Saving Seafood

U.S. At-sea Processors Association fleet wins global labor certification

August 30, 2022 — Afleet of American fishing vessels has become the second ever to earn the Fairness, Integrity, Safety, and Health (FISH) Standard for Crew certification, a move deemed to be a major advance for the recognition of the importance of labor standards in the seafood industry.

The 14 Alaska pollock and Pacific whiting catcher-processors are operated by the U.S.-based firms American Seafoods, Arctic Storm, Coastal Villages, Glacier Fish, and Trident Seafoods, collectively operating as the At-sea Processors Association (APA). It is the second group to earn FISH Standard for Crew certification, after Nueva Pescanova’s Namibian subsidiary, NovaNam, received certification for its 11 fishing vessels in July 2022.

“Our employees are at the core of our operations,” Glacier Fish Company President and CEO Jim Johnson said. “It is incumbent on all of us to ensure that crew members are treated with the utmost fairness at every stage of the recruitment and employment process. We are proud to have voluntarily committed to this additional layer of scrutiny, which should give buyers and consumers continued confidence that we are doing right by the men and women who produce our seafood.”

FISH Standard for Crew is an accredited, global, third-party certification program launched in 2021 providing assurances that labor practices on vessels in certified wild-capture fisheries are using ethical labor practices and provide proper treatment of crews. The highest level of the standard includes adherence to four major principles: socially responsible labor practices and ethical behaviors, establishment of fair conditions of service for all fishers, assurances of the safety and health of all fishers, and the provision of decent accommodations, water, and food.

The FISH audit process includes vessel inspections; private interviews with crews; a review of company recruitment practices, pay records, and grievance logs; an examination of company safety protocols; and a review of company operations relating to crew welfare.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

Smaller pollock during Alaska’s season B expected to tighten supplies

July 23, 2021 — Alaska’s Bering Sea pollock B season, which runs from June 10 to October 31, is experiencing strong volumes, but smaller fish sizes are causing a shortage of supply for the pollock fillet market.

This season is an improvement over last year’s B season, when a disappointing slog ended with fishermen leaving part of the total allowable catch in the water. Brent Paine, the executive director of United Catcher Boats, told SeafoodSource that the fish are out there, but they are about half the ideal size.

“The fishing is okay, but the fish are small. The fleet would like to see 700- to 800-gram fish, but what they’re bumping into is a lot of 400-gram fish. They’re smaller than we would like to see,” Paine told SeafoodSource.

During a recent 3-Minute Market Insight, Tradex Foods, a Canadian seafood supplier, warned that the smaller pollock size would strain supply for once-frozen pollock fillets.

“Small-size pollock will ultimately minimize the amount of pollock fillets being produced, especially for anything larger than two to four ounces,” said Tradex’s Kyla Hayward.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

USDA’s Alaska pollock bid is third-largest in agency’s history

May 6, 2021 — The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has released a bid solicitation for 8.3 million pounds of Alaska pollock fish sticks and fillets for use in the National School Lunch Program and other Federal Food and Nutrition Assistance Programs.

The bid asks for more Alaska Pollock than USDA has ever purchased in an entire year besides 2017, 2019 and 2020, Genuine Alaska Pollock Producers (GAPP) CEO Craig Morris told IntraFish.

The products will be distributed to several states throughout the United States.

Acceptances will be announced by May 26. Deliveries are to be made between July 1 of this year through Feb. 28 of next year.

Read the full story at IntraFish

7-Eleven partners with GAPP on Alaska Pollock Fish Bites

March 10, 2021 — 7-Eleven has rolled out Wild Alaskan Pollock Fish Bites for the Lenten season in a limited-time capacity.

The offering includes five bite-sized morsels of herb panko-crusted Alaskan pollock filets served on a skewer, with a side of tartar sauce for dipping. The bites are priced at USD 3.69 (EUR 3.10) daily, and USD 3 (EUR 2.52) on Fridays for 7Rewards members.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Alaska pollock stepping onto bigger stage for Lent

February 25, 2021 — U.S. quick-service restaurants are banking heavily on Lent for a lift as the foodservice sector continues to battle through the COVID-19 pandemic.

Fish sandwiches have been popular additions to many menus in advance of the Lenten season, and Dairy Queen has become the latest chain to add a pollock fish sandwich, the Wild Alaskan Fish Sandwich, which includes a fried wild pollock fillet, lettuce, and tangy tartar sauce on a toasted bun. In addition, Jack in the Box’s new Deluxe Fish Sandwich features two fillets of wild Alaska pollock covered in crispy panko bread crumbs, along with cheese, tomato and tartar sauce, per Chew Boom. And Bojangles recently brought back its Bojangler fish sandwich, made with wild Alaskan pollock, while Wienerschnitzel’s reprised its Fish ’N Chips dish, which includes panko-crusted Alaskan pollock with french fries and tartar sauce.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Industry must innovate to capture new consumers, High Liner’s Craig Murray says

August 19, 2020 — This moment is a timely opportunity for the seafood industry as a whole, and the wild Alaskan pollock sector in particular, to increase market share and popularity, according to Senior Vice President of Marketing, Innovation, and Quality at High Liner Foods Craig Murray.

Speaking as part of the Genuine Alaska Pollock Producers’ summer webinar series, Murray said the coronavirus pandemic has led a whole new crop of consumers to try new seafood products for the first time.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Alaska pollock fish sticks, surimi processing generates “significant” greenhouse gas emissions

January 24, 2020 — The processing of Alaskan pollock into products such as fish sticks, surimi and fish fillets generates “significant greenhouse gas emissions,” researchers at the University of California, Santa Cruz have found.

According to a study released by the university, the processing of the products post-catch results in almost twice as many emissions as the fishing itself. Typically, climate impact analysis of fishing ends once the catch is brought on-board.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

US government completes big wild salmon buy, seeks more pollock

August 21, 2019 — The United States government continues to support Alaska’s wild fisheries with a USD 3.1 million (EUR 2.8 million) purchase of wild salmon and a bid for nearly 400,000 pounds of Alaska pollock.

The United States Department of Agriculture awarded its most recent wild salmon contract to Trident Seafoods, for federal child nutrition and other domestic food assistance programs.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

How The Trade War With China Is Threatening America’s Largest Fishery

February 13, 2019 — Alaskan pollock is an incredibly versatile fish when it comes to cooking. The species is often referred to as a “cousin of cod” because the two species are classified in the same family, Gadidae. This means they have many shared characteristics, including how they taste. Their meat is a flaky blank slate, ready for nearly any preparation you could throw at it. Pollock’s affordability also makes it an attractive species for a variety of markets, from fast-casual to university and corporate dining.

These factors, along with the stability and health of the species’ population, helped to make Alaskan pollock the top species landed by volume in the United States in 2017. It hasn’t always been a top seller though. Back in the 1980s, there was very little demand for the species, but seafood distributors such as Trident Seafoods, based in Seattle, saw pollock’s potential as a cheaper cod alternative. Trident started a pollock revolution and became the largest vertically integrated seafood company in North America. Its founder, Chuck Bundrant, even became a billionaire, with a net worth Forbes estimates at $2.4 billion. Today, Alaskan pollock remains one of the top five most commonly eaten species in the U.S., but the fishery is at risk of being diminished by the ongoing trade war with China.

The species’ dominance could change if markets become unavailable because of shifts in global seafood processing and distribution due to an escalating international trade war. Last summer, China put in place a retaliatory tariff of 25% for seafood products. Then the U.S. proposed a 10% increase for tariffs on seafood imported from China. The issue here is that a portion of seafood caught by American fishermen is shipped to China for filleting and processing before being re-exported back in the U.S. for Americans to buy. While this seems like a wildly inefficient move, it has been, in fact, a commonly used method to cut costs. That meant when Alaskan pollock was processed in China and re-exported to America, it was included on the tariff lists.

After reports came out that the tariffs were harming the American fishing industry, particularly in Alaska, the U.S. announced that certain species of fish caught in the state would be excluded from the tariff list. Alaskan pollock is included in this group and will not be taxed when re-entering America. But the exemption doesn’t solve all problems for Alaskan fishermen and processors.

According to an FAO market report from January, Trump’s trade war “could end up favoring Russian Federation (and Chinese) exporters at the expense of Alaska processors.” This is because foreign fishing competitors can still ship pollock caught in their waters to China for lower-cost processing and then re-export to the U.S. tariff free. It seems like a bad turn of events for Alaskan fishermen and processors.

Read the full story at Forbes

 

EU announces new tariff quotas for 2019-20, raises limit for Alaska pollock to 320,000t

December 17, 2018 — The European Council has announced the new autonomous tariff quotas (ATQs) for 2019-20 on Dec. 11, providing reduced or duty-free import rates for certain products from outside the EU.

By far the biggest beneficiary of the ATQs is Alaskan pollock, which has been granted an extra 20,000 metric tons of tariff-free imports by the new ATQs. This brings the total annual tariff-free import quota of the species to 320,000t.

Undercurrent News understands that the additional quota was provided so that a quirk in legislation could be avoided. Under official EU rules, importers must begin paying a duty on additional volume once 80% of the quota is reached. While this fee is eventually returned, importers see it as an administrative hassle.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News