Saving Seafood

Major border crossing blocked over Canadian trucker protests

February 8, 2022 — Canadian truck driver protesters have impeded access to the busiest international crossing in North America.

The demonstrations began January 29 as an objection to a vaccine mandate requiring truckers entering Canada to be fully vaccinated for COVID-19 or face testing and quarantine requirements. Beginning 7 February, the Ambassador Bridge that links Windsor, Ontario, Canada, and Detroit, Michigan, U.S.A., was partially blocked by those participating in the collective action, according to CNN. Canadian-bound traffic was still shut down as of the morning of Tuesday, 8 February, while U.S.-bound traffic was flowing with limited bridge access.

Read the full story at SeafoodSource

 

Alaska lawmakers criticize US approach toward Russian seafood imports

February 8, 2022 — Lawmakers from the U.S. state of Alaska are criticizing U.S. trade policies they claim undermine the state’s seafood exports.

Two resolutions, SJR-16 and SJR-17, were advanced in mid-January by the Alaska House Fisheries Committee that address Russia’s U.S. food import ban, which has been in place since 2014, and China’s seafood import tariffs, which were enacted as part of the Sino-U.S. trade war initiated by former U.S. President Donald Trump.

Read the full story at SeafoodSource

 

Complicated labor picture challenging US restaurant sector growth

February 7, 2022 — A new report from the National Restaurant Association is predicting the U.S. foodservice industry will grow 6 percent to reach USD 898 billion (EUR 786 billion) in sales in 2022.

But the NRA’s 2022 State of the Restaurant Industry Report found it faces numerous existential threats, including rising business costs, an extremely shallow labor pool, and supply chain disruptions. More than half of operators believe it will take more than a year for business conditions to return to normal, the study found.

Read the full story at SeafoodSource

 

Changes to MSC fisheries standard up for public review

February 4, 2022 — The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) has initiated a 60-day public review of its proposed updates to the MSC fisheries standard, with stakeholders having until 4 April to review and provide feedback.

More than 446 fisheries, representing about 17 percent of the global wild marine harvest, are certified to the MSC fisheries standard – which is regularly reviewed for best practices in fisheries management. The current fisheries standard review began in 2018, and has included the participation of over 1,000 stakeholders. The draft standard has been approved by the MSC’s board of trustees and is now moving into the final stage of public review.

Read the full story at SeafoodSource

Oceana report calls for SIMP to cover all species, tougher US stance against IUU fishing

February 3, 2022 — A report released by Oceana on Tuesday, 1 February, calls on the U.S. to expand the Seafood Import Monitoring Program (SIMP), saying that the federal legislation designed to prevent fraudulently labeled products and specimens harvested from illegal fishing practices from entering the country includes too many loopholes.

The 36-page report notes a report by the U.S. International Trade Commission found that of the seafood imported into the U.S. in 2019, USD 2.4 billion (EUR 2.13 billion) worth was fished illegally. Examples of illegal fishing include crews harvesting fish in unpermitted areas, exceeding catch limits, mislabeling products, and using forced labor.

Read the full story at SeafoodSource

 

China promoting consumption of distant-water catch to tame inflation, conserve local fisheries

February 2, 2022 — Government officials and executives from China’s distant-water fishing sector are teaming up to promote increased consumption of the distant-water catch in interior regions of the country as a way of taming price inflation and conserving local fisheries.

Officials from China’s Ministry of Agriculture joined members of China’s Distant-Water Fishing Association in Chongqing recently for the “Promoting Ocean Seafood Inland” roadshow, which since September 2021 has also included stops in Changsha, Wuhan, Hefei, and Xi’an. The events have taken place in luxury hotels in the inland cities and have featured seafood exhibits and cooking demonstrations.

Read the full story at SeafoodSource

 

Cooke appoints Michael Szemerda as Global Chief Sustainability Officer

February 2, 2022 — The following was released by Cooke Inc.:

Cooke Inc. is pleased to announce the appointment of Michael Szemerda as Global Chief Sustainability Officer. 

“Cooke’s core purpose is ‘To cultivate the ocean with care, nourish the world, provide for our families, and build stronger communities’ and our approach to sustainability is central to this,” says Szemerda, who has been with Cooke for 30 years and works as the Vice President of Saltwater Operations for Cooke Aquaculture’s North American Operations. “Across all our subsidiary companies, we are fortunate to have some of the best and brightest minds in wild fisheries and aquaculture working to innovate and implement practices using sound science and advanced technologies to ensure our seafood is sustainable. I’m excited to unify these efforts and continue this important work with our colleagues around the globe.” In this newly established role, Szemerda will oversee all environmental programs and regulatory programs, industry certifications, and sustainability initiatives across Cooke’s global wild and farmed subsidiaries.  

“Michael has shown great leadership throughout his career with Cooke, and he has vast experience with all of Cooke’s saltwater operations around the globe,” says Glenn Cooke, CEO of Cooke Inc. “We’re thrilled that he has accepted this role at such a pivotal time of growth for our company. We know his experience with our operations, and knowledge of the seafood industry will help us in our commitment to protecting and enhancing the marine environments we work in.”  

Cooke is proud to offer True North Seafood products that meet a variety of certifications and recommendations to support sustainability. The Cooke family of companies ships one billion pounds of seafood annually through harvesting 30% wild species (wild salmon, whitefish, and shellfish) and 70% farmed species (Atlantic salmon, steelhead trout, white Pacific shrimp, sea bass, and sea bream).

Read the release here

 

Alaska lawmakers take up seafood trade deficit

February 1, 2022 — Seafood is Alaska’s biggest export by far, and state lawmakers are getting tough on trade policies that unfairly trounce global sales.

Two resolutions (SJR-16 and SJR-17) were advanced last week by the Alaska House Fisheries Committee that address Russia’s ban on buying any U.S. foods since 2014, and punitive seafood tariffs by China since 2018. Meanwhile, the United States imports increasing amounts of seafood from both countries.

Both resolutions were introduced by Sen. Gary Stevens (R-Kodiak) and “urge more attention” by Alaska’s federal team in Congress to restore pathways for fair trade.

“In order to remain competitive in the world seafood market, our Alaska seafood processors need some help from our partners federally. These resolutions would attempt to restore focus on negotiations with China to ease this tariff war that’s underway and level the playing field with Russia in favor of Alaska,” said Stevens’ aide Tim Lamkin at the hearing.

The heck with that, said a chorus of Fish Committee members who applauded the intent but said it doesn’t go far enough.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

 

Unprecedented demand for seafood battling inflation headwinds

February 1, 2022 — Inflation is expected to be a major issue impacting the food industry this year, but will hurt the seafood sector less than others, according to executives at Santa Monica Seafood and Steve Connolly Seafood.

A Reuters quarterly survey of more than 500 economists conducted in January, resulted in a general consensus that 2022 will bring with it higher inflation. Economists also reduced their global growth forecasts to 4.3 percent growth in 2022, down from the 4.5 percent predicted in October, in part because of steeper interest rates and higher costs of living.

Read the full story at SeafoodSource

 

USDA trade officer in Japan sees opportunity for US seafood exports

January 28, 2022 — The Foreign Agricultural Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) maintains Agricultural Trade Offices (ATOs) in U.S. embassies and many consulates. The ATOs provide market information and help to coordinate promotions for U.S. exporters. SeafoodSource talked with the new director of the ATO in Osaka, Japan, Alexander Blamberg. Before taking up the post in August 2021, he was agricultural attaché at the U.S. embassy in Tokyo, where he focused on trade policy, working to expand exports of U.S. livestock, dairy, and poultry products to Japan.

SeafoodSource: What are your priorities coming into the post? Are there any new initiatives that you intend to try?

Blamberg: Japan is a highly developed market. It’s the fourth-largest market for U.S. agricultural exports overall, and it’s the third-largest market for U.S. seafood products. Still, it’s a very dynamic and competitive market. One of the most significant changes to the market in the last few years has been Japan’s implementation of new trade agreements – the CPTTP [Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership], an agreement with the European Union, and of course, a bilateral agreement with the United States.

Read the full story at SeafoodSource