ANALYSIS: Record Peeled Volume Drives August US Shrimp Import Total, Closes Year-to-Date Deficit

August imports totaled 175.7 million lbs, close to the 176.0 million lbs estimate and the Expana projection at the aggregate level. The composition differed from expectations: peeled imports reached 97.3 million lbs, above the estimated range's upper bound of 93.3 million lbs.

This is the largest peeled volume recorded in a single month in the available data. July's total of 94.9 million lbs was the second-largest on record, behind August 2021's 96.6 million lbs; August 2026 surpassed that figure...

Hodges: Fall Crab Supply Improves. Buyers Remain Selective

October’s National Seafood Month provides a timely opportunity to promote seafood and begin planning holiday purchases. For the crab industry, the fall outlook brings encouraging news from Alaska, limited uncommitted Canadian snow crab inventory, and continued growth in Norwegian snow crab shipments to the United States. The opportunity is there, but consumer response to current prices will determine how much additional business develops.

Alaska’s new allocations are a particularly positive development, led by a major increase in Bering Sea Tanner crab. The combined eastern and western allocations total 32.1 million pounds...

ADF&G Sets 2026/27 Bering Sea Crab TACs: Tanner Crab Nearly Triples to 32.1 Mlbs as Snow Crab Dips

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) announced the Total Allowable Catches (TACs) for the 2026/27 Bering Sea crab season, with tanner crab significantly up from last year and snow crab down. Bristol Bay Red King Crab (BBRKC) TAC is also up from last year, to 3.41 million pounds.

Snow Crab

The 2026/27 Bering Sea snow crab fishery has a total TAC of 5.1 million pounds, comprised of 4.59 million pounds in the...

Norwegian Seafood Exports Flat in September Despite Record Salmon Volumes, US Sales Keep Sliding

Norway exported seafood worth NOK 17.8 billion ($1.9 billion) in September, down NOK 27 million from the same month last year — essentially flat, even as the country shipped more salmon in a single month than ever before.

"Norway has never exported a higher volume of salmon in a single month than it did in September," said Christian Chramer, CEO of the Norwegian Seafood Council. "At the same time, prices have risen in both euros and US dollars...

Japan Kamaboko Association Warns of Surimi Price Spike; Pangasius Demand May Boost Supply

On Sept. 30 in Osaka, the Japan Kamaboko Association held its first West Japan Block Meeting—drawing 43 attendees, including executives from member surimi-product companies—to share updates on surimi raw materials and discuss challenges facing manufacturers, the Minato Shimbun reported. Presentations covered production trends and processing systems for pollock surimi from the US and Russia and for farmed pangasius surimi from Vietnam, and also included a lecture on the health benefits of fish protein aimed at supporting...

Ambienta Acquires Four Aquaculture Technology Companies to Build Nordic Platform

European asset manager Ambienta SGR S.p.A. has acquired four aquaculture technology companies and combined them into a new Nordic industrial platform focused on sustainable aquaculture, the firm said.

The companies, Bio Marine AS, Flatsetsund Engineering AS (FLS), Smir AS and P/F GroAqua Group, supply technologies spanning fish health, feed optimization, aquaculture equipment, farming systems and waste treatment. Ambienta said the platform is designed to scale those technologies across species and geographies, while creating cross-selling opportunities and supporting product development...

VARPE: Russian Fishing Industry Debt Pressure Intensifies as Salmon Catch Craters

Financial pressure on Russia's fishing industry has intensified sharply in recent years, and the strain shows no sign of easing as the country's broader economic situation remains difficult.

That's according to German Zverev, president of the All-Russian Association of Fisheries Enterprises (VARPE), who told Russian media that annual loan payments made by fishing industry companies have nearly quadrupled over the past three years, while the industry's operating cash flow has grown just 1.2 times over the same period...

Sustainable Shrimp Partnership and GOe Partner on Gastronomic Innovation Project

Sustainable Shrimp Partnership (SSP), The National Chamber of Aquaculture (CNA) and GOe – Gastronomy Open Ecosystem, Basque Culinary Center’s (BCC) gastronomic innovation hub, have entered into a partnership to analyze the attributes of Ecuadorian shrimp, its performance in culinary preparations, and the criteria chefs and other professionals use to select and assess it in the Spanish market.

The partnership encompasses research, innovation, training and promotion projects through GOe Tech Center, Basque Culinary Center’s gastronomy technology center, to generate evidence about the product and share that knowledge...

Aquamar's 'Chickensanity' Campaign Pits Scallops Against Wings for Game Day

Aquamar is using National Seafood Month to pick a fight with chicken — a fight the company has actually been teasing since the spring.

The seafood company has launched a campaign called "Chickensanity," built around a new product, Crispy Scallop Bites, designed to compete directly with wings, tenders and other snackable chicken formats at tailgates and on game day. Chef Brad Barnes, Aquamar's chef and President of Pure Food Consulting, says the pitch isn't about seafood already winning share from chicken. It's about closing what he calls an "occasion problem...

Ecuador's Shrimp Industry Sounds Alarm as Power Rationing and Tariff Hikes Squeeze Supply Chain

Ecuador's shrimp industry is mounting a two-front warning to the government this week, with both the national hatchery association and the broader aquaculture chamber saying electricity rationing and a steep tariff increase threaten the country's top export commodity from the larvae tank through to the packing plant.

The trigger was an October 1 reform by Ecuador's electricity regulator, ARCONEL, raising rates for high-voltage industrial users — the AV1 and AV2 categories covering most shrimp processors and feed mills...

NOAA Confirms 76 US Large Whale Entanglements for 2025; 2026 Expected to Break All-time Record

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has just confirmed 76 large whale entanglement cases in 2025, a decrease from 2024. But according to a press release from the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD), public data from May showed that at least 51 whales died on the U.S. West Coast so far this year.

NOAA’s National Report on Large Whale Entanglements Confirmed in the United States in 2025 states that entanglements in 2025 were lower than the 95 confirmed large whale entanglement cases in 2024...

Commerce Finalizes AD Review on Thai Frozen Shrimp, Keeps Thai Union Rate at 1.76%

The US Department of Commerce has finalized its administrative review of the antidumping duty order on frozen warmwater shrimp from Thailand, confirming that select Thai producers and exporters sold the product below normal value during the review period and leaving margins unchanged from its preliminary findings.

Commerce determined that certain producers/exporters subject to this administrative review made sales of certain frozen warmwater shrimp from Thailand at less than normal value during the period of review...

FMI Report Shows Prepared Foods are Becoming Part of How Shoppers Build Meals at Home

The Food Industry Association (FMI) has released the 11th edition of its annual report series examining consumer behaviors and shopping patterns around deli-prepared foods in grocery stores.

The latest findings in The Power of Foodservice at Retail 2026 suggest grocery prepared foods are now a regular part of how consumers approach meals at home, with many shoppers blending store-prepared items with home cooking rather than treating foodservice as a separate occasion. The survey was conducted online using Qualtrics...

The Retail Rundown: Holiday Demand Patterns Reshape Protein Markets

October sparks a shift in the retail space as consumers move beyond grilling toward heartier meals. The seasonal transition creates opportunities for retailers to promote roasts, ground beef, pork shoulder, and other cuts used in soups, chili, and other comfort-food applications. 

With October also serving as National Pork Month, promotional activity is picking up steam. USDA’s latest Weekly Grocery Store Pork Feature Activity report shows the national pork feature rate at 92.3%, up about ten points from the previous week.

Circana reported advertised prices of $2.22/lb. for pork...

Friend of the Sea Updates Labels to Meet Tougher EU Sustainability Claims Rules

Friend of the Sea is rolling out updated certification labels aimed at making its environmental claims more specific and easier to verify as the EU tightens rules around sustainability labeling.

The certification scheme, part of the World Sustainability Organization, said each new label pairs its round Friend of the Sea logo with a sector-specific certification claim and a unique FOS ID. That ID links the claim directly to the certified product and authorization. The move comes as Directive (EU) 2024/825...

FDA Confirms Indonesian Shrimp, Spice Supply Chains Remain Clear a Year After Cesium-137 Crisis

Indonesian shrimp and spice imports face no new restrictions after an FDA review found the country's cesium-137 (Cs-137) certification program is working as intended, signaling to US buyers that the supply chain disruption from last year's contamination crisis is unlikely to recur in the near term.

The FDA released a report on October 5 summarizing findings from a May 2026 in-country assessment of Indonesia's Cs-137 import certification program, which covers certain...

Just Shrimp Targets Seafood Accessibility with Shrimp Nuggets

Just Shrimp is looking to make seafood more approachable for families with its line of shrimp nuggets, which are launching in nearly 250 Harris Teeter stores during National Seafood Month (October).

In an exclusive interview with Expana, Just Shrimp founder Lee Edmondson discussed the company’s sourcing strategy, retail plans and the thinking behind its shrimp nugget format.

According to Edmondson, the company sources farm-raised Pacific white shrimp from Mexico’s Pacific Coast, specifically the Mazatlán region, and processes the shrimp in North America. He said the sourcing...