AK House Committee Proposes to Double Cuts to ASMI's State Funding to 40 Percent
The Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute’s (ASMI) budget cut has been doubled from Governor Bill Walker’s initial proposal. An Alaskan House subcommittee recommended a 40 percent cut to ASMI’s $7.5 million budget. The budget cuts are part of the state’s wide-ranging attempt to balance its books with Alaska facing some major fiscal shortfalls.
Bangladesh’s frozen shrimp exporters say black tiger prices have fallen 42 percent for 16-20 count going to EU markets. Those in the industry blame a weak Euro and Russian Ruble for the downturn in shrimp prices. "We are forced to sell at lower prices to retain our international buyers. Exports to Russia have dipped to almost zero, while the demand for shrimp also fell in Europe because of an economic slowdown there," said SM Amzad Hossain, president of Bangladesh Frozen Foods Exporters Association.
In today’s Editor’s View Column Jack Sackton reprints an opinion piece he and Peggy Parker were invited to write about the sustainability of the Bering Sea’s fisheries. The piece was written in light of Greenpeace’s campaign to target retailers who carry seafood from the Bering Sea.
Meanwhile, the FDA has changed the official scientific name of Walleye Pollock to Gadus chalcogrammus, from its former scientific name of Theragra chalcogramma. The change recognizes the fish as a cod not a Pollock. Still, the FDA has not yet ruled on a petition that would change the market name of the fish to just “Pollock.”
Finally, Canada’s Fish Food and Allied Worker’s Union has released a socioeconomic analysis of the impact of cuts to the shrimp fishery that details the importance of Newfoundland’s inshore fleet. The FFAW's report concluded that the inshore industry produces as much as 80 percent of the region’s municipal commercial tax revenue through its 10 shrimp processing plants.
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