ANALYSIS: US Shrimp Retail Prices Cool, But Trade Policy Risk Remains Unresolved

Discounted shrimp prices at retail have declined meaningfully, with feature and ad pricing running at levels not seen in some time. Estimated pounds moved reached 13.6 million in a single week, the strongest weekly print in years and a marked shift from what had been the weakest seasonal stretch since 2020...

Bristol Bay 2026 Sockeye Harvest Falls Short of Last Year, Ex-Vessel Value Surges on Higher Prices

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game released its 2026 Bristol Bay salmon season summary Tuesday, showing a smaller harvest than last year but a significantly higher fishery value, driven by stronger prices.

In the preliminary summary, ADF&G reported a commercial harvest of 30.1 million sockeye at an average ex-vessel price of $1.72 per pound, for a fishery value of $260.2 million.

That compares with the 2025 season, when fishermen caught 41.2 million sockeye...

ICE Operation in New Bedford Targets Fish House Workers, at Least Eight Arrested

At least eight people were arrested Monday as US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents launched a major operation centered on New Bedford, Massachusetts — one of the country's largest fishing ports by landed value — according to reporting by the New Bedford Light. At least four of those arrested worked in local fish houses, according to Adrian Ventura, executive director of the Centro Comunitario de Trabajadores, an organization that hosted a meeting to connect affected families with resources.

The Light reported that a reporter witnessed an arrest near the...

New England Council Leaves Scallop Permit Stacking to NOAA, Pushes Northern Edge Access to December

The New England Fishery Management Council worked through a list of management priorities at its September 2026 meeting that NOAA laid out in a July 2 letter tied to Executive Order 14276, "Restoring American Seafood Competitiveness," with outcomes ranging from deferral to outright rejection ahead of a formal Council response due to NOAA by September 30.

The most consequential decision came on scallop permit stacking, which would let vessels combine multiple permits' allocations onto a single boat. Despite NOAA tasking the Council with pursuing action...

UK Weighs Second Wave of Cost-of-Living Tariff Suspensions on Food, Fertilizer, and Kerosene

Amid consumer price pressure from the Middle East conflict, the UK government has moved on two fronts to suspend import tariffs on selected goods. The first package, announced April 30 and implemented June 21, 2026, removed duties on select fruits, fruit juices, pasta, couscous, and tuna which is in effect now, through December 31, 2028, according to a UK government update...

Handy Seafood Bets on "Crab Wings" Trend With New Panko-Breaded Soft Crab Portions

Handy Seafood is targeting the growing "crab wings" trend with a new labor-saving product line to help foodservice operators capture the social media momentum behind the sauced, shareable seafood dish.

The Salisbury, Maryland-based company's new Panko Breaded Soft Crab Portions are designed specifically for wing-style applications, shipped frozen, pre-cut, and pre-breaded, so operators can move them from freezer to deep fryer in three to four minutes. The company said the format reduces back-of-house prep labor while ensuring consistent portion...

QSR Tech Expectations Rise as Nearly All Consumers Weigh Digital Experience

Technology is playing an increasingly important role in where consumers choose to eat, but new research from Canopy suggests quick-service restaurants have little room for error as digital touchpoints become more embedded in the customer experience.

Canopy’s 2026 Restaurant Tech Report: Add Sauce, Hold the Friction, based on a survey of 1,007 US consumers, found that technology now influences dining choices for 94% of respondents, up from 80% in 2025. At the same time, 37% said they have abandoned an order because...

Walton Family Foundation Spotlights Baja Fishing Communities in New 'Human Nature' Series

The Walton Family Foundation has launched a new multimedia storytelling series called "Human Nature," highlighting nature-based approaches to conservation, with one segment focused on community-run fish refuges in coastal Mexico that fishers and conservation groups credit with helping depleted stocks recover over the past 15 years.

The series is part of the foundation's expanded push behind nature-based solutions, which it describes as practical approaches that work with natural systems to protect water while strengthening local economies. The effort sits within the foundation's...

Bendito Mar Becomes First Mexican Farm to Join ASC Improver Program

Bendito Mar, a Mexican cooperative that farms bivalve molluscs in Bahía Magdalena, Baja California Sur, has become the first farm in Mexico to join the Improver Programme by the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC), the organization announced. The move marks Bendito Mar's entry into an Aquaculture Improvement Project (AIP) designed to strengthen its environmental and social performance and move it toward eventual ASC certification.

Bendito Mar, established in 2018, is a cooperative focused on regenerative cultivation of bivalve mollusks, including oysters, Catarina scallops, chocolate clams and pen shell...

Leroy Seafood Industries Closed Processing Plant Hestvika, Offers Employees Work Nearby

The Norwegian press has covering an announcement from Leroy Seafood Industries that it plans to close down the production facility In Hitra in Hestvika to counter overcapacity and large investment needs.  All permanent employees have received offers to continue at the company's new facility on Jøsnøya, a short drive away.

“This is a heavy but necessary decision,” Roy Eide, general manager of Lerøy Seafood Industri, told MN24.

“Over time, we have seen that the development in the market and available volume do not provide a basis for...

Five Fined $19,000 for Illegal Shellfish Harvest in Campbell River, B.C.

Five recreational shellfish harvesters were fined a combined $19,000 after being convicted of illegal fishing activities in Campbell River, British Columbia, Fisheries and Oceans Canada said.

The convictions were handed down July 14 in Campbell River Provincial Court following a June 25, 2025, low-tide patrol by DFO fishery officers. Officers found the group harvesting shellfish along the Campbell River waterfront, an area closed under the Canadian Shellfish Sanitation Program (CSSP) for public health protection.

Jucy Canupin was fined $5,000 for harvesting...

Saint Paul Island's Halibut Fleet Rebounds With Record Prices After Years of Disruption

The residents of Saint Paul Island, located in the central Bering Sea, have much to celebrate this fall after a successful Pacific halibut season. It has been a time of change following a trifecta of disasters in the past six years. The Central Bering Sea Fishermen's Association (CBSFA), headquartered on the island and representing the community's fishing fleet, said the future today looks brighter than it has since 2019.

The disasters are well known in Alaska's seafood industry — COVID, the crab crash, and a slowly declining halibut...

Captain Fresh Revenue Tops $570 Million in FY26 as Profitability Holds for Second Year

Captain Fresh, the Bengaluru-based packaged seafood company that has spent the past two years assembling a transatlantic processing and distribution network, reported consolidated net revenue of ₹5,169 crore ($574 million) for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2026, up 1.5 times from ₹3,397 crore ($377 million) in FY25. The company also confirmed it remained profit-after-tax positive for a second consecutive year.

Beyond the top-line jump, Captain Fresh reported that adjusted EBITDA nearly tripled to...

NOAA Sets Three-Day 2026 Red Snapper Recreational Season, Reissues State Permits in South Atlantic

NOAA Fisheries announced that the 2026 federal recreational red snapper season in the South Atlantic will open for three days, from 12:01 a.m. on October 9 through 12:01 a.m. on October 12 — one day longer than the two-day season allowed in 2025. The bag limit remains one fish per person per day, with no minimum size limit, according to NOAA's South Atlantic Fishery Bulletin FB26-052.

Alongside the federal season, NOAA Fisheries has issued new exempted fishing permits (EFPs)...

Australis Seafoods Reshuffles Leadership, Targets Up to 54,000 Tonnes for 2026

Chilean salmon farmer Australis Seafoods has reorganized its senior leadership, moving CEO Andrés Lyon into a strategic role at parent company Food Investment SpA while installing farming manager Ignacio Bravo as general manager to run day-to-day operations, according to the company's own statement carried by Chilean trade outlets Aqua.cl and Infosalmon.cl.

Lyon has stepped down from day-to-day leadership of Australis to become CEO of Food Investment SpA — the company's Chilean parent — while also joining Australis' board of directors. Bravo, a civil...

Canada’s Ocean Supercluster Announces Largest Aquaculture Project to Date Totaling CAD 51M

Yesterday, Canada’s Ocean Supercluster announced its largest project to date, with the $51 million Marine Donut Adaptation and Commercialization Project led by Bluegreen, a Campbell River, BC-based tech company that builds closed-containment aquaculture systems, including the Marine Donut®.

This project will adapt and commercialize the Marine Donut®, a fully closed-containment aquaculture technology system, and will include six key technologies designed specifically for the Pacific Ocean environment.

Investment in innovations like the Marine Donut ® will help position Canada to lead in sustainable...

Innovasea Expands BiomassPro Platform With New Rainbow Trout Algorithm

Innovasea has added a rainbow trout algorithm to its BiomassPro biomass estimation solution, bringing the platform's total species coverage to eight and giving producers a single system deployable across a broader range of operations, the aquatic technology company announced September 22.

BiomassPro pairs a lightweight, AI-powered camera with an intuitive dashboard, designed to operate with or without fixed infrastructure and to be deployed and retrieved by a single employee. Onboard data processing lets farms move the system between pens, while current and historical data feed into Innovasea's...

FDA Classifies Trinity Seafood Tuna Recall as Class II Over Scombrotoxin Contamination

The US Food and Drug Administration has classified a recall of fresh tuna distributed by Buckhead Meat Company, doing business as Trinity Seafood, as a Class II recall, the agency's second-highest risk designation, following the detection of elevated levels of scombrotoxin in the product.

The classification, issued September 16, formalizes a recall that Trinity Seafood, based in Lakewood, New Jersey, had already initiated voluntarily on July 24 after the New Jersey Department of Health notified the company that two samples of its tuna tested positive for high...

Thai Express Bets on Calamari as Canada's Next Premium QSR Protein

Thai Express, a Canadian quick-service chain, is betting on calamari with its latest menu item. The Montreal-founded chain has grown into one of the largest Thai restaurant concepts in Canada, with more than 300 locations worldwide.

The brand launched its first-ever Crunchy Calamari as it looks to bring a premium seafood item to more Canadians. The launch follows the company's lobster debut, which turned into one of its hottest limited-time offerings ever.

Thai Express said the success of last year's lobster launch showcased demand...

SSA Backs Ten-Year Gulf Shrimp Permit Moratorium Extension, Urges Threshold Review

The Southern Shrimp Alliance (SSA) filed comments last week supporting a proposed ten-year extension of the federal commercial shrimp permit moratorium in the Gulf, while urging an urgent examination of the moratorium's minimum permit thresholds amid a continued decline in the fleet.

As Expana reported in August, NOAA Fisheries published a proposed rule implementing Amendment 17B to the Gulf Shrimp Fishery Management Plan, which would extend the existing moratorium on new commercial shrimp permits through October 2036...

Russia Expects Barents Sea Cod Catch Recovery in Coming Years as Stocks Stabilize

Russia is anticipating a recovery in Barents Sea cod catch over the coming years as fish stocks show signs of stabilizing, according to scientists from the Polar Branch of the All-Russian Research Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography (PINRO).

Researchers say the negative trend of declining Barents Sea cod populations is coming to an end, with stocks expected to gradually increase starting next year.

PINRO director Konstantin Sokolov said the commercial stock of cod — one of the most important fish species in the Barents Sea — was near...

Copernus Names Jeff Milner as Managing Director Successor

Copernus Managing Director Dean Simpson will step down from his role in October after more than a decade leading the seafood business, with current Finance Director Jeff Milner set to succeed him.

The leadership change follows a period of significant transformation for Copernus, including its acquisition by Polish salmon processor Suempol in 2024 and subsequent integration into the Suempol Group.

Simpson remained with Copernus following the acquisition to support the integration and provide continuity through the transition. The company said the change will now...

Luke's Lobster Offers $20 Lobster Roll Combo for National Lobster Day

Luke's Lobster is marking National Lobster Day with a two-day promotion on its signature lobster roll, offering a quarter-pound Lobster Roll and Chips combo for $20 at participating shacks nationwide. The deal runs Thursday, September 24 and Friday, September 25 — National Lobster Day — and represents a discount from the combo's usual price of $26 to $28, depending on location.

"I grew up in Maine thinking every day could be a lobster day, so National Lobster Day always feels like something...

Thai Union CEO Chansiri Honored for Decades of Seafood Industry Leadership

Thai Union Group PCL President and CEO Thiraphong Chansiri has been recognized for more than three decades of leadership in the seafood industry, receiving the Wallace R. Stevens Lifetime Achievement Award from the Global Seafood Alliance (GSA).

The award was presented at the Responsible Seafood Summit 2026 in Bangkok and recognizes individuals whose leadership and commitment to responsible seafood production have contributed to the industry globally.

Chansiri has overseen Thai Union’s transformation from a Thai seafood processor into one of the world’s largest seafood companies, while...

Merkley Leads OR and WA Lawmakers in Request for Market Support for Pacific Whiting From USDA

In a letter to Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins last Friday, a dozen members of Congress expressed their support for the West Coast Seafood Processors Association's (WCSPA) request that the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) pursue Section 32 purchases of Pacific hake (whiting) fillets this year and next.

"Historically, Pacific whiting exports to Ukraine, one of the largest whiting fillet markets, reached up to nearly $95 million per year, but instability in the region as a result of war has put that market in...

Global Seafood Alliance's 2027 Responsible Seafood Summit Heads to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

The Global Seafood Alliance (GSA) announced that its annual Responsible Seafood Summit will move to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, in 2027, with The Center for Responsible Seafood (TCRS) co-hosting for the second consecutive year and folding its Shrimp Summit programming into the event.

The choice reflects Vietnam's standing as one of the world's largest seafood producers and exporters, giving attendees a chance to connect directly with regional producers and businesses while exploring one of Southeast Asia's most dynamic cities...

Commerce Raises Vietnam Catfish Dumping Margin to $0.20/kg After Court Ruling

The US Department of Commerce has amended its final results in the 2021-2022 antidumping duty administrative review on frozen fish fillets from Vietnam, raising the dumping margin assigned to Can Tho Import Export Seafood Joint Stock Company (CASEAMEX) and four separate-rate companies to $0.20 per kilogram, according to a notice published in the Federal Register on September 22.

The change stems from a September 4 US Court of International Trade (CIT) ruling in Catfish Farmers of America...

The Retail Rundown: Fall Meat Trends Take Shape

Fall is officially here, and the meat case is beginning to reflect the seasonal shift from grilling to roasting and slow cooking. USDA’s latest national feature data show retailers adjusting the mix, with beef roasts gaining attention while chicken and pork continue to provide plenty of promotional activity.

On the beef side, the national feature rate slipped to 84.9% for the week ending Sept. 24, down from 89.0% the previous week. Ground beef activity has been easing as grilling season winds down, while roast and round cuts are gaining ground...

Maine Lobster Week Returns Sept. 19-26 to Celebrate Maine's Iconic Fishery

Maine Lobster Week is back, bringing lobster rolls, chef-inspired dishes, special menus and more to restaurants across the state now through Sept. 26.

Organized by the Maine Lobster Marketing Collaborative (MLMC), the annual celebration invites Mainers and visitors alike to enjoy one of the state's most iconic foods while recognizing the harvesters, dealers, processors, restaurants and working waterfront communities that bring Maine Lobster from trap to table.

Throughout Maine Lobster Week, participating restaurants will showcase Maine Lobster in dishes ranging from classic lobster rolls to creative...

CFIA Recalls R.J. King Fisheries, Moncton Fish Market Frozen Lobster Meat Over Staph Contamination

Canada's food inspection agency has recalled multiple lots of frozen cooked lobster meat sold under the R.J. King Fisheries and Moncton Fish Market brands due to Staphylococcus aureus contamination, according to a notice published by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA).

The recall covers R.J. King Fisheries Ltd. Frozen Cooked Lobster Meat CK in both 1-pound and 2-pound sizes, frozen on May 12, 15, 18, and 19, 2026, with best-before dates two years out. It also covers Moncton Fish Market Frozen Cooked Lobster...