Anomalies in Survey Data Point to Unwelcome Changes in Cod Conditions in 3PS (NL)
A survey of Newfoundland’s 3Ps cod stocks found high mortalities of the fish, which resulted in a poor trajectory for the stock. Poor nutritional conditions of the cod and higher hake abundance were noted in the data. “The fact is the estimates of mortality for the stock are really quite high right now, as high as we’ve seen in the time series that we’ve monitored,” said Rick Rideout, a research scientist with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans.
Restaurant sales performance declined in January and was the largest drop in sales since February 2014 according to a Black Box survey. Analysts blamed part of the sales drop to winter weather and to the later date of the Super Bowl. Additionally, January 2016 was also up against strong same-store sales from the prior year. On a two-year basis, same-store sales growth is 5.3 percent and traffic has declined 0.5 percent.
In other news Red Lobster plans to update its menu to show that its lobster bisque partially contains langostino, which is not a lobster. The change is in response to an investigation by Inside Edition that found the bisque did not contain 100 percent lobster. “We serve a variety of lobster, including North American lobster, Maine lobster, Rock lobster and Langostino lobster,” said Red Lobster in a statement. “We question the validity of Inside Edition's test where they found one cup of bisque that only contained Langostino lobster.”
Finally, the domestic shrimp industry's 'Protect Act' was signed by President Obama yesterday, as it was incorporated into a package of trade measures, including the industry supported Port State Act to crack down on IUU Fishing. The legislation aims to increase costs for imported shrimp but is a futile attempt to reduce shipments to the US market writes John Sackton. “Instead of complaining about the global move to farmed shrimp, [Gulf shrimpers] should be extolling the virtues and benefits of their Gulf wild shrimp, and why it deserves a premium. Until they do this, they will be locked in a commodity battle they cannot win,” said Sackton.
Have a great weekend.
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