Holiday Promotions Lag for All Seafood Except Shrimp
An analysis of Urner Barry’s retail database between December 1 and January 31 found seafood promotions during the holiday season were basically flat in all major categories except for shrimp. This occurred despite substantial decline in average price for all species except lobster. The data suggests lower prices may not be spurring much higher consumption, but instead the consumer appetite for seafood, except shrimp, is not growing strongly. “When declines in price do not produce additional retail sales dollars, it is like a yellow caution sign is flashing. Something unexpected appears to be happening with consumer retail seafood purchases during the last two months,” writes John Sackton.
The Royal Thai Embassy in Washington announced further steps to reform labor practices in Thailand’s seafood industry. The changes include: Enforcing the prohibition on employing people under the age of 18; setting minimum crew standard aboard fishing vessels such as adequate food, medical care and sanitation; and forming a coalition to tackle IUU fishing, trafficking and poor working conditions.
In other news recreational and commercial halibut fishermen in Southeast Alaska were given the biggest quota bump at 4.95 million pounds, a 6.1 percent increase. The IPHC raised Alaska’s entire halibut share to 21.45 million pounds for the 2016 season that opens in March.
Meanwhile, Vietnamese shrimp exporters predict a 12 percent increase in their revenues this year. Vietnam’s shrimp sales are expected to benefit from lower duty rates and the TPP free trade deal.
Finally, Ocean Trust endorsed NOAA’s peer-reviewed self-assessment that showed US fishery management under Magnuson more than meets the criteria of the UN’s FAO ecolabeling guidelines. “The thoroughness of the assessment by NOAA validates not only the sustainability of US fisheries, but the potential to move towards certification of management systems instead of individual fisheries,“ said Thor Lassen, President of Ocean Trust.
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