Saving Seafood

New report: China’s seafood processing sector in decline

April 11, 2019 — A recently published report has pointed out numerous problems with China’s seafood processing sector, highlighted by labor shortages, low technical capacity, rising costs, and not enough spending on research and development.

China’s seafood processors are living on borrowed time, according to the report, which was published by the China Industrial Research Network, an economic research agency. The sector looks strong owing to its scale, but is actually weak, “as the main advantage is low-cost labor” and this advantage will eventually evaporate. Too much processing material is shipped in by foreign firms, the report concludes.

“Higher incomes in China will mean low-cost, low-tech goods production will be eliminated in China and replaced by other countries with less-developed economies,” the report said. “If you still insist on operating in the current mode, you will only end up with failure.”

This prognosis won’t come as a surprise to anyone watching China’s economy. Last year was the first that the country’s labor force contracted in size since China started its economic reforms in 1979. Wages are rising for China’s labor force and the country’s demographics point to a fast-aging society.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Sen. Susan Collins questions lobster tariffs and Grey Zone dispute

April 10, 2019 — Disputes between U.S. and Canadian fishermen in the so-called Gray Zone of the waters around Machias Seal Island as well as lobster tariff disputes with China were the subject of questioning by Sen. Susan Collins (R – ME) during a recent Commerce Appropriations Subcommittee hearing.

Lobstermen who work in the Gray Zone are increasingly frustrated that their Canadian counterparts who fish in the same areas are not required to follow the same regulations (such as v-notching egg-bearing females and a maximum size limit), according to a statement, and thus are undermining American protections and threatening the sustainability of the stock.

Because Canada does not impose such conservation measures on its fisheries, a v-notched or oversized lobster tossed back by a Maine lobsterman can be caught by a Canadian lobstermen yards away and brought to market.

Read the full story at the Mount Desert Islander

Senator Collins Urges Senior Administration to Develop Gray Zone Fishing Agreement with Canada

April 9, 2019 — SEAFOOD NEWS — Senator Susan Collins of Maine, a senior member of the Appropriations Committee, took issues affecting Maine’s lobster industry to the Commerce Appropriations Subcommittee hearing this week – specifically the “Gray Zone” and the ongoing trade war with China.

The Gray Zone sits approximately 10 miles off the coast of Maine, around Machias Island. Canadian and Maine lobstermen both work in the area, but do not follow the same regulations, which has caused disputees. Maine Lobstermen mark the tails of egg-bearing females and return them to water in an effort to allow them to lay eggs and continue reproducing. Maine lobstermen also abide by size limits, and toss back oversized lobsters to keep the stock strong. Canada lobstermen do not have to follow the same conservation measures, so those notched and oversized lobsters are able to be caught by Canadian lobstermen just yards away.

“Each country manages their lobster and other fisheries in that area through separate and often conflicting regulations,” Senator Collins explained. “The implications of these regulatory discrepancies are very concerning and very unfair to Maine’s lobstermen.”

Dr. Neil Jacobs, Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere, committed to working with Senator Collins to “explore the possibility of developing a fisheries management agreement between the U.S. and Canada that would provide for cooperative management of the Gray Zone.”

Besides the issue with the Gray Zone, Senator Collins also spoke out on the ongoing trade war with China, urging the Senior Administration to make some progress with the dispute.

“The retaliatory tariff of 25% that China has levied on U.S. lobster has been very detrimental to the industry,” explained Senator Collins. “What is the status of the trade talks with China, and what hope can you provide to my lobster exporters who are struggling day in and day out, having lost that very lucrative market to our Canadian neighbors?”

While no guarantees were made, Gil Kaplan, Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade said that they have been “making progress” and are “optimistic about an agreement.”

This story was originally published on SeafoodNews.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission.

China bought lots of Florida lobster despite tariffs. Keys fishermen paid the price

April 5, 2019 — Chinese importers bought Florida spiny lobsters in what could be near-record numbers this season, despite a 25 percent tariff their government placed on U.S. seafood last July, according to the leading Florida Keys commercial fishermen’s trade group.

That’s great news considering the fear commercial anglers had about the potential impact of growing U.S.-China trade hostilities on one of South Florida’s largest industries.

“Going into the season, the big questions were: Will the Chinese buy? How much and at what price,” said Bill Kelly, executive director of the Florida Keys Commercial Fishermen’s Association. “The Chinese did buy, at near historic levels.”

Read the full story at the Miami Herald

Tariffs force Alaska seafood industry to look beyond China

April 1, 2019 — Chinese tariffs are forcing Alaska’s seafood industry to look for markets beyond the Asian giant, according to an industry marketing organization.

The Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute is exploring how to expand the state’s seafood brand in response to a 25 percent tariff on Pacific Northwest seafood imposed by China in summer 2018, the Kodiak Daily Mirror reported Wednesday.

Alaska’s seafood sales are off by more than 20 percent so far this year and could take a big hit in China, said Jeremy Woodrow, the institute’s interim executive director.

“Because of the conflict, it makes our product less competitive in that marketplace,” Woodrow said.

A $5.5 million, three-year federal agricultural trade promotion grant awarded in January will be used to develop nontraditional markets such as Japan, Southeast Asia and parts of South America, according to Woodrow. The funds will also aid continued marketing in China and other established markets such as Germany, he said.

Read the full story at the Associated Press

Record year for China M&A sees little investment in seafood deals

April 1, 2019 — Seafood seems to be way down the list of sectors attracting investors in China, as agriculture and fisheries investments accounted for just 1 percent of the USD 377 billion (EUR 335.5 billion) invested in 1,866 deals monitored by leading international mergers and acquisitions watchers Mergermarket and Merrill DatasiteOne.

Industries and chemicals accounted for 19 percent of deals in value and 24 percent in volume, topping the list of categories for deals in 2018 in a new ranking compiled by the two financial firms. The technology, media, and telecommunications [TMT] category accounted for 19 percent of value and 10 percent of volume, followed by financial services, with 13 percent and 7 percent, respectively.

Despite the U.S.-China trade war, foreign investors accounted for a record USD 49.1 billion (EUR 43.7 billion) – up 51 percent on 2017 – or 13 percent of the deals done, with nearly half that cash coming from the United States. Foreign investors appeared to be cheered by China’s pledge to lower restrictions on foreign investment into various sectors, a pledge necessitated in part by the gradual slowdown of China’s economic growth.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

China accuses Vietnam of illegal fishing, dismisses compensation claim

March 29, 2019 — China has dismissed a request from the Vietnamese government for USD 130,000 (EUR 116,000) compensation for the sinking of a Vietnamese trawler in disputed waters of the South China Sea, claiming instead that the vessel was guilty of “illegal fishing” and was sunk before a Chinese vessel reached the scene.

The Vietnam Fisheries Association, a state sponsored body, wants USD 130,000 paid to the owners of a trawler sunk at the weekend, but in a regular media briefing this week, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Yu Shuang described Vietnam’s claims as “fabricated.”

A note from the Vietnamese Foreign Ministry describes the ramming of a trawler by a “Chinese vessel numbered 44101” off the Hoang Sa Archipelago, commonly known as the Paracel Islands. Water cannon was used by the Chinese, who drove the vessel onto a reef and sunk it, with five fishermen on board rescued by another Vietnamese fishing boat, according to the Vietnamese Foreign Ministry.

While China is Vietnam’s top trading partner, relations between China and its southern neighbor continue to be battered by China’s heavy-handed enforcement of claims of ownership over a large swathe of the South China Sea. Relations have long been testy since China seized the Paracel Islands from South Vietnam by force in 1974, and since it recently built a military base there that includes a runway capable of handling military aircraft.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

China faces big decision on WTO reform deal

March 28, 2019 — The pressure is on this month as negotiators seek to find common ground and to advance the cause of a World Trade Organization agreement on fishery subsidies by the end of the year.

The WTO Director-General Roberto Azevêdo has said subsidies by member states for fuel have contributed to overfishing, and illegal and unregulated fishing. He called it “one of the important issues of our time.”

An estimated USD 20 billion (EUR 17.8 billion) is paid out annually to subsidize the cost of fuel that allows vessels to operate thousands of miles from home. The bulk of the subsidies are paid out by a handful of nations, and around 85 percent of the figure goes to large-scale industrial fleets, rather than smaller near-shore artisanal fisheries.

The pressure was ramped up in 2015 when all United Nations member states agreed Sustainable Development Goal 14.6 to eliminate or prohibit harmful fishery subsidies by 2020. The goal was a priority for developing countries depending on the sea for protein.

There are some reasons for optimism – the WTO director general told a WTO plenary in February that progress had been made in the negotiations among the technocrats. But he said now is time for high-level political commitment to get the deal done.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Study maps where tunas, sharks and fishing ships meet

March 26, 2019 — Overfishing is rapidly pushing many of the world’s sharks and tunas toward extinction. The world’s fastest known shark, the shortfin mako, for example, was recently uplisted to endangered on the IUCN Red List, its decline mostly attributed to overfishing.

But researchers are only beginning to figure out where and when people fish them the most. Now, a new study has some answers.

By analyzing the trails of more than 900 fishing vessels and more than 800 sharks and tunas in the northeast Pacific, researchers have identified regions where the two tend to overlap. This information, researchers say, can be used to manage fisheries, especially in the high seas, the swaths of ocean that lie beyond the jurisdiction of individual countries.

“These fish [sharks and tunas] may travel thousands of miles every year, crossing international boundaries and management jurisdictions,” said Timothy White, lead author of the study and a graduate student in biology at Stanford University, California. “In order to sustainably manage them, we need to know where they migrate and where people fish them, but this info is surprisingly difficult to gather for sharks and tunas of the open ocean.”

Read the full story at Mongabay

Baby Eel Fishermen Hope for Year Free of Poaching, Shutdowns

March 25, 2019 — Maine fishermen began several weeks of taking to rivers and streams to fish for baby eels Friday, which marked the start of a high-stakes season harvesters hope isn’t interrupted by poaching concerns as it was a year ago.

Fishermen in Maine use nets to harvest baby eels, called elvers, to feed demand from Asian aquaculture companies, who use them as seed stock.

The tiny eels are the source of one of the most valuable fisheries in the country on a per-pound basis, and they were worth a record of more than $2,300 per pound last year. Maine’s home to the only significant elver fishery in the country.

Last year’s season was shut down two weeks early by state regulators after investigators found that illegal sales had caused Maine to blow past its quota for the eels. New controls on the fishery are expected to clamp down on clandestine sales, and the use of a swipe card system to record transactions remains in effect.

Darrell Young, co-director of the Maine Elver Fishermen Association, said the health of the fishery also depends on members of the industry “behaving themselves” this time around.

“Buyers wanted to find their way around the swipe cards. They just made it harder for everybody else,” Young said.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at The New York Times