India Opens Shrimp Farming Sector to Overseas Foreign Investment
India has announced new rules to allow 100 percent foreign investment and ownership in its fisheries and aquaculture sector. The policy radically changes its foreign direct investment (FDI) program for foreign investment in India's aquaculture sector, which includes breeding and brood stock. The reform is expected to help India boost its fish and shrimp production and exports of high-valued products.
Major Chinese white shrimp exporter Guolian signed a contract with Yum! Brands to supply the company's fast food chains with shrimp. Yum! Brands owns and operates the KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut restaurant brands. In addition to supplying the chains with shrimp, Goulian will also develop new products for the operators' menus. Additionally, Goulian will manage Yum!'s seafood supply chain.
In other news, a lobster model produced by the Gulf of Maine Research Institute gives a 96 percent probability that a surge in Maine's lobster landings will occur before June 26th. This is about two weeks earlier than normal. This is because of temperatures in the central Gulf of Maine running about 1 degree Fahrenheit higher than the 14 year average. So far, lobsters are just trickling in although more and more new shell lobsters are entering the market according to reports from the region's fishermen.
Meanwhile, U.S Cado Holdings is the first seafood distributor in the US to recall imported pangasius fillets for not meeting federal requirements under the USDA’s Catfish Inspection Program. The company recalled 25,760 pounds of its Sea Queen brand of frozen pangasius fillets imported from Vietnamese producer and supplier Golden Quality Seafood. The 2-lb packages containing skinless and boneless fillets were produced and packed on March 30, 2016. The items were shipped to Aldi distribution centers in Connecticut, Georgia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee.
Finally, a Maine fishing boat captain faces prosecution after an inspector reported finding additional shellfish, worth more than $6,000, hidden in the vessel's hold. The vessel in question, the Loriann, was unloading its catch at the Cape Ann Seafood Exchange in Gloucester when the hidden scallops were uncovered. The inspector found an additional 361 pounds of scallop meat in six bags hidden under the ice in the ice pens. The case was turned over to NMFS to handle the prosecution.
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