Shrimp Imports from India Highest Ever for Oct,
Up 17%; Total US Shipments on Record Pace in 2016
Sharp increases in shrimp imports from India and Ecuador to the US market drove shipments in October up 4 percent for the month. Shipments for the year remain at an all-time record pace with year-to-date figures up over 3 percent from 2015. Shipments from India were up 17.6 percent for the month; it is the highest shrimp import volume ever recorded to the US market from India in the month of October. To date, imports from India, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam are all higher in 2016. Ecuador is the only US supplier among the top five to post a decline in imports year-to-date through October.
A US Federal Court in Washington state overturned a 2011 decision relating to halibut quota shares harvested by hired skippers. Due to the court’s ruling, NOAA will have to open that group back up after limiting it in 2011. Prior to this ruling quota holders couldn’t use a hired master for fishing any quota they acquired after February 2010. This is the second time in the last three months that a federal court has overturned a management decision made by the North Pacific Council.
In other news, August flooding in south Louisiana is expected to have less of a negative impact on crawfish pond production than originally believed. Within the past six weeks, small crawfish have started hatching, "and it's looking pretty much like a normal crawfish year, at this point, early in the season," said Mark Shirley, an aquaculture specialist with the LSU AgCenter.
Meanwhile, oyster operators in Wellfleet are worried that a lengthy harvesting closure because of Norovirus will hurt sales moving forward even though the ban was lifted weeks ago. State and local officials say this past fall's atypical harvesting closure cost Wellfleet millions of dollars in business. Operators say marketing efforts are needed to tell consumers and potential buyers that Wellfleet oysters are once again safe to eat.
Finally, the Parties to the Nauru Agreement or PNA says it will object to any new membership to the Western Pacific Central Fisheries Commission. The chief executive of the PNA Ludwig Kumoru said having countries without direct fishing interests admitted to the commission would weaken island countries influence on the management of the fishery.
Make sure to check out our latest podcast, which can be downloaded or streamed to iPhone and Andriod mobile devices through iTunes, Google Play or SoundCloud. In our latest show, we talk about the reported pollock biomass in the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska and recap some of the developments surrounding the delay to Dungeness crab fishing in Oregon and Washington.
To Read Full Story Login Below.