Gulf Shrimp Market at Annual High Price in 
December With Landings Lowest Since 2010
Shrimp landings out of the Gulf of Mexico remain at a five low in 2016 as the harvest in November posted a decline from October and compared to November 2015. This ongoing decline in domestic production continues to support 52-week high prices in wholesale markets this December. Average Urner Barry prices for domestic white shrimp are up as much as 28 percent in wholesale markets.
The North Pacific Fishery Management Council put on hold indefinitely any movement toward an IFQ program for the Gulf of Alaska trawl fishery for cod and pollock. At issue is generally the smaller trawl vessels in communities like Kodiak, Sand Point and King Cove, versus the huge vessels based in Seattle. For the moment, the trawl fleet is operating under a voluntary catch share plan which they manage themselves, which covers some fishing times, some quotas and fisheries, where they agree to limit themselves to their vessel capacity and bycatch limits.
In other news, we post a year in review of some of the major fishery stories reported out of Alaska this year. The story recaps the personnel shakeups at the state's Board of Fisheries; the court victory by Cook Inlet's salmon difters over the NPFMC; the summer salmon season and Alaska's crab cutbacks.
Meanwhile, Hummingbird Cove Lifestyles, a subsidiary of Linghai Shenziting Sea Cucumber Hatchery in China, announced a plan to built a 34,000-square-metre, land-based shellfish hatchery near Saltery Bay in British Columbia. Hummingbird Cove is licensed to produce 23 species of seafood, including urchins, geoduck, sea cucumbers, scallops, oysters, clams and mussels, according to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. The firm intends to harvest wild scallops to use as brood stock to produce scallop spat for their own use and for sale to other local aquaculture operations.
Finally, SeaPak has launched Shrimp & Crab Rangoons and Shrimp & Rice Roll appetizers at select retail cases nationwide for a limited time. The appetizers will be featured at participating Kroger and Gian Eagle locations through the end of December.
Urner Barry and Seafood News will be closed on Monday December 26 in observance of the Christmas holiday, we will be back on Tuesday, December 27. We wish all of our readers and their families a Merry Christmas and Happy Holiday season.
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