Saving Seafood

Canadian and US regulations are at odds in the Salish Sea, and whales are caught in the middle

December 30, 2025 — The Salish Sea is one ecosystem but Canada and the US are playing by different rules when it comes to protecting threatened whales, experts warn.

Endangered southern resident killer whales and at-risk humpbacks are blind to borders when transiting the transboundary waters in southern BC and northwestern Washington State that encompass the Strait of Georgia, Juan de Fuca Strait and Puget Sound, said Chloe Robinson, director of whales for Ocean Wise.

But an inconsistent patchwork of protection measures on either side of the border means the two whale species are increasingly vulnerable to ship strike, vessel disturbance, pollution, underwater noise and diminishing food sources, she said.

“The threats don’t change just because whales have crossed an invisible line,” Robinson said.

Problematic discrepancies exist between regulations around whale distance rules for boats, fisheries management, habitat protections and pollution standards, said Robinson, who led a comparative study of key conservation measures on each side of the border.

Both countries, along with provincial and state governments, need to align regulations, close protection gaps and reduce confusion for mariners, whale watching operations and vessels transiting the region to reduce cumulative stresses of whales, Robinson said.

There’s a dizzying mix of vessel approach distances and speed regulations for whale watching operators and recreational boaters on either side of the border depending on the type of whale and, in some cases, what they are doing, she added.

Read the full article at the National Observer

Record Prices and Tariff Pressures Challenge the US Scallop Complex

September 22, 2025 — The scallop market in the US has faced continued challenges in 2025. Low domestic landings continue providing upward pricing pressure, while potentially constrained availability from Canada adds to tight North American supply. A similar scenario played out in 2024, when many market participants turned to Japanese product as a quality substitute for domestic shortfalls.

Read the full article at Seafoodnews.com

US, Canadian retailers slash prices to entice anxious shoppers

August 26, 2025 — Retailers in both the U.S. and Canada have implemented price drops in order to entice shoppers, many of whom are seeking value wherever they can find it amid continued global trade uncertainty.

Bentonville, Arkansas, U.S.A.-based retail giant Walmart rolled back prices on 7,400 items in the second quarter of its 2026 fiscal year, which is 2,000 more than the same period last year, per Supermarket News.

Read the full article at the SeafoodSource

Newly implemented tariffs not altering Norway’s seafood marketing strategies for the US

August 15, 2025 — The U.S. started out 2025 as the top buyer of Norwegian seafood but fell to third place behind Poland and China in July, according to the latest figures from the Norwegian Seafood Council (NSC).

NSC Communications Director Martin Skaug told SeafoodSource that while the new tariffs levied by the U.S. on all Norwegian goods might have contributed a bit to July’s shakeup, the NSC is primarily attributing it to the massive volume growth of farmed salmon – both from Norway and other markets this year. Poland’s ascension up the rankings can, therefore, be attributed to the fact it is a country that heavily processes and redistributes salmon to other markets.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

A record catch of krill near Antarctica could trigger an unprecedented end to fishing season

July 29, 2025 — Trawling near Antarctica for krill — a crustacean central to the diet of whales and a critical buffer to global warming — has surged to a record and is fast approaching a never before reached seasonal catch limit that would trigger the unprecedented early closure of the remote fishery, The Associated Press has learned.

The fishing boom follows the failure last year of the U.S., Russia, China and two dozen other governments to approve a new management plan that would have mandated spreading out the area in which krill can be caught and creating a California-sized reserve along the environmentally sensitive Antarctic Peninsula.

In the first seven months of the 2024-25 season, krill fishing in Antarctica reached 518,568 tons, about 84% of the 620,000-ton limit that, once reached, will force the fishery to automatically close. In one hot spot, the catch through June 30 was nearly 60% higher than all of last year’s haul, according to a report from the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources, or CCAMLR, the international organization that manages the world’s southernmost fishery.

Read the full article at Associated Press

At U.N. Conference, Countries Inch Toward Ocean Protection Goal

June 16, 2024 — Remote coral atolls in the Caribbean. Habitat for threatened sharks and rays around a Tanzanian island in the Indian Ocean. And 900,000 square kilometers of the Pacific Ocean around French Polynesia.

These are some of the millions of acres of water now set aside as part of an international goal to protect 30 percent of the ocean by 2030. More than 20 new marine protected areas were announced at the third United Nations Ocean Conference, which ended on Friday in France.

Countries and territories pledging new areas included Chile; Colombia; French Polynesia; Portugal; Samoa; Sao Tome and Principe; the Solomon Islands; Tanzania; and Vanuatu.

“Protecting the ocean is beginning to become fashionable,” said Sylvia Earle, a marine biologist and oceanographer who served as chief scientist of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in the 1990s, at an event celebrating a network of protected areas around the Azores.

The new designations come at a time when the United States, which sent only two observers to the conference, has moved to reopen the Pacific Islands Heritage Marine National Monument to commercial fishing. The country is also seeking to unilaterally authorize mining of the seafloor in international waters.

France, which hosted the conference with Costa Rica, pushed for a moratorium on deep sea mining, with four new countries pledging their support this week, bringing the total to 37 countries.

Read the full article at The New York Times

Shipping rates continue to rise as global economic headwinds mount

June 10, 2025 — Global shipping rates are rising, especially on routes between the U.S. and China, as the nations’ trade war continues and U.S. courts consider the legality of President Donald Trump’s tariff program.

Shipping rate indexing and analysis firm Xeneta has reported a continued surge in spot rates between East Asia and the U.S., significantly driving up prices for importers.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

“A lesser-of-two-evils scenario” – Trade law experts respond to US-China tariff pause

May 22, 2025 — Though the U.S.-China tariff pause has provided U.S. import businesses with a reprieve, many are still struggling to create long-term growth strategies in the current environment, experts say. 

Reed Smith Global Regulatory Enforcement Group Chair Michael Lowell told SeafoodSource that the current situation is “just a lesser-of-two-evils scenario.” 

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

US, China agreement on tariffs encourages some, but others aren’t celebrating yet

May 13, 2025 — The U.S. and China’s recent agreement to reduce tariffs has garnered mixed reactions from the seafood and retail industries.

In a joint statement, both the U.S. and China agreed to modify duties the two countries had placed on goods from the other country on 12 May for 90 days. Effective 14 May, both countries will reduce tariff rates by 115 percent as the two continue discussions about economic and trade relations.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

US, China agree to 90-day pause on high tariffs

May 12, 2025 — The U.S. and China released a joint statement on 12 May indicating the two countries would suspend most tariffs for 90 days and agree to continue discussions about their economic and trade relations.

In a joint statement, the U.S. agreed to modify its duties on China, effectively reducing tariffs on Chinese goods to 30 percent by 14 May. In return, China will also suspend its tariffs, reducing the tariff rate to 10 percent as of 14 May.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource