Top Story: Huge increase seen in pollock biomass, says NOAA 

News summary:  The Alaska pollock biomass may be at the highest levels since 1982, says Dr. Jim Ianelli, NOAA’s chief pollock stock assessment scientist. The two summer surveys, a bottom trawl and an acoustic survey, both showed several very big year classes, and confirmed the strength of the 2010 year class. However, the healthy stock won’t translate into a higher pollock quota, as the North Pacific Fishery is managed under a 2 million ton cap, and any increase in pollock would have to be “funded” with a decrease in flatfish or cod. As pollock already accounts for 70% of the Bering Sea Harvest, it is not likely the council would move in this direction given all the user groups involved. 

Sealord wants to expand usage of Hoki. In one experiment, they are shipping whole frozen fish to China. They are also trying to sell fresh Hoki at Woolworths in Australia, and hoping to even get New Zealanders to eat Hoki, which is an uphill climb because local markets already have such a good variety of inshore fish. 

15 Senators and representatives, making up the entire Alaska and Washington Congressional delegations, have written the Commissioner of the FDA in support of changing the name of Alaska pollock to simply pollock. The letter was helpful in that it brought the issue of consumer confusion raised by the Genuine Alaska Pollock Producers to the top of the FDA, ensuring this request will not get lost in a bureaucratic maze. 

Mitsubishi’s potential purchase of Cermaq, making it the second largest global salmon company, is not an isolated event but part of a trend of Japanese trading houses expanding their footprint in seafood. Many others have bought or expanded operations, and one that had spun off their seafood group a few years ago now has brought it back front and center. The consensus of these giants is that seafood is becoming more in demand, and they need to secure access not just for Japan, but for making profits globally. 

The EPA has agreed to hold off further action on Pebble until at least January, to allow for some preliminary court hearings on two lawsuits brought by Northern Dynasty over their pending 404 veto. A judge is expected to make an initial ruling on Northern Dynasty’s request for an injunction on Dec. 3rd.

Finally, the Russian sanctions on seafood may end up curtailing that country’s expansion of farmed salmon. Russian Sea, the largest seafood company promoting aquaculture, is reported to be considering selling off its aquaculture business, first on trout, and then potentially on salmon, if they can find a buyer.

John Sackton, Editor And Publisher , Lexington, Massachusetts 

Seafood.com News 1-781-861-1441 

Email comments to jsackton@seafood.com

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