Saving Seafood

National Fisheries Institute Statement on SIMP-Compliant Importers List

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

NOAA Fisheries has announced a new Seafood Import Monitoring Program component designed to highlight “Compliant Importers” and reduce the frequency of their audits. The SIMP-Compliant Importers List will be posted beginning in October of 2020.

NFI recognizes and appreciates efforts to improve efficiencies by reducing audits. Decreasing the number of audits for qualified importers, who maintain the detailed recordkeeping requirements of SIMP, is a more effective use of government resources and will hopefully reduce the burden on taxpayers.

NFI encourages NOAA to work on more efforts to streamline SIMP and reduce costs that are ultimately paid by consumers.

National Fisheries Institute Statement on FDA Food Traceability Proposed Rule

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

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has released its proposed rule for traceability and recordkeeping, along with a draft “Food Traceability List” that catalogues which products would be subject to the requirements.

The National Fisheries Institute (NFI) supports efforts to both modernize and advance food safety. The seafood community has been at the forefront of efforts to safeguard our safe and wholesome products as an early adapter of the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) system. This year, as the FDA moves towards an evolution in traceability, NFI’s members have proactively explored technologically enabled traceability through a Blockchain pilot to test its viability in a real seafood value chain.

We are currently reviewing the proposed rule and draft “Food Traceability List.” And as with any new regulatory structure, we are interested in ensuring there are no duplicative systems that would complicate the new traceability parameters.

An initial review of the draft “Food Traceability List,” from a seafood perspective, suggests a “one size fits all” approach; which may not be warranted. Just like with HACCP and other modern food safety efforts, a focus on a few critical points or products is a better use of energy and resources.

We are hopeful this proposal will help begin an orderly process that integrates modern supply chain traceability systems within a technologically advanced regulatory structure.

Seafood Industry Research Fund Announces the Ed Morey Memorial Fund

September 21, 2020 — The following was released by the National Fisheries Institute:

The Seafood Industry Research Fund (SIRF) Board of Directors has unanimously approved the formation of the Ed Morey, Founder, Morey’s Fish Company, Memorial Fund.

Ed Morey founded Morey’s Fish Company in 1937. Ed was a logger, farmer and baker who traded a load of sweetcorn for a load of seafood from a fisherman whose truck broke down in Ed’s hometown of Motley, Minnesota. As they say, the rest is history. In 1964, Morey’s became a true family business when Ed’s son, Loren, joined the operation. With Ed and Loren’s leadership, the business continued to expand and today Morey’s frozen and smoked fish and seafood can be found in retail stores and on dinner tables across the U.S.

Loren Morey served as the National Fisheries Institute (NFI) Chairman in 1985 and remained active in guiding NFI for many years. Loren chose to name it solely after his father, but with this new fund SIRF hopes to acknowledge the contributions of both Ed and Loren Morey and all they have done for NFI, SIRF, families in Motley, Minnesota, and the seafood industry broadly.

“Ed Morey’s history is a fascinating tale of hard work, innovation, and foresight,” said SIRF Chairman, Sean O’Scannlain, President and CEO of Fortune International. “Ed put seafood on the Midwest map, paving the way for companies like mine, also based far from any U.S. coastline.”

Loren generously donated $60,000 to the fund, and SIRF has already received interest from others to support the fund as well.

“Loren, like his father so often did, is looking to the future with a fund that will benefit the seafood community for years to come. Their generosity is a testament to the company and the family,” said O’Scannlain.

SIRF started as the Lewis Goldstein Memorial Fund in 1964, grew into the Fisheries Scholarship Fund during the 1980s and became the Seafood Industry Research Fund in 2012. 56 years and more than 50 funds later, this important research support mechanism is proud to welcome the Ed Morey Memorial Fund.

To find out how you can contribute, please email Geraldine Espejo gespejo@NFI.org.

Seafood2030 investigates pre-competitive collaborations for new issue brief series installment

August 21, 2020 — Seafood2030 has published the second volume in its issue brief series, “How Collaborative Leadership is Turning Seafood into the Protein of the Future.”

The new issue brief looks at the growing influence of pre-competitive collaborations in seafood and how such a strategy is helping seafood become more competitive in global protein markets.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Seafood could be casualty in escalating US trade spat with EU

July 31, 2020 — US companies importing seafood into the United States from the European Union (EU) or United Kingdom may have to contend with an up to 100-percent tariff increase as part of a decades-long US World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute over subsidies given to Netherlands-based Airbus.

On July 26 the US Trade Representative (USTR) accepted its final comments for a proposal that $3.1 billion (€2.6 billion) worth of products, including seafood, be slapped with tariffs of up to 100 percent. The United Kingdom is also included as part of that list.

The USTR is set to make a decision on the tariffs in August.

The seafood products, which have been considered for previous tariff action but have avoided US tariffs so far, are from Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain Sweden and the United Kingdom.

Read the full story at IntraFish

New COVID-19 relief bill could help US seafood suppliers get paid

July 30, 2020 — Proposals for the next U.S. COVID-19 stimulus package are now being workshopped in the U.S. Senate, with food industry groups calling for changes and holding out hope that seafood suppliers will see reimbursement for unpaid invoices from foodservice buyers.

Legislators are negotiating several provisions of the “Health, Economic Assistance, Liability Protection and Schools (HEALS) Act,” HEALS Act, and the National Fisheries Institute, the U.S. seafood trade lobby, is optimistic that it will end up benefitting the seafood industry.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

NFI Statement on Rescheduling of the 2021 Global Seafood Market Conference

July 30, 2020 — The following was released by the National Fisheries Institute:

The National Fisheries Institute (NFI) has decided to reschedule the 2021 Global Seafood Market Conference (GSMC) from January to May as part of an effort to ensure attendees are able to join this important annual event.

Throughout the ongoing pandemic NFI has produced webinars on everything from COVID-19 market impacts to regulatory changes and value chain alterations. The success of these presentations and the significant attendance illustrate that members of the seafood community are hungry for detailed trend and data analysis, the hallmarks of the annual GSMC. While the digital space is an important platform, hour-long virtual meetings provide a limited experience compared to a full program.

Moving the conference allows NFI to continue to offer this event and provide much needed critical information during a time when there has been so much disruption in the market.

GSMC will be held 23 – 28 May 2021 at the Loews Coronado Bay Resort in Coronado, California and NFI will provide more details in the coming months.

US Chamber of Commerce, other industry groups sue Trump administration over foreign worker limits

July 24, 2020 — The U.S. Chamber of Commerce was joined by three industry groups and a technology company in a federal lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and State Department regarding the actions of the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump to curb foreign workers from entering the country, primarily via the H-1B visa program.

The lawsuit, filed Tuesday, 21 July, in the U.S. District Court in San Francisco, California, comes a month after Trump announced he was temporarily suspending several work visa programs as high unemployment rates due to the coronavirus pandemic left millions of Americans out of work.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Foodservice Associations, NFI Praise PLUS Act Aimed at COVID-19 Relief for Distributors

July 23, 2020 — Representatives Darin LaHood (R-IL) and Jimmy Panetta (D-CA) introduced the Providing Liquidity for Uncollectible Sales (PLUS) Act. The legislation, which provides a tax credit to offset uncollectable debt incurred due to COVID-19 shutdowns, received support from the United Fresh Produce Association, the International Food Distributors Association (IFDA), and National Fisheries Institute (NFI).

Shutdowns lead to significant losses in the foodservice distribution sector as restaurants and other entities were unable to pay distributors for products. According to the NFI, these losses piled up to over $12 billion, with seafood distributors noting that $2.2 billion in debt owed to them, produce noted a $5 billion tab and broadline distributors also saw a $5 billion number.

Read the full story at Seafood News