Clearwater’s Q2 Financial Results Show Sales Dip Due to COVID-19 

Canada-based Clearwater Seafoods witnessed a significant drop in sales in the second quarter of the 2020 fiscal year as COVID-19 continues to impact business.

The company recorded second quarter and year-to-date sales of CAD $106.0 million and $206.3 million respectively. At this time in 2019 those numbers hit $153.9 million and 274.0 million.

The main driver behind the lower sales total is no secret as Clearwater noted a lower foodservice demand impacting most species and regions during the first half of the fiscal year...

Check Out these New COMTELL Features!

Urner Barry continues to build upon the value COMTELL offers customers with new features and improvements consistently being added to the platform.  We are excited to announce three new widgets for the COMTELL dashboard, designed to increase efficiency and expand on the amount of information available right from the homepage...

Seafood Show Tokyo's 22nd Edition Scheduled For September 30 to October 2

The 22nd Japan International Seafood Show, Japan's most significant international fisheries exhibitions sponsored by the Japan Fisheries Association, will be held from September 30 to October 2 at the Tokyo Big Sight in Ariake, Tokyo. The venue is the same South Exhibition Building as last year. The secretariat office is recruiting exhibitors until August 21, reports Suisan Keizai.

This trade show specializing in seafood will bring together buyers from retailers, restaurants, take-out meals, trading companies, and wholesalers. It attracts immediate business negotiations between buyers and exhibitors...

Japan’s Mackerel June Exports to China Increased 8 Times

Japan's monthly export volume of mackerel in June totaled 19,627 tons, which was the same as the previous month. It was a 22% decrease compared to the same month last year. Egypt and Nigeria's main markets fell by 60 to 70% from the same month of the previous year, and Vietnam also decreased by 6%, which was the largest export destination this year. On the other hand, exports increased 7.9 times to China and 5.3 times to the Philippines. Both countries have grown significantly for the third consecutive month...

ALASKA: Dr. Al Gross Runs for US Senate

This is Alaska Fish Radio. I’m Laine Welch…

Dr. Al Gross of Juneau has fished his whole life, his kids fish, and he’s a surgeon. Gross is an Independent candidate running against Republican Dan Sullivan for the U.S. Senate.

Gross says fishermen’s health care issues is a reason he entered the race.

“As a doctor, I stepped up and proposed a means of fishermen obtaining affordable health care, which I know is a really big deal because so many of my friends are commercial fishermen, and seeing how much...

Global Majors Accelerate Expansion in Russian Fish Processing Sector   

Global fish processors are accelerating their expansion in Russia by acquiring some leading local players and expanding their presence in the local market, according to recent statements of some leading local analysts in the field of fish business and local media reports.   

One of such companies is Thai Union Group – a Thailand-based producer of seafood-based food products, which has recently announced its plans to acquire the Dalpromryba group, one of Russia’s largest producers of fish products.  

Currently the Thai company already holds a stake in...

Chinese Authorities Allegedly Find Traces of Coronavirus on More Imported Frozen Seafood

Authorities in Yantai, China, are reporting that they have found traces of the coronavirus on packaging of imported frozen seafood.

According to officials, the batches that tested positive are from a foreign vessel and entered the country through the Dalian port. Currently there are no details on the specific type of seafood or the country that it came from. South China Morning Post reports that officials could only confirm that a “small quantity” of the frozen seafood had been reprocessed and exported. The remainder of the product is...

REPORT: Red Lobster Hires Advisor After Facing Difficulties Related to COVID-19 Shutdowns

According to reports, Red Lobster has hired credit advisor Guggenheim. The news comes just as Thai Union released their financial statement for 2Q, which revealed a “high share of loss from Red Lobster” during the pandemic.

While the company has not announced that they have engaged with Guggenheim, FSR Magazine says that “sources familiar with the situation told Debtwire” about Red Lobster’s efforts to explore strategic options.  

As the 2Q20 financial report reveals, Thai Union reported a net profit of THB 1,716mn, up 1,440% YOY...

Sysco Sees Sales Drop in Fourth Quarter, Fiscal Year 2020 as COVID-19 Pandemic Impacts Foodservice

Sysco reported its fourth quarter and fiscal year 2020 financial results on Tuesday.

The company’s U.S. foodservice operations saw a 42.8% decrease in Q4 sales compared to the same period last year, totaling $6.1 billion.

Sysco also noted its gross profit decreased by 45.7% to $1.2 billion, and gross margin decreased 102 basis points to 19.1%, compared to the same period last year.

For its international foodservice business, Sysco noted a 53.4% drop in sales, totaling $1.4 billion for Q4 2020...

USCG Air Lifts Pregnant Crewmember From Factory Trawler to Cold Bay for Flight to Anchorage

Last Saturday, August 8, Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak aircrew hoisted a pregnant crewmember from a fishing vessel 200 miles northwest of St. Paul Island in the Pribilofs. The Coast Guard posted the bullitin late last night.

The crew member was working on the factory trawler Northern Jaeger, a 308-foot processor owned by American Seafoods. The processing ship was near St. Matthew Island in the Bering Sea. The woman was reportedly experiencing medical complications due to pregnancy.

Saturday morning the Coast Guard received the...

China Lifts Suspension on One of Three Ecuadorian Shrimp Exporters

Ecuador’s Foreign Ministry announced Monday morning that China has lifted the suspension on shrimp from Santa Priscila, one of the three companies that had been suspended last month.

As SeafoodNews previously reported, China suspended shrimp imports after allegedly finding positive samples of coronavirus on packaging. China’s General Administration of Customs said that samples collected from Industrial Pesquera Santa Priscila S.A., along with Empacreci S.A. and Empacadora Del Pacifico Sociedad Anonima Edpacif S.A., suggested that the “container environment and the outer packaging of the...

NMFS Looks to Revive Longline EFP to Target Swordfish on the West Coast

Swordfish landings on the West Coast have dropped dramatically since 1985 -- and it's unlikely fishermen will ever achieve optimum yield under current gear restrictions. NMFS hopes to change that by drafting a new Environmental Impact Statement for longlines targeting highly migratory species.

A history of litigation and both state and federal regulations have led to the decline and eventual phase out of a number of gear types aimed at catching swordfish off of Oregon and California. The primary concern was sea turtle bycatch: endangered species of loggerhead...

Alaska Wild Salmon Day – Salmon Talk

This is Alaska Fish Radio. I’m Laine Welch -

It is officially Alaska Wild Salmon Day. The honor was established five years ago by former Governor Bill when he signed a bill designating every August 10^th  as a day to honor the fish that is the cultural and economic backbone of so many communities.

Fishermen shared what they would say to the salmon with The Alaska’s Show’s Alex Trokey -

-I’ve always been pretty heartless towards salmon, laughs.

-Sorry you’ll never spawn.

-You’re just a dollar bill with fins...

Russian Government Not Ready to Initiate New Large-Scale Reform of Domestic Fish Sector This Year  

The proposal of the Russian Fisheries Company (RRPK) to begin a new large-scale reform of the domestic fish sector did not find support from the Russian federal government, particularly the Russian Federal Agency of Fisheries (Rosrybolovstvo).

According to representatives of the agency, the expansion of the mechanism of investment quotas, which was proposed by RRPK will create unequal competitive conditions in the industry, while the introduction of new auctions for crab quotas will be associated with a threat of...

Alaska Daily Case Count Drops, Seafood Related Cases Remain 10-11% of Total Statewide

Alaska’s daily case counts of the coronavirus have dropped from the highs seen in late July, with most of the last week’s daily cases below 100. That changed yesterday when news came of an outbreak at the OBI Seafood’s Alitak plant on Kodiak Island of 37 employees. 

The state’s COVID-19 dashboard at press time reported cases only through Wednesday, August 5. At that time, seafood-related cases remain about 10% of the total positive cases in the state. 

The Alitak cases include one found on...

25% Tariff Exclusions Extended for Certain Crab Meats, Alaskan Sole

On Thursday the USTR issued a Notice of Product Exclusion Extensions — one day before the exemptions were set to expire.

In September 2018 the U.S. Trade Representative imposed an additional 10% duty on goods from China with an annual trade value of approximately $200 billion. The move was part of the action in the Section 301 investigation of China’s acts, policies and practices related to technology transfer, intellectual property and innovation. That additional duty was increased to 25% in May 2019...

ANALYSIS: June Snow Crab Imports Significantly Higher Than Cyclical Behavior; Up 47% From June 2019

June 2020 imports, released on August 5, are above 2019 levels. According to the data, year-to-date levels are up 3.3 percent. On a month-to-month basis, imports in June were higher than imports in May 2020 by 24.2 percent. When comparing to June 2019 is where we see the most significant upward comparison of 47 percent higher than the same time last year. Overall snow crab imports are also 47 percent higher than the 3-year average...

All Hands Event Goes virtual, Asks Public for Ideas, Internet Reliability

This is Alaska Fish Radio. I’m Laine Welch – 

Alaska’s most popular annual seafood marketing meeting is making plans go online instead of in person. The Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute’s annual “All Hands” meeting typically brings a huge mix of industry and interested public together to “talk fish” – but Covid has corked the event for this year. Ashley Heimbigner is ASMI communications director:

“Typically, this event is held over the course of several days in Anchorage where we can all get together in the same room and have these conversations...

Alaska Salmon Harvests Lag Year-on-Year for All Species Except Pinks, Now 12% Higher than 2018

About 85 million Alaska salmon have been harvested so far this year. An additional 18 million fish will be added if the 2018 harvest pace is matched through the end of the season. If 2016 is matched, the 2020 harvest will increase by 14 million fish, reports Garrett Evridge of the McDowell Group, in the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute’s Weekly Salmon Update.

Nearly 400,000 sockeye were harvested last week, bringing the total to 44.3 million sockeyes to date. About 160,000 of last week’s ...

OPINION: Adak: This is How Alaska Fishing Communities Die

Editor's Note: Steve Minor is a long-time advocate for Alaska coastal communities.

Last year we warned of the slow economic death of Alaskan fishing communities as their access to nearby fisheries that they depend on becomes squeezed by off-shore interests, lawsuits and slow or non-existent political and regulatory responses.  The first casualty came sooner than expected. In this case, a lawsuit by several off-shore corporate fishing interests has stripped the western Aleutian communities of Adak and Atka of their access to federal waters Pacific cod and...

Alaskans Routinely Provide Elders and Those in Need with Seafood, but Sitka Sets a New Standard 

In Alaska there’s an unwritten law that even when fishing isn’t great, there’s always a few fish for the elderly or those who can’t catch their own. Whether it’s through a church, or a bar owner who knows who is in need, fish has been shared for generations by residents for their neighbors. 

But in Sitka, that effort has grown to involve fishermen’s associations, processors, social worker agencies and transportation professionals to get fresh and frozen fish to needy communities across Alaska and to ...

Japan Fisheries Agency Increases Alaska Pollock TAC to 65,000 Tons

The Fisheries Agency of Japan approved the increase in the Total Allowable Catch (TAC) of pollock for the FY2020 fishing season (April to March 2021) at the 102nd Resource Management Subcommittee of the Fisheries Policy Council held in Tokyo on August 6. In response to a large number of pollock in the Sea of Okhotsk appearing in the Japanese fishing grounds this year, the Agency increased the catch quota for offshore trawling in the waters by 10,000 tons to 64,900 tons...

Alaska Fish Radio: Comments on Fish Issues Due This Week, Month

This is Alaska Fish Radio. I’m Laine Welch – 

This week and month provide many chances to add your two cents on state and federal fishery policies – and the links to comment can be found with one stop at the Alaska Fish Radio website.

First off  -feedback on shaping an online All Hands on Deck fall meeting for the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute is welcome by Wednesday, August 12 in a quick survey. ASMI also is seeking committee members.  

The deadline to comment to the U.S. Department of Agriculture on...

Price of Coho Salmon Farmed in Miyagi Falls Below 500 yen/kg 

Production of farmed coho salmon in Miyagi Prefecture is now over. Farming was sound throughout the season, and the production reached the goal of 14,000 tons. Landed price, however, declined about 20% due to an ample supply of low-priced Chilean coho. Local processers acknowledged the open price meeting the supply and demand situation or even better under the impact of coronavirus. Farmers, on the other hand, were disappointed by saying they expect no profit, reports Suisan Keizai...

“Opening the Floodgates at Fukushima”: Woods Hole Marine Chemist Warns of Risks

In the nine years since Japan’s triple earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear disaster occured at Fukushima, cesium levels have dropped by hundreds of thousands of times, and since 2015 fish caught nearby have not exceed Japan’s strict limit for cesium.

“Yet, enormous challenges remain in decommissioning the reactors and clean-up on land,” writes Ken Buesseler in the journal Science published August 7, 2020.  

“Two of the biggest unresolved issues are what to do with the more than 1000 tanks at the site that contain contaminated water and the...

Coast Guard Aircrew Medevacs 24-year-old from Fishing Vessel near Sitka, Alaska

KODIAK, AK -- A MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew from Coast Guard Air Station Sitka medevaced a 24-year-old crewman off the F/V Carol D, near Baranof Island last Saturday. The medivac was successful and thethe patient was delivered to awaiting emergency medical service personnel in Sitka.

The initial call to Coast Guard Sector Juneau came in Friday night reporting a crewmember aboard the Carol D, which is home-ported in Sitka, was suffering from medical complications from an infected tooth.

Weather in the area was...

Red Swimming Crab Meat, Tilapia Not on Tariff Exclusion List

On Thursday the USTR issued a Notice of Product Exclusion Extensions. While the notice included a handful of seafood items, including Alaskan sole and snow crab meat, there were two items noticeably absent: tilapia and red swimming crab meat.

As most people following the tariffs will recall, in September 2018 the U.S. Trade Representative imposed an additional 10% duty on goods from China with an annual trade value of approximately $200 billion. The move was part of the action in the Section 301 investigation of China’s acts...

Cordova is First to Ask State and Commerce Dept. to Declare Twin Disasters: Fishery and Economic

On Wednesday, August 5, the Cordova City Council unanimously passed a resolution encouraging the state and the Secretary of Commerce to declare fisheries disasters for two years: the 2018 Copper River Chinook and sockeye salmon runs and the 2020 Copper River and Prince William Sound Chinook, sockeye and chum salmon runs. The resolution also urges state and federal governments to declare a “condition of economic disaster in Cordova as a result.” 

The fishing town of Cordova, located in South-central Alaska between the Copper ...

NJ and MA Members of Congress Request More COVID-19 Relief Assistance For Nation’s Fishing Industry

Members of Congress from New Jersey and Massachusetts have sent letters to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi requesting assistance for the nation’s fishing industry in the upcoming COVID-19 relief package. 

“New Jersey was among the hardest and earliest hit states by the pandemic and continues to have one of the highest counts of COVID-19 cases in the nation,” reads a letter from NJ’s representatives, including Frank Pallone, Jr. and Andy Kim...

NOAA to Host Webinar on Observer Redeployment for Northeast Fishermen

Save the date! On August 14 NOAA will be hosting a webinar for those with questions regarding observer redeployment in the Northeast.

The webinar will cover the waiver process and history, observer service provider and agency responsibilities, as well as health and safety and risk mitigation and management. Time will be left at the end of the webinar for a Q&A session for those that still have concerns or questions. 

As SeafoodNews previously reported, Assistant Administrator Chris Oliver announced late last month that observer coverage...