Saving Seafood

Cooke Inc. branches into shrimp production with Seajoy acquisition

February 4, 2019 — Cooke Inc. announced on 1 February it has finalized its acquisition of Seajoy Seafood Corporation, one of Latin America’s largest producers of farmed shrimp, with operations in Honduras and Nicaragua.

SeafoodSource previously reported on the acquisition, which was completed in November 2018, but the formal announcement came after the companies finalized the details of the transaction.

“The acquisition of Seajoy is an important element in our focus on product diversification to meet our customers’ needs,” Cooke CEO Glenn Cooke said in a press release. “Seajoy is a world-leading shrimp producer utilizing the highest quality and food safety standards and newest available technology. This aligns perfectly with our existing aquaculture and wild seafood fishery divisions. We feel Seajoy’s entrepreneurial drive, industry knowledge and care for their communities has made them successful and a big reason why we feel this is an incredible cultural fit.”

The purchase gives Cooke Inc., the parent company of Black Harbour, New Brunswick, Canada-based Cooke Aquaculture, an avenue to expand its product repertoire to include shrimp. Seajoy is one of the largest vertically integrated, premium shrimp farms in Latin America, with a focus on producing value-added and organic Pacific white shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei) and selling to customers in Europe, the Americas, and Asia.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

India is top exporter of shrimp to US for fourth straight year

February 1, 2019 — India is once again the top country of origin for shrimp entering the United States.

India outpaced Indonesia, Thailand, and Ecuador to take the title for most shrimp exports to the U.S. for the fourth straight year.

Thirty-two percent of all shrimp imported into the U.S. came from India, and India continues to build market share, as it realized a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 25.2 percent between 2014 and 2017, outpacing total U.S. shrimp demand CAGR growth of 7.1 percent, according to India’s Business Standard.

Shrimp exports to the U.S. were up 16 percent in 2018 over 2017 through November, despite lower prices due to a high supply volume, according to ShrimpTails magazine. The anomaly may be due to the expansion of the U.S. Seafood Import Monitoring Program to cover shrimp in 2019.

“As all markets that export shrimp to the U.S. will have to adhere to the requirements set out by SIMP, it seems inevitable that importers and their suppliers are trying to move as much product into the country as they can before it takes effect,” analysts Willem van der Pijl and Ken Salzinger wrote. “Especially for a country like India, which deals with tens of thousands of small-scale farmers, exporters are struggling to trace shrimp all the way back to the original farm, which is part of the requirements under SIMP.”

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Global shrimp supply will remain high for foreseeable future

January 18, 2019 — The glut in the global supply of shrimp that persisted throughout 2018 will remain in 2019, as cold storage facilities in the United States continue to have supplies lasting months in storage.

A panel of experts at the Global Seafood Market Conference in Coronado, California on 17 January said cold storage facilities in the U.S. had, at times, 30 percent more shrimp in storage in 2018 than they did in 2017.

In addition, the panel predicted that the reserves will not be drawn down significantly in 2019. The primary reason for that is production of shrimp in India, which panelists said will remain close to its record high of 740,000 metric tons (MT), with production in other countries starting to increase as well.

“It all comes back to, ‘What are we going to do with all this shrimp?’” said Jeff Goldberg, president of Fortune Imports.

Estimates indicate that there’s 290 million pounds of shrimp currently in cold storage facilities in the U.S., representing a supply that, with no further production or imports, could last more than three months.

That high amount of supply in storage is coupled with increasing supply coming from countries like Ecuador. Between 2013 and 2018, production of shrimp in Ecuador more than doubled, going from 219,412 MT to 471,026 MT.

Ecuador and India aren’t the only countries with increasing supply. Indonesia, Vietnam, and Mexico also saw growth. The most dramatic growth occurred in Guatemala, which has consistently increased between 30 to 40 percent year-over-year.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

NORTH CAROLINA: Trawlers catching “unheard of” amounts of shrimp off Corolla

January 14, 2019 — South of the Virginia border, the shores off Corolla have become an Outer Banks hot spot to catch winter shrimp.

Trawlers have clustered there within 3 miles of shore in recent weeks, each bringing in as much as 20,000 pounds of the delicacy per trip.

Last week, the “Capt. Ralph” hauled in 30,000 pounds, the most ever for the crew, said Ashley O’Neal, manager of O’Neal’s Sea Harvest.

In the past, 12,000 pounds was a good catch no matter where it came from, he said.

“This 30,000-pound stuff is unheard of,” O’Neal said. “We are seeing a lot of shrimp.”

In 2016, North Carolina shrimpers harvested a record 13.2 million pounds, worth $28.2 million. It was a 45 percent increase over the previous year, according to state statistics. The record fell again in 2017 with a harvest of 13.9 million pounds worth $29.6 million. The 10-year average is just short of 8 million pounds. Most of the catch comes from estuaries like the Pamlico Sound.

Shrimp consumption in the United States reached a new record in 2017 at 4.4 pounds a person per year, making it America’s favorite seafood, according to NOAA Fisheries. More than 90 percent of what’s eaten in the U.S. comes from foreign markets raised on farms.

Read the full story at the Daily Press

How Climate Change Is Affecting New England, And What’s Yet To Come

January 7, 2019 — Climate change is expected to hit the Northeast pretty hard, affecting crops, ski resorts and fisheries on the coast. Here are some of our latest New England reports on climate change — from inland floods in New Hampshire, to a Connecticut forest, to a salt marsh north of Boston where there’s an invasive plant that just won’t quit.

The federal government recently released a lengthy climate assessment with a chapter focused on the Northeast. Our friends at WBUR put together a few New England takeaways you should know.

First, climate change is affecting our health, bringing warmer temperatures that are actually rising faster in the Northeast than elsewhere in the continental U.S. That can mean more deaths from extreme heat, plus more troubles with ticks, asthma and allergies.

Warmer seasons will spell some trouble for some businesses — from fruit farmers to ski resorts. On the flip side, the changes could be a boon to some growers, and they’ll see a longer growing season.

And the report says fisheries will be affected by climate change, as Northeast ocean temperatures are rising 3 times faster than the global average. That means there will be fewer of some species, like northern shrimp, surf clams and Atlantic cod. Other species will increase, like black sea bass.

Read the full story at New England Public Radio

With prices low, US grocers push shrimp for the holidays

December 20, 2018 — Cheaper farmed shrimp prices are benefitting American retailers and consumers this holiday season.

Prices for imported farmed shrimp have dropped significantly since the summer, and fallen an additional USD 0.30 to 0.40 (EUR 0.26 to 0.35) per pound over the last month.

There are a variety of reasons for the steep drop in prices. Overproduction, heavy inventory in United States’ cold storage, rejections of imported shrimp by the U.S.A., and close competition for vannamei from other suppliers are all impacting shrimp pricing. Shrimp from India, which is the largest supplier to the United States, is especially impacted according to Haroon Chaudhri, director of sales for importer CleanWaterFish.

Delivered duty-paid New York prices on Indian shrimp are as low as USD 3.20 (EUR 2.80) per pound for 30/40s headless, shell-on, and USD 3.65 (EUR 3.19) per pound for 50/60s, Chaudhri said.

“These are much lower than a few months ago, and I see them falling further,” Chaudhri told SeafoodSource.

Shrimp imports to the U.S. rose 8.7 percent in October compared to the same month in 2017, according to National Marine Fisheries Service data, while Indian imports soared 17.2 percent in October compared to last year.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

SFP: Farmed shrimp has significant sustainability concerns

December 14, 2018 — A new report released by the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership on 12 December indicates that the world’s farmed shrimp production has lingering sustainability concerns with little improvement likely on the horizon.

The new report, which is a part of SFP’s “Target 75” initiative, classifies just 8.8 percent of the global production of farmed shrimp as “improving,” and none is classified as sustainable under the Target 75 standards. The major shrimp production regions that were assessed – China, Ecuador, India, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam – all have high chances of supply chain disruption and have significant sustainability concerns, according to SFP.

“The report highlights the need to work collaboratively across the supply chain to launch aquaculture improvement projects at the zonal scale and improve aquaculture governance,” Casey Marion of Beaver Street Fisheries said.

The biggest target for sustainability improvements, according to the report, are export-heavy markets that engage with countries more actively concerned about sustainability.

“This includes Ecuador, India, Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam. Together, these production regions account for 2.1 million metric tons, representing almost 42 percent of global production,” the report states.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

 

Cooke confirms deal for shrimp farmer Seajoy is close to completion

December 3, 2018 — Glenn Cooke confirmed the Canada-based, global seafood group that carries his family name is close to a deal for a shrimp farmer in Latin America, which Undercurrent News has previously reported is Honduras’ Seajoy Group.

Speaking at a roundtable in Saint Andrews, New Brunswick, he said Cooke is in the final stages of acquiring “one of the largest” Latin American shrimp farming companies, the Telegraph-Journal reported.

“We are in the process of getting everything approved, but we have basically bought one of the world’s largest shrimp operations,” he said at the event, which was attended by the heads of other divisions from around the world and Karen Ludwig, a member of the Canadian Parliament representing the New Brunswick Southwest district.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

Good Luck Finding Maine Shrimp This Winter

November 28, 2018 — Shrimp from Maine is certainly less well-known than its crustacean cousin, Maine lobster. One of the primary reasons is that over 80 percent of American lobsters caught in the U.S. are from the state; meanwhile, even in a good year, Maine accounted for just a sliver of U.S. shrimp production, which as a whole only accounts for a sliver of the shrimp consumed in America, most of which comes from Asia. But another reason you may not hear much about shrimp from New England is that, this year, literally none will make it to market at all.

According to the Associated Press, the situation for Northern shrimp, also known as Pandalus borealis, is so dire that the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) is even shutting down a research program that had previously allowed a limited amount of shrimp from the Gulf of Maine to make it to market.

Though the shutdown should assure that what little supplies of Northern shrimp were being sold will no longer be available, it’s not like the supply has suddenly collapsed. After years of restrictions, the commission shut down all but the “research set aside” program since the 2014 season. Now, even that program for New England shrimp fishing reportedly won’t be allowed until 2021 when the moratorium is set to end. Even then, extensions of the closure are possible as stocks will be reevaluated year by year.

As recently as 2011, ASMFC data shows that landings were near 15 million pounds, the highest they’ve been since 1997. And Northern shrimp stocks have collapsed and rebuilt before: In 1978, the fishery was closed due to a stock collapse, but grew steadily throughout the ‘80s. However, this time around, the ASMFC appears to worry that things are different due to climate change. No previous closure has ever lasted anywhere near this long, and the commission has noted that “long-term trends in environmental conditions have not been favorable for” Northern shrimp. As Portland, Maine’s Press Herald reported last year, waters in the Gulf of Maine are warming faster than 99 percent of the world’s oceans, according to the Gulf of Maine Research Institute. The gulf already has the warmest waters these cold water-thriving shrimp can survive in; the even warmer winter waters are making it difficult for the species to spawn.

Read the full story at Food & Wine

Shrimp still shuttered: Northern shrimp moratorium extended 3 years

November 28, 2018 — New England’s fishing industry wasn’t expecting a bountiful shrimp harvest this winter, as the fishery has been shuttered since 2014. But the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission went above in beyond in its November meeting, shutting the shrimp fleet down not only for 2019, but for ’20 and ’21 as well.

A 2018 benchmark assessment published in October showed a bleak future for the fishery. The report indicated the northern shrimp population remains severely depleted. Spawning stock biomass remains at the same low levels that have kept the fishery shuttered since the 2013 season.

Commissioners from New Hampshire and Massachusetts supported the closure, while Patrick Keliher, commissioner of the Maine Department of Marine Resources, reportedly wanted only a one-year closure.

The closure does not allow for any research quota in the next three years, a deal that has kept a small portion of Gulf of Maine shrimp in the marketplace each year.

“The stock is so low, biomass is so low and recruitment is so down — the 2018 recruitment was 2 billion. And while that sounds like a lot, that’s even below the median,” said Tina Berger, the commission’s director of communications. “Their rationale was, ‘Let’s close the resource for three years, and that way if we have a good year for recruitment, it would give that class time to grow into a fishable resource.’”

Read the full story at National Fisherman