DOC Issues Final Antidumping, CVD Rates for Shrimp Imports from Ecuador, Indonesia, India, Vietnam

The U.S. Department of Commerce announced its final determinations in the antidumping duty (AD) investigations of frozen warmwater shrimp from Ecuador and Indonesia and the countervailing duty (CVD) investigations of frozen warmwater shrimp from Ecuador, India, Indonesia, and Vietnam

The International Trade Administration (ITA) provided a case calendar. With the final determination for the AD/CVD investigations wrapped up, the International Trade Commission is set to issue its final determination on December 5, 2024. An issuance of orders will occur the following week...

Food Poisoning Outbreak at Maryland Seafood Distributor Linked to Employee-Prepared Meal

A major food poisoning outbreak that occurred at NAFCO Wholesale Seafood Distributors in Jessup, Maryland, has been linked to outside food prepared by an employee and shared with others at the facility.

On October 21, firefighters and paramedics responded to a food poisoning outbreak at the NAFCO facility, with 46 individuals transported to nearby hospitals. All patients were in non-critical condition, per the Howard County Department of Fire and Rescue Services.

The individuals had all eaten the same food, and the Howard County Health Department...

Testing Finds Another Shrimp Festival Selling Imported Product as Wild-Caught Gulf Shrimp

After headlines swirled earlier this month about imported shrimp being sold at the Louisiana Shrimp & Petroleum Festival instead of local wild-caught shrimp from the Gulf of Mexico, another festival in the Gulf region has followed suit, according to testing results from SEAD (Seafood Development) Consulting.

SEAD said that at the 51^st Annual National Shrimp Festival in Gulf Shores, Alabama, genetic testing found that out of the five shrimp dishes sampled at the festival, only one contained authentic Gulf wild-caught shrimp...

UK’s Seafish: Signs of Recovery in Trade, Consumer Confidence After Five Tough Years

Marcus Coleman, CEO of Seafish told industry leaders at the ongoing annual Responsible Seafood Summit that after five years of global challenges to the seafood industry, a turnaround may be happening this year. 

Coleman spoke yesterday to an audience of about 400 at St. Andrews, Scotland, saying that indications over the last ten months show consumer confidence is beginning to return with recorded export value growth at 7.9% on the previous 12 months.

Seafood imports remain steady with salmon and cheaper whitefish alternatives to cod such as ... 

ASMFC Halts New Lobster Gauge Requirement Amid Market Concerns

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) voted to delay an increase to the minimum catchable size of lobster in the Gulf of Maine for six months.

The move was made on October 21 by the ASMFC’s American Lobster Board at the commission’s meeting in Annapolis, Maryland. The new gauge requirements were set to begin in January, but now with the delay, it will take place in July 2025.

The Portland Press Herald noted that individuals opposed to the move argued that it would give Canadian lobstermen an unfair market...

EU Council Sets New Catch Limits for Baltic Sea: Increases Herring Quotas, Cuts Cod and Salmon

On October 22, the EU Council reached a deal on new catch limits for the key fish stocks in the Baltic Sea.

The agreement on total allowable catches (TACs) and national quotas for 2025 were in line with the scientific advice provided by the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES), and sets the maximum quantities each member state will be allowed to catch for each fish stock.

Herring

The Council shared that the Central Baltic herring stock has pushed above the...

After Three Tense Days Near Unalaska, Pan Viva and Its Cargo of Fuel Arrives in Washington

The 738-foot Panama-flagged cargo ship Pan Viva safely arrived at the port of Kalama, WA yesterday around ten p.m. The ship, along with 21 crew, was caught in a fierce storm in the eastern Aleutians when it sought shelter and issued a distress call near the communities of Dutch Harbor and Unalaska on Saturday, October 12. 

The ship carried no deck cargo and the 300,000 gallons of fuel listed as cargo was not enough to keep the ship from sitting high in ...

2024 Wild Salmon Season: Unraveling the Causes Behind Declining Landings

The 2024 Alaskan wild salmon season experienced significantly lower landings across all species, including Chinook (king), chum (keta), pink, coho, and sockeye. With the season largely wrapped up through September 7, landings for sockeye across Alaska were down 20% compared to 2023, with pink landings falling 44% from 2022 YTD and the chum catch dipping 32% year-over-year, respectively, according to Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute's Weekly Alaska Salmon Updates produced by the McKinley Research Group.

Back in September, McKinley Research Group noted that the harvest of lower than 100...

New Legislation Seeks to Amend Magnuson-Stevens Act, Address Economic Causes of Fishery Disasters

Congresswoman Nancy Mace (SC-01) introduced the Protect American Fisheries Act of 2024, a law that found the support of various fishing organizations, including the Southern Shrimp Alliance (SSA), along with bipartisan support.

According to a press release from Mace's office, the bill would amend the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, adding economic causes as allowable grounds for declaring a fishery resource disaster.

“Foreign interference in U.S. fishery markets, particularly through illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU)...

Bob Baker Named CFO of Red Lobster Amid Company’s Turnaround Efforts

Red Lobster has appointed Bob Baker as the company’s new Chief Financial Officer (CFO), a veteran C-suite executive in the foodservice industry. Baker will report to CEO Damola Adamolekun as part of the company's executive leadership team.

"Bob brings not only deep financial expertise but also a passion for restaurant operations," said Adamolekun. "His wealth of experience gained across the restaurant industry, combined with his hands-on approach, will be invaluable as we continue to position Red Lobster for long-term growth...

The Retail Rundown: Tuning in to Turkey

Retail promotions for seafood continue to dominate the protein category this week, capturing nearly a third of ad circular space (32 percent). Beef and pork follow, taking up 23 percent and 21.3 percent, respectively. Chicken is up slightly from the previous week at 16 percent. Egg ads held steady at about 3 percent.

Several items were featured at lower prices compared to 2023 last week, with chicken leg quarters averaging $1.55 per pound, 5 cents cheaper than last year. Fresh pork loin prices were down by 2 percent...

NOAA Issues Biological Opinion on Arthur Kill Terminal Project

NOAA Fisheries announced that it has issued a Biological Opinion on the Arthur Kill Terminal Project to the Maritime Administration (MARAD) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE).

NOAA said its Biological Opinion considers the effects on threatened and endangered species from the construction, mitigation and operation of the project in New York/New Jersey, pursuant to the Endangered Species Act (ESA).

NOAA Fisheries found that the proposed creation of an offshore wind staging and assembly port, “is likely to...

ANALYSIS: Peruvian Fishmeal and Fish Oil Prices Drop Sharply in September

The price of fish meal and fish oil produced from Peruvian anchovies and longnose anchovies has drastically decreased this year.

According to IFFO data, the price of Peru and Chile composite super prime fishmeal (FOB) was seen at US$1,611 per metric ton in September 2024, which represents a reduction of 25.3% year on year (y-o-y). More strikingly, Peru feed fish oil (FOB) was traded at US$3,230 per metric ton in September 2024, representing a reduction in the price of 61.4% y-o-y...

Russia Faces Surge in Fish and Seafood Prices Amid Rising Production Costs

Russia is poised for a sharp rise in fish and seafood prices this year due to the ever-growing costs of producers.

So far, some of the country’s leading fish processors have notified domestic retail chains about increased wholesale prices for seafood by about 15-20%.

According to Russian RBC business paper, citing Russian retail chains, the biggest price growth is currently observed in the cases of herring, mackerel, and red fish.

Last week, the head of the Council of Federation, the upper house of the Russian Parliament...

AKVA Group Lands Deal to Build New Cermaq Chile Facility

AKVA Group announced that Cermaq Chile had awarded AKVA a Letter of Intent (LOI) related to a RAS contract for a new smolt facility.

The new facility will be located in the Los Lago Region in Chile, a key farming region within the country. AKVA said it would begin work on the site during Q4 2024.

AKVA said the value of the contract to build the facility is roughly 30 million euros (US$32.4 million). The final contract is expected to be awarded from Cermaq during Q4 2024...

Lobsters on the Move: UMaine Study Uncovers Major Habitat Shifts and Population Decline

Japanese Tuna Fishery Company Calls for Import Restrictions on IUU Farmed Tuna 

At the 10th Tokyo Sustainable Seafood Summit (TSSS), hosted by Seafood Legacy and Nikkei ESG, held in Tokyo on October 8-10 to realize a sustainable fisheries industry, attention was focused on the embargo measures to cut off the source of income for IUU (illegal, unreported and unregulated) fisheries. Sotaro Usui, president of Usufuku Honten based in Kesennuma City, Miyagi Prefecture, which operates a deep-sea tuna fishery, called on multiple ministries and agencies to work together to prevent IUU fishery product imports...