March 30, 2020 — U.S. seafood suppliers are working to quickly shift from foodservice to retail and direct-to-consumer channels as they deal with the immediate impact of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) on their businesses.
Filer, Idaho-based Riverence Holdings LLC, which acquired farmed trout producer Clear Springs Foods in February, is realizing a significant loss in business due to its heavy focus on the foodservice sector, according to Riverence Director of Communications Gabe Watkins.
March 30, 2020 — The region’s fishermen are looking toward an uncertain future with portions of their markets disappearing as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, but for now, most are still going on with business as usual.
Since the fishing industry was deemed part of the food supply chain, it is allowed to keep operating as an essential service under Gov. Charlie Baker’s stay-at-home advisory.
“Immediate impacts have been minimal,” scalloper Eric Hansen said Thursday. “The market is a little bit depressed but nothing crazy. My bigger concern is the future, what’s going to happen in the next couple of months.”
The market depression was caused by limitations placed on restaurants, which have caused the restaurants to either close or limit their offerings.
March 30, 2020 — The Donna Marie was at sea when Gov. Charlie Baker closed restaurants to all but takeout food March 14 to help slow the spread of the new coronavirus.
Owner Chris King called his 60-foot steel fishing vessel and the captain reported he had fish and lobsters onboard. They were able to sell those off, including a fire sale of lobster the next day at King’s fish market in Orleans. They then switched the boat over to scallop gear for the opening of that season April 1.
When restaurants shut down almost overnight, the Cape Cod and New England fishing industry scrambled to adapt. Switching to another fishery won’t be enough to weather this crisis, as the price paid to fishermen tumbled like the stock market in recent weeks.
Industry leaders on a March 20 conference call with state Division of Marine Fisheries Acting Director Daniel McKiernan estimated that 70% of all seafood sold in Massachusetts is consumed in restaurants. Especially hard-hit were the “luxury” seafood species such as lobster, scallops, swordfish and tuna favored by diners.
“They are collapsing. It’s real,” Keith Decker, CEO of New Bedford-based Blue Harvest Fisheries, said of prices. “This is having a profound impact on the seafood industry.”
March 27, 2020 — Ninety Nine Restaurant and Pub, a Woburn, Massachusetts-based chain with 105 locations, has upped its commitment to haddock in its summer menu, and that’s good news for Blue Harvest Fisheries, the Gloucester (Massachusetts) Times reports.
The chain will buy 750,000 pounds of fresh haddock landed in Gloucester and another 2.25 million lbs of frozen haddock, according to the article, which reports that the combined 3m lbs is roughly 20% of the haddock caught commercially in New England and the rest of the United States.
Much of the fish is now being caught in the Gulf of Maine by vessels previously owned by harvester Jim Odlin, from Portland, Maine, landed in Gloucester, and then trucked to Blue Harvest’s recently built New Bedford processing facility, according to the article. Previously the fish was provided by Gloucester Seafood Processing, a subsidiary of US seafood importer and wholesaler Mazzetta.
March 25, 2020 — Blue Harvest Fisheries, a New Bedford, Massachusetts-based groundfish and scallop harvester and processor that’s recently gone through some considerable expansion, is following the coronavirus-related advice of the consumer survey giant Nielsen Company.
It’s promoting itself in New England as a vertically integrated company and a local source of seafood.
Many retailers and foodservice companies in the eastern US have opted for imported fresh seafood from Iceland and Norway, or previously frozen product from Iceland, Norway or China in recent years, Blue Harvest noted in a press release issued Tuesday, adding:
“But right here in our local New England waters, we have a tremendous natural resource that is underfished and underutilized in our haddock, ocean perch, and Atlantic pollock stocks. Given the proximity of these stocks to our harbors, markets and transportation infrastructure, there is no risk of supply interruption from disruption of air transport from Europe, or ocean transport of twice-frozen product from China. And there is no risk of reduced availability and resulting price increases from a lack of air freight capacity.”
March 25, 2020 — The International Seafood Buyers Luncheon, which for years has showcased the city’s fishing industry and seafood processing plants, has been cancelled due to concerns about the coronavirus.
It is one of the first cancellations locally due to the infectious disease first identified in Wuhan, China at the end of last year which has since spread across the globe.
One SouthCoast Chamber posted the cancellation on its website, and Ian Abreu, manager of business development and small business engagement at the Chamber and a New Bedford City Council, confirmed it was due to concerns about the coronavirus. The New Bedford event had been scheduled for Friday. Rick Kidder, co-chief executive officer, did not return calls for comment.
The cancellation of the New Bedford luncheon and tour is a trickle-down effect after the postponement of the Seafood Expo North America/Seafood Processing North America, scheduled to be held March 15-17 in Boston, because of concern over the coronavirus, according to Edward Anthes-Washburn, executive director of the Port of New Bedford.
Typically, some 40 to 50 buyers would come to New Bedford, get an overview of the city’s port, enjoy a luncheon and tour five or six seafood processing plants, he said. This would have been the 15th year New Bedford has hosted the event.
March 5, 2020 — New Bedford, Massachusetts-based seafood supplier Northern Wind is launching a new line of culinary-inspired seafood products under its Bon Cuisine brand this month.
Sixteen offerings comprise the latest Bon Cuisine line, including Zucchini & Smoked Salmon Fritters, Spinach & Cheese Salmon Kiev, Salmon En Croute, Pre-fried Crab Bites, Raw Garlic Butter Shrimp Skewers, Pre-Fried Shrimp Zucchini Fritters, and a Hoki Fish Taco Kit. Catering to consumer demand for adventurous flavors and ready-to-cook convenience, the new range “offers customers a trendy restaurant quality seafood option,” Northern Wind explained in a 2 March press release.
February 28, 2020 — Fresh from its acquisition of a dozen groundfish vessels, Blue Harvest Fisheries is rolling out a new line of branded retail products to be sold quick frozen and packaged in 16-ounce re-closable bags.
The new products, which include wild-caught Atlantic scallops, pollock, ocean perch and haddock, arrive just in time to be showcased at the Boston, Massachusetts, seafood show.
Blue Harvest, which is based in New Bedford, Massachusetts, 59 miles south of the city hosting Seafood Expo North America, March 15-17, says its new offerings meet “the growing demand by consumers for all-natural, sustainably caught and locally harvested wild seafood”. They are to be sourced from Marine Stewardship Council-certified fisheries “in local US waters” and “100% traceable from fleet to table”.
And even better, they are to be processed in the US, as Blue Harvest plans to rely on its newly completed SQF-certified, 160,000 square foot plant on New Bedford’s waterfront. The company spent millions to build the facility, which comes with six high-capacity processing lines, direct offload capability, two cold storage areas and 700 feet of dock space.
February 27, 2020 — Several boats once owned by disgraced fishing mogul Carlos Rafael, infamous in the region for being nicknamed the “Codfather,” will once again set sail, thanks to new management.
Blue Harvest Fisheries has bought several of the boats that became disused due to Rafael’s conviction for ignoring fishing quotas and limits, as well as smuggling profits overseas. Rafael was sentenced to four years in prison and can never run a fishing operation ever again.
The company says its acquisition will help keep locals employed on the New Bedford waterfront and maintain the tradition that made it the Whaling City for generations of fishermen.
“Our goal here is to create jobs and opportunities for New England fisheries,” Blue Harvest CEO Keith Decker said. “Everyone, in general, is very excited about what this means to the greater New Bedford area.”
February 25, 2020 — According to NOAA’s Fisheries of the United States report for 2018, New Bedford is once again the port with the highest value of seafood landed. This is the 19th consecutive year that the Massachusetts port has held the title.
For 2018, New Bedford’s value of seafood landed totaled $431 million. The port truly leads the pack when it comes to value. In the number two spot is Naknek, Alaska, with an overall value of 195 million pounds, which isn’t even half of the value of New Bedford – and Naknek lands 77 million more pounds of seafood than New Bedford.