Seafood Headlines April 27, 2017
According to NOAA Some US tuna, red snapper overfished
This action serves as a notice that NMFS, on behalf of the Secretary of Commerce (Secretary), has found that the following stocks are subject to overfishing or overfished: South Atlantic golden tilefish and the Western and Central Pacific stock of Pacific bigeye tuna are subject to overfishing; South Atlantic blueline tilefish is still subject to overfishing; and Pacific bluefin tuna in the North Pacific Ocean and South Atlantic red snapper are still both overfished and subject to overfishing. NMFS, on behalf of the Secretary, notifies the appropriate fishery management council (Council) whenever it determines that overfishing is occurring, a stock is in an overfished condition or a stock is approaching an overfished condition. For additional information click here. Source Federal Registrer.
Clearwater Seafoods Enters into New Senior Secured Credit Facility and Closes US$250 Million Offering of Senior Unsecured Notes
Clearwater Seafoods Incorporated ("Clearwater") announced today the closing of its previously announced offering of US$250 million of senior unsecured notes due 2025 (the "Notes"). Clearwater intends to enter into currency hedging arrangements with respect to this indebtedness. The Notes have a US dollar coupon rate of 6.875% and were issued at par.
Concurrently with the offering, Clearwater entered into new senior secured credit facilities in an aggregate principal amount of C$335 million, consisting of a C$300 million revolving credit facility and a C$35 million amortizing secured term loan, each maturing in 2022, with Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., Canadian Branch, as administrative agent, certain of Clearwater's subsidiaries as borrowers and guarantors, and the lenders party thereto from time to time (the "Senior Secured Credit Facilities"). The Senior Secured Credit Facilities replace Clearwater's existing senior secured credit facilities consisting of a C$100 million revolving credit facility due in 2018, an amortizing term loan A facility due in 2018 and an amortizing term loan B facility due in 2019. To read the full article click here. Source newsire.ca.
Subway Japan’s crazy new seafood sandwich packs in a whole fistful of shrimp!
This massively shrimpy sandwich is the latest marine muse of our lunchroom.
In this increasingly internationalized era, more and more Japanese restaurants provide English translations of their menu items. However, the original Japanese and the translation don’t always match up 100-percent. To read the full article click here. Source Sora News 24.
EU funding for Seafood Scotland
Seafood Scotland has been awarded just under ￡1 million of EU funding to showcase Scottish produce at international trade shows.
Support in the latest round of the European and Maritime Fisheries Fund will enable industry body Seafood Scotland to exhibit in seven trade shows around the globe over the next 12 months. To read the full article click here. Source new.scot.gov.
Capelin count: DFO spending $2.4M to study fishery 'linchpin'
The Department of Fisheries and Oceans is spending more time and money on understanding why capelin stocks haven't recovered.
"Capelin are a linchpin; that's the simplest I can put it. If you don't have a lot of capelin, you don't have a lot of other stuff," senior researcher Pierre Pepin told reporters at a department briefing.
Pepin said the success of other species depends on a healthy capelin population. To read the full article click here. Source CBC News.
‘Tuna capital of PHL’ creates fisheries division
In a bid to enhance its services for the thriving local fishery industry, the city government is working on the creation of a fisheries division under the City Agriculture Office (CAO). City Councilor Brix Tan, chairman of the city council’s committee on fisheries, marine life and aquatic resources, said on Wednesday the move was based on an ordinance passed by the council earlier this month. To read the dull article click here. Source Business Mirror.
Southeastern Grocers Becomes the First North American Retail Member of the International Pole & Line Foundation
Southeastern Grocers LLC, parent company of BI-LO, Fresco y Más, Harveys and Winn-Dixie grocery stores, has become the first North American retail member of the International Pole & Line Foundation(IPNLF), the non-profit association that is committed to supporting small-scale fisheries that pursue high quality, responsible and ethical tuna caught using one-by-one methods. To read the full article click here. Source BusinessWire.
PROMPERú Announces Launch of SUPER FOODS PERú at Seafood Expo Global 2017
Today, Tuesday 25th April, PROMPERú's brand 'SUPER FOODS PERú' officially launched at Seafood Expo Global 2017 in Brussels. At 12pm the ribbon was cut to inaugurate the PROMPERú stand in the presence of the Ambassador of Peru to Brussels and Peru's Minister of Production, as well as other authorities and private sector representatives. To read the full article click here. Source Crossroads Today.
How Whole Genome Sequencing Helps Protect the Food Supply
Whole genome sequencing (WGS) is an advanced technology that the FDA is increasingly using to better understand foodborne pathogens, including identifying the nature and source of microbes that contaminate food and cause outbreaks of illness. For example, it was recently used to help match samples of soft cheese to the genetic fingerprint of Listeria monocytogenes involved in a deadly foodborne illness outbreak in early March. To read the full article and for additional information click here. Source FDA.
Nova Scotia Unveils Pure Seafood Products at Seafood Expo Global
Nine seafood companies from Nova Scotia, Canada, specializing in premium fish and seafood products will share new harvests and explore business opportunities at the 2017 annual Seafood Expo Global in Brussels, Belgium.
"Nova Scotia's exports to the European Union accounted for $204 million last year," said Laurel Broten, President and CEO, Nova Scotia Business Inc., the private-sector-led business development agency for the province. "Our fish harvesters and processors offer the highest quality fish and shellfish that is pulled responsibly and sustainably from the province's clean waters." To read the entire article click here. Source Market Wired.
VIMS turns to crowdsourcing to save bay scallops
In the 1920s, the bay scallop fishery in Virginia was booming, hitting a peak harvest in 1929.
Then, in the course of a few short years, the bottom fell out of the fishery — almost literally.
A hemisphere-wide wasting disease began attacking eelgrass, a primary habitat for young scallops growing in high-salinity coastal bays. As a result, Virginia's scallop harvest dropped in 1930. It dropped even more in 1931and even more in 1932. To read the full article click here. Source Daily Press.
Dockside Prices for Small Shrimp Up In March, First Quarter Landings Above Historical Average
NOAA’s reporting for landings of shrimp in the Gulf of Mexico for the month of March showed a slight decline in the volume of shrimp harvested this year (3.46 million pounds) compared to March of last year (3.51 million pounds). However, the amount of shrimp landed by fishermen in the Gulf last month was 52.1 percent higher than the prior sixteen-year historical average for the month (2.28 million pounds). To read the full article click here. Source Southern Shrimp Alliance.
Study of China's Seafood Market 2017: The Worlds Largest Producer, Consumer, Importer, and Exporter of Seafood Products and Accounts for Approximately 35% of All Global Production - Research and Markets
Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Study of China's Seafood Market 2017"report to their offering.
Asia Pacific is one of the prominent regions globally in the seafood market for both export as well as import. It is projected that by 2030, the Asia Pacific region will account for approximately 70% of the global demand for fish and seafood products. Hence, to meet this increasing demand of seafood, production of seafood globally is expected to grow rapidly in the coming years. To read the full article click here. Source BusinessWire.
Seafood sustainability schemes gain momentum
The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) and the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) hosted their annual Seafood Futures Forum at Seafood Expo Global in Brussels today.
2017 marks the 20th year of the MSC and the 7th of the ASC and the forum provided an opportunity for both to reflect on how safeguarding seafood for future generations relies on the power of partnerships between retailers, brands, producers and NGOs. To read the full article click here. Source The Fish Site.
Pollution closes shellfish harvest in six areas; other areas threatened
An annual evaluation of water quality in shellfish harvesting areas found that high bacteria levels will lead to harvest closures for six of Washington’s 105 commercial shellfish areas. An additional 16 areas currently meet water quality standards but are threatened with closure due to periodic bacterial pollution. The Washington State Department of Health uses national water quality standards to classify commercial shellfish harvesting areas to ensure that shellfish harvested in our state waters are safe to eat. To read the full article click here. Source The Daily World.
'Vanguard' of Togiak herring spotted off Hagemeister Monday
KDLG: “It still looked cold over there,” ADF&G area management biologist Tim Sands said after an aerial survey that spotted no herring Monday, the second flight of the season. With money back in the budget, Sands is spacing out his limited surveys but trying to prevent a repeat of last year when the herring showed up more than a week earlier than anyone would have guessed.
“There was still a lot of ice. We didn’t see many seabirds, certainly more than we saw last week, but still no sea lions either,” Sands said. To read the full article click here. Source KDLG.
Arctic thaw quickening threatens trillion-dollar costs: report
The Arctic's quickening thaw is melting the permafrost under buildings and roads from Siberia to Alaska, raising world sea levels and disrupting temperature patterns further south, an international study said on Tuesday.
The frigid region's shift to warmer and wetter conditions, resulting in melting ice around the region, may cost the world economy trillions of dollars this century, it estimated.
The report by 90 scientists, including United States experts, urged governments with interests in the Arctic to cut greenhouse gas emissions. U.S. President Donald Trump doubts that human activities, led by use of fossil fuels, are the main driver of climate change. To read the full article click here. Source Reuters.
Sea life dissolves quickly in warming waters off California coast, UC Davis finds
Saltwater creatures that contribute to the ocean’s food supply appear to dissolve more quickly than once thought in the increasingly warm and acidic condition off the Northern California coast, University of California, Davis, researchers have found.
Bryozoans, considered a canary in the coal mine for magnesium-abundant marine animals with calcareous skeletons, thrive in California kelp forests. Researchers at the UC Davis Bodega Marine Laboratory have found, however, that they dissolve at a much faster rate than expected when cultured in warm waters and exposed to acidity. The bryozoans dissolved completely in as little as two months, surprising scientists who expected the creatures only to shrink in mass or size during the experiment, according to the research published earlier this month. To read the full article click here. Source The Sacramento Bee.
FAO calls on partners to promote sustainable and responsible seafood value chains
FAO today at called upon partners at the Seafood Expo Global to promote social, economic and environmental sustainability along the entire seafood value chain.
FAO is aims to engage with partners in governments, civil society, fisherfolk associations, the seafood industry and retailers, by calling on them to become part of the Blue Forum, a multisectoral platform aimed at confronting problems affecting the fisheries and aquaculture sector. To read the full article click here. Source FAO.org.
What Trump’s Budget Means for the Filet-O-Fish
Consider the pollock.
It is the most voluminously caught fish in the United States, accounting for a quarter of everything Americans catch. As such it is the major bulwark against the United States’ multibillion-dollar seafood trade deficit — the second-largest deficit in our trade portfolio, after crude oil. And it is, today, the main component in the McDonald’s Filet-O-Fish, or the “fish delight,” as Donald Trump likes to call it. To read the full article click here. Source New York Times.
Wester Ross Salmon farmer shows “behind the scenes” at international seafood show
International seafood buyers will get an underwater glimpse of salmon farming this week (25th – 27th April) at the Seafood Expo Global in Brussels. A little aquarium is introducing enthralled buyers to some wrasse, the cleaner fish who share salmon farms to keep salmon clear of sea lice. Visitors are also interested to see the wealth of natural life on the seabed around the farms, which includes scallops and prawns. To read the full article click here. Source Scottish Salmon Producers Association.
The palliative stage of the plastic problem
The moment you realise something terrible has happened can be a very physical experience.
A pang of anxious adrenaline and a clenching of the gut when a subconscious fear becomes unavoidable fact.
Like receiving an unexpected diagnosis, it's a moment you know things are not going to be the same from here on in. To read the full article click here. Source Sky News.