Saving Seafood

Mixed signals jumble outlook for China’s seafood market

June 29, 2021 — China’s seafood market has been a jumble of mixed signals, with import volumes recovering but prices remaining soft.

In a recent financial update, Singapore-based high-end seafood restaurant chain Jumbo Seafood announced its intention to open more restaurants in China, after posting a strong performance in mainland China in the first five months of 2021. The company currently operates restaurants in five Chinese cities, but had pulled back from expansion in China due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Food Safety: Seafood links with traceability and transparency

April 16, 2021 — Demand for seafood at the retail grocery level has soared during the pandemic, as stay-at-home chefs desperate for variety realize that they really can cook fish at home —it’s not a restaurant-only proposition.

That increase in demand has shown a spotlight on three aspects of the seafood industry that are closely related: food safety, traceability and transparency.

All three are at the top of the agenda for the seafood industry in Norway, said Anne-Kristine Øen, US director of the Norwegian Seafood Council.

It’s hard to talk about one, she said, without bringing in the others.

“The topics are strongly interconnected in the sense that the consumer is increasingly aware of the origin of the food on their plate, and they want to be able to find out its journey and origin story. Consumers depend on trustworthy and easily accessible sources of information.”

The Norwegian seafood industry, many of whose products wind up in US grocery stores, enjoy the support of strong systems that secure tight control quality and safety, Øen said. The Norwegian system for catch information, the internal control systems and HACCP plans for the various production plants all provide details on the fish, its journey and the sustainability efforts that were in place to raise and catch the fish.

Read the full story at Supermarket Perimeter

Norwegian salmon prices fall as shuttered restaurant trade takes its toll

February 9, 2021 — Norway’s seafood exports fell by a double-digit percentage in January 2021 compared to 2020, largely the result of ongoing downturns related to COVID-19.

Norway exported NOK 8.1 billion (USD 941.5 million, EUR 786.1 million) worth of seafood products last month, some 16 percent or NOK 1.6 billion (USD 185.8 million, EUR 155.3 million) less than it sold to overseas markets in January 2020, with reduced demand for salmon accounting for much of the downturn. Reduced exports of trout and fresh cod compared to the record month of January 2020 also contributed to the lower earnings.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Norway’s seafood exporters have near-record year despite COVID challenges

January 6, 2021 — Despite the ongoing challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, Norwegian seafood exporters managed to have a near-record year of sales.

Norway exported 2.7 million metric tons (MT) of seafood products worth NOK 105.7 billion (USD 12.6 billion, EUR 10.2 billion) last year, the second-highest trade value ever achieved by the Scandinavian country, falling just 1 percent short of 2019’s record.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Norwegian Seafood Council, EAT team up for UN food summit

December 28, 2020 — The Norwegian Seafood Council (NSC) and non-profit EAT have entered into a partnership to promote the increased consumption of sustainable seafood ahead of a United Nations summit on future food systems.

Oslo, Norway-based EAT describes itself as a science-based global platform for food system transformation. It was created through funding from the Stordalen Foundation, the Stockholm Resilience Center, and the Wellcome Trust.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Exports crashing, Norway vows to maintain seafood supply

March 23, 2020 — Seafood producers in Norway, spanning both the wild-capture fisheries and aquaculture sectors, will strive to maintain supplies to domestic and overseas markets, with borders and air freight routes remaining open for the transport of goods, the country’s government has said.

Norway has taken drastic steps to halt the spread of COVID-19, with schools, cinemas, restaurants and bars told to close and citizens encouraged to stay at home as much as possible. However, the Norwegian Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Fisheries issued a formal letter on 14 March identifying the value chain supporting food production and delivery as critical functions to society.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Millions of Salmon in Norway Killed by Algae Bloom

May 24, 2019 — About eight million farmed salmon have suffocated in northern Norway over the past week as a result of persistent algae bloom, an industry body estimated on Thursday, a blight that some experts suggest has been aggravated by climate change.

Norway is a dominant producer of farmed salmon, and the economic impact of the bloom is significant.

A statement from the Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries estimated the amount of salmon lost at 11,600 metric tons, worth about 720 million kroner, or more than $82 million. An industry group, the Norwegian Seafood Council, suggested the total could be much higher.

“Preliminary numbers point to eight million dead fish — corresponding to 40,000 metric tons of salmon that won’t reach markets,” Dag Sorli, a spokesman for the council, said in an email on Thursday. He put the value of the losses at 2.2 billion kroner.

Read the full story at The New York Times

Norwegian Seafood Council rep: Industry must “raise voice” about plant-based imitation seafood products

April 8, 2019 — There is a growing appetite among younger consumers, particularly millennials, for food and seafood that has an authentic story to tell, according to the Norwegian Seafood Council (NSC), which has been working directly with American consumers in recent years – through various focus groups – to understand what drives and deters modern seafood purchasing.

With the primary aim of helping Norwegian fisheries and the country’s aquaculture industry to develop new markets, NSC has been keeping a pulse on the consumption trends dominating in the United States, and has found that when it comes to seafood and other proteins, a good origin story can go a long way.

“Origin matters for the end-consumers,” Egil Ove Sundheim, the U.S. director of NSC, explained to SeafoodSource.

This seems especially so for millennials, the generation responsible for overhauling the ways in which food and mealtimes are experienced, and the demographic set to acquire the majority of purchasing power within the next decade, Sundheim said.

“In five, seven, 10 years, [millennials] will be the most important purchasers of food, as they start to build families,” he said.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Record first-quarter revenues for Norway’s seafood exporters, but volume plummets

April 4, 2019 — Norway exported 640,000 metric tons (MT) of fisheries and aquaculture products worth a record NOK 25.6 billion (USD 3 billion, EUR 2.7 billion) in the first quarter of this year. While the volume represented a decline of 18 percent, the value was 7 percent or NOK 1.8 billion (USD 210.6 million, EUR 187.3 million), higher than in the corresponding period of 2018.

The Norwegian Seafood Council (NSC) highlighted that the volume drop would be just 2 percent if the pelagic category is excluded from the statistics.

“The volume decline in the pelagic category is due to lack of capelin this year, in addition to delays in the reporting of blue whiting from direct landings abroad,” Paul Aandahl, analyst with the NSC, said.

Fellow NSC analyst Ingrid Pettersen confirmed that the value of seafood exports in the first quarter reached a record high, and this was mainly driven by increased prices for some of the country’s most important species.

“There are good, stable market conditions, increased demand in our key markets, and a weak Norwegian kroner against both the U.S. dollar and the euro sets a record price for seafood exports,” she said.

The Scandinavian country exported 247,000 MT of salmon with a value of NOK 16.7 billion (USD 2 billion, EUR 1.7 billion) in Q1 2019, with the volume and value up 1 percent and 7 percent respectively year-on-year. The average price for fresh whole salmon through the quarter was NOK 68.78 (USD 8.05, EUR 7.16) per kilogram, up from NOK 67.45 (USD 7.89, EUR 7.02).

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Norway’s Per Sandberg provides post-Brexit insight for the seafood sector

February 6, 2017 — Britain’s seafood industry will be radically transformed once it uncouples from the EU Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), with much more emphasis placed on establishing management agreements and eradicating trade barriers, according to Per Sandberg, the Norwegian Minister of Fisheries.

Sandberg, who has now held the minister position for 30 months, was in London to discuss his country’s fisheries management with delegates at a new whitefish conference organized by the Norwegian Seafood Council (NSC). In his speech, he shared tales of his experiences working alongside the CFP from the perspective of being a non-E.U. member state.

“Being outside the CFP has naturally had an effect on how fisheries management has developed in Norway,” he said. “Although we have a good record of cooperation with the EU, being outside opens the door to more adaptive fisheries management. For instance, if we find that a measure is not having a desired effect, we can just change it without lengthy procedures. This makes our decision making process simpler and more transparent.”

Sandburg also addressed Brexit and how it will affect Norway.

Read the full story at SeafoodSource.com