Saving Seafood

Maine’s lobster exports to China plunge 84 percent due to trade war

May 16, 2019 — The latest data from the Maine International Trade Center indicates that the state’s lobster exports to China plunged dramatically in the wake of retaliatory tariffs placed on a wide range of U.S. goods.

The tariffs, implemented in July 2018, had an immediate affect on the state’s lobster industry. Prior to the tariffs, Maine had been on track to have a record-setting year, with USD 87 million (EUR 77.8 million) worth of lobster exported through June 2018, over double the USD 42 million (EUR 37.5 million) shipped through the same period in 2017.

Soon after tariffs were implemented, however, Maine’s exports to China nearly disappeared completely, and according to the latest data from the MITC exports have plunged nearly 84 percent since the tariffs were implemented.

The latest talk on the trade front doesn’t point to any improvement in those numbers any time soon. U.S. President Donald Trump threatened and then implemented further tariff increases on 10 May. In response, China fired back with its own increased tariffs, including additional tariffs on a number of seafood products.

Despite the threat of escalation, for many lobster exporters, the damage has already been done. Whether the tariffs increase or not, most of the business had already dried up.

“Retaliatory tariffs, or a move upward to 25 percent, doesn’t really change anything for U.S. exporters to mainland China,” Sheila Adams, the vice president of sales and marketing for Maine Coast Lobster, told SeafoodSource.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

West Coast swordfish landings hit slight dip in 2018

May 15, 2019 — West Coast swordfish stocks are on the upswing, but Homeland Security stipulations could mean fewer of them will be offloaded at docks in California.

According to a recent stock assessment report to the International Scientific Committee for Tuna and Tuna-Like Species in the North Pacific Ocean, in 2018, swordfish biomass increased from 51,000 metric tons in 1998 to an estimated 71,979 metric tons in 2016.

The U.S. fleet working the waters in the Western and North Central Pacific Ocean harvests but a fraction of what the fleet from Japan catches in a year. According to data from the stock assessment report, Japan’s average catch has hovered around 3,500 metric tons in recent years, and the U.S. harvest has come in at around half of the landings posted by fleets from China.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

Alaska seafood industry making plans for China tariff impact

May 13, 2019 — Alaska’s seafood industry is exploring strategies to reduce damage from the Trump administration’s trade dispute with China, officials said.

The Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute plans to explore how Alaska can enter additional markets to expand the state’s seafood brand, The Kodiak Daily Mirror reported Thursday.

The U.S. plans to raise tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese imports from 10% to 25% Friday.

China is the largest export market and re-processor of Alaska seafood, with about $989 million worth of sales to China in 2017 alone. That is more than 50% of the state’s seafood products, the institute said.

The institute is looking at “both traditional and nontraditional markets” for seafood globally, Executive Director Jeremy Woodrow said.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at KTOO

China retaliates by upping tariffs, sending markets spiraling

May 13, 2019 — On Friday, 10 May, the United States formally implemented higher tariffs on USD 200 billion (EUR 178.6 billion) of Chinese goods – a move that had been announced by U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday, 5 May.

On Monday, 13 May, China responded with its own announcement that it will raise tariffs on USD 60 billion (EUR 53.4 billion) of American goods from 10 percent to 20 or 25 percent.

The back-and-forth occurred after negotiations between the two countries appeared to have suffered a setback on 10 May after talks in Washington D.C. failed to produce an agreement on reducing the trade tensions.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Rabobank: Global seafood trade now worth USD 153 billion

May 7, 2019 — Seafood is one of the world’s most important food commodities and the trade continues to grow in line with rising demand and supply, but the dynamics of that trade are likely to change in the coming years, according to a new seafood trade map and report compiled by Rabobank International.

With an estimated traded value of USD 153 billion (EUR 136.5 billion) in 2017, increasing by a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4 percent in the five-year period 2012-2017, the global seafood trade has been led by value growth rather than increased volumes. As Rabobank’s “World Seafood Map 2019” finds, the largest trade flow in value terms is still from Norway to the E.U., mainly consisting of salmon and some whitefish. This is followed by trade flows of salmon and crustaceans from Canada, and flows of whitefish and crustaceans from China to the U.S. market.

Rabobank Analyst Behyhan de Jong, who compiled the map, told SeafoodSource that in 2013, the average price of salmon in Norway was NOK 40 (USD 4.60, EUR 4.11) per kilogram, but this had increased by 50 percent to a level of NOK 60 (USD 6.91, EUR 6.16) in 2018. Meanwhile, the supply growth of shrimp has led to decreased prices, however, increased exports, “particularly from India and Ecuador,” have driven an increased crustacean trade globally, added de Jong.

Underpinned by the importance of localized production and the rising global demand for products, Rabobank expects seafood to maintain its standing as one of the most traded food commodities. Processing and re-exports are also important contributors to the traded volumes.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Trump announces tariff increases against Chinese goods

May 6, 2019 — U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday, 5 May, escalated the trade war between the United States and China when he announced his intention to raise a 10 percent tariff on USD 200 billion (EUR 178.6 billion) of goods to 25 percent on Friday 10 May.

That hike will affect numerous types of seafood products already under the 10 percent tariff.

“The Tariffs paid to the USA have had little impact on product cost, mostly borne by China,” Trump tweeted Sunday afternoon. “The Trade Deal with China continues, but too slowly, as they attempt to renegotiate. No!”

In addition, another USD 325 billion (EUR 290.3 billion) of goods that have previously escaped tariffs will also be hit by the 25 percent fee. That would cover the remaining products China, the largest importer to the U.S., ships to America.

The move from 10 to 25 percent was originally supposed to take place in January, but U.S. officials announced a postponement of the move in December as the countries with the world’s largest economies worked to resolve their trade disputes.

However, as it appeared both sides were close to reaching a deal in March, Trump announced the tariffs would remain “for a substantial period of time.”

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Tilapia, a fish to feed the world, and the deadly virus that may destroy it

May 6, 2019 — A small African fish called the tilapia may be vital for meeting the future food needs of humanity, according to scientists, but they are also concerned that a killer disease discovered in recent years could wipe out the species. That, they warn, would have devastating social and economic consequences for China and the rest of the Asia-Pacific region.

Although its name may not be widely known, the freshwater tilapia is second only to carp as the world’s most widely farmed fish, and China is the largest producer. With global production of farmed tilapia reaching 6.3 million tonnes in 2018 and an estimated market value of US$9.8 billion, the little fish is big business. That’s because it is an essential source of protein, revenue and employment in the developing world.

An advantage of farming tilapia was once its resistance to disease, which is a constant problem in intensive fish farming. But a new virus has caught the industry off guard. Tilapia lake virus, or Tilapia tilapinevirus, was identified in 2014.

Scientists know little more about it, except that it has a morbidity rate of up to 90 per cent, depending on the strain, and is highly contagious. The first indication of the virus on a fish farm is lots of dead tilapia.

Read the full story at the South China Morning Post

Chinese-led supply constraints to drive global seafood prices up by 25 percent

May 2, 2019 — The rising global demand for seafood and a projected slowdown in the growth of fisheries and aquaculture production, particularly by China – the world’s leading provider of these products – will lead to a decade of higher prices, anticipates the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

In 2016, total fish production reached an all-time high of 171 million metric tons (MT), with wild-capture fisheries and aquaculture providing 53 percent and 47 percent respectively. Of the total, 88 percent or 151 million MT was utilized for direct human consumption. Capture fisheries production accounted for 90.9 million MT, while aquaculture supplied 80 million MT. Although the contribution of farmed species to human consumption is higher than that of wild-caught fish.

Based on the assumption of higher demand and technological improvements, the overall production is expected to continue to expand, reaching 201 million MT by 2030. While this would represent a growth of 18 percent or 30 million MT over 2016, it amounts to an annual growth rate of just 1 percent for the 2016-2030 period, compared with 2.3 percent for 2003-2016.

By 2030, the FAO expects capture fisheries production to reach about 91 million MT, only 1 percent more than in 2016. It foresees that factors influencing this limited growth will include a 17 percent decrease of capture fisheries in China due to the implementation of new policies, which it reckons will be compensated for by increased catches in a number of other regions. In this regard, it believes there will be higher landings from fishing areas where stocks of certain species are recovering due to improved management, as well as increased catches in waters of the few countries where there are underfished resources, as well as where new fishing opportunities exist or where fisheries management measures are less restrictive.

In addition, the FAO believes there’ll be enhanced use of fisheries production, including reduced onboard discards, waste, and losses as driven by legislation or higher market fish prices. But it also acknowledges that in some years, the El Niño phenomenon can be expected to reduce catches in South America, especially for anchoveta, resulting in an overall decrease of world capture fisheries production of about 2 percent in those years.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

US shrimp imports down for second straight month

April 18, 2019 — Shrimp imports into the United States fell again in February, with a drop of nearly 10 percent over the same month a year prior.

The U.S. brought in 42,871 metric tons (MT) of shrimp, 9.9 percent less than the 47,568 MT imported in February 2018. Indonesia, Vietnam, China and Thailand all saw significant decreases in the amount of shrimp they sent to the U.S. in February.

The major outlier to the trend continued to be India, which saw its total rise from 13,361 MT in February 2018 to 16,053 MT in February 2019, an increase of more than 20 percent. India also saw an increase in January 2019, and it was by far the largest importer of shrimp into the U.S. in 2018, becoming the first country to import 500 million pounds of shrimp in a calendar year.

The shrimp import figures were released on Wednesday, 17 April, by NOAA’s Office of Science and Technology.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Liancheng seeks market niche with MSC-certified bigeye tuna

April 12, 2019 — Last month, a Chinese-operated longline fishery in the Federated States of Micronesia became the first fishery to achieve Marine Stewardship Council certification for a bigeye tuna fishery. The fishery, owned by three interconnected Chinese fishing companies, Liancheng Overseas Fishery (Shenzhen) Co. Ltd. (SZLC), China Southern Fishery Shenzhen Co. Ltd. (CSFC) and Liancheng Overseas Fishery (FSM) Co. Ltd. (FZLC), previously achieved MSC certification for its yellowfin fishery in October 2018. 

Liancheng is also responsible for the Cook Islands South Pacific albacore and yellowfin longline fishery, which achieved MSC certification in 2015. Its yellowfin and bigeye tuna fisheries in the Republic of Marshall Islands are also undergoing an MSC assessment, which should conclude by the end of 2019.The largest Chinese fleet to achieve MSC certification, Liancheng has said it is dedicated to achieving MSC certification for all its fisheries.

Liancheng Senior Vice President of Marketing Joe Murphy talked to SeafoodSource about the firm’s aim to market MSC-certified bigeye catch in China, Japan, Asia, the United States, and Europe. 

SeafoodSource: Where does Liancheng sell its products?

Murphy: Liancheng markets our catch globally including the U.S., Canada, Japan, China, other Asian nations, and Europe. Our company has been involved in tuna from the Pacific Islands and other locations for almost three decades.

SeafoodSource: How important is the MSC accreditation for the domestic Chinese market? Are Chinese consumers very familiar with MSC?

Murphy: While MSC is well-recognized and very important to the European market, there is definite increasing interest in the MSC eco-label use from major retail and foodservice operators in China. The Chinese market has many international hotels committed to offering sustainable foods, so the consumer is seeing the MSC blue eco-label. The Chinese buyers seeking MSC are familiar with the eco-label and what it signifies through their parent companies, as they are major high-end hotel chain restaurants and retailers.

The huge and important use of internet marketing in China also provides exposure to products carrying the MSC logo. This same trend is occurring in the U.S. and now in Japan for the [upcoming 2020 Tokyo] Olympics.

Read the full story at Seafood Source