Hurricane Harvey dropped Restaurant Sales in Texas 15%, and 1% Nationally for Last Week of August

SEAFOODNEWS.COM [Seafood News] by Amanda Buckle September 18, 2017

Texas residents are working on rebuilding post Hurricane Harvey, but it’s a process that will take some time. The same goes for restaurants in the area.

Data from Nation’s Restaurant News and Black Box Intelligence, a financial performance benchmarking company, reveals that same-store sales in Texas fell 15% during the last week of August. While the overall numbers for the month weren’t that impressive to begin with, the dip was a result of ...

VIDEO: Hurricane Irma; Catfish Inspections; MSC Seeks Input; Buffet Crab Legs; Harvey Recovery

SEAFOODNEWS.COM [Seafood News] September 8, 2017

News Summary September 6, 2017 

Today's Main Story: Hurricane Irma to Impact Fresh Fillet Supplies of Salmon, Tilapia and Mahi This Weekend

Today's lead item reports that Hurricane Irma could cause some disruption in the seafood industry. Miami is the center of Chilean fresh salmon fillet distribution, and is an air hub and trucking hub for fresh seafood imports. Evacuations in the Miami area have already started and there are reports that major trucking companies will begin to suspend service from Miami later this week.

Meanwhile, Houston’s seafood industry will be dealing with the fallout from Hurricane Harvey for quite some time. Approximately 25% of shrimp fleets were damaged or...

Texas Oyster Production, and Shrimp, Will Take Long Time to Recover; 25% of Shrimp Fleet Damaged

SEAFOODNEWS.COM [Houston Chronicle] By Greg Morago - September 6, 2017

Looking out his window at Galveston Bay last week, Raz Halili, sales manager for Prestige Oysters in San Leon, saw water that looked like a melted chocolate bar - distastrous for oysters.

"I don't see how they can survive through this," said Halili. "There's just too much fresh water."

The surge of silt-choked floodwater runoff into Galveston Bay upsets the balance of fresh and salt water that oysters need to thrive. The Texas oyster industry supplies about 30 percent of all oysters harvested in the Gulf of Mexico. Halili, whose family runs Prestige, one of the nation's leading oyster ...

News Summary September 1, 2017 

Today's Main Story: Latest NOAA Surveys Off West Coast Spell More Bad News for Salmon

Today's lead item reports that a NOAA Fisheries survey team has finished their spring and summer surveys off the coast of the Pacific Northwest with little evidence of juvenile coho or Chinook salmon. The team also discovered that ocean conditions foreshadow low abundance in the coming years.

Meanwhile, tuna-fishing nations have agreed on a plan to replenish the severely depleted Pacific bluefin stocks. The plan came after a week-long meeting in Busan, South Korea. The northern committee of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission and the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission agreed to ...

VIDEO: Hurricane Harvey; Canned Tuna Lawsuit; Destination Update; Salmon Emergency; NFI Lawsuit

SEAFOODNEWS.COM [Seafood News] September 1, 2017

Hurricane Harvey Takes its Toll on Seafood Industry

SEAFOODNEWS.COM [Seafood News] August 31, 2017

Hurricane Harvey has wreaked havoc on parts of Texas, causing massive flooding and forcing people from their homes. The amount of damage done is not 100% clear yet, but multiple industries have already been impacted by its path of destruction — one being seafood.

Restaurants in the Houston area have been forced to shut down, losing sales and potentially even their buildings due to flooding. They’re losing money every day that they’re closed down. But that’s only one part of the equation...

News Summary August 29, 2017 

Today's Main Story: NFI Loses Challenge to Seafood Labeling Law; Full Implementation Will Go Ahead for 2018

Today's lead item reports that the NFI has lost its lawsuit over the promulgation of the Seafood Import Monitoring Program by NOAA and the Department of Commerce. The rule will go forward and be effective as of January 1, 2018. Record keeping will be required for wild caught and aquaculture species, which could cost up to $18 to $20 million ...

SeaShare Coordinating Seafood Donations To Help Those Affected by Hurricane Harvey

SEAFOODNEWS.COM [Seafood News] September 7, 2017

SeaShare, a non-profit organization founded to aid the seafood industry in donating to hunger-relief efforts in the United States, has launched a campaign to help those affected by Hurricane Harvey.

The non-profit has already received donations of salmon, pollock and catfish, and is looking for more to help people get back on their feet.

“We have freight, cold storage and food bank partners lined up and ready to receive your seafood donations,” SeaShare said in a statement. “Generous seafood companies have already pledged over 100,000 pounds of ...

Hurricane Irma to Impact Fresh Fillet Supplies of Salmon, Tilapia and Mahi This Weekend

SEAFOODNEWS.COM By John Sackton and Amanda Buckle  Sept 6, 2017

Unlike Houston, where the seafood disruption from Harvey was primarily around regional distribution of some Gulf species, the potential industry disruption from a hurricane striking Miami is much greater.

Miami is the center of Chilean fresh salmon fillet distribution, and many of the major salmon companies have headquarters there.

More importantly, it is an air hub and trucking hub for fresh seafood shipments.

With some evacuations beginning today in the Miami area, we have reports that major trucking companies will begin to suspend service from Miami later this week....

NMFS Relaxes Some Gulf IFQ and Dealer Reporting Rules in Wake of Hurricane Harvey

SEAFOODNEWS.COM [Seafood News] by Susan Chambers - September 5, 2017

The National Marine Fisheries Service is relaxing some individual fishing quota (IFQ) program reporting and dealer reporting programs in the Gulf of Mexico due to catastrophic conditions related to Hurricane Harvey.

Between Sept. 1 and Oct. 15, specific to the commercial reef fish and coastal migratory pelagic fisheries in the Gulf of Mexico, the NMFS Southeast Regional Administrator determined that Hurricane Harvey caused catastrophic conditions in coastal and adjacent counties in the state of Texas, and Cameron and Vermilion parishes in Louisiana. Consistent with ...

Sysco, Walmart and More Businesses Make Donations for Hurricane Harvey Relief

SEAFOODNEWS.COM [Seafood News] by Amanda Buckle September 1, 2017

Hurricane Harvey dumped 27 trillion gallons of rain in southeast Texas, destroying thousands of homes and businesses, and killing at least 47 people in a span of six days. The rain has stopped, but now the people of Texas are faced with piecing their lives back together.

While the rebuilding will take time, a number of businesses have pledged to donate money, food and more for Hurricane Harvey Relief ...

News Summary August 31, 2017 

Today's Main Story: Bumble Bee Foods, Tri-Union Seafoods and StarKist Accused of Price Fixing in New Lawsuit

Bumble Bee Foods, Tri-Union Seafoods and StarKist are named in a price fixing lawsuit that was filed in California earlier this week. The canned tuna processors are being accused of “illegally colluding to repeatedly raise the prices of their canned tuna products from at least 2004 to July 2015.” The suit also accuses the companies of mutually agreeing to reduce the canned tuna size from six ounces to five.

Meanwhile in the UK, a coalition of industry leaders, NGOs and members of Parliament are calling on the Marine Stewardship Council to immediately withhold re-certification for the ...

Tropical Storm Harvey Forces Louisiana to Close Harvest for Oysters

SEAFOODNEWS.COM [Seafood News] August 30, 2017

Tropical Storm Harvey, which has devastated parts of Texas, has now shut down harvesting of molluscan shellfish in Louisiana. The Louisiana State Department of Health issued a notice on Tuesday declaring a precautionary closure of molluscan shellfish growing waters in Louisiana.

The notice reads:

“Pursuant to the provisions of LSA RS 40:5.3, as amended and re-enacted by Act 1 of the First Regular Legislative Session of 1988, and RS 40:5, all molluscan shellfish growing ...