Commerce Issues Mixed Bag of Preliminary Duty Rates for Indian and Thai Shrimp Exporters Preliminary shrimp duty rates for Indian and Thai exporters were adjusted higher or lower depending on the respondent when compared to tenth final review rates. A report from the Department of Commerce issued preliminary duty rates for Indian and Thai shrimp exporters for the 11th period of review, which covered shipments from February 1, 2015 through January 31, 2016. Rates for Indian exporter Falcon Marine were higher compared to the final tenth review rates. Meanwhile, the review specific rate was lower by about half in Commerce's preliminary report. For Thailand, shrimp exporter Thai Union /Pakfood’s rate was preliminarily raised from zero percent while the average rate was lowered. These rates are preliminary, which means there be a 120 day review period before a final determination is made. This means the rates could go final sometime in early July. John R. Sevier was named ISA-AK’s new president in early February. As president, he is in charge of ISA’s Kodiak-based processing and cold storage operation. Sevier has a nearly 40-year history in the seafood industry, starting as a quality assurance manager with Alaska Pacific Seafoods in 1976. He served as plant manager for APS in Kodiak, after they became a division of North Pacific Processors. In other news, West Coast groundfish trawlers will fish for rockfish again. Four groups worked together to craft an exempted fishing permit that was recently approved. Trawlers received their permits to start fishing Friday. “Now that rockfish species are largely rebuilt, these antiquated gear restrictions would have impeded fishermen’s ability to actively target the over 60 million pounds of rockfish that is available to them this year," said Brad Pettinger, director of the Oregon Trawl Commission. Meanwhile, the number of byline seafood items refused by the FDA in February plummeted compared to January figures and compared to last February. The figures are conspicuously lower compared to the last two years of refusals in February. These refusal numbers are sourced directly from the FDA’s OASIS database. A look at the FDA’s entire refusal figures for the month of February showed how rejections for all items were down significantly from January figures and compared to 2016 levels. Finally, a Hawaii bill that sought to change the way commercial fishing licenses are granted died in committee hearings. The bill sought to restrict commercial fishing licenses to people who are legally allowed to enter the U.S. But that's the role of the federal government, not the state, said state Sen. Brian Tanighuchi, chairman of the Senate Committee on International Affairs and the Arts. "It's hard to set up a whole government procedure to just maybe bump into that problem when you have a federal agency that's actually supposed to enforce that," Taniguchi said.