Russia Vows Crackdown on 10,000 tons of IUU Snow Crab Fished in Barents Sea
The Russian government plans to tighten a fight over illegal crab catch in the Barents Sea. The Russsian government is talking with Norwegian officials to fight crab poaching since the opilio fishery in the Norway / Russian area could increase to 50,000 tons. The Russian government estimates the value of the entire IUU crab haul around $30 million annually. As much as 10,000 metric tons of snow crab is illegally fished each year according to Russian estimates.
The former Trident Surimi plant on the Newport Waterfront will open at the end of this week or early next week, after Pacific Seafood and the Oregon dept. of Justice agreed on conditions for the acquisition. It is highly unusual for the Oregon Dept. of Justice to give an opinion about a merger or acquisition, but because the Dept. had intervened with a friend of the court brief in a lawsuit claiming Pacific Seafood was too concentrated on the Oregon coast, the company was reluctant to operate another plant without a sign off from the DOJ. “We very much appreciate the Governor and Attorney General’s leadership in addressing this extraordinary situation. They moved quickly to reach a solution that saves 147 traded-sector jobs, retains the market for Newport’s commercial fishing fleet, and preserves Oregon’s access to a major export market," said Dan Occhipinti a spokesperson at Pacific.
In other news, the $1 trillion federal spending bill did not include disaster funding for West Coast pink salmon and Dungeness crab fishermen. Congress could choose to appropriate the money separately, but chances of that happening are slim.
Meanwhile, we run a letter by John Pappalardo, the CEO of the Cape Cod Commercial Fishermen's Alliance, who says Carlos Rafael should be permanently banned from fishing and that his quotas should be redistributed. "Honest fishermen have not been playing on a level field with the likes of Carlos. We need to make sure they aren't put in that position again," Pappalardo writes. In a related editorial from The Portland Press Herald, what federal regulators decide to do with Rafael's fleet and quotas will set a major precedent for future violators that attempt to cheat the system.
Finally, Florida's stone crab season is officially over with a harvest of about 3 million pounds of claws valued at $30 million. These figures are down just marginally from last season.
To Read Full Story Login Below.