News Summary March 21, 2017
Today's Main Story: ADF&G Forecasts Alaska's Salmon Catch to Top 200 Million Fish this Summer
Alaska salmon fishermen could haul in a harvest nearly double last year's catch due to a projected uptick in the number of pinks. An Alaska Department of Fish and Game report on 2017 salmon run forecasts and harvest projections pegs the catch at 204 million fish. That compares to just over 112 million salmon taken by fishermen in 2016. The catch last season included 53 million sockeye salmon — the fifth-largest harvest since 1970 — but only 39 million pinks, the smallest since 1977. This year's forecast calls for an average catch of sockeye salmon at 41 million, 12 million fewer than last year. For those hard-to-predict pinks, the harvest projection of nearly 142 million is nearly 103 million more than last summer.
The Boston Seafood Show, now called Seafood Expo North America, has an upbeat feel this year. The Show owner, Diversified, says it is the biggest show ever in terms of booth space. In the past, the organizers had co-located the show with a regional New England Foodservice Show. This year that is not happening and the entire hall is seafood only. Despite high prices on a number of items, the overall feeling here is one of optimism.
In other news, food safety authorities have seized shrimps injected with gelatin from a wet market in southern China. Gelatin was found in three batches of frozen shrimps in a wet market in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, in recent days, according to Guangdong Satellite TV. The shrimps’ bodies and head were glued together by edible gelatin, which is often used to make jellies and other desserts. Experts were quoted in the report as saying the suppliers injected the gelatin to make the shrimps appear healthier or to cover up rotten meat.
The Sitka Sound herring sac roe fishery opened March 19 for a three-hour-and-twenty-minute first opener, after being on a two-hour notice since March 17. Preliminary hails from processors put the total harvest at 3,500 mt of a total GHL of 14,649 mt. The opening was based on three samples taken from the area with the following results: Mountain Point, 11.3% mature roe, 1.1% immature roe, 128 gram a
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