2023 Snow Crab Price Negotiation Update: Final Offers Submitted to Price Setting Panel

Following the release of the Newfoundland and Labrador quota for the 2023 snow crab fishery, the final price offers from the Fish, Food and Allied Workers (FFAW-Unifor) and the Association of Seafood Producers (ASP) have been revealed. 

Price negotiation talks fell apart earlier this week after a commitment from both groups to work together. As a result, FFAW-Unifor and ASP submitted their final offers to the Standing Fish Price Setting Panel. FFAW’s Negotiations Committee submitted a final offer of $3.53. ASP submitted a...

Global Seafood Alliance CEO Brian Perkins Out; Wally Stevens To Serve as Interim CEO

The Global Seafood Alliance (GSA) confirmed on Friday that Brian Perkins is no longer serving as CEO of the organization. 

Perkins joined the Global Aquaculture Alliance in January 2021 as their Chief Operating Officer. His appointment came at a “critical time” as they expanded from aquaculture to wild fisheries, ultimately rebranding as the Global Seafood Alliance. In December 2021, when CEO Wally Stevens announced that he would be retiring after 14 years, Perkins was named as the group’s new CEO...

2023 Snow Crab Quota For Newfoundland and Labrador Announced; TAC Up 8.4%

The 2023 Total Allowable Catch (TAC) for the Newfoundland and Labrador snow crab fishery was announced by Canada’s Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) Thursday afternoon. The TAC for this year is set at 54,727 tonnes, which is an overall quota increase of 8.4% from 2022.

The 3LNO area has the largest quota allocation with 32,224 tonnes. To compare, in 2022 the area had 30,940 tonnes. 

The 3L area has been at the center of talks for the past few weeks as the DFO introduced a new...

Central California Dungeness Fishery to Close in April

Central California Dungeness crab fishing is over as of April 15. Thank humpback whales.

California Department of Fish and Wildlife Director Charlton H. Bonham assessed entanglement risk under the Risk Assessment Mitigation Program this week and announced the closure in fishing zones 3, 4, 5 and 6 (Sonoma/Mendocino county line to the U.S./Mexico border) effective at noon on April 15.

This closure is being implemented to minimize entanglement risk for humpback whales as they ...

VIDEO: Blue Harvest Strategy Shift; Norway Salmon Tax; NL Snow Crab Price Negotiations 

Join SeafoodNews Managing Editor Amanda Buckle as she breaks down the top read stories of the week, including Blue Harvest Fisheries' strategy shift; an update on the Norwegian salmon tax; and snow crab price negotiations in Newfoundland and Labrador. 

This episode of the SeafoodNews Weekly Video is brought to you by Urner Barry's Data on Demand! Transform your data challenges into valuable business opportunities with real-time commodity market information, seamlessly integrated directly into your company's systems. Urner Barry's data licensing solutions, including...

SATS Urges Congress to Support $25 Million in Funding for NMFS' Aquaculture Office

Industry coalition Stronger America Through Seafood (SATS) sent a letter to the Chairs and Ranking Members of the U.S. House and U.S. Senate Committees on Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies today urging Congress to support annual funding for NOAA Fisheries’ National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS)’s Aquaculture Office in the fiscal year 2024 Commerce, Justice and Science (CJS) Appropriations Act.

The letter requests that the Committee support the requested $25 million in annual funding for the NMFS’s Aquaculture Office, which includes...

Thai Union’s SPACE-F Launches Global FoodTech Incubator and Accelerator Batch 4

SPACE-F, Thailand’s global food-tech startup incubator and accelerator program — which is a partnership between Thai Union, the National Innovation Agency, Mahidol University, Thai Beverage PCL and Deloitte Thailand — has launched Batch 4 in an effort to continue to drive growth in the global food industry through technology and innovation.

“Thailand is one of the largest food exporters in the world, which people think of as ‘Kitchen of the World,’” said Dr. Tunyawat Kasemsuwan, Group Director of Global Innovation at Thai Union. “However, when you think about...

FFAW, ASP Fail To Come To Agreement During Snow Crab Price Negotiations 

Last month the Fish, Food and Allied Workers Union (FFAW-Unifor) and the Association of Seafood Producers (ASP) announced a shared commitment to work together ahead of the upcoming snow crab season. But once pricing talks began, that agreement to address challenges within the industry fell apart.

“We committed to discussions with the FFAW on the upcoming season, and after those discussions, along with considering the many challenges that exist this year, we regret to inform that we could not reach an agreement...

The Retail Rundown: Holiday Ham Breakdown

Leading up to Easter, pork feature volume moves up to the top spot with 30.1% of all protein ads. Seafood closely follows with 29.3%. Beef feature volume sits at 23%, while chicken chimes in at about 13%. Eggs ticked up to 2.2%, up from 0.7% the week prior but below 7.5% last year. 

Within the pork retail segment, hams account for 16.8% of the total feature volume. There are an estimated 27,135 buying opportunities for ham this week, up from about 23,000 the week prior.

Spiral sliced features make up the bulk of ham...

FCC: Concerning Lack of Commitment to Canadian Fisheries Science and Blue Economy in Federal Budget

The federal budget tabled by Minister Freeland today shows a concerning lack of support for the Canadian fisheries industry and essential fisheries science. The Fisheries Council of Canada (FCC) is disappointed to see an absence of recognition of the importance of a sufficient science for supporting data-based fisheries management decisions that will allow our industry to establish a robust Blue Economy.

As the national voice representing the Canadian fisheries industry, FCC made several pre-budget recommendations and was pleased to see that...

Final Management Measures For 2023 Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery Released

On Friday NOAA released the final management measures for the 2023 Atlantic sea scallop fishery, which begins April 1, 2023 and runs through March 31, 2024.

Framework 36 was created to establish scallop specifications and other managements for 2023 and 2024. Based on the rule there is a projected landing of 25 million pounds of sea scallops, which is a 9 million pound reduction for 2022’s projected landings. According to NOAA this is “primarily due to a decrease in harvestable biomass and a lack of significant scallop...

Under the Radar Protein News of the Week

Food delivery app Grubhub teamed up with Transact Campus, a firm focused on creating solutions for food payments on college campuses, to provide students with a way to order from on- and off-campus restaurants via Grubhub's restaurant network using their campus card.

The partnership will allow students to find more restaurant options on and off campus through the Transact Mobile Ordering app. The partnership should provide students with easier access to local restaurants around campus during the busy school year.

"This integration is a major win for everyone involved and...

Restaurant Labor Recovery Seeing State-by-State Fluctuation

The National Restaurant Association provided a look at the labor situation of restaurants across the U.S. and the picture varies on a seemingly state-by-state basis.

On a nationwide scale, staffing levels still remain below pre-pandemic levels, according to the Association. As of February 2023, eating and drinking places were 0.9% (108,000 jobs) below their pre-pandemic peak in February 2020.

On a state-by-state basis, 28 states and Washington D.C. remained below the amount seen in February 208.

This group was led by Maine, Maryland and Vermont, which...

NaturalShrimp Enters Into Agreement With Homegrown Shrimp For Purchase of Post-Larvae Shrimp

Biotechnology aquaculture company Natural Shrimp announced this week that they have entered into a year-long agreement with Homegrown Shrimp for the purchase of post-larvae (PL) shrimp for stocking in the company’s Webster City, Iowa, and La Coste, Texas, facilities.

“We are very pleased to finalize our agreement with Homegrown whom we consider to be the premier supplier of quality fast-growing PLs in the Country,” said  Gerald Easterling, CEO of NaturalShrimp. “Without the PLs there are no shrimp to grow or sell...

JRS Group Acquires Seaweed Extract Producer Algaia 

JRS Group, a manufacturer of functional ingredients from plant-based raw materials, has acquired Algaia SA, a producer of sustainably-produced seaweed extracts and hydrocolloids. The acquisition sets another milestone in JRS’ seaweed business.

Both businesses harvest seaweed along the Atlantic coast of Brittany, which is one of the largest fresh seaweed fields in Europe. JRS said that by joining forces with Algaia they’ll be able to further meet the growing global demand for “natural, renewable and biodegradable solutions for a wide range of industries.” 

“The acquisition of Algaia enables far-reaching synergies...

Chile’s SMA Initiates 5 Sanctioning Procedures Against Australis

CNMI Governor Palacios Urges President Biden to Respect Pacific Island Communities at WPRFMC Meeting

Can you say "awkward?"

A presidential administration that promotes environmental justice recently stepped on Pacific Island cultures when President Biden announced a proposed Remote Island Areas marine sanctuary, according to leaders involved in fisheries management in the area.

The Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands Governor Arnold Palacios opened the 194th meeting of the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council last week expressing his views on Biden’s direction to the Secretary of Commerce to consider designating a...