February 24, 2021 — U.S. retail sales are expected to continue to grow this year, according to a new estimate from the National Retail Federation (NRF).
Overall retail sales will rise between 6.5 percent and 8.2 percent to more than USD 4.33 trillion (EUR 3.5 trillion) in 2021 as COVID-19 vaccinations increase and the economy reopens, the NRF said in its 2021 forecast.
February 23, 2021 — The massive and remote Trident Seafoods plant at Akutan resumed some processing Friday, nearly a month after a fast-spreading coronavirus outbreak forced the company to halt operations.
The Alaska plant, perched at the edge of the Bering Sea near the tiny village of about 100 people, is the largest seafood processing facility in North America. Four COVID-19 cases first reported by the company in mid-January quickly expanded in close quarters. Ultimately, more than 40% of 706 workers tested positive.
Now there are two positive cases at the plant, a company spokesman said Monday. Those workers are isolated on site.
February 23, 2021 — Faroe Islands-headquartered Bakkafrost Group saw decreased earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) in the fourth quarter, due in large part to the depressed global market for salmon.
Bakkafrost Group delivered total operational earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) of DKK 88.5 million (USD 14.5 million, EUR 11.9 million) in the fourth quarter of 2020, down from DKK 415.3 million (USD 67.9 million, EUR 55.8 million) in the corresponding period of 2019, with large volumes and reduced demand contributing to the downturn.
February 22, 2021 — The North Pacific Fishery Management Council (NPFMC) sent Emergency Rule requests to NOAA Fisheries on halibut and sablefish license requirements for the second year in a row due to the pandemic, while reviewing several reports related to climate change: the Bering Sea FEP Plan Team report, the Climate Change Taskforce (CCTF) workplan, an update from the Local Knowledge, Traditional Knowledge and Subsistence (LKTKS) Taskforce, and a report from the Ecosystem Committee.
The request to modify transfer provisions in the halibut and sablefish individual fishing quota (IFQ) fishery was the same as last years, which accommodates restrictions in place due to COVID-19 travel constraints and health and safety mandates.
February 22, 2021 — The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is partnering with the University of Florida to launch a phone survey to measure the impacts of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic on the region’s commercial and for-hire fishing industry.
The project aims to specifically measure economic impacts on individual businesses over the 2020 calendar year, said NOAA.
The study is a follow-up to a survey conducted in summer 2020 that measured the impacts of the first half of the year.
According to that year’s survey, the regional fishing industry suffered broad declines.
The results of that survey can be found here.
February 22, 2021 — Despite the myriad of challenges that COVID-19 has caused restaurant operators, Captain D’s plans to open several new restaurants in 2021.
At the same time, Captain D’s President and CEO Phil Greifeld told SeafoodSource said he expects his company to have to pay more for the seafood it purchases.
February 22, 2021 — The administration of U.S. President Joe Biden is attempting to steer more Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) funding to America’s small businesses.
In a 22 February announcement, the White House said it will open a special 14-day period, beginning Wednesday, 24 February, during which time only businesses with fewer than 20 employees may apply for PPP relief.
February 22, 2021 — At the beginning of the pandemic and over 1,000 miles from New Bedford, Britt St. George and Madison Lees quarantined in Florida with their father, John Lees, founder of Mar-Lees Seafood and current president of New England Marine; their mother; and their significant others, Zack St. George and Edward Smith.
It was a time in which scallops were a part of nearly every conversation, Madison Lees said, and not just because their father is in the business. It was because the family business was growing.
Zack St. George and Smith are the guys behind The Scallop Guys, a new direct-to-consumer business selling scallops caught by Lees’ five New Bedford-based vessels.
Zack St. George, 30, said the pandemic gave them the extra motivation and time they needed to finally plan and launch the idea they’ve had for years.
They also figured it would be the perfect time to sell scallops directly to consumers online as restaurants were either closed or running at limited capacity, he said.
“Now or never, now is the time to do it,” Smith, 27, said.
February 19, 2021 — Not unlike its effect on humans, the pandemic’s impact on the seafood industry has been variable, erratic, often devastating. The first symptoms appeared long before Covid-19 gained a stronghold on U.S. shores, as China went into its first lockdown and a critical export market disappeared overnight—seafood processors and dealers in Maine saw international demand for lobsters temporarily vanish. Then as social distancing rules kicked in here, another major organ of the U.S. supply chain—restaurants, where most seafood purchases are made—fell limp. Then Covid outbreaks at processing plants caused the system to further buckle, leaving many fishermen with nowhere to sell their catch. Prices for many species plummeted. Some fishers gave up for the season, leaving boats tied up at the docks.
“It wasn’t worth it,” recalled Brian Pearce, a commercial fisherman based in Portland, Maine, who catches pollock, hake, and cod, and has barely fished since the pandemic started. “The price was to the point where you’re not going to make enough money.”
To many in the food industry, the pandemic’s impact has exposed the fundamental vulnerabilities of a system that has long favored efficiency over resilience. Like supply chains that draw products from many sources but are ultimately contingent on single outlets (e.g., export markets or restaurants). Or the fact that the majority of U.S.-caught seafood is exported to other countries, but—paradoxically—most seafood Americans eat is imported.
February 19, 2021 — In a rare joint statement, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have firmly stated that there is “no credible evidence” that COVID-19 can be transmitted from food or food packaging.
The statement comes over a year into the COVID-19 pandemic, and months after very early studies indicated that COVID-19 might be able to travel on food. China has been one country that has taken the potential threat seriously, with customs slowdowns for heightened inspections of seafood and complete import closures from COVID-19 impacted countries. The country even falsely linked imported salmon to COVID-19 after an outbreak was linked to the Xinfadi market in Beijing, spooking seafood shoppers.