March 3, 2020 — The following was released by the Pacific Fishery Management Council:
The March Council meeting will be conducted as planned.
There are no Federal restrictions for domestic travel related to COVID-19; the CDC has issued guidelines which we will monitor for updates.
For further information:
See the March 3-9, 2020 Council meeting webpage for additional details/updates.
March 2, 2020 — Organizers for the upcoming Seafood Expo North America in Boston are encouraging attendees to follow a “no-contact, no-handshake policy” because of coronavirus concerns.
The Seafood Expo North America/Seafood Processing North America trade event — at the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center in the Seaport, from March 15 to 17 — will also have significantly fewer visitors from Asia because of the highly contagious disease.
“Due to travel restrictions into the United States, we are expecting to see an impact from Mainland China, which annually represents 5% of the combined visitor and exhibitor attendee base and 9% of the exhibit space,” a spokeswoman for the expo said in a statement. “Despite the situation, we have more than 1,100 companies that are still planning on exhibiting this March.”
About 80% of the expo visitors come from the U.S., Canada and Mexico.
March 2, 2020 — China is unleashing a new wave of subsidies to bolster the seafood sector, as it struggles with closed factories and migrant workers stranded far away from their workplaces due to fallout from the COVID-19 coronavirus.
China is waiving taxes and payments to seafood buyers who take up the supply sitting in the country’s aquaculture ponds, and the powerful Export Import Bank has offered up to CNY 1.5 billion (USD 210 million, EUR 195 million) in loans to distant-water fishing firms and processors in Fujian Province as a way to prop up the sector.
February 28, 2020 — The ongoing outbreak of COVID-19, commonly known as the coronavirus, is expected to have a long-term impact on China’s seafood sector as everything from aquaculture to processing is being affected by labor shortages and wary Chinese consumers.
The Chinese government has mounted a major propaganda offensive this week to convince seafood processing factories to recommence work, with good news stories appearing in local media nationwide of workers arriving back at factories.
February 28, 2020 — Diversified Communications, the company that organizes Seafood Expo North America/Seafood Processing North America (SENA) each year, said it is prepared for potential impacts to the event caused by COVID-19, commonly known as coronavirus.
The Expo, which will take place from 15 to 17 March, has been the subject of speculation regarding the coronavirus, which originated in Wuhan, China in December 2019. Rumors that the Expo could be cancelled, or that the event has been heavily impacted, are ”simply not true,” according to Mary Larkin, president, Diversified Communications USA.
February 26, 2020 — There will be a lot of waving going on at Seafood Expo North America in Boston next month. Diversified Communications, the organizers of the Boston Seafood Show, released yet another update for attendees and exhibitors who are concerned about the coronavirus and the upcoming event.
The latest recommendation from Diversified? “No-contact, no-handshake policy.”
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.
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.
February 19, 2020 — Thai Union has sent more than 52,000 cans of King Oscar tuna as humanitarian assistance to Wuhan, the city currently at the center of the COVID-19/coronavirus outbreak in China, Thai Union said in a statement on 14 February.
The value of the shipments was not provided.
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.