Oregon Dungeness Crabbers, Processors Return to Price Negotiations
Fishermen and processors in Oregon have returned to the state-supervised negotiating table in Newport, Ore., in an effort to end a strike by fishermen over Dungeness crab ex-vessel prices. "Buyers and sellers each have to decide what they think the market will support," said Occhipinti. "It can be challenging to find the right balance, but we're confident that at the end of the day, consumers will get wholesome, sustainably harvested Dungeness crab at a price they can afford," said Dan Occhipinti, Pacific Seafood's General Counsel in a statement.
The FDA’s overall seafood rejection rates in 2016 finished the year up 10 percent compared to the 2015 total. Mahi emerged as the most rejected seafood item in 2016 with rejections 3.5 times higher from 2015 levels, and more than double the five-year-average of mahi refusals according to the FDA’s data. Filth accounted for over 80 percent of the FDA's mahi refusals while about 65 percent of all seafood refusals were because of filth.
In other news, the Parties to the Nauru Agreement expect to double their Marine Stewardship Council-caught tuna in the Pacific fishing zones of its member nations in 2017. “We expect the volume to double to about 100,000 metric tons in 2017 based upon existing orders,” said PNA CEO Ludwig Kumoruin a press release. Still, at 100,000 mt, the MSC-certified catch remains a fraction of the overall PNA tuna harvests, which have been on a downward trend.
Meanwhile, the 2016/2017 commercial Tanner crab fishery in Southeast Alaska will open concurrently with the commercial golden king crab fishery noon on Friday, February 17, 2017. The five-year average catch in Southeast Alaska for tanner crab is 1.2 million pounds or just under half a million individual crab.
Finally, Florida's stone crab harvesters hope to improve their landings now that a lingering wave of red tide has dissipated from the Collier County coastline. Crabbers have been hammered by the red tide that followed Hurricane Matthew in October. Stone crab counts are down throughout the state at monitoring sites checked by state wildlife officials when compared with this time last year. In Collier County alone, the crab count has been cut nearly in half according to state officials.
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