Top Story: Oregon Dungeness dollar value hits record level this season 

News Summary:

The total value of Oregon’s dungeness crab fishery this year appears to be a record. With the commercial season closing tonight, Hugh Link, executive director of the Dungeness Crab Commission, says that the value has hit $49.7 million, even though landings are less than half of last season. Oregon landings for this year (including December of 2013) are 14.35 million lbs, less than half of the 33 million pounds landed in 2013. Strong live demand has spiked prices. 

In other news, we raise the question of why the FDA appears to treat Alaska pollock differently than virtually every other species when it comes to common names. In general, the FDA disallows geographical descriptors in the official market name - out of 1800 products, only around 8 have geographical descriptors, while there are hundreds of species where the geographical name is used in the trade but barred as the official market name. The issue has taken on urgency with Russia’s trade sanctions against US seafood. At present, Alaskan seafood cannot be sold in Russia, yet Russia can sell ‘Alaska Pollock’ in the US. No wonder consumers are confused. 

The Commerce dept will issue its final rulings on current shrimp duty rates for Thailand and India next week, and for Vietnam in September. Cash deposit rates for these products change on the publication of the new rate in the federal register. This year Commerce tried another method resulting in higher duties in the preliminary rulings, although we don’t yet know how that will carry over to the final determinations. 

H-E-B will partner with EDF, using its guidelines, for all fresh, frozen and prepared seafood. EDF generally classifies “We've been close to the Environmental Defense Fund for several years,” Dya Campos said. “We admire the work that they do. This is the next step in sharing our mutual interest in sustainability.” On its website, H-E-B posts a list of the seafood it sells and its country of origin, along with recommendations from EDF that ranks the item as a “best choice” or an “OK choice.” EDF has been an active supporter of using catch shares in the Gulf, and such a program has resulted in a stabilizing the commercial red snapper fishery. 

Finally, both Charoen Pokphand and Thai Union Frozen Products reported quarterly results. Both Thai companies saw improving shrimp sales, and expect further improvements. Thai Union is aggressively pursuing acquisitions, and CEO Thiraphong did not rule out bidding on Bumble Bee. He also said the company had not lost any customers due to the downgrade of Thailand in the US anti-trafficking report. “In the longer term, the issue could drag down competitiveness of Thai exporters,” he said.

John Sackton, Editor And Publisher , Lexington, Massachusetts 

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