Bumble Bee Pleads Guilty to Canned Tuna Price 
Fixing; Agrees to Pay $25 Million Fine
Bumble Bee Foods has agreed to plead guilty for its role in a conspiracy to fix the prices of shelf-stable tuna fish, such as canned and pouched tuna. As part of the deal, Bumble Bee agreed to pay a $25 million criminal fine. Bumble Bee told a federal court in California that it and some co-conspirators agreed to fix the prices of shelf-stable tuna fish from as early as the first quarter of 2011 through at least as late as the fourth quarter of 2013. The company’s guilty plea is actually just the latest deal the Department of Justice has cut with the company. Two of Bumble Bee's sales executives plead guilty to their involvement in the scheme last December. Neither the executives nor Bumble Bee specifically named any other co-conspirators involved in the scheme.
Fishermen blame cold waters in major lobster fishing areas 33 and 34 in Nova Scotia for sharply lower lobster landings this spring. Ashton Spinney, co-chair of the Lobster Advisory Committee for Lobster Fishing Area 34, says only half as many lobsters, as usual, are being brought ashore this spring. Reports were similar out of LFA 33. Fishermen are noting that landings this spring are down from record harvest figures last season, but that global demand for lobsters remains quite high.
We are sad to report that James “Jim” Beaton an icon in the Alaska fishing industry, passed away on April 22 at the age of 80. Beaton leaves a legacy that is hard to underestimate. He was a founder of the United Fishermen of Alaska, served on the Board of Fish for a decade, shepherded limited entry legislation during a "civil war" that divided the industry, helped pass the state's private, non-profit hatchery legislation, and developed many fisheries. His guiding principles were to protect the resource first and the fishermen second.
In other news, the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council approved a proposal that would establish a pilot program allowing Louisiana to manage red-snapper stocks in both state and federal waters off its coast for three years starting in 2019. This vote gives Louisiana the go-ahead to flesh out the plan into an actual amendment that would ultimately need to be approved by the advisory panel.
Finally, we run a report from the 9th China International Shrimp Industry Development Forum in Zhanjiang. Several notable industry representatives from the world's major shrimp producers spoke at the conference about future production trends. Some of the key takeaways were ongoing production increases from Ecuador and India. At the same time, China is expected to emerge as the world's largest shrimp importer by the end of this year.
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