Saving Seafood

Coast Guard Commandant: Illegal Chinese Fishing a ‘National Security Challenge’ That Warrants U.S. Response

February 27, 2020 — The “Great Power Competition” with Russia and China isn’t limited to winning allies in geostrategic flash points or sailing through contested areas to promote freedom of the seas, according to the commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard.

Near-peer adversaries “are actively exploiting other nations’ natural resources, including fish stocks. In many cases [they are] challenging the sovereignty of smaller or less-developed nations,” Adm. Karl Schultz said in his annual State of the Coast Guard address, live-streamed Feb. 20 from Charleston, South Carolina.

Schultz identified China, which has the world’s largest distant water fishing fleet, as “one of the worst predatory fishing offenders,” engaging in Illegal, unreported, unregulated fishing (IUU). The problem goes beyond conservation and sustainability, he said — “This is a national security challenge warranting a clear response.”

An essential protein source for more than 40% the world’s population, fish stocks are critical to the sovereignty and economic security of many nations. The most conservative estimates put the annual loss to the global economy from IUU fishing at more than $23 billion.

Read the full story at Seapower

JOHN SACKTON: How coronavirus could impact North American seafood

February 20, 2020 — A lot of people in the seafood industry are thinking about coronavirus (COVID-19). The major impact has been on shipping, tourism, and travel, all of which are vital to the North American seafood industry.

The question is whether this is a short-term event like a hurricane or political strike that impacts one area of our supply chain, or if this is a year-long global pandemic, leading to big changes in behavior in our markets.

Clearly we don’t know yet, despite people like the CEO of Mowi saying it is a short term event. However, we can already see some supply and demand disruptions, and we can prepare for others. After thinking about this for the last couple of weeks, here are some preliminary ideas.

Some products disrupted more than others initially

Most seafood products have not suddenly changed in price over the past few weeks. If you look at Urner Barry’s dashboard, the majority of items remain green, showing rising or steady prices.

Read the full opinion piece at Undercurrent News

GAA grants coronavirus-related extensions to Chinese facilities seeking BAP certification

February 20, 2020 — The Global Aquaculture Alliance, which operates the Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) certification, has announced an extension period for Chinese seafood companies in the process of applying for BAP certification.

A statement from GAA Communications Manager Steven Hedlund said the extension was granted as a result of the outbreak of the 2019-nCoV coronavirus, which has disrupted business in China.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Russia-Alaska seafood trade remains a one-way street benefiting Russia

February 19, 2020 — Lost in the headlines about the hits to seafood sales from the Trump administration’s trade war with China is another international barrier that’s been going on far longer.

In August 2014, Russia placed an embargo on all U.S. food products to retaliate for sanctions the U.S and other Western countries imposed over the invasion of Ukraine. The ban included Alaska seafood, which at the time accounted for more than $61 million in annual sales to Russia, primarily pink salmon roe.

But here’s the bigger hurt: For the nearly six years that the embargo has been in place, no corresponding limits have ever been imposed on Russian seafood coming into the U.S.

At first, Alaska seafood companies and the state’s congressional delegation made some “tit for tat” noise about imposing a ban on Russian seafood. But in fact, the value of Russian imports has grown nearly 70% since 2014 — and it all comes into the U.S. almost entirely duty-free.

Read the full story at the Anchorage Daily News

Coronavirus forces Chinese seafood chain to shift to home delivery

February 10, 2020 — One of China’s fastest-growing seafood restaurant chains and a big pangasius buyer has battled through the coronavirus crisis by ramping up home deliveries and promising customers “real-time monitoring” of the body temperatures of delivery staff.

Foot traffic has plummeted at Yu Guo Tian Qing restaurants due to fears about the coronavirus, which has killed more than 900 people in China as it has spread to more locations after first being detected in the city of Wuhan in December. More than 40,000 cases of coronavirus have been recorded in China since the outbreak.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

China’s aquaculture modernization effort hampered by corruption

February 10, 2020 — A colorful corruption case in China’s seafood region, involving speed boats and cash bribes, has shone a light on the scale of China’s fisheries subsidy regime and how it’s open to abuse by Communist Party officials who administer it.

Wang Ji Shan, former head of the Ocean and Fisheries Bureau in Li Jin County near Dongying on the east coast, has been charged with funneling millions of yuan in licenses and subsidies to the Luxin Ocean Development Co.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Coronavirus Slams Florida’s Lobster Industry

February 7, 2020 — His boat loaded with empty lobster traps, Gary Nichols pulls up to his fish house on Conch Key.

“Another happy day to get to the dock,” as his crew tied up his boat and began unloading the traps.

Although China is 9,000 miles away, the coronavirus is causing the lobster season to end early for Nichols and many of the other lobstermen of the Florida Keys.

“Traditionally we fish to the middle or end of March,” Nichols explained. “But the Chinese have stopped the buying due to the coronavirus.”

With the virus spreading across China, commercial flights from the United States were recently halted. But even before the airlines stopped flying, the major buyers in China were canceling orders for Florida’s spiny lobster. Fear surrounding the virus was hitting the country’s economy and keeping people out of restaurants.

Florida lobster is considered a delicacy in China and is often the star of any celebratory dinner, especially during Chinese New Year which has been underway for the past week. For Florida’s lobstermen, this is when prices soar.

“We had just gotten our prices up to a decent level,” Nichols explained. “This is when our price is normally between $12 and $20 a pound for lobster.”

Read the full story at CBS 4

SalmonChile suspending shipments to China in response to coronavirus outbreak

February 7, 2020 — Chile’s salmon trade group SalmonChile is the latest entity to interrupt business with China in response to the rapidly spreading coronavirus.

“In the last two weeks, all salmon shipments to China have been suspended and will continue in this way until the health emergency is controlled,” the trade organization announced in a statement. “This measure is not directly related to the [risk of] infections, but because demand has decreased to a minimum” in response to Chinese authorities’ recommendations to avoid crowds, affecting business at restaurants and large supermarket chains.

Read the full story at Seafood Source