FDA Finalizes “Healthy” Food Definition, Includes Nuts, Seeds, Eggs, Olive Oil, and Salmon Products

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently finalized its definition of ‘healthy’ for U.S. food products, thus allowing foods like nuts, seeds, higher-fat fish, and certain oils—which were previously not included in an earlier version of the rule—to bear the word “healthy” on their packaging and other food marketing materials.

As Expana reported in December 2024, varieties of these foods such as fresh, frozen, or canned options are also listed in the update, so long as they have no added ingredients...

Save California Salmon: Another Lost Season is a ‘Total Crisis, Not a Closure’

Recent notice of another complete closure for commercial salmon fishing in California this year means more must be done to save fish – and the fisheries – says a California non-profit working with tribes and Northern California fishermen.​ 

The Pacific Fishery Management Council’s April decision marks the third year in a row of no commercial fishing season in California, as well as the state’s first recreational salmon season since 2022.  

Tribal subsistence fishing allocations will also be limited. This decision was made due to extremely low returns...

New Agreement Ensures Water for Farmers, Fish in California

Water for salmon and farms in California? Is it really possible?

Years of drought and a long-standing tug-of-war for water between farmers and fishermen – with state and federal regulatory entities also in the mix – has led to hard feelings all the way around for decades.

But now, a joint project between NOAA, California, and the local Yuba Water Agency will fulfill the Presidential Memorandum calling for Putting People Over Fish, NOAA Fisheries said in a press release. The Yuba River Resilience Initiative agreement unlocks new, reliable irrigation water...

Japan Expands Local Salmon Farming to 113 Brands Nationwide

The market for locally farmed salmon is expanding across Japan. According to a survey by Minato Shimbun, as of mid-April, there are 113 local salmon brands nationwide, an increase of nine since last year's survey.

Each producer is particular about the breeding environment and feed, and they differentiate their salmon as a domestic product with a strong regional flavor. With the unstable landing of wild fish and the high prices of imported seafood due to the weak yen, these Japanese salmon farmers are increasing their presence. They are receiving more inquiries...

West Coast Salmon Seasons Set: No California Season, Limited Elsewhere

After a week of tense negotiations and discussion, salmon managers finally adopted a set of seasons for Washington, Oregon, and California, as of Tuesday, April 15. Now it’s up to the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS, or NOAA Fisheries) for approval.  

California commercial season is simple: It’s closed. For the third year in a row. Recreational salmon fishermen will get a chance at a fishery this year, though, the first since 2022. 

Oregon has limited opportunity, due to concerns of Klamath and Sacramento River stocks...

Oregon Dems Urge Commerce Department to Declare 2024 Season a Disaster

Oregon’s Democratic Congressional leaders want to send help to salmon fishermen after a 2024 season showed meager results.

Earlier this week, Sens. Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden and Reps. Suzanne Bonamici, Val Hoyle, Andrea Salinas, Maxine Dexter and Janelle Bynum urged the U.S. Department of Commerce to declare a federal fishery resource disaster for the 2024 Oregon troll salmon fishery.

“This declaration is critical to provide economic relief to Oregon’s fisheries and coastal communities in addition to protecting the sustainability of wild salmon populations,” the lawmakers said...

Japan Records All-Time High Prices for 2024 Chilean Coho; Sockeye Salmon Imports Fall by 40%

According to the Ministry of Finance's trade statistics, Japan's total salmon and trout imports for 2024 were 296,923 million yen ($1.99 billion), up 7% from the previous year. Although salted, smoked, and other prepared products were lower than the previous year, fresh and frozen imports exceeded those of the previous year, with the quantity increasing by 8% to 230,879 tons.

According to Minato Shimbun, Japan’s 2024 salmon import trends are explained accordingly:

Coho Salmon

The quantity of frozen coho salmon (dressed) for fillet...

California Reports Progress in Supporting Healthy Salmon Populations and Habitat

It is clear that salmon are struggling on the West Coast, particularly in California. Salmon seasons have been closed or limited for a couple of years now, with returns to major salmon-producing rivers remaining low and a changing climate only increasing the competition for water resources. 

However, a recently released progress report from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife shows what the state has done to help California’s salmon populations. The California Salmon Strategy for a Hotter, Drier Future: Progress Report was developed in partnership with the California...

Heathrow Airport Closure Impacts European Salmon Market

A fire that occurred at a major electricity substation near London’s Heathrow Airport on Friday, March 21 is causing noticeable ripples in the global supply chain, specifically in relation to fish being transported out of Europe.

The fire, which caused an airport closure and significant diversions at Europe’s largest airport, has severely impacted cargo shipments for salmon departing Europe, including key salmon shipments from Norway, Scotland, and the Faroe Islands.

According to Janice Schreiber, Managing Editor at Expana, and Josh Bickert, Market Reporter at Expana, fish shipments from Europe average between 14.3 and...

Silver Bay Partners with BBEDC to Purchase Former Icicle Stake in OBI Seafoods

Silver Bay Seafoods is set to acquire a stake in Alaska seafood processor OBI Seafoods, purchasing the share previously owned by Icicle Seafoods, a subsidiary of Canadian seafood giant Cooke.

The deal involves a partnership between Silver Bay and the Bristol Bay Economic Development Corporation (BBEDC), which acquired a 50% stake in OBI (previously Ocean Beauty Seafoods) in 2007. Silver Bay will also garner more processing power within the wild Alaska salmon sector.

BBEDC and Silver Bay said that the partnership...

Cooke Aquaculture Chile Challenges Court-Ordered Production Suspension

Cooke Aquaculture Chile, the Chilean salmon farming arm of Canadian seafood company Cooke, was ordered to suspend operations at nine of its farming sites for one production cycle, per various local media reports.

The company rejected the fine and said that the roughly $37,000 penalty was “disproportionate” as it stemmed from an alleged delay of providing statistical information by one or two days, according to the publication Salmonexpert.

Cooke clarified that the authority's requirement that the data be submitted weekly was fulfilled, as established by current regulations...

US, Canada West Coast Fisheries Get Boost from Pacific Salmon Funding

The Pacific Salmon Commission’s Northern and Southern Funds committees recently finalized project selections for 2025, awarding a total of $9.5 million USD to support Pacific salmon conservation and management efforts. 

The Northern Fund awarded $5 million to 37 projects; the Southern Fund awarded $4.5 million to 46 projects. 

Funded projects align with the Pacific Salmon Treaty, and involve a wide range of partners, including First Nations and Tribal organizations, non-profit groups, U.S. state, federal, and Canadian federal salmon management agencies, the Commission said...

West Coast Salmon Season Alternatives Set; PFMC to Finalize in April 

It was a tough week for salmon fishermen and salmon managers as the Pacific Fishery Management Council crafted three alternatives for 2025 ocean salmon fisheries off Washington, Oregon, and California.  

The Salmon Technical Team, which includes state, federal and tribal fishery managers, had to deal with limited access to federal partners, corrupted data files, limited times to run models and more. But in the end, the Team, advisers and Council established three commercial and recreational alternatives for review. 

The Council will make a final decision...

SalMar Takes Full Control of Offshore Aquaculture Venture SalMar Aker Ocean

Salmon farming giant SalMar announced that it has agreed to purchase Aker Capital (Aker)’s 15% ownership stake in offshore aquaculture firm SalMar Aker Ocean (SAO) for one million SalMar shares and a cash consideration of NOK 76 million ($7 million).

SalMar said it views offshore aquaculture as an opportunity for growth both in Norway and abroad. After long evaluations and discussions, the two partner companies, SalMar and Aker, agreed that SalMar can more effectively manage the offshore aquaculture segment of the business...

US Seafood Targeted in Canada’s Proposed Retaliatory Tariff List

Canada wasted no time hitting back at new U.S. tariffs, with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announcing immediate 25% retaliatory duties on C$30 billion ($20.9 billion) worth of American imports after the levies took effect on March 4.

“Canada is being needlessly and unfairly targeted by these tariffs – and the US' decision leaves us with no choice but to respond to protect Canadian interests, workers and businesses. Working with provincial, territorial and industry partners, our singular focus is to remove these tariffs as quickly as possible...

Grieg Seafood Completes Successful Placement of Perpetual Green Hybrid Bond

On February 27, 2025, British Columbian (B.C.) salmon farmer Grieg Seafood ASA announced the successful placement of a new perpetual green hybrid bond issue of NOK 2 million ($177.6 million) with a first call date after four years.

Bond details

Proceeds for the bond—which has a coupon, or interest rate, of three months at a Norwegian Inter-Bank Offer Rate (NIBOR) of 5.75%—will go towards financing Grieg’s green projects, as further defined by the Green Bond Framework.

Among its financial activities will be the refinancing of existing...

Kawasaki Heavy Industries Lands First Trout Salmon Harvest, Aims for Future Sales of JPY 10 Billion

According to a recent press release from Kawasaki Heavy Industries (KHI), the company has developed a sustainable aquaculture system that aims to contribute to food security, promoting the system as part of the "MINATOMAE" project.

As a step toward commercializing this project, KHI conducted the test landing of a trout salmon cultivation in the waters of Kobe Port on April 24. The landing was successful, and approximately 850 fish were cultivated (with an average size of two kilograms per fish)...

Russia’s Sakhalin Region Plans to Increase Fish Catch This Year

The authorities of the Sakhalin region, one of Russia’s major fish-producing regions, aims to increase its fish catch this year, according to recent statements from Sakhalin government officials and local media sources.

At present, most of Sakhalin’s fish catch consists of pollock, cod, herring, flounder, navaga, greenling, and Pacific salmon, as well as seafood, crustaceans, and mollusks. While local fisherman caught about 745,000 tons of both fish and seafood last year, Sakhalin authorities hope to increase these figures in 2025, with particular attention on increasing its salmon catch...

Japan: Salmon and Trout Imports in February Fell by 25%, Reflecting a Decrease in Coho

According to trade statistics from the Ministry of Finance, Japan’s total salmon and trout imports in February (including salted, smoked, and prepared products) were 22,137 tons, down 25% from the same month last year, and the CIF import value was 30,039 million yen ($211.25 million), down 10%. The quantity of fillets (fresh, frozen, salted, and dried) was down 7% to 6,491 tons, and those other than fillets were down 31% to 15,645 tons.

Minato Shimbun reported that the main factor behind the decrease in...

Copper River Opens May 22 with Projected Catch More Than Twice the 10-Year Average

The opening of the Copper River salmon season signals the start of another salmon year in Alaska. This year, the Copper River will open on May 22, a week later than historical tradition, with a much higher sockeye run than in recent years, which justifies a commercial harvest forecast of 1.92 million fish in the Copper River alone. That prediction is 2.3 times the 10-year (2015–2024) average of 824,000 fish.

Copper River Chinook salmon, which has been decreasing for many years across most...

SalMar’s Q1 2025 Results Show 19.3% Decrease Y-O-Y in Total Harvest Volume

Salmon aquaculture company SalMar recently released its financial results for Q1 2025, which showed a 19.3% decrease in the total consolidated harvest volume when compared to the same period last year.

The total consolidated harvest volume for Q1 2025 amounted to 42,700 tonnes gutted weight (tgw), therefore marking a decrease of 10,200 tgw compared to 52,900 tgw during Q1 2024.

For Q1 2025, consolidated harvest volumes were down for Farming Central Norway by 6,700 tgw from Q1 2024, for SalMar Ocean (previously SalMar Aker Ocean) by...

Viciunai Group Invests €100M in Lithuanian Salmon Processing Facility

The Viciunai Group recently began construction of a €100 million salmon processing facility in Plungė, Lithuania, as the Lithuanian seafood processor stated in a March 28 LinkedIn post.

Once completed, the solar-powered facility—which will have state-of-the-art automation and robotics—will have an annual processing capacity of 50,000 tons of salmon, which is an increase of 32,000 tons, or 4.5 times more, than the current production capacity.

The new facility is being constructed next to Viciunai’s existing production and warehouse facility and will span more...

Alaska's 2024 Salmon Season Sees Many Lows, with Five Fishery Disasters; 2025 Looks Better

Alaska’s 2024 salmon fishery was not only the third lowest in total fish harvested for the past 38 years (1985-2023); it was also the lowest on record for total pounds harvested.

The fishery includes both wild runs and hatchery returns, as well as the consistently abundant Bristol Bay wild salmon return and the disastrously low returns in other major river systems.

In the 2024 Alaska Salmon Fisheries Enhancement Annual Report, which was released earlier this week, the hatchery portion of the 2024 salmon season was...

Sapporo Company Sells Fall Chum and Sockeye Salmon After Aging it 50 Days in Snow

Japanese company Sato Suisan of Sapporo, Hokkaido, began selling "snow matured salmon" on March 15 at eight directly managed stores in Sapporo and New Chitose Airport, as well as online.

Snow matured salmon (SMS) is a seasonal product that has been sold by Sato Suisan every year since 2011. This year’s SMS was made from salted Hokkaido fall chum salmon that was caught last fall, salted, and then buried in snow that had accumulated on the roof of the company's factory in Ishikari City on...

Russia Planning to Increase Total Fish Catch to 5 Million Tons in 2025

Russian fishermen plan to catch 5 million tons of fish in 2025. However, according to recent statements made by the head of Rosrybolovstvo, Ilya Shestakov, that will largely depend on the results of this year's salmon fishing season.

The planned catch will be higher than that in 2024, which was at the level of 4.9 million tons. Compared to 2023 (5.3 million tons), the decline in catch last year was mainly due to a significant drop in salmon catch (to 235,000 tons from 609,000 tons in 2023 and 272,000 tons in 2022).

As Shestakov has also added, there are currently some problems with pollock catch in the Russian Far East due to the poor ice conditions in the region; however, such a situation may soon stabilize.

SeaBear to Recall Smoked Salmon & Clam Chowders Due to Seal Defect

Washington-based SeaBear Company recalled two varieties of its seafood chowder, Smoked Salmon Chowder & Alehouse Clam Chowder because the products could potentially be contaminated with Clostridium botulinum.

A notice on the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) website warned consumers not to use the product even if it doesn’t look or smell spoiled.

The Smoked Salmon Chowder and Alehouse Clam Chowder were distributed through physical retail stores in Alaska, California, Colorado, Oregon, and Washington and direct home delivery via SeaBear’s website nationwide between 10/1/2024...

Russia and Japan Agree on 2025 Salmon Catch Quotas, Same as 2024

Russia and Japan have reached an agreement on 2025 salmon catch quotas for Japanese fishermen in the Japanese exclusive economic zone. According to the Japanese Fisheries Administration, the quota is set at 2,050 tons, which is the same as last year.

The parties agreed that Japanese fishermen will be able to catch salmon that migrate from Russian rivers. Currently the sides are also conducting talks on the 2025 salmon catch quotas for Japanese fishermen in the 200-mile exclusive economic zone of the Russian Federation.

Last year, Russia and Japan agreed...

Chile’s Salmon Council Signs 50-Year Plan to Promote the Salmon Farming Development Board

The signing took place within the framework of the first session of the 50-year Salmon Plan.  

The Salmon Council participated in the formation and signing of the commitment of the "Table for the Development of Salmon Farming".  

The author of the initiative is the mayor of Puerto Montt, Rodrigo Wainraihgt. His plan, with many others in the area as well as public agencies, private companies, and NGOs, is to establish a strategy for the sustainable development of salmon farming in the future...

US Demand Helps Fuel Record Norwegian Seafood Exports in February

Norway experienced its highest export value for the month of February. While there were a multitude of factors at play, trade with the US was a key factor. A similar story was the case in January as the US was the largest market for Norwegian seafood on a value basis to start 2025, as Expana reported.

According to the council, the USA had the highest value growth in February, witnessing an export value increase of NOK 548 million ($50 million)...

Japan: January Frozen Sockeye Imports Increased 40% While Bluefin Tuna Fillet Volume Doubled

According to trade statistics released by the Ministry of Finance on February 27, Japan’s January fishery product imports (including preliminary figures, fish and shellfish and their preparations, fishmeal, and seaweed) increased 5% from last year, amounting to 181,946 tons. The following species exceeded their import levels from January 2023: fresh and chilled tuna, salmon, trout, herring, octopus, and sea urchin. According to Minato Shimbun, Japan’s total import value reached 184.04 billion yen ($1.22 billion), which marks an increase of 19% compared to same time last year...