Saving Seafood

Luke’s Lobster makes foray into retail with two new offerings at Whole Foods

November 20, 2018 — New York, U.S.A.-based Luke’s Lobster is making its first big retail push with two new offerings designed to give consumers an easy way to have lobster in their own home.

Luke’s is offering a “ready-to-eat lobster kit” featuring half a pound of lobster knuckle and claw meat, a packet of Luke’s Lobster seasoning, and instructions on how to make a lobster roll in the restaurant’s style at home. The other item is a “ready-to-cook lobster tail kit” that contains two raw Maine lobster tails; some lemon garlic marinade; and tips on how to thaw, prep, and prepare grilled marinated lobster tails.

Both items are priced at USD 19.99 (EUR 17.55) and debuted in Whole Foods Markets across the country on 16 November.

“We never dreamed when we opened one tiny shack nine years ago that we’d someday be in Whole Foods Market nationwide,” Luke’s Lobster founder Luke Holden said. “It’s an honor to be able to partner with the preeminent retailer of organic and sustainable food to bring America the world’s best-tasting seafood.”

The move is the first big push by the company into retail nationwide, according to a representative for Luke’s Lobster.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

 

New partnerships increase use of satellite data to curb IUU fishing

September 19th, 2016 — Two announcements this week by technology firms working with the seafood industry will increase the industry’s use of and reliance on satellite data to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.

Global Fishing Watch (GFW), a partnership between Oceana, SkyTruth and Google providing near real-time satellite tracking, has teamed up with Trace Register, a technology firm that provides traceability solutions to the seafood industry, to offer access to GFW’s data to all Trace Register customers.

“We are excited to announce that we’re extending our food traceability solution and will now link Global Fishing Watch data directly to the seafood that was produced. Harvesters will be able to use GFW data to provide assurances they operate in a legal and responsible manner,” Trace Register CEO Phil Werdal said. “Seafood processors, distributors, retailers, foodservice providers, and ultimately the consumer, can verify their seafood was legally and responsibly produced.”

Jacqueline Savitz, vice president for Global Fishing Watch at Oceana, said the new partnership will also assist consumers to make more informed purchasing decisions.

“Together, Trace Register and Global Fishing Watch will increase transparency in the seafood supply chain, connecting the dots from the point of catch to the point of sale,” she said.

Carrie Brownstein, global seafood quality standards coordinator at Whole Foods Market, called the increasing use of satellite technology in the seafood industry a “revolution.”

Read full story from Seafood Source

A farm deep inside a Brooklyn warehouse may lead the way to large-scale urban agriculture

April 11, 2016 — Here’s one way to grow food in an urban environment: Raise a school of tilapia in a tank. Filter out the nitrogen-rich waste, and let naturally occurring bacteria transform it from ammonia into nitrate. Run that naturally derived fertilizer beneath the roots of greens, herbs and peppers. Let the veggies flourish beneath LED lights. Harvest the vegetables. Later, harvest the fish. Cook and serve.

Known as aquaponics, this complicated but efficient ecosystem is the latest attempt at making agriculture commercially viable in New York City—even though it has a spotty history, a not-quite-proven track record and plenty of skeptics.

“We do aquaponics for the quality of produce it yields,” said Jason Green, CEO and co-founder of Edenworks, an emerging commercial aquaponics company in East Williamsburg, Brooklyn, that recently secured a commitment to supply baby greens and microgreens to Whole Foods Market stores in New York City later this year. “Our innovation is that we can do aquaponics cost-effectively, scalably and repeatedly.”

Though the premise of mimicking a natural system in a closed environment is ancient, Green says that new technologies including proprietary software, a complex plumbing system and cost-efficient LED lighting, plus a soaring demand for local food, will make fish-fed farms viable on a large scale, even in inner cities. A 2010 report from the New York City Council cited $600 million in unmet demand for regionally grown produce.

“Consumers are very interested in knowing the provenance of their food, and companies are responding to that by setting up systems to produce food in cities,” explained Nevin Cohen, an associate professor of urban food policy at the CUNY School of Public Health.

See the full story at Crain’s New York