NOAA Fisheries Reopens Scallop Fishing in Northern Gulf of Maine with Increased Quota

Effective April 21, NOAA Fisheries (NMFS) reopened scallop fishing in the Northern Gulf of Maine (NGOM) and increased the 2025 fishing quota, as indicated in the recently finalized Framework 39.

Framework 39 stands as a critical rule for the Atlantic Sea Scallop fishery, setting important boundaries such as fishery specifications and management measures for the current 2025 fishing season, which runs from April 1, 2025 – March 31, 2026. This season is expected to see projected landings of 18 million pounds...

California Closes Crabbing in San Francisco Zone, Keeps Northern California Open

Returning whales to California waters is a sign that Dungeness crab season closures aren’t far behind.  

In prior action, California Department of Fish and Wildlife Director Charlton H. Bonham closed Fishing Zones 4-6, Pigeon Point to the U.S./Mexico border, on April 15, while the northern zones remained open.  

Now, though, the whales are moving north. Zone 3, in the Central Management Area from the Sonoma/Mendocino County line to Pigeon Point, is slated to close at 6 p.m. on May 1...

Tariff Talks 2025: Expana's Weekly Rundown #5

Expana’s global team of specialist reporters has been tracking every twist and turn in the fluid tariff situation.

Click to read "Tariff Talks 2025: Expana's Weekly Rundown #5."

This report allows the Expana community to see where key commodity markets stand as of this past week... Click the above PDF report, or keep scrolling to read in plain text...

NOAA Fisheries and FWS Propose Rule Rescinding Endangered Species Act’s “Harm” Definition

On April 17, 2025, NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) proposed a rule to rescind the regulatory definition of “harm” under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).

The law, which was established in 1973, currently prohibits the take of any fish or animal listed as an endangered species, with “take” defined as “to harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, or collect or to attempt to engage in any such conduct.”

According to Justice Scalia’s 1995 position...

Russia Increases 2025 Seafood Exports to South Korea

This year, Russia is increasing its fish exports to South Korea, reaching record figures compared to the last two years, according to Russian media reports and recent data from the South Korean statistics agency.

In March, Russia exported 31,400 tons of fish and seafood to South Korea, which became one of the highest figures in the last several years and showed a 30% increase compared to February 2025.

The bulk of supplies accounted for frozen fish (26,100 tons), fish fillets (2,700 tons) and crab (2,000 tons).

Currently, Russia remains the second main...

Exclusive International Trade Centre Interview: Implications of Trump’s Tariff Regime

Julia Spies is the Chief of Trade and Market Intelligence for the International Trade Centre (ITC) in Switzerland. Spies and team analyze trade information and publish findings about market-specific trade intelligence on multiple online platforms, like Tradebriefs.intracen.org.

Recent shifts in the world of trade, including the latest round of United States tariffs and trade measures by other countries, has kept Spies and company busy, to say the least.

However, ITC members have watched trade measures, and in particular their impact on developing countries, long before these recent changes...

Russia Plans to Lift Restrictions on Shrimp Catch This Year

Russia is considering a significant increase to its shrimp catch this year, which should lead to reduced imports to the domestic market.

For this purpose, Russian authorities plan to lift all the existing restrictions on the catch of northern and scalloped shrimp in the Primorye subzone and the West Sakhalin subzone.

According to recent calculations made by German Zverev, head of the All-Russian Association of Fish Producers (VARPE), maintaining the current ban will lead to potential losses of up to 1,500-ton catch volumes, which is equivalent to 6%...

ANALYSIS: Tariffs and Shifting Demand Shape Live Lobster Market Outlook

The Canadian Spring lobster season is set to begin, with fishermen scheduled to set traps on April 19 and fishing to commence the following Monday. Early indicators point to a strong start, buoyed by recent biomass assessments suggesting landings could match—or even surpass—last spring’s solid production. Yet, this promising outlook unfolds against a backdrop of economic and trade uncertainty, tempering optimism across global markets...

Russia to Sell New 2025 Crab Quotas to Investors

The Russian Federal Agency for Fisheries (Rosrybolovstvo) has announced a tender for the distribution of crab quotas for a total sum of RUB 2.1 billion (US$26 million).  

Under the terms of the tender, the winner of the tender will build medium-tonnage fishing vessels over 50 meters long that are designed for crab catch.  

As for quotas, they will be for extracting red snow crab in the Primorye subzone (50%), red snow crab in the West Sakhalin subzone (50%), snow crab angulatus in the East Sakhalin subzone (50%) and...

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...

ANALYSIS: The Quantifiable Impact of Tariffs; Evidence from the Seafood Market

With tariffs on Chinese tilapia now exceeding 200%, the seafood market faces unprecedented disruption that will fundamentally reshape pricing structures, consumption patterns, and global supply chains. Our empirical analysis quantifies these effects, showing the severity of market distortions that result from such extreme trade barriers...

Japan: Alternative Protein Market to Grow by 20% in 2030, Cultured Fish Meat Market Also in Sight

Market research company Fuji Keizai recently investigated the market size of sustainable foods and related equipment. According to its press release and reporting by Minato Shimbun, Fuji Keizai calculated the domestic market size for alternative protein foods—including cultured fish meat and microalgae—as 123.9 billion yen ($871.35 million) for 2024, predicting an increase of 18.9% by 2030, amounting to 147.3 billion yen ($1.035 billion).

Fuji Keizai also estimates that manufacturing equipment and systems, including land-based recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS)... 

Tariff Talks 2025: Expana's Weekly Rundown #5

Expana’s global team of specialist reporters has been tracking every twist and turn in the fluid tariff situation.

Click to read "Tariff Talks 2025: Expana's Weekly Rundown #5."

This report allows the Expana community to see where key commodity markets stand as of this past week... Click the above PDF report, or keep scrolling to read in plain text...

Trump Signs New Executive Order to Strengthen US Seafood Industry, Review Marine National Monuments

On April 17, U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order, titled “Restoring American Seafood Competitiveness,” which focuses on improving the domestic seafood industry by addressing unfair trade practices, instating new policies that promote domestic seafood resources, and revising current regulations that “overly burden America’s commercial fishing, aquaculture, and fish processing industries at the fishery-specific level.”

Collaborating with the domestic seafood industry

Per the order, the Secretary of Commerce (Howard Lutnick) will cooperate with the Regional Fishery Management Councils (RFMC), interagency partners, and other stakeholders...

MSC Consumer Poll Shows Seafood as Top Sustainable Animal Protein

The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) recently released new data from a consumer poll showing that a quarter of the consumers surveyed view fish and seafood as the most environmentally sustainable animal protein. Seafood was followed closely by chicken in the poll results.

In addition, poll data revealed that Gen Z and millennial shoppers aged 18-29 are almost twice as likely to consider environmental impact when grocery shopping and meal planning than those aged 55 and over.

Of all the respondents, 36% of consumers indicated that it...

Eight Projects Recommended for NOAA’s 2025 Sea Scallop Research Set-Aside Program

NOAA Fisheries recently recommended eight new projects for the 2025 Scallop Research Set-Aside Program. The program, which supports applied research for the U.S. wild-caught scallop fishery, awards scallop set-asides instead of monetary funding, thus providing fishery researchers with the means to conduct their research while also harvesting scallops to fund their work.

The scallops that are set aside would normally have been available for commercial harvest only. NOAA Fisheries placed 2023 U.S. commercial scallop landings at 27.4 million pounds, valued at $360 million, making...

Virginia’s Experience with MSX Aids Atlantic Canada’s Aquaculture Industry

William & Mary's Batten School & VIMS recently hosted a delegation of government officials and aquaculture industry representatives from Atlantic Canada. Alarmed by the discovery of the oyster disease MSX (Multinucleate Sphere X) in the waters around Prince Edward Island (PEI) last July, they came to learn more about the strategies Virginia has employed to manage this serious shellfish disease.

MSX had already been discovered around Nova Scotia in 2002, leading to significant mortality. Batten School of Coastal & Marine Sciences & VIMS Professor Ryan Carnegie worked closely with government officials and the local industry...