Saving Seafood

National Fisheries Institute Statement on the Safety of Seafood from the United States

June 22, 2020 — The following was released by the National Fisheries Institute:

Seafood from America is safe.  The World Health Organization, United National Food and Agriculture Organization, and all major national food safety agencies report there is no connection between seafood and COVID-19.  Simply stated, people cannot get COVID-19 from eating seafood.  Specific to imported seafood that Chinese families enjoy, experts at the Chinese National Health Commission stated, “There’s no evidence so far showing salmon are the origin or intermediate hosts of the coronavirus.”

Consumers in China and in other countries should be aware that seafood portioned and prepared in America must comply with the rules and regulations of the United States Food and Drug Administration to ensure safe food.  Importantly, the systems that seafood companies in the United States have implemented for more than 20 years now serve as a model for other countries and foods.  Companies must also keep their workers safe by following the directives of the United States’ Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
 
Since the onset of COVID-19, members of the National Fisheries Institute, the major seafood trade association in the United States and many of whose members export American seafood to China, have also implemented the laws of numerous states, and the guidelines of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, industry  best practices, CODEX Alimentarius, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, and the World Health Organization, and the recommendations of academics and other public health experts. 
 
NFI member companies have strict protocols in place to prevent, detect, and isolate any spread of COVID-19 on their boats or in their processing plants, and follow sanitary transport rules to prevent contamination of seafood being exported to China.  American seafood remains safe and healthy for Chinese families.

Alaska’s salmon industry contends with a rumor from China that you can get COVID-19 from seafood

June 19, 2020 — China has stopped imports from European salmon suppliers due to fears of a connection between salmon imports and coronavirus, according to a report by Reuters. State-run newspapers in China reported the coronavirus was discovered on chopping boards used for imported salmon at a market in Beijing. The initial cluster of infections came from the same market, and some fear the discovery of virus there indicates a second wave of the coronavirus in China.

Several fisheries organizations are pushing back against those reports. The National Fisheries Institute compiled statements on Tuesday  from health professionals and agencies like the World Health Organization and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration saying there is no connection between seafood and COVID-19.

Fish marketing experts are assessing how the rumors could affect Alaska salmon’s image in the world. If people think eating salmon could put them at increased risk of contracting the virus — even if that information is incorrect — that could harm markets.

“Any time there’s information or misinformation, we have to wait and see how consumers respond to that,” said Andy Wink, executive director of the Bristol Bay Regional Seafood Development Association.

Read the full story at KTOO

Norway Wants To Resume Salmon Sales After China All-clear

June 18, 2020 — Norway said Wednesday it wanted to resume exports of its salmon to China after Beijing appeared to rule it out as a possible source of COVID-19.

Norwegian salmon came under scrutiny after a recently discovered cluster of new coronavirus cases was reportedly traced to the Xinfadi meat market in Beijing and a chopping board used for cutting up imported salmon.

However, Norwegian and, crucially, Chinese health officials appear to have now given the salmon the all-clear.

“We currently have no evidence that salmon is a carrier or an intermediate carrier of the coronavirus,” the deputy director of the China Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Shi Guoqing, said on Tuesday.

Stressing that no case of contamination by food had been reported, the authorities responsible for food safety in Norway said their salmon was fit for consumption.

Read the full story at the International Business Times

Salmon Farmers Hit by China Boycott After New Virus Outbreak

June 17, 2020 — Salmon farmers have been hit by restrictions in China, where a new outbreak of the coronavirus was blamed on imported fish.

The red-fleshed fish is now being boycotted in China after new infections were traced back to the chopping board of a seller of imported salmon at a market in the capital. Orders have been canceled and “it’s difficult to ship fish to Beijing” in the near term, said Anders Snellingen, manager for global operations at the Seafood Council for Norway, the world’s biggest producer.

China still represents a small share of global salmon demand, making up less than 5% last year, but it’s also one of the fastest growing markets and fish farmers were already feeling the squeeze of pandemic restrictions.

“We had to rebook our shipments to China and direct it toward other markets,” Grieg Seafood ASA spokeswoman Kristina Furnes said by phone. While there is now closer scrutiny of salmon, the same applies to other food imports as well, she said. Grieg doesn’t export large volumes to China and hasn’t had any cases of Covid-19 in its organization.

Read the full story at Bloomberg

The Facts About Seafood, COVID, and Chinese Food Markets

June 17, 2020 — The following was released by the National Fisheries Institute:

On 13 June, Chinese media began reporting on the closure of the Xinfadi food markets in Beijing due the presence of COVID-19.

Do not be misled by sensational reports.  The facts are clear.  And these are the facts about food according to academic experts and global public health officials and agencies:

Former Commissioner of US Food and Drug Administration states:  “The idea it hitched a ride on fish is highly implausible.  I mean it is absurd.  I can’t see any plausible scenario where this virus rode in on a salmon.”

The World Health Organization states:  “As food has not been implicated in the transmission of COVID-19, testing of food or food surfaces for this virus is not recommended.”

The Codex Alimentarius states:  “COVID-19 is a respiratory illness primarily transmitted through person-to-person contact and direct contact with respiratory droplets generated when an infected person coughs or sneezes.  There is no evidence to date of viruses that cause respiratory illnesses being transmitted via food or food packaging.  Coronaviruses cannot multiply in food; they need an animal or human host to multiply. It is highly unlikely that people can contract COVID-19 from food or food packaging.”

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations states: “Despite the hypothesis that the virus may have originated in bats and infected another animal used for food, there is no evidence of continued transmission of the virus from animals to humans through the food chain.”

The US Food and Drug Administration states: “…. there is no evidence that food or food packaging have been associated with transmission (of COVID-19) and no reason to be concerned.”

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states:  “In general, because of poor survivability of these coronaviruses on surfaces, there is likely very low risk of spread from food products or packaging..”

Canadian Food Inspection Agency states:  “Scientists and food safety authorities around the world are closely monitoring the spread of COVID-19.  There are currently no reported cases of COVID-19 being spread through food.”

The Norwegian Food Safety Agency states:  “There are no known cases of infection via contaminated food, imported food or water.  Therefore, fish and seafood products from Norway are safe to eat” and “Currently there are no known cases of infection via contaminated food, imported food or water.  Based on current knowledge of coronaviruses, infection via food and water is considered unlikely.”

The European Food Safety Authority states:  “Experiences from previous outbreaks of related coronaviruses, such as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) and Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV), show that transmission through food consumption did not occur.  At the moment, there is no evidence to suggest that coronavirus is any different in this respect.”

The German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment states: “There are currently no cases which have shown evidence of humans being infected with the new type of coronavirus via the consumption of contaminated food.  There is also currently no reliable evidence of transmission of the virus via contact with contaminated objects or contaminated surfaces, which would have led to subsequent human infections.”

The Chilean National Fisheries and Aquaculture Service states:  “There is no evidence to suggest that SARS-CoV-2 can infect aquatic animals and, therefore, these animals do not play an epidemiological role in spreading COVID-19 to humans.”

University College London researchers state:  “SARS-CoV-2 can infect a broad range of mammals, but few fish, birds or reptiles” and that “most [fish] have no susceptibility to infection.”

Asian Fisheries Science journal states:  “Currently, there is no evidence to suggest that SARS-CoV-2 can infect aquatic food animals (e.g. finfish, crustaceans, molluscs, amphibians) and therefore these animals do not play an epidemiological role in spreading COVID-19 to humans.”  (authors include 16 global public health researchers)

North Carolina State University researcher states:   “In fact, we don’t see evidence of any respiratory viruses being transmitted through food in the past.”  (COVID-19 is a respiratory virus) and “‘The good news with this particular virus is that it is not a foodborne virus.  Most of the food that we eat, ends up getting right into our gut and ends up encountering a whole bunch of acid in our stomachs.  And this virus particularly doesn’t really remain infectious once it hits the stomach.”

For more information about what global public health professionals say about seafood and COVID, visitCOVID-19 & Seafood website.

Chinese market undergoing drastic change through coronavirus crisis

June 11, 2020 — Market research consultancies have been working hard to assess the actionable lifestyle trends and developments emerging in China in the wake of its coronavirus lockdown.

Even as home-bound Chinese turn to convenience cooking and take-out – which even before the coronavirus had been a popular option in major Chinese cities – market research consultants interviewed by SeafoodSource seem divided on the extent of the opportunity for frozen and processed seafood products in the Chinese marketplace.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

China unlikely to consider lowering of lobster tariffs, despite Trump’s threat

June 11, 2020 — On Friday, 5 June, at a meeting with commercial lobstermen from the U.S. state of Maine, U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to impose new tariffs on imported Chinese and European Union goods if they did not eliminate their tariffs on U.S. lobsters.

At the meeting, Trump appointed U.S. Office of Trade and Manufacturing Policy Director Peter Navarro the task of identifying additional Chinese and European products to hit with tariffs as a means of pressuring Beijing to eliminate all tariffs on American lobsters.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Food banks pushed to the brink

June 8, 2020 — The coronavirus pandemic and economic slowdown has left at least 20 million Americans out of work, sending demand skyrocketing at food banks and other feeding programs around the U.S. The Agriculture Department is already spending $3 billion on surplus meat, dairy, fruits and vegetables to help nonprofits meet their needs, but anti-hunger advocates say there’s another way Washington should help: Increase food stamp benefits so hungry families can buy more groceries instead of leaning on food banks.

The president on Friday threatened once again to slap duties on automobiles from the EU because of the bloc’s tariffs on U.S. lobsters. Trump said he’s putting Peter Navarro in charge of resolving the dispute, dubbing his hawkish trade adviser the “lobster king,” reports Pro Trade’s Doug Palmer.

The EU currently has an 8 percent tariff on live Maine lobsters, plus duties ranging from 16 percent to 20 percent on processed lobster. Meanwhile, Canada can export lobsters to Europe without paying any duties, leaving U.S. producers at a disadvantage.

“That’s an easy one to handle,” Trump said at a roundtable with commercial fishermen in Bangor, Maine, on Friday. But his administration has negotiated with Brussels for two years without reaching an agreement, and in November, the EU rejected a U.S. proposal for a mini-trade deal covering lobsters and chemicals.

China, another large market for lobster exports, also imposed retaliatory duties on American lobsters after Trump slapped tariffs on a wide range of Chinese goods. Trump on Friday directed Navarro to put pressure on Beijing by slapping even more tariffs on some Chinese goods.

Trump opened up a national marine monument in the North Atlantic to commercial fishing, undoing ecological protections implemented by the Obama administration. Under the proclamation, the New England Fishery Management Council will determine the amount of fishing allowed in the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts, some 130 miles southeast of Cape Cod, Mass. Pro Energy’s Ben Lefebvre and Eric Wolff have the details.

Read the full story at Politico

Trump to hold roundtable on commercial fishing while in Maine

June 4, 2020 — President Donald Trump will hold a roundtable discussion with parties involved in the commercial fishing industry during his visit to Maine on Friday, according to a White House official.

The president is slated to come to the Pine Tree State to visit the Puritan Medical Products facility in Guilford, which manufactures medical swabs used in coronavirus testing. The Guilford company is one of the two largest swab manufacturers in the world and is opening a new swab manufacturing facility in Pittsfield this summer to meet the surging demand for swabs.

The company is using $75.5 million in federal funds under the Defense Production Act to open that facility.

The president is expected to discuss regulations and how to expand economic opportunities for the commercial fishing industry, according to the official.

Details of when exactly the visit will take place have not been disclosed.

Read the full story at the Bangor Daily News