Saving Seafood

New Jersey opens covid-19 assistance program for seafood processors

March 23, 2022 — New Jersey is using $826,807 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to reimburse the state’s seafood processors for covid-19-related costs that hit them in 2020 and 2021.

The NJ Seafood Processor Covid-19 Assistance Program is funded through USDA Seafood Processors Pandemic Response and Safety Block Grant Program, and follows the federal protocol for qualifying businesses for aid.

Eligible activities for reimbursement include:

• Workplace safety measures;

• Retrofit of facilities for worker and consumer safety;

• Market pivots;

• Medical costs associated with providing or purchasing COVID-19 testing.

The state Department of Environmental Protection’s Marine Fisheries Administration is working with the state health and agriculture departments to provide reimbursement to processors, including processing vessels and dealers, for pandemic-related costs between Jan. 27, 2020 and Dec. 31, 2021.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

 

Japan revokes Russia’s “most-favored nation” status

March 22, 2022 — Japan will follow America’s lead by revoking Russia’s most-favored-nation (MFN) status, resulting in higher prices to Japanese consumers for most imports from the country.

MFN status allows a country to receive the best trade terms given by its trading partner, such as the lowest tariffs or highest import quota, ensuring all countries with the status are treated equally. By revoking the status, Japan will subject imports from Russia to higher tariffs.

Read the full story at SeafoodSource

 

SENA keynote economist Megan Greene breaks down inflation, Russia concerns

March 22, 2022 — Megan Greene, a senior fellow at the Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business at the Harvard Kennedy School, delivered the keynote address at Seafood Expo North America/Seafood Processing North America on 13 March, 2022.

Greene said with COVID-19, supply chain disruptions, and the economic ramifications of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine – and subsequent sanctions issued by numerous countries – uncertainty has been the rule.

Read the full story at SeafoodSource

Aquaculture Stewardship Council using new tech to combat seafood fraud

March 21, 2022 — Along with a new marketing campaign that will be the largest in its history, the Aquaculture Stewardship Council is also developing new technology to help it combat seafood fraud.

The new tech is under the umbrella of the ASC’s new campaign “The New Way to Seafood.” As part of the campaign, the ASC said, it is developing new “trace element fingerprinting,” digital tagging and tracing technology, and the implementation of chain of custody protocols.

Read the full story at SeafoodSource

 

Glenn Cooke: “It’s time for suppliers and producers to totally cut Russia off”

March 17, 2022 — Glenn Cooke is the CEO of Cooke Inc., a vertically integrated family of seafood companies based in Blacks Harbour, New Brunswick, Canada. He spoke to SeafoodSource on Tuesday, 15 March, at the 2022 Seafood Expo North America/Seafood Processing North America in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A.

SeafoodSource: What have been Cooke’s big moves over the past few months?

Cooke: We’re always investing in our operations globally and we just launched a vessel for Argentine red shrimp fishery with the capability to do frozen-at-sea product, which is quite exciting, as we’ll be in this year’s fishery there. It’s a state-of-the-art vessel. We’re in the process of finalizing a new USD 45 million (EUR 40.5 million) plant in St. George, New Brunswick for salmon added-value processing that will be very robotized, automatic, and cut down our labor costs, which we have do because of a shortage of [workers]. The facility that’s there will be replaced by a brand-new facility and the one that’s there will be redone into a secondary value-added processing center. And we have a new smolt unit almost ready to be finalized as well in New Brunswick. Around the world, we are expanding our operations – we’re always investing heavily globally and we’ll continue to do that.

Read the full story at SeafoodSource

Alaska lawmakers applaud Biden administration ban on Russian seafood imports

March 16, 2022 — State and federal lawmakers from Alaska are applauding the Biden administration’s decision to ban Russian seafood imports. It’s part of a series of escalating sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine. Sen. Dan Sullivan and Rep. Don Young released statements Friday welcoming the move.

Legislators at the state and federal levels have been calling for a Russian seafood ban for years. Kodiak Republican state Sen. Gary Stevens says the White House is finally paying attention to the issue.

“I’m really pleased the President has made this announcement, and I think it’s extremely important for Alaska and the Alaska seafood industry, you know, it’s been a totally unfair relationship in the past,” Stevens said.

Russia slapped an embargo on American fish and seafood products in 2014 in response to U.S. sanctions imposed over its annexation of Crimea.

Read the full story at KTOO

 

US firms aim to “re-shore” seafood processing from China

March 16, 2022 — Mounting supply-chain difficulties are creating opportunities for U.S. processors to re-shore work that previously was performed abroad.

In China, where the bulk of processing of seafood products eventually exported to the United States was once completed, a shift is underway. Companies that previously focused on exports are discovering they can make better returns in the domestic market, according to Cui He, the secretary general of the China Aquatic Products Processing and Marketing Association (CAPPMA). Cui also cited China’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic and related logistical and transportation issues that have slowed production and delivery times for the country’s seafood processing sector.

Read the full story at SeafoodSource

 

UK issues economic sanctions against Russia, fish included in new import tariffs

March 15, 2022 — The United Kingdom has announced a ban on exports of high-end luxury goods to Russia, while also hitting hundreds of key Russian products with new import tariffs that represent a 35 percentage point hike on current rates.

Russian whitefish is one of the products affected by the tariff increases, as is vodka, while the export ban will likely affect luxury vehicles, high-end fashion, and works of art.

Read the full story at SeafoodSource

 

Implementation dates released for US ban on Russian seafood

March 14, 2022 — U.S. President Joe Biden’s order from Friday, 11 March, 2022, banning Russian seafood imports from entering U.S. ports will give U.S. businesses some time to accept previously made orders, according to guidance issued by the Treasury Department.

For those companies that have previously done business with Russia, any contract that was in place before Biden signed the executive order can still be carried out. But the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced that companies expecting imports of fish or other items now banned can receive them through Friday, 25 March, as long as there was a written agreement in place prior to the president’s order.

Read the full story at SeafoodSource