March 28, 2022 — Gleb Frank, the founder of two of the largest seafood companies in Russia – Vladivostok-based Russian Fishery Company and Russian Crab – has sold his stakes in both companies to top managers after the U.S. decided to impose sanctions on him.
Frank is the son-in-law of Russian business tycoon Gennady Timchencko, allegedly a close partner of Russian President Vladimir Putin and the sixth-richest person in the world.
Read the full story at SeafoodSource
March 25, 2022 — Plant-based food and seafood analog sales are booming in the United States, and cell-cultured seafood suppliers are obtaining major funding for growth.
Despite “turbulent economic conditions amplified by the pandemic, supply chain issues, and inflation” the Plant Based Foods Association, the Good Food Institute, and SPINS said in a press release that new data shows U.S. retail sales of plant-based foods grew 6.2 percent in 2021. Overall, the total value of the plant-based market reached an all-time high of USD 7.4 billion (EUR 6.7 billion).
Read the full story at SeafoodSource
March 25, 2022 — The Walton Family Foundation, in collaboration with Morning Consult, recently released a poll that found Americans would eat more seafood if they had greater knowledge of its health and environmental benefits.
The poll’s main focus was on Americans’ views on climate change, and what solutions towards its impacts respondents preferred. Overall, the poll discovered U.S. residents are unified on climate change and see urgent connections between it and the economy, agriculture, and health, according to Teresa Ish, the Oceans Initiative Lead and Senior Program Officer at the Walton Family Foundation.
Read the full story at SeafoodSource
March 24, 2022 — The United States Trade Representative (USTR) announced it has reinstated tariff exclusions on 352 products, including several seafood products facing additional tariffs on import from China.
The administration of U.S. President Joe Biden announced in October 2021 that the USTR would begin taking comments on whether the U.S. should renew tariff exceptions for 549 products from China, which the government chose to let expire. Initially, the USTR extended tariff exclusions on multiple seafood products in 2020.
Read the full story at SeafoodSource
March 24, 2022 — International bans on seafood from Russia – including one imposed on imports to the U.S. by U.S. President Joe Biden and similar tariffs by the United Kingdom – are having a mixed impact on foodservice operators and distributors, with some faring better than others.
The impacts boil down to how much seafood a business typically bought from Russia in the past. Unlike some foodservice distributors and operators that rely on Russian pollock, crab, and other seafood, one major North American foodservice distributor said that Russian seafood sanctions will have minimal impact on its business.
Read the full story at SeafoodSource
March 24, 2022 — Ireland’s fishing industry is facing sanctions by U.S. authorities after a U.S.-based human rights campaign group filed a report with American authorities alleging exploitation of migrant workers aboard Irish fishing vessels.
In a petition to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Washington D.C.-headquartered legal advocacy group Liberty Shared asked the CBP to exclude seafood “caught and or produced wholly or in part using forced labor by participants in the fishing industry in the Republic of Ireland.” The petition named four Irish fishing companies it said merit scrutiny from the CBP.
March 23, 2022 — A U.S. District Court judge has ruled against Santa Barbara Smokehouse in its breach of contract lawsuit against Agrosuper’s AquaChile division.
Santa Barbara, California, U.S.A.-based The Santa Barbara Smokehouse sued Agrosuper and its AquaChile division in early 2020, alleging that AquaChile’s breach of contract caused a potential buyer to back out of purchasing the smokehouse.
Read the full story at SeafoodSource
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
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
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.