble deposit in Alaska’s Bristol Bay watershed.”

The group, representing over 7,500 professional fishery scientists and resource managers, objects to the withdrawal and recommends that the EPA “use its authority to prevent the elimination and/or impairment of waters and wetlands supporting the extraordinarily prolific, sustainable, all-wild Bristol Bay salmon fisheries."

AFA urged the EPA to consider its own report...

Blue Revolution Promoting Seaweed Mariculture in Alaska

SEAFOODNEWS.COM [Fish Radio] October 16, 2017

This is Fish Radio. I’m Stephanie Mangini. Seaweed pasta, it’s good for you and the planet. I’ll tell you more after this… 

ASMI’s Can Do and Cook It Frozen campaigns are designed to keep people eating Alaska seafood all year round. Learn more about the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute at www.alaskaseafood.org

Seaweed is alkalizing, detoxifying, and is loaded with nutrients. Eating more of it improves the health of our oceans and environment by absorbing carbon and reducing acidification. Blue Evolution is bringing seaweed to the surface, and putting it on shelves in a consumer friendly way. 

“We are trying to make it into products that are familiar to North American Consumers. So our first few ...

Canadian Oyster Companies Recalling Some Products

SEAFOODNEWS.COM [Seafood News] - October 17, 2017

The Canadian oyster industry is recalling certain farm-raised Pacific oysters from the marketplace due to a marine biotoxin that causes paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP), according to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. The CFIA said consumers should not eat oysters, and retailers, hotels, restaurants and institutions should not sell, serve or use the recalled products.

No illnesses have been reported, the CFIA said.

The following products have been sold in Alberta, British Columbia, Quebec and may have been distributed in other provinces and territories.

The recalled products include: ...

VIDEO: Codfather Vessels; Imports Block; Maine Lobster Catch; Red Snapper Plot; Salmon Ballot 

SEAFOODNEWS.COM [Seafood News] - October 13, 2017

Cook Inlet Salmon Fisherman Wins Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute’s Fishing Video Contest

SEAFOODNEWS.COM [Seafood News] by Amanda Buckle - October 12, 2017

The Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute (ASMI) has named their first-ever winner of the Alaska Seafood Commercial Fishing Video Contest.

As part of National Seafood Month, ASMI asked Alaska fishermen to submit videos sharing their personal stories about the “exhausting but beautiful” lives they live on or near the water. For ASMI communications director Jermey Wodorow, the contest was an opportunity to hear from industry members about why ...

Barents Sea Cod Quota for 2018 Reduced For Russia and Norway

SEAFOODNEWS.COM [Seafood News] - October 12, 2017

The Barents Sea cod quota was set at 890,000 tons for 2017, but that number will drop next year. Norway’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries has lowered the cod quota to be caught by Russian and Norwegian fishing fleets to 775,000 tons for 2018.

According to the Independent Barents Observer, the reduced cod quota comes from ...

WDFW Permits Cooke Aquaculture to Transport Atlantic Salmon Eggs from Iceland

SEAFOODNEWS.COM [Seafood News] by Susan Chambers - October 12, 2017

OLYMPIA – The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife has authorized Cooke Aquaculture to transport 1.8 million Atlantic salmon eggs from its facility in Iceland to the company's land-based hatchery in Rochester, Wash.

WDFW issued the transfer permit late Tuesday, Oct. 10, after ensuring Cooke met all the fish health standards required under state law to import Atlantic salmon eggs.

The permit was issued despite Gov. Jay Inslee's direction that no permits be issued for new net pens while an Aug. 19 Cooke net pen collapse ...

Trader Joe’s Stops Buying Mexican Shrimp as Part of Effort To Save Vaquita Porpoise From Extinction

SEAFOODNEWS.COM [Seafood News] by Amanda Buckle - Octobe 12, 2017

Popular grocery chain Trader Joe’s has confirmed that they will no longer be buying shrimp from Mexico. Matt Sloan, Trader Joe’s VP of Marketing – Product, explained in a letter that the decision comes from concerns about the threat to the vaquita porpoise.

 “We are cognizant of and concerned about threats to the survival of the vaquita,” said Sloan ...

Are Plant Based Salmon Feeds Lacking in Nutrients?

SEAFOODNEWS.COM [Seafood News] by Amanda Buckle - October 12, 2017

Commercial salmon feed formulas contain more than 70% of plant ingredients – but that’s not how it’s always been. Ten to 15 years ago these formulas were composed of fishmeal and fish oil.

Fishmeal and fish oil provided salmon with the appropriate protein needed for farmed salmon to thrive, but since it was coming from wild caught fish, it was criticized from a sustainability perspective. Fish farms around the world have since turned to plant proteins that are based on wheat, corn, peas, bean and soya concentrates. However, studies show that these plant-based salmon feeds may be ...

Groundfish Forum Projects Slight Declines in Wild-Caught Whitefish Species in 2018

SEAFOODNEWS.COM by John Sackton   October 11, 2017

The Groundfish Forum, held this year in Lisbon, Portugal, is projecting a slight decline in global supplies of cod, pollock (Including Alaska Pollock), and haddock.  Redfish will remain stable.

The invitation only forum is held each year, and brings together major whitefish and other fishery executives to share supply forecasts and outlooks for the coming year.  It has never been held in the US or Canada to avoid any anti-trust complications.  

One of the highlights of the forum is the annual presentation of estimates for groundfish harvests for the coming year, at which time FAO vs. Groundfish Forum forecasts for past years are reviewed, and the recent groundfish forum forecasts are updated.

This year, the general trend was for slight declines in the major whitefish species.

A summary is below..