Saving Seafood

Alaska salmon exports should fetch high prices this year

May 30, 2018 — Forces are aligned for a nice pay day for Alaska’s salmon fishermen.

There is no backlog from last season in cold storages, a lower harvest forecast is boosting demand, prices for competing farmed salmon have remained high all year and a devalued U.S. dollar makes Alaska salmon more appealing to foreign customers.

“Over the past year the dollar has weakened 11 percent against the euro, 9 percent against the British pound, 5 percent against the Japanese yen, and 7 percent against the Chinese yuan. That makes Alaska salmon and other seafood more affordable to those top overseas customers,” said Garrett Evridge, a fisheries analyst at the McDowell Group.

Last year, Alaska seafood exports set records in terms of volume and value — 1.1 billion metric tons valued at $3.45 billion. Alaska salmon accounted for 22 percent of the volume and 36 percent of the value.

On the home front, the weaker dollar will make imports from Chile, the largest farmed salmon importer to the U.S. followed by Norway, more expensive. That also will apply to imports of competing wild salmon from Canada where — if it materializes — a big sockeye run is predicted at nearby British Columbia.

Read the full story at National Fisherman 

 

Financial outlook sunny for salmon fishermen, plus commercial salmon openers around Alaska

May 29, 2018 — Forces are aligned for a nice payday for Alaska’s salmon fishermen.

There is no backlog from last season in cold storages, a lower harvest forecast is boosting demand, prices for competing farmed salmon have remained high all year, and a devalued U.S. dollar makes Alaska salmon more appealing to foreign customers.

“Over the past year the dollar has weakened 11 percent against the euro, 9 percent against the British pound, 5 percent against the Japanese yen, and 7 percent against the Chinese yuan. That makes Alaska salmon and other seafood more affordable to those top overseas customers,” said Garrett Evridge, a fisheries analyst at the McDowell Group.

Last year Alaska seafood exports set records in terms of volume and value — 1.1 billion metric tons valued at $3.45 billion. Alaska salmon accounted for 22 percent of the volume and 36 percent of the value.

On the home front, the weaker dollar will make imports from Chile, the largest farmed salmon importer to the U.S. followed by Norway, more expensive. That also will apply to imports of competing wild salmon from Canada where — if it materializes — a big sockeye run is predicted in nearby British Columbia.

“About every four years we expect a relatively large harvest from the Fraser River run in B.C. In 2014 they produced about 83 million pounds of salmon and sockeye was the largest component,” Evridge said. “Likewise, a weaker dollar will make wild salmon imports from Russia and Japan more expensive for U.S. buyers.”

Russia, which had grown from a $10 million customer of primarily pink salmon roe to $60 million in 2013, has banned all imports of U.S. seafood since 2014. Meanwhile, that country continues to send millions of tons of salmon and other seafood into the U.S.

Read the full story at the Anchorage Daily News

 

Chile Announces Protections for Massive Swath of Ocean With Three New Marine Parks

The almost 450,000 square miles encompass a stunning diversity of marine life, including hundreds of species found nowhere else

March 1, 2018 — Today, Chile’s President Michelle Bachelet signed into law protections for nearly 450,000 square miles of water—an area roughly the size of Texas, California and West Virginia combined. Split into three regions, the newly protected areas encompass a stunning range of marine environments, from the spawning grounds of fish to the migratory paths of humpback whales to the nesting grounds of seabirds.

“The Chilean government has really positioned itself as a global leader in ocean protection and conservation,” says Emily Owen, an officer with Pew Bertarelli Ocean Legacy Project, which has worked for over six years to help make these protected waters a reality. With the new parks, more than 40 percent of Chilean waters have some level of legal protection.

The largest of the three regions is the Rapa Nui Marine Protected Area (MPA), where industrial fishing and mining will be prohibited but traditional fishing remains permissible. At 278,000 square miles, this area encompasses the entirety of the economic zone of Easter Island, safeguarding more than 140 native species and 27 that are threatened or endangered. Notably, it is one of the few marine protected areas in the world in which indigenous people had a hand—and a vote—in establishing the boundaries and level of protection.

“I like to think of Easter Island as an oasis in the middle of an oceanic desert,” says Owen. The islands themselves are the peaks of an underwater ridge teeming with life. They also provide important spawning grounds for economically significant species like tuna, marlin and swordfish.

Read the full story at Smithsonian.com

 

Fish 2.0 Awards Second Round of Prizes in 2017 Competition

December 13, 2017 — CARMEL, Calif. — The following was released by Fish 2.0:

Fish 2.0 today announced the winners of its 11 ICX (Industry Connection) prizes, the final awards in the Fish 2.0 2017 competition for sustainable seafood businesses.

The competition’s cash prize winners were announced Nov. 8 at the close of the Fish 2.0 2017 Innovation Forum at Stanford University. Those awards went to the eight seafood ventures—one in each of the competition’s six regional and two global tracks—that earned the highest scores from investor-judges.

All of the 39 finalists from around the world who presented at the Forum were eligible for ICX prizes. These prizes are unique opportunities for ventures to gain market insights and expertise from industry leaders who support growth and innovation in sustainable seafood. Offered by investors and buyers, intermediaries and other seafood companies, ICX prizes include invitations to work directly with industry leaders on investment structures and growth plans or developing branding and market penetration strategies; to attend investor and industry events; and to meet and present to retail and wholesale partners in Europe and the U.S.

“It’s important for us to support the growth of the sustainable seafood sector as well as innovations in this sector,” said Guy Dean, vice president and chief sustainability officer at Albion Farms & Fisheries. “Fish 2.0 does just that, and their results have been fabulous. As a successful protein company, we are happy to help coach and mentor entrepreneurs because they will ultimately create positive impact for our industry and for future generations. In addition, this is a great opportunity for us to learn about new initiatives. In fact, we gain as much value in learning about the prize recipient’s innovation as we hope the prize recipient gains from our input and work with them.”

ICX prize recipients were chosen based on fit with the prize criteria and ability to take full advantage of the prize.

“Given Alltech’s ACE principle commitment to agricultural solutions that benefit the animal, consumer and environment, and to improving aquafeed specifically, we were eager to partner with Fish 2.0 in identifying companies that might be able to complement our core competencies and capabilities,” said Dr. Sasha Tozzi, algae technical manager at Alltech. “We are very excited to meet NovoNutrients to learn more about their technology, which could have many applications in Alltech’s animal nutrition. ShellBond’s capability to use swine waste as a source of a natural carotenoid antioxidant is another compelling match.”

Here is the full list of ICX prizes and winners, by prize sponsor:

Albion Farms & Fisheries
Prize: A full day of expert consultation with the Albion Farms & Fisheries senior leadership team and CSO, including advice and insight on opening new market opportunities and business growth strategies.
Winner: Fish Extend of Santiago, Chile, whose product extends the shelf life of fresh fish using natural ingredients, reducing production losses due to spoilage.

Alltech
Prize: Two passes for ONE: the Alltech Ideas Conference in Lexington, Kentucky, in 2018, and private meetings in Lexington with members of the Alltech team.
Winners: NovoNutrients of Sunnyvale, California (also the competition’s Supply Chain Innovation track winner), which is using food-grade bacteria to make fish food from industrial carbon emissions; and
ShellBond of Wilmington, North Carolina, whose technology solves problems in oyster habitat restoration, spat sedimentation, oil cleanup and nonorganic antioxidants in salmon farms.

Australis Aquaculture
Prize: One-day consultation with the Australis CEO and leadership team on how to introduce new products to market and/or scale an aquaculture enterprise.
Winner:VakSea of Baltimore, which has developed a patented oral vaccine delivered via fish feed that promotes healthier fish and decreases antibiotic use in aquaculture.

Calvert Impact Capital (formerly Calvert Foundation)
Prize: Half-day expert consultation with Calvert Impact Capital lending staff who lead its Women Investing in Women program, including mentorship, guidance and information on accessing financing.
Winner: American Unagi of Thomaston, Maine (the competition’s short-pitch winner), which grows locally harvested glass eels to market size in a land-based aquaculture system.

FishChoice
Prize: Two half-day meetings or one full-day meeting for up to three people with the FishChoice leadership team, who will share FishChoice’s expertise on sustainable seafood ratings and certifications.
Winner: Fair Agora of Bangkok, whose Verifik8 monitoring and verification software collects data from fish farms and cooperatives to help seafood buyers make safe and responsible choices.

IntraFish
Prize: Two tickets to the IntraFish Seafood Investor Forum in either New York or London.
Winners: ColomboSky of Verona, Italy, whose Aqua-X technology for the marine aquaculture industry uses satellite images, in-situ data and expert supervision to monitor and forecast water quality; and
TunaSolutions of Sydney, a fair-trade online marketplace for the tuna industry that connect fishers with buyers and facilitates real-time trading through a series of online auctions.

Rabobank International
Prize: Half-day meeting and consultation with the Rabobank North American seafood lending team, and a consultation with Rabobank’s global seafood analyst.
Winner: SmartCatch of Palo Alto, California, whose flagship product is DigiCatch, a remotely controllable video, lighting and oceanographic catch monitoring system.

RSF Social Finance
Prize: One-day visit to the RSF Social Finance offices for coaching sessions with the social enterprise lending team and the RSF marketing team.
Winner: Real Oyster Cult of Duxbury, Massachusetts (also the competition’s New England track winner), which ships fresh oysters from all over North America direct to consumers overnight.

Stavis Seafoods
Prize: Half-day consultation with the Stavis Seafoods CEO and responsible sourcing manager, including mentorship, guidance and information on accessing new market opportunities.
Winner: OneForNeptune of Santa Fe, New Mexico, which offers healthy, high-protein snack foods made from underutilized and undervalued U.S. groundfish species and industry offcuts.

TomAlgae
Prize: Two-day consultation with specialists from TomAlgae, who will offer advice and expertise on successfully scaling oyster aquaculture production.
Winners: Panacea Oysters of Spring Creek, Florida (also the competition’s South Atlantic and Gulf Coast Shellfish track winner), which is restoring oyster farming in Apalachicola Bay by creating a unified brand and guaranteeing purchases to farmers; and Pensacola Bay Oyster Company of Pensacola, Florida, an oyster farm producing premium oysters for the half-shell market, with the goal of restoring the Gulf Coast’s environment and working waterfronts.

Wabel
Prize: The Wabel Retail Prize includes an invitation to the Wabel Summit, at least eight meetings with fish buyers from Europe’s largest retail groups, and more.
Winner: Northline Seafoods of Sitka, Alaska (also the competition’s U.S. West Coast track winner), whose unique floating processing facility eliminates waste and extends the shelf life of sustainable wild salmon.

“Our team is thrilled to receive the Stavis Seafoods ICX prize,” said Nick Mendoza, CEO of OneForNeptune. “We’re introducing seafood products to a consumer market dominated by non-seafood meat snacks, which is both a challenge and an opportunity. Guidance from a company that is nearly 100 years old could be pivotal to our success, helping us to avoid the mistakes and pitfalls that can derail young companies. This prize gives us an invaluable opportunity to learn directly from Richard Stavis, a seafood innovator who has successfully grown a large company while continuing to focus attention on fishing communities, sustainable sourcing and enhancing consumer awareness.”

Fish 2.0 founder and executive director Monica Jain said the prizes and the spirit behind them exemplify what Fish 2.0 is all about—growing the sustainable seafood industry through connections and learning. “We’re grateful to these forward-thinking prize givers for offering their time and resources to these ventures and to the field,” she said. “Over the past years, these prizes and the partnerships that result from them have led to extraordinary growth acceleration for the winning ventures and the prize givers. These are golden opportunities.”

The prize givers benefit along with the entrepreneurs. “Participation in Fish 2.0 gives us fantastic insight into the sustainable seafood sector—it’s a great way to build our network and learn about the range of innovation and investment activity that’s happening to support sustainable oceans,” said Leigh Moran, senior officer, strategy, at Calvert Impact Capital. “Offering an ICX prize is a great way for CIC to be more involved in Fish 2.0 and continue learning about the sector.”

About Fish 2.0

Fish 2.0 is a Carmel, California–based social enterprise that connects investors and entrepreneurs to grow the global sustainable seafood sector. Working through Fish 2.0’s expanding global network, regional workshops and other events, and online competition platform, Fish 2.0 participants collaborate to drive innovation, business growth and positive impact. Everyone benefits: Entrepreneurs meet potential investors, partners and advisors. Investors and advisors get early access to investment opportunities and learn about emerging technologies and trends. Industry leaders gain direct access to sustainable seafood suppliers and partners.

 

Brasil’s Swift Launches Latin America’s First Certified Sustainable Seafood Product Line

May 4, 2017 — SAO PAULO, Brazil — The following was released by the Aquaculture Stewardship Council and the Marine Stewardship Council:

JBS, through 54 Swift shops in the Sao Paulo region of Brasil, have launched the first Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) and Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certified retail seafood product line in Latin America.

The initial product line includes a variety of ASC certified salmon products from Chile as well as tilapia from Brasil.

Further ASC certified products are planned, including trout and bivalves. Shrimp, either from Brasil or from Ecuador, is a priority.

The ASC is also planning to introduce Brazilian native species standards next year that will make it possible to have certified tambaqui, pirarucu, pintado and pacu available.

For the MSC, Alaskan pollock and chum salmon are part of the launch. Alaskan Pacific cod will soon be added and Atlantic cod products are at planning stage.

Paulo Christofani, the project Manager at JBS, said “we are extremely proud to be the first retailer in Latin America to launch an ASC/MSC product line. Sustainability is a priority for JBS and we aim to engage with our customers with marketing materials to inform and promote this initiative”.

Laurent Viguie, Latin American Manager for the ASC: “JBS/Swift have showed real initiative to launch this product range in Brasil. They are being very pro-active in encouraging their suppliers to achieve ASC certification. We hope that this will encourage more retailers in the region to follow their example”.

Brian Perkins, America Regional Director for the MSC said: “When people purchase MSC certified seafood, their choice supports fishermen around the world who are working hard to meet the world’s most rigorous standard for environmental sustainability of wild-capture fishing.”

Fish 2.0 evolves to fight industry fragmentation

April 25, 2017 — The business competition Fish 2.0, now in its third installment, is evolving into a nexus of communication that is helping fight fragmentation in the seafood industry, according to its founding director Monica Jain.

Held every two years after an inaugural 2013 edition, Fish 2.0 is an open call for entrepreneurs and business owners in the seafood industry to propose their projects and get feedback from investors and industry professionals, as well as possible financial backing.

The four-phase competition pares the proposals it receives down to a group of finalists that present at Stanford University to a room full of investors, consultants and other businesses owners.

Jain said her original motivation behind creating the competition was to stimulate private investment in sustainable seafood, and the competition has certainly done that— companies that presented at the 2015 Stanford finals have raised more than USD 30 million (EUR 27.6 million), and include starts-ups including LoveTheWild and Acadia Harvest Inc.

But the competition has also created an unforeseen meeting point in a dispersed industry.

“The thing that we’re seeing is that more and more businesses are interested in our competition not just to meet investors, but to meet each other. There’s a lot of benefit for them meeting each other because the seafood industry is fragmented,” Jain said.

For the 2017 edition, Fish 2.0 held six workshops in different regions; Southeast Asia, Chile and Peru, the Pacific Islands, New England, the South Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico, and the U.S. West Coast.

At the U.S. West Coast workshop early this month in Seattle, entrepreneurs from California to Alaska discussed innovations and business ideas that ranged from submarine robots for patrolling aquaculture farms to salmon-based baby food to innovative fish handling techniques.

Read the full story at SeafoodSource.com

The gross reason your salmon is about to get (even more) expensive.

January 25, 2017 — The bad news is you may have to cut back on how much salmon you eat. The good news is when you find out the gross reason why, you might not have much of an appetite anyway.

Salmon farms in Norway and Scotland, two of the world’s largest exporters, have been decimated by sea lice, a parasite that has feasted on the blood and skin of salmon for millennia. Farther south in Chile, a toxic algae bloom has killed enough of the fish to fill several Olympic swimming pools.

As the salmon die by the millions, it’s causing a supply-and-demand ripple effect that’s reaching deep into American wallets.

Worldwide farmed salmon production fell by 8.7 percent in a year, according to the Financial Times. And the Nasdaq Salmon Index showed a nearly 15 percent jump in salmon prices in the last three months.

In the near future, it only promises to get worse. And the dying fish and rising prices could fan the debate about whether growing salmon in giant ocean farms is sustainable.

For fans of salmon nigiri or frozen fillets plucked from supermarket freezers for quick, heart-healthy protein, expect salmon portions to shrink — and prices to grow, experts say.

Read the full story at the Washington Post

MAINE: Global scallop summit coming to Portland next year

December 27, 2016 — Maine’s largest city will host an international forum about scallops next year.

The event is called the International Pectinid Workshop and it is taking place in Portland from April 19 to 25. The event attracts scientists, students and seafood industry representatives from all over the world and has taken place biennially since 1976.

The organizers of the conference say its main goal is to bring stakeholders in scallops together to network and share research and practices. The event’s committee includes representatives from countries including Norway, England, Ireland, Chile and Australia.

Satellite Tracking Spots Suspicious Activity from 12 Chinese Fishing Vessels in Peruvian Waters

October 17th, 2016 — At least a dozen Chinese vessels have illegally fished inside Peru’s national waters between January 2015 and September 2016, according to data analyzed by the satellite tracking platform Global Fishing Watch. This data suggests that over the course of the last year, Hong Pu5, Shung Feng 002 and several other vessels entered Peruvian waters at least once to fish in violation of international law.

Global Fishing Watch — a joint initiative of Oceana, SkyTruth and Google — uses navigation technology known as the Automatic Identification System (AIS) to track the movements of nearly 40,000 commercial fishing vessels around the world. AIS transmits a vessel’s identity, type, location, course and speed. Global Fishing Watch’s algorithm uses this information to identify fishing patterns, which helps fisheries officials and enforcement agencies spot potential criminal activity.

According to the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), illegal fishing in Peru is responsible for $360 million in losses each year. Peru is something of a “paradise” for pirate fishing, said Juan Carlos Sueiro, Oceana Peru’s fisheries director.

While neighbors Colombia, Chile and Ecuador have ratified a new FAO treaty aimed at curbing the trade in illegal fish in port cities, Peru has dragged its heels. As a result, Sueiro said, Chinese and other foreign vessels suspected of illegal fishing can freely dock, refuel, buy food and offload their catch in Peru.

Read the full story at Oceana 

Shellfish Farmers Fear Ocean Acidification May Affect Harvests in 2016

January 8, 2016 — Ocean acidification was blamed for the shutdown of the Washington oyster fishery last year and B.C. could be next, partially for the same reason, said Rob Saunders, owner of Island Scallops at Qualicum Beach.

Speaking to TheProvince, Mr Saunders said that Island Scallops, which provides seed oysters and scallops for farmers, lost 90 per cent of its oyster larvae last year.

Acidic water affects the oysters’ ability to grow a hard shell. It takes two years for oysters to mature for harvest, and Mr Saunders said oysters may be in short supply this year.

Read the full story at The Fish Site