Norway's Seafood Exports Surged 23 Percent to Record High in 2016
The value of Norway's seafood exports set an all-time record in 2016, eclipsing $10 billion for the year. Norway's Seafood Export Council said the record was driven by lower salmon supply, rising demand and a weak currency. Additionally, the average price Norwegian salmon was up 40 percent in 2016 compared to year ago levels, which made up the bulk of the overall annual increase to Norway's seafood export values.
Dungeness crabbers on the West Coast are still tied up over a fight for higher dock prices with the region's processors. However, some commercial crabbers are getting anxious since tribal fleets in Westport, WA are still fishing and selling crabs to private and tribal processors. “I’d hate to be a Westport fisherman — watching, watching, see if someone’s going to be a scab or not, if someone’s going to get one over on you,” said Bernie Lindley, a Brookings fisherman.
In other news, Alaska's pollock trawlers will start the season on January 20th in the Bering Sea. Alaska pollock is the nation’s largest fishery with nearly three billion pounds coming out of the Bering Sea and more than 420 million pounds from the Gulf of Alaska.
Meanwhile, officials with India's seafood export association MPEDA are trying to hold a meeting with South African agricultural representatives to discuss recent rejections of Indian shrimp shipments after they allegedly tested positive for containing cholera-causing bacteria. MPEDA is concerned that a delay in securing a meeting with South African officials to review their seafood testing procedures is damaging India's ability to carve out a market for its farmed shrimp in South Africa, which is viewed as an emerging market for the product.
Finally, Russia says it should be able to reduce its fish exports by 20 percent this year once it opens up a large scale fish processing plant in the Crimea region. The new complex will have the capacity to process up to 75,000 metric tons of fish and seafood per year and will be built by the Lazurny Okean Group of Companies. The complex is expected to handle fish harvested from the Russian Black Sea
We've published our first Podcast of the New Year. Our latest show discusses the Dungeness crab fishing strike and also reports Russia's highest salmon harvest in two decades; Canada's lobster exports ahead of the Chinese New Year and Red Lobster featuring Wild Caught Red Shrimp in its Big Shrimp Festival Promotion. You can downloaded or stream our podcasts to your iPhone or Andriod mobile devices through iTunes, Google Play or SoundCloud.
To Read Full Story Login Below.