The Winding Glass: Heavy Lobster and Crab Tariffs Could Cripple the US; Canadian Seafood Industry

Canadian lobster and crab industries face severe stress due to President-elect Trump’s threat to impose 25% tariffs across the board on all Canadian imports to the US.

Under the worst-case scenario, higher sale prices would cut demand to the extent that lobster and crab would be left in the water. For both exports, the Canadians have no replacement for the US market. To increase sales to China, Japan, and Europe, they would have to offer drastic price cuts...

The Winding Glass: What’s in Store for U.S. Fisheries After the Election?

The US government and the seafood industry are deeply intertwined.  Since the outcome of Tuesday’s election is unknown the industry is facing significant uncertainties about regulatory policies and trade dynamics.

I want to call out a few areas where monumental changes may occur, depending on which candidate wins.

Of course, the seafood industry exists within the larger macro-economic environment, and things like consumer confidence, real wages, inflation, and cost of competing proteins all impact demand for seafood....

The Winding Glass: Why Fish Markets Are a Mainstay of American Seafood

Want to know the bright spot in retail seafood? It’s your local fish store. 

For months we have chronicled the decline in overall U.S. retail seafood sales. Again in June, Circana data from US supermarkets and warehouse stores showed continuing problems.

Retail seafood experienced continuing deflation, led by frozen fish that was down -4.5% from a year ago. On the fresh side, everything but tilapia was lower priced than a year ago. And despite price decreases, dollar sales, unit sales, and volume continued to...

The Winding Glass: What the Decline of Red Lobster Means for the U.S. Seafood Industry

The possible bankruptcy of Red Lobster is a watershed moment for the seafood industry.

Last month Bloomberg reported that Red Lobster may file for bankruptcy. This follows the announcement in January that Thai Union was ending its losing investment in Red Lobster and taking a $530 million write down.

A Red Lobster bankruptcy and restructuring would be a watershed event. Red Lobster used to be a colossus. During its heyday of rapid expansion and increasing sales in...

OPINION: Offshore Wind Energy Development: A David vs Goliath Story

As the aggressive pursuit to privatize and industrialize our oceans with offshore wind turbine factories marches on, the small yet powerful voices of coastal communities around the nation continues to fight to be heard in the process.  It is a veritable David versus Goliath story.

Goliath takes many forms.  Is it BOEM?  The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management is uncompromising in their quest to lease out our oceans to multinational corporations for industrial development. I have sat face to face in Washington, DC with BOEM director Liz Klein who claims...

The Winding Glass: Everything You Want to Know About Cod and the Demise of Whitefish

As a New Englander cod is my iconic fish.  Just as in Newfoundland, where ‘fish’ means cod, so in New England we have Cape Cod.  The sacred cod hangs in the Massachusetts State House. Cod has fished here for more than 500 years, about a century before the first permanent European settlements.

Our old sea shanties reflect the dominance of cod.

Cape Cod Girls they have no combs,
(heave away, heave away)
they comb their hair with codfish bones,
we’re bound for Australia..