January, 4, 2022 — The Responsible Fisheries Management (RFM) certification reassessment process is underway for the Alaska pollock and cod fisheries.
The public comment period for the assessment opened 19 December, 2022, and runs to 19 January, 2023. The comment period will be followed with the certification determination by the third-party certification body, DNV, which will determine whether the fisheries can be recertified or not.
March 31, 2022 — The worldwide seafood industry is steeling itself for price hikes, supply disruptions and potential job losses as new rounds of economic sanctions on Russia make key species such as cod and crab harder to come by.
The latest round of U.S. attempts to punish Russia for the invasion of Ukraine includes bans on imports of seafood, alcohol and diamonds. The U.S. is also stripping “most favored nation status” from Russia. Nations around the world are taking similar steps.
Russia is one of the largest producers of seafood in the world, and was the fifth-largest producer of wild-caught fish, according to a 2020 report by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Russia is not one of the biggest exporters of seafood to the U.S., but it’s a world leader in exports of cod (the preference for fish and chips in the U.S.). It’s also a major supplier of crabs and Alaska pollock, widely used in fast-food sandwiches and processed products like fish sticks.
The impact is likely to be felt globally, as well as in places with working waterfronts. One of those is Maine, where more than $50 million in seafood products from Russia passed through Portland in 2021, according to federal statistics.
March 11, 2022 — Genuine Alaska Pollock Producers (GAPP), a trade group that has made a concerted push to expand the market reach of Alaska pollock in the United States and globally, will spend nearly USD 800,000 (EUR 730,000) on a new marketing campaign.
At its early March meeting, the GAPP Board of Directors approved a nearly USD 4 million (EUR 3.6 million) budget that includes the organization’s first national sustained marketing campaign.
February 3, 2022 — Whoever said there’s nothing more boring than watching grass grow wasn’t thinking about seagrass. Often confused with seaweeds and rarely receiving the attention they deserve, there’s nothing boring about seagrasses. In fact, they are one of the most productive ecosystems in the world.
Next time you are swimming and enjoying the sea’s cool embrace look down and try to spot the slender blades of seagrass, a remarkable marine plant that plays a vital role in the coastal environment but is now under threat.
Forming dense underwater meadows, seagrasses are vital to maintain fisheries, absorb carbon and protect coastlines from erosion—but their future is threatened by climate change, pollution and other impacts of human activities, scientists say.
The plants grow in shallow coastal waters in all regions except the Antarctic. They act as nurseries or feeding grounds for hundreds of species of seafood, including sea bream, octopus, cuttlefish and Alaska pollock—one of the most fished species in the world.
October 22, 2021 — U.S. Customs and Border Protection has requested that a judge reconsider her issuance of a temporary restraining order barring the federal agency from enforcing Jones Act-related fines against companies that used the Bayside Program to transport Alaska pollock to the U.S. East Coast.
In an 18 October filing, CBP asked U.S. District Court Judge for the District of Alaska Sharon L. Gleason to reverse her 8 October decision granting a preliminary injunction against it, which prohibits it from enforcing any Jones Act-related penalties against Seattle, Washington, U.S.A.-based American Seafoods subsidiaries Alaska Reefer Management LLC (ARM) and Kloosterboer International Forwarding LLC (KIF), or any other entity involved in the transportation of Alaska pollock via the controversial shipping route through Bayside, New Brunswick, Canada.
Read the full story at SeafoodSource
September 15, 2021 — The U.S. government accused the operators and clients of a dead-end rail line in New Brunswick, Canada, used in transporting Alaska pollock to the U.S. East Coast, of engaging in “a calculated and secret scheme” to escape the restrictions of the Jones Act, which requires all domestically-caught seafood to be transported via vessels built in the United States with U.S. materials.
The filing in a U.S. District Court in Alaska on 14 September came in response to a lawsuit from American Seafoods subsidiary Alaska Reefer Management (ARM) and the company that operates the New Brunswick facility, Lineage Logistics subsidiary Kloosterboer International Forwarding (KIF), challenging approximately USD 350 million (EUR 294.3 million) in fines issued by U.S. Customs and Border Protection against them and their contracted transportation partners. The suit was filed on 2 September.
Read the full story at Seafood Source
August 10, 2021 — The U.S. Department of Agriculture has awarded around USD 10 million (EUR 8.5 million) in Alaska pollock contracts to Trident Seafoods and Channel Fish Processing.
Despite the big win for pollock producers, pollock processors left several million dollars of the contract on the table. The USDA said in a notice it could not award contracts for nearly 2.1 million pounds of frozen pollock fillets, 1.5 pounds million pounds of pollock nuggets, and 1.25 million pounds of fish sticks “due to vendor constraints.”
July 21, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:
In summer 2013, the number of juvenile Alaska pollock in the Gulf of Alaska was the largest on record by far. A year later, those fish were mostly gone.
A new NOAA Fisheries study explores what happened to the pollock born in 2013, focusing on the interaction between juvenile fish and their prey. Results suggest that a diet high in low-fat food may have kept fish from gaining the weight they needed to survive over winter.
“Our results point to poor diet as a contributing factor,” said NOAA Fisheries Alaska Fisheries Science Center biologist Jesse Lamb, who led the study with colleague David Kimmel. “But there is probably not just one answer. Cannibalism and wind-driven transport to inferior habitat likely also played a role. With that combination, the 2013 year class had the deck stacked against them.”
May 5, 2021 — The U.S. Department of Agriculture is asking Alaska pollock suppliers to bid on a contract for 8.325 million pounds of the fish – the third-largest bid invitation for Alaskan pollock in the agency’s history.
The USDA is also requesting bids on nearly 2.7 million pounds of catfish and said in a pre-solicitation notice that it plans to purchase canned tuna, haddock fillets, ocean perch fillets, wild salmon fillets, and canned pink salmon.
November 24, 2020 — The following was released by the Marine Stewardship Council:
The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) awarded Lou Shaheen and the entire team at Trans-Ocean Products Inc. the 2020 US MSC Ocean Champion Award for their continued dedication to seafood sustainability and for going above and beyond the MSC standard to make MSC certified products available to consumers. Trans-Ocean Products Inc. is the maker of Crab Classic imitation crab, or surimi seafood, featuring MSC certified wild Alaska pollock. Lou Shaheen, VP of Sales & Marketing accepted the award on behalf of the whole Trans-Ocean Products Inc. team.
“Trans-Ocean was an early believer in the benefits of MSC certification. We proudly feature the MSC blue fish label on our packaging and in our marketing because it gives our products added credibility as high quality, sustainably-sourced seafood,” Shaheen commented.
“It is with great pleasure that the MSC US recognizes Trans-Ocean Products Inc. with the MSC US Ocean Champion award. Their diligent and persistent support of the MSC mission and vision has been and continues to be inspiring,” said Eric Critchlow, MSC’s program director, USA. “MSC’s recent consumer insights survey shows that high quality product coupled with third-party sustainability certification resonates with consumers – Trans-Ocean’s success demonstrates that it meets consumers’ preferences as demonstrated by their wallets and forks.”
The MSC US Ocean Champion Award was established in 2017 to reward fisheries and companies engaged in the MSC program who demonstrated continued leadership on sustainability above and beyond the MSC standard requirements. Each awardee includes an internal champion (person or team) who has been an internal catalyst for change demonstrating leadership and the ability to spark positive change within the industry. The glass award featuring a wave with the awardee’s name and company inscribed is handmade in downtown Seattle, WA.
According to a 2020 global study commissioned by MSC 55% of U.S. seafood consumers believe that we must consume seafood only from sustainable sources to protect the ocean. Furthermore, 64% of Americans want retailers’ and brands’ claims about sustainability and the environment to be clearly labeled by an independent organization, such as the MSC. Trans-Ocean Inc. is leading on third party labels with the complete product line MSC certified and carrying the MSC blue fish label on package.
Trans-Ocean Products Inc. was among the first US seafood brands to gain MSC Chain of Custody (CoC) certification and include the MSC blue fish label on product. Trans-Ocean Products Inc. has been at the forefront of promoting MSC as a mark of environmental responsibility to the consumer market, and has featured MSC message in consumer advertising and other promotional activities helping to encourage Americans to buy seafood that’s good for them and good for the ocean.