Saving Seafood

Coronavirus has Americans hooked on canned tuna, and producers are playing catch up

July 15, 2020 — Tuna fish has surged in popularity thanks to pantry loading during the coronavirus pandemic, but producers of the canned fish are dealing with higher prices and other challenges that are making it difficult to keep up with the increased demand.

Americans have been buying more canned tuna during the economic downturn, in part because it is one of the cheapest proteins on the market, costing as little as $1 for a 5-ounce can. Bumble Bee Foods said sales of canned and pouched tuna jumped as much as 100% from mid-March to early April, while Costco Wholesale Corp. put limits earlier this year on how many tuna containers a customer could purchase.

Even after the initial feeding frenzy, canned tuna producers say sales for these products have remained significantly higher than a year earlier.

Companies have been able to keep retail prices steady for tuna so far, even though average wholesale prices for tuna were up 41% from a year earlier in the year through May after reaching decade lows late last year, according to data from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

Prices vary depending on where the fish is bought. Skipjack tuna purchased in Bangkok cost $1,200 a metric ton in June, up 14% from December 2019 but down from a peak of $1,500 in March, according to data from Thai Union Group, a global seafood-based food producer that owns the Chicken of the Sea canned tuna brand.

Read the full story at Fox Business

Pandemic’s effect on global seafood industry demand and pricing will be long-lasting, report says

July 8, 2020 — The global seafood industry will experience lasting impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic, including reduced demand and pricing.

That is the conclusion of the State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture report produced every two years by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the only report that tracks global fisheries and food trends.

This year it included a special focus on the pandemic which has toppled seafood markets and supply chains around the world. The report forecasts that global seafood production will be down 1.7 percent (6.6 billion pounds) and the trade value of seafood will decrease by nearly $6 billion.

Of that, wild capture fisheries are projected to decrease by 2 percent (nearly 4.2 billion pounds), while aquaculture production is expected to decrease by 1.4 percent (2.6 million pounds).

Read the full story at the Anchorage Daily News

BRIAN PERKINS: A new wave of sustainable seafood to feed generations to come

July 6, 2020 — Seafood is having a moment.

Fish, especially canned and frozen options, increasingly have become a go-to choice for Americans during the pandemic as they stock their pantries and freezers; seek out new immune-boosting meal ideas; and look for alternatives to meat due to shortages and health concerns over meat processing. For example, U.S. shelf-stable tuna sales were up 31.2 percent over last year in March, according to Nielsen data.

While increased seafood consumption may be good short-term news for the U.S. seafood industry, it also is combating other major challenges, such as severely decreased foodservice and export business due to the pandemic. We must look at the flexibility and long-term viability of the seafood industry globally to prepare for the long-term implications of the current crisis.

Earlier this month, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) released its “The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2020” (SOFIA) report, which indicates more than a third of fisheries (34.2 percent) globally are operating at unsustainable levels. Compare that to 10 percent in 1990, and it becomes an abundantly clear global issue we must quickly and sustainably address, even as the industry is plagued with pandemic challenges.

While these numbers seem perilous, efforts by the U.N., the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), fisheries and conscious consumers already have led to stock recoveries for skipjack tuna, Alaskan pollock and Atlantic cod. The industry must look to these examples to enact changes that will ensure seafood is around for generations to come.

Read the full opinion piece at GreenBiz

China demanding safety guarantees from trading partners, food exporters

June 23, 2020 — The General Administration of Customs China (GACC) has written to the food safety agencies of most of its main trading partners to officially request assurances that food processing establishments eligible to export to China follow measures to prevent any COVID-19 contamination of food products during food production.

Additionally, U.S. seafood companies have gotten a form from customers in China requiring them to sign a declaration stating their compliance with Chinese laws, regulations, and standards and the COVID-19 guidance for food businesses published by the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Health Organization to ensure that food imported into China is not contaminated with the COVID-19 virus. The FAO and WHO have both declined to make any link between COVID transmission and seafood.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

National Fisheries Institute Statement on the Safety of Seafood from the United States

June 22, 2020 — The following was released by the National Fisheries Institute:

Seafood from America is safe.  The World Health Organization, United National Food and Agriculture Organization, and all major national food safety agencies report there is no connection between seafood and COVID-19.  Simply stated, people cannot get COVID-19 from eating seafood.  Specific to imported seafood that Chinese families enjoy, experts at the Chinese National Health Commission stated, “There’s no evidence so far showing salmon are the origin or intermediate hosts of the coronavirus.”

Consumers in China and in other countries should be aware that seafood portioned and prepared in America must comply with the rules and regulations of the United States Food and Drug Administration to ensure safe food.  Importantly, the systems that seafood companies in the United States have implemented for more than 20 years now serve as a model for other countries and foods.  Companies must also keep their workers safe by following the directives of the United States’ Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
 
Since the onset of COVID-19, members of the National Fisheries Institute, the major seafood trade association in the United States and many of whose members export American seafood to China, have also implemented the laws of numerous states, and the guidelines of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, industry  best practices, CODEX Alimentarius, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, and the World Health Organization, and the recommendations of academics and other public health experts. 
 
NFI member companies have strict protocols in place to prevent, detect, and isolate any spread of COVID-19 on their boats or in their processing plants, and follow sanitary transport rules to prevent contamination of seafood being exported to China.  American seafood remains safe and healthy for Chinese families.

FAO: COVID has highlighted seafood supply chain vulnerability

June 15, 2020 — COVID-19 has affected the fishing and aquaculture food supply chains like no other shock before, according to an addendum to the recently launched Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)’s SOFIA 2020 report.

“The protection measures taken by governments to contain the spread of the disease, while necessary, have impacted each step of the seafood supply chain, from fishing and aquaculture production to processing, transport, wholesale and retail marketing,” it said.

The addendum also claims that global fishing activity may have declined by around 6.5% and that more than 90% of small-scale fishers in the Mediterranean and Black Seas were forced to stop due to an inability to sell their catches — often exacerbated by falling prices — as a result of restrictions and labor shortages due to COVID-19.

On a webinar held by the organization on June 8, FAO’s director-general Qu Dongyu confirmed those findings and said the pandemic has also shown the need for accelerated efforts “to achieve sustainability at all levels, where fishery management is critically important”.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

FAO predicts lasting negative effects for seafood from COVID-19

June 11, 2020 — The biannual Food Outlook report from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, released earlier this month, is predicting that seafood will see lasting impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic, including reduced demand and pricing.

The report had a special focus this year in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has disrupted supply chains, forced the cancellation of industry trade events, and lead to widespread restaurant closures. This year’s report contains a special feature, analyzing whether or not the COVID-19 disruptions to supply chains will result in a global food shortage.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

UN: The world is producing and consuming more seafood, but overfishing remains rife

June 9, 2020 — Global seafood production reached a level of 179 million metric tons (MT) in 2018, with all but 23 million MT going to human consumption. Consequently, average consumption has crept up to 20.5 kilograms per capita, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) estimated in the 2020 edition of its biennial publication, “The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture,” released on 8 June.

In the SOFIA report, the U.N. body states that with a yearly growth rate of 3.1 percent, fish consumption has been outpacing both the world population expansion rate of 1.6 percent since 1961 and the 1.1 percent meat consumption rise.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

FAO releases latest State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture report

June 8, 2020 — The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations has released the latest addition of the biannual “State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture” report, a flagship publication in the United Nations’ “State of the World” series.

The 2020 edition of the publication is devoted to “Sustainability in Action” as the organization continues to focus on meeting Sustainable Development Goals established back in 2015. Comprised of 17 separate actionable goals, the current progress, according to the FAO, hasn’t been fast enough.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

FAO report analyzes climate patterns’ impact on the seafood industry

May 15, 2020 — Climate patterns across various ocean regions have impacted the production, survival, and performance of fish, fisheries, and aquaculture – which in turn directly impacts the populations that rely on the resource for a living.

A new report published by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), in partnership with French National Research Institute for Sustainable Development (IRD France), says the events of El Niño and La Niña – which are recurring climate patterns made of warm and cool phases across the tropical Pacific, popularly known as the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) – “generally worsen the effects of climate change on fish, fisheries, and aquaculture.”

Read the full story at Seafood Source