Saving Seafood

China tackling tax evasion in seafood sector on many fronts

February 15, 2019 — Chinese authorities are touting their latest prize in an intensification of their ongoing crackdown in illegal seafood-related operations.

The arrest of a smuggling gang accused of bringing CNY 2.6 billion (USD 385.5 million, EUR 340.3 million) worth of frozen seafood clandestinely across the border from Vietnam over a three-year period was announced in prime-time coverage across regional and national television channels in January.

Customs and police forces from across southern China collaborated on the prosecution of the gang. The investigators hailed the operation as a triumph in protecting food safety and fair tax collection for the Chinese people. Those arrested include the CEO of a major processing and distribution firm in Dalian, who could face a trial that will set an example for the industry.

In another high-profile bust, a gang of 55 suspects were arrested in August 2018 for allegedly controlling the marine fishing sector in the port city of Weifang. The gang “occupied by force” the sea space in the outlying Shouguang and Changyi counties and forced fishing and aquaculture companies to pay for access to the water, according to an indictment published by the local Public Security Bureau (PSB), China’s police force. The gang also “taxed” the vessels according to the volume of their catch.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

How The Trade War With China Is Threatening America’s Largest Fishery

February 13, 2019 — Alaskan pollock is an incredibly versatile fish when it comes to cooking. The species is often referred to as a “cousin of cod” because the two species are classified in the same family, Gadidae. This means they have many shared characteristics, including how they taste. Their meat is a flaky blank slate, ready for nearly any preparation you could throw at it. Pollock’s affordability also makes it an attractive species for a variety of markets, from fast-casual to university and corporate dining.

These factors, along with the stability and health of the species’ population, helped to make Alaskan pollock the top species landed by volume in the United States in 2017. It hasn’t always been a top seller though. Back in the 1980s, there was very little demand for the species, but seafood distributors such as Trident Seafoods, based in Seattle, saw pollock’s potential as a cheaper cod alternative. Trident started a pollock revolution and became the largest vertically integrated seafood company in North America. Its founder, Chuck Bundrant, even became a billionaire, with a net worth Forbes estimates at $2.4 billion. Today, Alaskan pollock remains one of the top five most commonly eaten species in the U.S., but the fishery is at risk of being diminished by the ongoing trade war with China.

The species’ dominance could change if markets become unavailable because of shifts in global seafood processing and distribution due to an escalating international trade war. Last summer, China put in place a retaliatory tariff of 25% for seafood products. Then the U.S. proposed a 10% increase for tariffs on seafood imported from China. The issue here is that a portion of seafood caught by American fishermen is shipped to China for filleting and processing before being re-exported back in the U.S. for Americans to buy. While this seems like a wildly inefficient move, it has been, in fact, a commonly used method to cut costs. That meant when Alaskan pollock was processed in China and re-exported to America, it was included on the tariff lists.

After reports came out that the tariffs were harming the American fishing industry, particularly in Alaska, the U.S. announced that certain species of fish caught in the state would be excluded from the tariff list. Alaskan pollock is included in this group and will not be taxed when re-entering America. But the exemption doesn’t solve all problems for Alaskan fishermen and processors.

According to an FAO market report from January, Trump’s trade war “could end up favoring Russian Federation (and Chinese) exporters at the expense of Alaska processors.” This is because foreign fishing competitors can still ship pollock caught in their waters to China for lower-cost processing and then re-export to the U.S. tariff free. It seems like a bad turn of events for Alaskan fishermen and processors.

Read the full story at Forbes

 

China tackling tax evasion in seafood sector on many fronts

February 11, 2019 — Chinese authorities are touting their latest prize in an intensification of their ongoing crackdown in illegal seafood-related operations.

The arrest of a smuggling gang accused of bringing CNY 2.6 billion (USD 385.5 million, EUR 340.3 million) worth of frozen seafood clandestinely across the border from Vietnam over a three-year period was announced in prime-time coverage across regional and national television channels in January.

Customs and police forces from across southern China collaborated on the prosecution of the gang. The investigators hailed the operation as a triumph in protecting food safety and fair tax collection for the Chinese people. Those arrested include the CEO of a major processing and distribution firm in Dalian, who could face a trial that will set an example for the industry.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

New index ranks China as most vulnerable to IUU

February 11, 2019 — A new index ranking vulnerability to illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing (IUU) by country has listed China as having the highest IUU potential.

The index, created by the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime, ranks countries on a number of metrics, with a higher score meaning a higher likelihood that a country’s policies are contributing to IUU fishing. The metrics have four main categories – coastal, flag, port, and general – which include subcategories like the size of the country’s exclusive economic zone, or the number of distant-water vessels under regional fishery management organizations (RFMO).

China was by far the worst-ranked country, with a total “IUU score” of 3.93 out of 5. China ranked the worst possible on a number of categories, including the number of vessels on the IUU list and the number of distant-water vessels that are under multiple RFMOs.

China also scored poorly in terms of its number of fishing ports, and how those ports allow foreign vessels and imports.

According to the initiative that started the index, it’s intended to be a tool to better understand illegal fishing worldwide.

“The IUU Fishing Index has been designed to meet the need for a detailed analysis of fishery countries’ vulnerability, exposure and responses to IUU fishing,” the organization stated in a release. “It fills a key gap by analyzing and evaluating, state by state, the global implications of IUU fishing, thereby helping policymakers identify where interventions are most needed.”

Read the full story at Seafood Source

How Trump’s trade war kept Russian fish sticks in US school lunchrooms

February 11, 2019 — A trade decision by the Trump administration has inadvertently protected a price advantage enjoyed by Russian-caught fish sold in the US, much of which ends up in fish sticks served to American school children.

For years, Alaskan fishermen have been frustrated by foreign competition from Russia, particularly in the lucrative pollock market. Caught in Russian waters, this cold-water cousin of the cod is processed in China before being sold in the US for use in frozen and breaded fish products, as well as imitation crab meat.

Russian pollock costs less than its US-caught equivalent. That’s helped it gain share of the roughly $200 million US market for frozen pollock, to the point that by 2017, about half the fish sticks served in US school cafeterias were made from fish caught in Russia and pumped with additives in China, according to the Genuine Alaska Pollock Producers, a trade group that represents 14 different seafood companies.

Domestic fish producers thought President Donald Trump would fix all that. The administration’s move to slap a 10% tariff last year on thousands of imports from China was supposed to erase the price advantage enjoyed by Russian fish. But instead of fixing the problem, the Trump administration has made things worse for Alaskan fishermen.

World’s Largest Fish Factory Vessel Stays on IUU List

February 6, 2019 — Following an investigation by Oceana, the South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organization (SPRFMO) has decided to keep the fish factory vessel Damanzaihao (now named Vladivostok 2000) on its list of illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing vessels. The organization has also issued warnings to China, Panama and Cook Islands for providing assistance to the vessel.

The Commission has currently 15 members: Australia, Chile, China, Cook Islands, Cuba, Ecuador, E.U., Denmark, South Korea, New Zealand, Peru, Russia, Chinese Taipei, the U.S. and Vanuatu.

Oceana investigated the Damanzaihao’s movements using Global Fishing Watch’s mapping platform. “Oceana applauds SPRFMO’s decision and views this as an important example of how transparency at sea can help enforce rules that combat IUU fishing,” said Beth Lowell, deputy vice president of U.S. campaigns at Oceana. “With the help of technology, we can see what vessels are doing beyond the horizon and take steps, like Oceana did, to hold the responsible parties accountable.”

The Vladivostok 2000, currently flagged to Moldova, is one of the world’s largest vessels with a history of changing names and reflagging to different countries. Originally designed as an oil tanker measuring 228 meters, the vessel was rebuilt to function as a one-stop-shop fish processor, with the ability to store, freeze, process and transfer fish. According to a New York Times article, the vessel (named Lafayette and flying a Russian flag when the article was published in 2012) can process up to 547,000 metric tons of fish each year.

Read the full story at Maritime Executive

 

China’s New Year gift to the world: aquaculture know-how

February 5, 2019 — As Chinese New Year approaches, the dining halls of China’s Agriculture Ministry in the central Beijing district of Tuanjiehu get busy with well-wishers from various embassies dropping in with seasonal gifts or for banquets with officials.

Emissaries in Beijing have been beating a path to the fisheries section at the Agriculture Ministry to greet fisheries officials who maintain relations with counterparts in most countries on the planet.

The gifts aren’t just flowing in one direction. Even as it weeds out low-tech and unlicensed operators in its own aquaculture sector, China is offering aquaculture expertise to developing nations throughout the world.  When Chinese New Year festivities are over, it’s not unreasonable to expect a whole new range of training programs to be born out of those banquets and gift exchanges. These are transactional relationships – developing countries need training and China needs seafood. But they also stand to change the global aquaculture production map.

And it’s not new – China has been at this game for many years now. Just last month, aquaculture officials from around the world were in China’s key freshwater training base for training in bass (perch) production. Delegates from Benin, Ghana, Laos, Liberia, Myanmar, the Seychelles, South Sudan, Uganda, and Zambia were in Wuxi Academy and visited Jiangsu Shui Xian Industry Co. Ltd. to see production on site.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

While global tilapia production increases, US imports fall

February 4, 2019 — Tilapia production globally has steadily increased over the past decade – with 2018 production estimated at nearly 6.3 million metric tons (MT) – yet U.S. imports were forecast to likely be at their lowest level in several years.

The data, shared at the Value Finfish panel during the 2019 Global Seafood Market Conference in Coronado, California earlier this month, estimates that the U.S. imported around 300,000 MT of tilapia in 2018. That’s significantly lower than the 500,000 MT high in 2012.

“Through October, through 2014, things have been on a pretty steady decline,” Todd Clark of Endeavor Seafood said.

The declines are clear in U.S. broadline sales, with virtually every commercial category having a steady three-year decline in sales. Commercial medium chains, representing chains with between 100 and 249 units, fell the most with a 46 percent drop in sales. Non-commercial restaurants, which make up the largest share of tilapia purchasing at over 14 million pounds, dropped six percent.

“Each one of those categories has been on a steady decline,” Clark said.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

China chartering more flights carrying fresh salmon, live lobster in advance of New Year festivities

February 1, 2019 — As the Chinese New Year holiday draws near, fresh and live seafood is being flown into the country via jumbo jets with increasing frequency, according to a number of recent reports.

Earlier this month, Chinese firm Niannian Youyu (Fishforever) chartered a Boeing 747 carrying 50 metric tons of fresh Norwegian salmon from Oslo, Norway into Tianjin, China, Seafood Guide reported. Developed by the Fish Group, the “Norwegian-Tianjin Salmon Charter Intercontinental Regular Route” is expected to be used twice a week to fly Norwegian salmon to China, carrying from 50 to 100 metric tons per shift, the website said.

Avinor, Norway’s state-owned operator of civil airports, confirmed on 18 January that Slovakian air cargo company Air Cargo Global had begun flying Norwegian seafood to China in the first direct freighter flight between the two countries. The worldwide airfreight company said it aims to route Norwegian seafood from Oslo to Tianjin, a coastal metropolis in northern China, on Thursdays and Saturdays.

“We aim to step up to three weekly departures from March, if the market responds well to the increased capacity,” Peter Scholten, chief commercial officer of Air Cargo Global, said in a press release.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

USDA confirms major US pollock purchase

January 25, 2019 — A USD 30 million (EUR 26.5 million) commitment from the United States government to buy Alaska Pollock will help mitigate the effects of the U.S.-China trade war on producers.

Due to the U.S. government shutdown, the U.S. Department of Agriculture notified the Association of Genuine Alaska Pollock Producers (GAPP) via phone that it will soon publish a solicitation so that Alaska pollock suppliers can bid on USD 30 million worth of deliveries to food banks across the country.

The USD 30 million solicitation is in addition to the USD 7.6 million (EUR 6.7 million) that USDA is already purchasing to support the National School Lunch Program, GAPP CEO Craig Morris said.

Morris said the purchase was a win for the U.S. pollock sector.

“We should be really proud that people who are in need are going to get a really nutritious product, and it is great for our industry, which has had challenging times,” Morris said. “There is a lot of demand for our product and this announcement … shows that we are going to have even more demand than a couple of days ago.”

Last fall Alaska legislators pushed for the USD 30 million (EUR 26.5 million) purchase to help offset losses from the U.S.- China trade war, and the news is finally official.

Read the full story at Seafood Source