Seafood Industry Begins Assessing Impact of 2026 MMPA Import Restrictions

As NOAA Fisheries prepares to enforce strict import rules starting January 1, 2026, industry stakeholders across the seafood supply chain are ramping up efforts to understand the potential disruptions stemming from the agency's recent comparability findings. 

With 46 nations facing import restrictions, denial, partial ratings, or pending reapplication, buyers, sellers and processors are closely monitoring how these regulatory changes could impact their businesses. 

On August 28, NOAA Fisheries effectively established a deadline for countries to meet the standards under the Marine Mammal...

SE Alaska Red King Crab Season Opens November 1, Thanks to New Board of Fish Policy

Crab fishermen in Southeast Alaska will have an opportunity to begin harvesting highly sought-after red king crab this fall due to a significant policy shift in management approved by the state last February.  

The change allows a fishery to open under new management rules even if surveys show that the available biomass is less than the long-standing minimum threshold of 200,000 lbs.

The announcement from Alaska's Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) is for a regionwide guideline harvest level (GHL)...

USTR Extends China Section 301 Tariff Exclusions Through November 29

On Thursday, August 28, 2025, the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) announced the extension of tariff exclusions in the Section 301 Investigation of China's Acts, Policies, and Practices. The list of exclusions includes various seafood items, such as frozen haddock and sole, as well as frozen blocks of crab meat, which includes king, snow, and Dungeness crab.

The exemptions, which were to expire on August 31, will now expire on November 29, 2025. This is the second time this year that the exemptions have been extended...

Blue Star Foods Q2 Revenue Jumps 85% as Losses Narrow

Blue Star Foods reported a return to growth, marked by a strong revenue increase and a 68% reduction in net loss during the second quarter of 2025.

John Keeler, Chairman and CEO of Blue Star Foods, commented, “Over the past several months, we have right-sized our operating expenses to match our revenue levels, resulting in a reduction in losses. We have re-positioned and re-focused our sales team with new hires who have assisted in our return to revenue growth..

Russia Eyes Boost in Kamchatka Crab Exports to China as Logistics Improve

Russia is ramping up its Kamchatka crab exports to China, leveraging streamlined border logistics and growing consumer demand to strengthen its position in Asia’s largest crab market.

According to a recent report by the Russian branch of Xinhua News Agency, the border town of Hunchun in Jilin Province, North-East China, has become a major hub for supplying Russian crab to the Chinese market in recent years.

According to Cui Ling, an employee of Hunchun Shengjin International Trade Co., Ltd...

Russian Fish And Seafood Exports Surge 13% Through Seven Months

Russian fish and seafood exports increased by 13% in value terms in the first seven months (Jan-July) of the year, exceeding $3 billion. The increase in shipments is observed after a steep decline caused by sanctions. Positive changes are explained by the growth of production in the Far East and the expansion of the geography of deliveries.  

According to official data of the Russian analytical center "Agroexport," Russian fishermen in January-July exported 1.2 million tons of fish and seafood for a total of $3.1 billion, which...

Crab Meat Importer Oceana Seafood Specialties Joins NFI’s Crab Council

The National Fisheries Institute (NFI)’s Crab Council announced Oceana Seafood Specialties as its newest member. The company is an importer and supplier of various crab products, including premium Blue Swimming Crab.

“We take pride in curating a reliable network that delivers consistent, high-quality seafood,” said Jeffrey Martinez-Malo, CEO of Oceana. “Sustainability is a key factor in every product we offer, and the Council’s leadership in Fisheries Improvement Projects (FIPs) made joining an easy decision.”

Oceana’s executive team boasts nearly...

Hong Kong’s Ocean One Targets Aggressive China Growth After Import Ban Eases on Japanese Seafood

Hong Kong-based frozen seafood importer and wholesaler Ocean One announced that it will increase its cooperation with Chinese customers following China's resumption of seafood imports from Japan. The company stated that the move will involve “more aggressive market strategies to expand mainland business sales.”

The company views the reopening of many areas of Japan for seafood imports into China as a “significant opportunity” to both expand and enhance sales performance.

Ocean One’s China business accounted for 11.6% of its revenue, the second-largest share...

Russian Crab Company Group to Produce Air-Blast Frozen Crab in Barents Sea, With Focus on Japan

This year, the Russian Crab Company Group (RCCG), the largest crab fishing company in Russia’s Far East, will begin operations in the Barents Sea in northwestern Russia, according to recent reports from Minato Shimbun and multiple trading companies. RCCG will primarily produce air-blast frozen king crab products, similar to those from the Far East, with a focus on the Japanese market. RCCG's king crab quota in the Barents Sea is expected to be 4,788 tons, which will significantly change the production landscape...

Norway Has Replaced Russia in the US Crab Market; Russia Looks to Tag Back in

Norway has taken Russia’s place in the U.S. crab market, though Russia is hoping that possible restoration of economic relations with the U.S. will allow its crab fisherman to resume supplies to the U.S. market—once one of the most important for Russian crabbers—and thus compete with its Norwegian rivals.

Prior to 2022, the United States was one of the largest buyers of Russian crabs, accounting for almost half of Russian exports, some estimates indicate. While Asian countries mainly consume live Russian crab, which is supplied from the...

Japan's Seafood Imports in May Decreased by 5% YOY in Volume and 3% YOY in Value

According to trade statistics released by the Ministry of Finance on June 27, Japan’s May seafood imports (with preliminary figures including fish and shellfish, their preparations, fish meal, and seaweed) decreased by 5% in volume from the same month last year, totaling 181,942 tons. In addition, the value of these imports decreased by 3% to 165.412 billion yen ($1.154 billion), as reported by Japanese news outlet Minato Shimbun.

Fresh and frozen tuna imports rose by 13% to 17,417 tons, including the following tuna...

Russia Struggles to Boost Domestic Deep-Sea Crab Catch 

Russia’s deep sea crab catch remains low, despite efforts by the Federal Agency for Fisheries (Rosrybolovstvo) to boost activity through quota auctions. 

After a failed attempt last month, Rosrybolovstvo tried once more to auction quotas for catching deep-sea crabs — specifically angulatus snow crab in the North-Okhotsk and East Sakhalin subzones, and red snow crab in the Primorye and West Sakhalin subzones. The starting price for the quotas exceeded 1.051 billion rubles.  

As part of the auction terms, investors were required to build fishing vessels at Russian shipyards...

Summer Crab Season Rules Take Effect in Washington

Summer months mean new fishing seasons, warmer weather and, in the case of Dungeness crabbing on the West Coast, new rules.   

As whales become more prevalent and crabs begin to molt, the states implement more restrictive gear rules, time constraints, landing limits or permitting requirements. In Washington, that means the Coastal Dungeness Crab Summer Fishery Management Plan takes effect as of 12:01 a.m. on July 6, through the end of this year’s season.  

According to the plan, crabbers cannot possess or land more than 2,500...

Sea-Trek Founders Step Down After 40 Years; Longtime Team Members Take the Helm

Sea-Trek Enterprises, a Rhode Island-based frozen seafood trading company, announced that its founders, Peter Coop and Mitchell Sarnoff, will step down from their roles at the company's helm.

The pair will remain involved in Sea-Trek as board members, but new ownership will take charge. The new owners are long-time employees Peter Bruno, Pieter “Dutch” Snoeren, Brian Cooper, and Ken Sullivan. All four of the new owners have been involved in the company’s growth over the past four decades...

Council Adopts “Housekeeping” Version of Pelagic Trawl Definition for Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska 

By a unanimous vote held yesterday, the North Pacific Fishery Management Council adopted changes to the definition of pelagic gear that skirted the issue of its use on the sea floor. Pelagic trawls are used by the pollock fleet in the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska. In recent years, frequency of those nets touching the sea floor, particularly in the Bering Sea, have been found to be as much as 85% according to scientific reports commissioned by the Council.  

That has concerned...

ASMI Releases 2024 Annual Report Highlighting Global Impacts and Market Challenges 

The Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute (ASMI) has released its 2024 Annual Report, reflecting on partnerships, investments and challenges within the Alaska seafood industry. 

Throughout 2024, ASMI worked to promote Alaska seafood in 36,000 retail stores and 18,000 restaurants across the U.S. – but not without its challenges.  

A Difficult 2024 

According to the August 2024 NOAA Fisheries Alaska Seafood Snapshot Report, the Alaska seafood industry spent much of last year in recovery mode, after suffering a $1.8 billion economic loss from...

Russia Considers Nationalizing JSC Rybolovetsky Kolkhoz Vostok-1 Amid Alleged Foreign Control

Russian authorities may nationalize JSC Rybolovetsky Kolkhoz Vostok‑1, one of the country’s largest deep‑sea fishing enterprises and a leader in snow crab catches, over alleged links to foreign control.

The Prosecutor General’s Office has filed a lawsuit in the Arbitration Court of Primorsky Krai seeking to recover damages from the company. The action centers on the US citizenship of Vostok‑1’s founder, Valery Shegnagaev.

According to the prosecution, audits found that the company had been operating for years under de facto foreign control...

California Cracks Down on Illegal Fishing Activity by Revoking Two Licenses

A history of abandoning crab and lobster traps resulted in a stark comeuppance for two California fishermen recently, as the state said, “No more.” 

The California Fish and Game Commission in June revoked the commercial fishing license and lobster operating permit of Christopher James Miller, 68, of Santa Barbara, and the commercial fishing license and Dungeness crab permit of Ronald Ghera, 45, of Fortuna. According to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, both men had extensive histories of violations in their respective fisheries...

Unalaska May Process St. Paul Snow Crab Again While St. Paul Faces No Air Service

The unique agreement between two Bering Sea communities that allows one to process crab for the other and funnel the fish tax back to the one with no processing capacity, may be extended to the 2025-26 crab season, according to a report by KUCB of Unalaska.

Last January, St. Paul in the Pribilov Islands, and Unalaska/Dutch Harbor processors, with the approval of NOAA Fisheries and the industry, designed a work-around if Trident Seafoods did not open...

Champlain Seafood Expands with Purchase of BA Richard, a Long-time New Brunswick Lobster Processor

Champlain Seafood, a major Canadian snow crab and lobster processor, announced its acquisition of BA Richard, a lobster processor based in Sainte-Anne-de-Kent, New Brunswick.

Champlain noted that BA Richard’s operations trace back to the late 1800s. The company said it has been operated by four generations of the Richard family and has become a local staple.

BA Richard has had a 30-plus-year partnership with Cape Bald Packers, a company under the Champlain umbrella...

Blue Star Foods and KeHE Distributors Launch Partnership and Promotion for Crab Meat Pouch

Two major developments were announced yesterday by Blue Star Foods Corp., including a strategic national partnership with KeHE Distributors as its primary distribution partner and the launch of its flagship 6-ounce cab meat pouch, now available via KeHE’s broad retail network. 

KeHE Distributors is a leading distributor of natural, organic specialty and fresh products, with over 7,900 employee-owners, 18 distribution centers and service to 31,000+ retail and online outlets.

“Partnering with KeHE is a pivotal move in our growth strategy,” said...

China and Poland Overtake the US as Top Markets for Norwegian Seafood in July

Poland and China overtook the United States as the top seafood markets for Norwegian seafood in July, according to the latest update from the Norwegian Seafood Council.

In terms of value, seafood exports to the US grew in July compared to the same month last year, with NOK 1.1 billion ($107 million) headed to the states. However, China and Poland were able to surpass the US, which was the top destination for the first five months of the year...

Russia Looking to Increase Fish Catch in Arctic Region in Coming Years

Russia plans to continue increasing its fish catch in the Arctic region, despite a substantial decline in fish stocks in the region of late.

According to data from some Russian fishermen, in recent years, the stocks of cod and other white fish species in the Karelia, Murmansk and Arkhangelsk regions have seriously declined, which has led to a decline in their catch.

In addition to cod, there is a significant decline in haddock catch, while the current stock of cod in the Northern basin is at a historic low...

Canadian Seafood Escapes Trump’s 35% Tariff, According to Multiple Reports on USMCA Exemptions

Key Canadian seafood exports will be exempt from President Donald Trump’s newly imposed 35% tariff on Canadian goods, according to multiple reports from CBC, The Wall Street Journal and Yahoo Finance.

While Trump’s tariff announcement last week sparked uncertainty over whether critical species like salmon, crab and lobster would be affected, officials confirmed that products compliant with the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) will remain tariff-free.

The question of whether seafood would be faced with a 35% tariff rate followed the release of Trump’s tariff...

The Winding Glass: Seafood Trade Disruptions Reappear While Economic Headwinds Drive Prices Down

The economic collapse that many of us feared from the chaotic tariff policies of the Trump administration has not materialized—at least not yet. The seafood industry has shown a remarkable degree of resilience in the face of disruptive trade policy. But this should not be mistaken for invulnerability. The more pressing issue now is not tariffs but weakening consumer demand.

There are three reasons the anticipated tariff-induced disaster hasn’t occurred. First, there’s a deep political bias baked into how people perceive economic risks...

Trump Announces US Trade Deal With Vietnam, Including 20% Import Tariff

President Trump announced that the United States has agreed to a new trade deal with Vietnam on July 2.

Trump stated that Vietnam will pay the US a 20% tariff on all goods exported to the U.S. and a 40% tariff on transshipped goods. The higher 40% tariff targets products that are not originally made in Vietnam but are routed through the country to bypass higher tariffs. This move is significant, as many countries have used Vietnam as a transit point to avoid stricter trade penalties aimed at Chinese...

Phillips Foods Opens Sales Office in Japan to Expand Crab Meat Sales 

Phillips Foods, a major crab and lobster processor based in Maryland, has opened a representative office in Tokyo. The company will promote products such as blue swimming crab meat and crab cakes to mass retailers and food services in Japan.  

Founded in 1914, Phillips Foods operates aquaculture and processing facilities in Southeast Asia and Canada. They handle various crab species, including snow crab, king crab, and blue swimming crab, along with lobster and barramundi. The company also produces processed items such...

Red Lobster Announces Return of Crabfest and New Seafood Boil Options

On June 23, 2025, Red Lobster announced the return of its annual Crabfest event along with new flavors and all-new Seafood Boils.

The promotional event follows a series of recent ups and downs for the seafood dining chain, which is currently rebounding from a bankruptcy filing more than a year ago. The company has also experienced significant leadership turnover, with a fresh lineup amassing by November 2024 for its CEO, CFO, and COO.

As part of the latest Crabfest, Red Lobster is now offering two seafood boil options...

Senate Committee Addresses Threats from Chinese & Russian IUU Fishing

On June 12, 2025, Senator Dan Sullivan of Alaska—also Chairman of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Subcommittee on Coast Guard, Maritime, and Fisheries—led a hearing on foreign illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing and the threat it poses to global marine ecosystems, economies, sustainable fisheries, and food security.

“We're particularly focused on the fight for fisheries resources, geopolitical flashpoints where conflict is likely to arise, and the role of both state and non-state actors involved in conflict with criminal activity in the fishing sector. And..."

USTR Extends China Section 301 Tariffs for Certain Seafood Products 

The US Trade Representative (USTR) has extended tariff exclusions on certain seafood products from China through the end of August.  

The exclusions were previously scheduled to expire on May 31 but have now been extended through August 31.  

Tariffs related to the Section 301 Investigation of China’s Acts, Policies, and Practices Related to Technology Transfer, Intellectual Property, and Innovation first began under the Trump Administration in 2018 and 2019 in an effort to stop the country’s unfair trade practices. A range of seafood items from China were hit with...