PEI's Spring Lobster Season a Go for Saturday 
Saturday is setting day for the spring lobster season in PEI. The PEI Fishermen's Association said some fishermen will probably set and pull their traps that day, especially in harbors that aren't far from shore. Close to 1,000 boats will be in the water for setting day. The lobster season in fishing area 24 and 26A runs until June 29. Traditionally, Island lobster fishermen don't fish on Sunday, so Monday could see big landings from the two-day haul.
Shrimp harvesting is now underway in the Mekong Delta but the industry is already expecting production to fall short of processor needs. The expectation is that the harvest will only meet 40-50 percent of the demand from the processing sector. This is likely going to keep raw material prices high in the domestic market and require Vietnamese processors to import raw material.
In other news, the Russian pollock Association signed a five-year review for recertification of the pollock fishery under the MSC at the recent Seafood Expo in Brussels. The signing was attended by the head of the Russian Fisheries Agency Ilya Shestakov and MSC head Rupert Howes. Earlier, the Pollock association joined in the Association of Sustainable Fisheries, which is the industry stakeholder group within the MSC. The meeting of the ASF this year focused on the problems of updating the MSC standards, and the danger than large numbers of fisheries would fail to meet the new requirements.
Meanwhile, the Alaska House and Senate convened together Thursday to take confirmation votes on Gov. Bill Walker's appointees to lead state departments, boards and commissions — including Walker's recent appointments to the Board of Fish — then left without voting. By postponing the votes, lawmakers leave themselves a point of potential leverage over Walker's administration as they try to negotiate budget and deficit-reduction deals. Similar postponements have taken place before.
Finally, halibut quota share values continue to soar in Alaska’s major fishing areas. The halibut IFQ prices have gone up about $5 a year for the past several years as the fish stocks have appeared to stabilize and increased slightly. Dock prices for halibut also have remained high, in the $6 to $7 per pound range at major ports.
Have a great weekend.
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