Seafood Prices Spiking in Japan on Weak Global Supply  Imported octopus, salmon and other seafood items are selling at far higher prices in Japan. Fish dealers in Japan say more limited supplies of seafood coupled with higher global demand is pushing up prices in the market. The weak yen is also contributing to higher prices in Japanese markets. In other news, octopus prices in the US appear to be shooting upward this week, as shortages of product in Asia begin to impact the market. Some customers have had Asian orders canceled, even when penalties are involved writes John Sackton. Prices for Philippine frozen pulpo are now at their highest level in 4 years. In addition to supply shortages, octopus demand is also up in the US market, which is also contributing to higher prices. Meanwhile, Chinese shrimp farmers in Hainan are struggling with EMS, slow growing shrimp and high mortalities. These domestic production issues continue to support strong shrimp imports to the Chinese market. Cooke Aquaculture will close a deal to buy all of the assets to Uruguay’s largest seafood company Fripur S.A . The deal expands Cooke’s presence as a wild-caught seafood operator Latin America. The purchase gives Cooke control over Fripur’s fishing fleet, which traditionally harvests about 16,000 tons of hake and 1,600 metric tons of Red Crab each year. Finally, the Russian food safety agency Rosselhoznadzor is prepared to lift a ban for some Estonian and Latvian companies to export canned fish to the Russian market. Russia said this is not a complete reversal of the country-wide ban it placed on Latvian and Estonian canned fish imports back in 2015 for veterinary and sanitary reasons. Food safety officials said they have no intention of fully restoring imports for all of Latvia and Estonia's canned fish operators. Yesterday, we launched our first in a series of commodity newsletters with a shrimp news roundup. Over the next few weeks, we will roll out commodity newsletters for salmon, lobster, crab, cod and all the other species we cover. The newsletters will highlight the stories and market information we have recently run, and will provide an easy way to keep up with important stories you may have missed. Initially, we are sending the newsletters to all subscribers. However, each newsletter has an opt-out link at the bottom which takes you to your account preferences, where you can check or uncheck any specific newsletter. We welcome feedback on this new service. Have a great weekend.