March 11, 2020 — Diversified Communications, the organizer of Seafood Expo North America/Seafood Processing North America, is conducting a survey to determine its customers’ preferences for when the postponed event should take place.
Originally scheduled to take place from 15 to 17 March, the event was postponed on 3 March due to the outbreak of COVID-19.
March 10, 2020 — The following was released by Diversified Communications:
Dear Seafood Community,
Diversified Communications has made the very difficult decision that, due to the magnitude of the unanticipated public health and safety issues posed by the rapidly escalating COVID-19 outbreaks and contagion, we have no choice but to postpone the upcoming edition of Seafood Expo Global and Seafood Processing Global, which was planned to take place on 21-23 April 2020 at the Brussels Expo in Belgium. The Belgium government has affirmed the risk the outbreak poses with its issuance today of advice to cancel indoor events with more than 1,000 people to contain the spread of the new coronavirus. In order to preserve business continuity for our community, we will inform you directly of the new 2020 dates by no later than 18 March 2020 and will post the dates on our website as well.
Please look for important follow up communications from Diversified with logistical details relating to the rescheduled event. We understand that you may have further questions; if so, please continue to reach us at info-global@seafoodexpo.com. We thank you in advance for your patience as we try to respond to each of you in a timely manner.
We value the support of everyone involved in the making of this event our vendors, the local authorities, the venue and, most of all, our partners, friends and customers in the seafood industry. We are looking forward to getting this strong seafood community back together in the near future. Until then, we send heartfelt thoughts to those who are affected by COVID-19.
Liz Plizga
Group Vice President
Diversified Communications
March 10, 2020 — Seattle, Washington, U.S.A. and its surrounding areas have emerged as the epicenter of the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak within the United States, with 136 of the country’s 545 reported cases reported there as of the morning of Sunday, 8 March, according to the Washington Department of Health.
The resulting public health crisis has led to a severe decline in seafood exports to China, where the virus originated late last year. Seattle Shellfish, which produces geoduck for export to China, has laid off more than 35 of 60 employees hired just two months ago in January.
March 9, 2020 — Like other commercial fishermen along the east and west coasts, Ethan Wallace had been waiting 18 months for China — the world’s largest importer of live lobster — to lift its crushing retaliatory tariffs on American seafood that had whittled down his profits.
This week, that moment came: Beijing started allowing Chinese businesses to apply for tariff exemptions. But for Mr. Wallace, it no longer mattered.
Tariffs or not, no one in China is buying. The coronavirus outbreak meant the Lunar New Year banquets and wedding parties that feature a fresh lobster on every plate, a symbol of good fortune, were canceled. In several cities, restaurants are shuttered and public indoor gatherings are prohibited. And even if they weren’t, many of the planes that ferry live lobsters aren’t flying to China.
“Boom! Coronavirus,” said Mr. Wallace, 28, after he had steered Piece of the Pie, his 43-foot Torres boat, into the Keys Fisheries marina in Marathon. Although the season continues through the end of March, he and his crew that day took home more lobster traps than pounds of lobster from the Gulf of Mexico.
March 9, 2020 — Alaska’s major economic sectors are trying to find the best way to monitor and respond to the impact of the global spread of COVID-19, the novel coronavirus first documented in Wuhan, China, in December.
While China is a significant trade partner with Alaska, regardless of whether the virus shows up in Alaska, it could disrupt the state’s most significant financial drivers. With billions of dollars at stake, Alaska’s fishing, tourism, and oil and gas industries are in an awkward position between knowns and unknowns as they prep for how the virus will impact their businesses.
The Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport is staying ready with round-the-clock mopping, wiping, and scrubbing.
“Our materials and our methods that we use here are designed to stop the spread of communicable disease in the airport. Whether it’s coronavirus or influenza or rotavirus or norovirus — all of those — we are always trying to keep the airport clean and safe,” airport manager Jim Szczesniak told KTUU.
The cleaning work is an investment in keeping goods and people moving through the airport, a global hub. Eighty percent of all air cargo from Asia to North America stops at the airport, and just under six million people pass through its terminals each year, many over the summer.
Vacationers bring about $4.5 billion into Alaska each year.
Among them: 1.4 million cruise ship passengers.
March 9, 2020 — In the wake of coronavirus-related cases and mortalities increasing in the United States, Americans are already staying home more and eating out less.
Reports of “panic buying” hand sanitizers, toilet paper, cold and flu medicines, and other products are prolific. Many Americans have shifted to buying non-perishable foods to stock their pantries (such as fruit snacks and oat milk, according to Nielsen) – a move that bodes well for canned and shelf-stable seafood suppliers.
March 5, 2020 — Infofish has decided to postpone TUNA 2020, its tuna conference in Bangkok, Thailand, due to concern about the outbreak of COVID-19.
The 16th edition of the World Tuna Trade Conference & Exhibition, which was scheduled to take place from 27 to 29 May this year, will be rescheduled to ensure the health of attendees, the organizer said in a statement.
March 4, 2020 — Out of concerns about the coronavirus, the 40th edition of Seafood Expo North America/Seafood Processing North America, scheduled to take place March 15-17 in Boston, has been postponed, organizers announced Tuesday.
The event, which brings together seafood buyers and suppliers from all over the world, was to have been held at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center, but media company Diversified Communications said in a news release that “After many weeks of monitoring the evolving situation around COVID-19 and evaluating the full spectrum of feedback we received among hundreds of calls and emails, we have decided that the (Expo) … will not take place in March and is postponed while we look at other options.”
The release went on to say that the decision was difficult “because of the major importance of this event to the industry. We heard from those of you who were concerned about health, safety and travel restrictions, and given the short time before the scheduled event date, and upcoming logistics, we have determined that postponement at this time is unavoidable.”
March 3, 2020 — Seafood coming from and going to China is piling up in freezer vans and cold storages indefinitely as the coronavirus continues to cause commerce chaos around the world.
Virus precautions mean that many ships can’t get into Chinese ports, others are stuck at docks waiting for workers to return, and still more are idling in “floating quarantined zones,” as countries refuse to allow crews of ships that have docked at Chinese ports to leave the boat until they have been declared virus-free.
Alaska seafood exports to China of nearly $1 billion include products for their own markets, but the bulk goes there for reprocessing and shipment back to the United States and other countries.
“If you have plants that have product coming in and no workers to fill it, you’re going to get that overflowing cold storage situation. So it’s definitely a problem on the reprocessing side. On the consumption side, if people aren’t going out to eat and going out to the market to buy seafood, that’s going to take consumption down as well. So there’s a couple different ways that it’s working against moving seafood through the supply chain,” said Andy Wink, director of the Bristol Bay Regional Seafood Development Association and an economist who has tracked world salmon markets for more than a decade.
March 3, 2020 — Seafood Expo North America/Seafood Processing North America, scheduled to take place 15 to 17 March in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A., has been postponed by the event’s organizer, Diversified Communications.
The decision was made on 3 March in response to growing concerns over the global COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, according to Diversified Communications Group Vice President Liz Plizga.