India Wants to Double Andhra Pradesh's Shrimp Output by 2020  India's federal government wants to make Andhra Pradesh the shrimp capital of the country by nearly doubling its output from roughly 2.3 million metric tons to 4.3 million metric tons by 2020. India's Fishery Secretary said the government is prepared to invest nearly $2 billion to increase Andhra Pradesh's shrimp output. The increased production would about triple the value of India's shrimp industry according to the government. Tri Marine announced that it will indefinitely suspend canning operations at its American Samoa-based subsidiary Samoa Tuna Processors (STP) this December due to adverse business conditions. “This is an incredibly difficult decision and one we make with a great deal of reluctance,” said Renato Curto, CEO of the Tri Marine Group. The company also announced that Don Binotto would step down as CEO of STP and Tri-Marine's US sales division The Tuna Store. Binotto already had plans to retire at the end of the year so the announcement was expedited to coincide with the closure of the American Samoa operation. Joe Hamby will serve as interim CEO of The Tuna Store. In other news, the complete closure of Alaska's bairdi crab season this year is especially painful for crabbers that had seen restaurant sales of the species start to take off. "We saw the price differential increase and bairdi becoming a premium product in the marketplace and our efforts were really paying off in that regard. So it’s a huge set back not to have some bairdi available," said Jake Jacobsen, director of the Intercooperative Exchange. Meanwhile, Alaska's red king crab and opilio crab seasons start this weekend on October 15. The quotas for each of the fisheries were reduced for the 2016/17 season because of limited biomass in the Bering Sea. State officials at Hawaii's Department of Land and Natural Resources recommended denying a petition to change commercial fishing licensing rules for the state's commercial longliners. The petition was filed by advocates seeking changes in the industry after the Associated Press found questionable labor practices aboard some longline fishing vessels, including poor working conditions and workers earning less pay than what they were contracted to receive. However, DLNR officials said the main point of contention is not under its power to fix. “I think that requires a federal fix. That’s not something we can do locally,” said Bruce Anderson an administrator with the DLNR’s Division of Aquatic Resources. “I would urge that be pursued as a possible remedy to the problem. There may be other remedies as well, handling them the same way as migrant farm workers with temporary visas or something along those lines may go a long way to assuring they have at least adequate health care coverage and a reasonably good place to live.” Finally, a report by Gardner Pinfold Consultants found that Nova Scotia leads Atlantic Canada in meeting minimum standards for protecting Canada's wild salmon stocks from risks posed by the aquaculture industry. According to the report, Nova Scotia fully meets some of the criteria examined by the study, such as the prohibition of genetically modified salmon and documenting therapeutant use. However, the report also said the province still lacks in several key areas such as preventing escapes, avoiding damage to the sea floor and monitoring water quality around farming sites. The study said Norway has the highest regulatory standards at 82 percent, followed by B.C. at 68 percent, Nova Scotia at 64 percent, Maine at 59, Newfoundland at 50 and New Brunswick at 45. Have a great weekend.