India seafood exporters say rate of EU rejections lowest ever, press reports painted false picture
The Seafood Exporters Association of India said European shrimp rejection rates are at their lowest levels ever. The Association also dismissed contrary news reports that shrimp rejections were on the rise. “A distorted picture has come out in some sections of the press on detection of antibiotics residues in foreign markets,” the Association said. “The rate of rejections has declined, even as the volume of shrimp imports by various markets increased dramatically over the past three years.” The group said Indian shrimp export values will account for about 60 percent of India’s total exported seafood by 2020.
A bottleneck at the twin ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach has created the worst shipping crisis seen at the port in a decade. Holiday cargo arrivals, much larger container ships and a shortage of trailers have combined to cause the backups at the ports, which handle about 40 percent of all US imported goods. Retailers have started to divert shipments elsewhere in fear of not getting their products in time for the holidays.
In other news tilapia prices in China are expected to rise later in the fourth quarter on reports that tilapia seedlings are in short supply. Producers said tilapia will be available to start November but the lack of seeds for the current demand will lead to lower inventories and higher prices later on.
Maine’s lobster processors are reporting a tough time finding workers to fill their plants as the industry is attempting to expand domestic operations. Even though the work pays more than minimum wage, the at-times intensive labor, inconsistent hours and seasonality of the positions are proving to be a hard sell for the state’s processors.
Finally, a two-year investgation into seafood mislabeling at the wholesale level by the FDA has found products are correctly labeled 85 percent of the time. The Department's study found a majority of the mislabeled seafood species represented less than two percent of total sales. “This extensive federal analysis brings the challenge of mislabeling into a much clearer focus,” said John Connelly, President of the National Fisheries Institute (NFI.) “While at the same time calling into question other mislabeling ‘studies’ that suggest the issue is widespread and in need of a legislative fix.”
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