ANALYSIS: Crab Meat Prices Continue to Rise Amid Low Inventories

Crab meat like many other sectors in the premium shellfish category is seeing gains in pricing and many importers are experiencing a lack of inventory across many grades for blue swimming crab meat. Quotations have been firming significantly each week and all sizes of blue swimming crab meat are at 52-week highs.

Supply limitations in Asia due to COVID-19 and logistic constraints due to a lack of containers and shipping delays have helped create supply and inventory shortages across...

VIDEO: QSR & Fast Casual Seafood Offerings for Lent: White Castle, Bojangles, Quiznos and Popeyes

This week SeafoodNews Weekly Video co-hosts Amanda Buckle and Lorin Castiglione take a look at QSR and fast casual offerings for Lent. Find out what's been added to the menus at White Castle, Bojangles, Quiznos and Popeyes.

This episode was brought to you by Urner Barry's new Insights offering, which is coming this March. This largely digital offering will allow subscribers to read, watch and listen to impactful market content in a new way like never before...

Seafood and Crab Sales Soar at Retail and Online

The information released during the Global Seafood Market Conference webinar this past week clearly showed the gains made in  seafood and crab at retail. With opportunities constrained at food service, sellers rotated to retail and the results were spectacular!  Overall Seafood at retail in the U.S. was up  28% to $16.6 b.

Crab was up by even a higher percentage! Anne Marie Roerink of 210 Analytics advised that U.S. crab sales were $1.6bn, a 63% increase vs. 2019.  Another big gainer was lobster which was up 56% to...

Super Bowl Snack Ideas: The Best Seafood Appetizers To Eat During The Game

Super Bowl LV is this Sunday, February 7, and will find the Kansas City Chiefs taking on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. 

According to the National Retail Federation (NRF), 186.6 million adults in the U.S. plan on tuning in to the big game. And although Super Bowl party celebrations will be looking a little different due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, there still needs to be snacks out! NRF reports that 86% of viewers are planning to make purchases to mark the occasion...

PODCAST: Latest COVID News out of Alaska; Lawsuit Against Subway; CA Restaurants Reopening and More

Join SeafoodNews Podcast co-hosts Amanda Buckle and Lorin Castiglione as they break down the latest COVID news out of Alaska; the lawsuit against Subway; and the reopening of restaurants in California and New York City. Plus, find out what's going on with the blue swimming crab meat market and tilapia market.

This podcast is brought to you by Urner Barry’s Reporter magazine, which is out now! The latest issue is packed with great stories...

Wild Alaskan Company Introduces Red King Crab Special in 2021

Wild Alaskan Company members are in for a treat in 2021, because on Monday the sustainable seafood company announced the launch of wild-caught, red king crab. 

“Wild Alaskan Company is thrilled to introduce red king crab, one of Alaska’s most famous and sought-after seafood choices,” said founder and CEO Arron Kallenberg. “A mainstay of Alaska’s seafood offerings, red king crab is the perfect choice to start the new year right. We’re beyond excited to share this special offering with our members nationwide...

USCG Warns Fishermen, Particularly Crabbers, About the Perils of Turning Off AIS

Fishermen hoping to guard their favorite fishing holes by turning off their vessels' automated identifications system should think twice about that.

Or think about a maximum penalty of up to $35,486 per violation. For a Dungeness crabber, that could be roughly 10,000 to 12,000 pounds of crab, depending on the ex-vessel price.

The U.S. Coast Guard is issuing a warning to mariners and commercial fisherman about the dangers and legal consequences of disabling a vessel's AIS.

The Coast Guard has...

Blue Star Foods Releases First GRI Sustainability Report 

Blue Star Foods, a Florida-based seafood company with a specialty in Blue Crab meat released its first GRI Standard Sustainability Report for 2020.

The report is 89-pages long and displays Blue Star’s performance over the past two years against globally recognized, quantifiable and standardized ESG Key Performance Indicators and is the only report of its kind focused on the Blue Crabmeat category of the seafood industry.

Blue Star noted this is one of a kind report on the Blue Crab meat category of the seafood industry. It dives into how the company looks after the environment around where its crabs are harvested, waste management, worker safety and wellbeing and efforts to boost local artisanal fishing communities...

Russia Live Crab Exports Hit 28,481.1 M/T (62.789MM LBS)

The 2020 year is behind us and we look forward to 2021 and what it brings to us.  The largest resource of king crab again is from Russia followed by Alaska and Norway with Canada leading the way on snow crab followed by Russia and the U.S.  

For anyone questioning the Asia live crab market growth we find that since the beginning of 2020  28,181.1M/t (62.128 mm lbs.) of live crab  have been sent for export from the Primorsky Krai.  Almost all went to South Korea and China...

Russian Presidential Administration May Consider RRPK’s Proposals About Reform of Domestic Fish Sector

The Russian Presidential Administration may consider the proposals of the Russian Fishery Company (RRPK) about the reform of the domestic fish sector, which were sent earlier this year and caused a major stir in the Russian fish community.

According to a recent report published by the Russian Kommersant business paper, these proposals may be considered with the participation of the Russian Ministry of Agriculture, Rosrybolovstvo, the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS), the All-Russian Association of Fisheries (VARPE)...

The Top Stories of 2020: Check Out the Most Read Stories on SeafoodNews 

As 2020 comes to a close, SeafoodNews is looking back at our top read stories of the year. And, of course, most of those stories revolve around the coronavirus.

SeafoodNews first began reporting on the coronavirus on January 6, when authorities in China were still referring to it as a “mysterious pneumonia outbreak” linked to a seafood market in Wuhan. Since then the coronavirus has spread across the globe, affecting almost every aspect of our daily lives...

The Winding Glass: 2020 Part 1: The End of a Year of Turmoil, Loss, and Resilience

Most will welcome the end of 2020 as next year promises improvements in all respects.

For the seafood industry looking back on this past year, it feels like a bomb went off. Now we are picking up the pieces, seeing who survived and who didn’t, and checking on each other to see what shape we’re in.

The most salient aspect of the pandemic is that even though this is a universal event affecting behavior in every country in the world, the impacts have been...

Oregon Dungeness Season Kicks Off; Fishermen, Processors at Standstill Over Price

The 2020 Dungeness crab season kicked off in Oregon on Wednesday, but many fishermen stayed ashore as they battle processors over prices.

According to Amanda Slee, of local TV station KMTR 16, the Charleston Marina was quiet on the opening day of the season.

"We're kind of sitting here with our hands tied behind our back. We've got really no options," said Rex Leach, owner of the fishing vessel, Ms. Julie.

Leach said that some processors are offering a $2.50 per pound...

Crabbers in California Ask for Delay in Season; CDFW Approves Dec. 23 Opening

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife said Friday the situation in California proves the new Risk Assessment Mitigation Program is working.

The RAMP is successfully striking a balance between the needs of the commercial Dungeness crab fleet and protection of marine life, the CDFW said, and the Department will open the commercial season statewide on Wednesday, Dec. 23.

This will allow the fleet a chance to get Dungeness crab on California tables before the holiday season ends, the agency...

Christmas Dungeness is on the Menu - But Crabbers Face Other Hurdles

Details in a blitz of state press releases late Tuesday and early Wednesday present more questions than state Dungeness crab fishery managers can answer. Yes, the Dungeness season will open in some areas. Further delays are in place in other areas. And some areas still require managers' approvals.

But as COVID-19 keeps some public places and restaurants closed or with limited seating, fishermen and processors are trying to create business plans or predict a future where very little is certain.

And now, storms are forecast ...

China Detects Coronavirus on Packaging of Chilean Crab; Sernapesca Responds

Frozen crab from Chile is the latest product to be flagged by China. According to the General Administration of Customs of China (GACC), a sample of the outer packaging of Chilean frozen spider crab tested positive for COVID-19. As a result, the Chinese authority has suspended imports from the affected company for a week.

Sernapesca, Chile’s National Fisheries and Aquaculture Service, was notified of the positive detection of COVID-19 on November 28. The shipment was certified by Sernapesca and consolidated at the plant on October 5...

White Castle Brings Back Crab Cake Sliders For Lent After Cutting it From Menu in 2020

We’ve got good news for White Castle lovers...the Seafood Crab Cake Slider is back for Lent!

White Castle added the Crab Cake Slider to their menu back in 2017, and it was featured during the Lenten season during 2018 and 2019. However, last year the item was cut from the seasonal seafood lineup to make room for the chain’s new Panko Breaded Fish Slider.

Well, White Castle appears to have listened to their devoted followers who were devastated to...

Alaska Fishing Updates For February 2021

This is Alaska Fish Radio. I’m Laine Welch. Lots of February fishing – and Frankenfish heads to markets.

Freezing February weather doesn’t keep Alaskans off the fishing grounds from Southeast to Norton Sound.

In the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska, boats are pulling in pollock, cod, flounders and other groundfish. 

Over three billion pounds of pollock will come out of the Bering Sea, another 250 million pounds from the Gulf.

Prince William Sound also has a winter pollock fishery underway that will produce nearly 5 million pounds...

Japan's 2020 Trade Performance: Significant Reduction in Export and Import Value

According to the December 2020 customs statistics released by the Ministry of Finance on January 28, imports fell by nearly 10% in the last year, and exports remained at the same level as the previous year. However, both import and export values decreased by about 20%, and overall trade shrank due to the spread of the new coronavirus infection that caused global turmoil, reported Suisan Keizai.

Imported marine products, including non-edible marine products ,such as fish meals, amounted to 2.25 million tons, or...

USCG Rescues Three from F/V Sunup After Collision with Humboldt Bay Jetty

The U.S. Coast Guard rescued three people after their commercial crab fishing boat lost propulsion and collided with the jetties while attempting to transit through the entrance channel in Humboldt Bay, Sunday.

At approximately 6:20 p.m., Sunday, Jan. 24, Coast Guard Sector Humboldt Bay watchstanders received a distress call from the F/V Sunup stating their vessel had propulsion problems and was on the south jetty rocks inside the channel.

Coast Guard personnel ...

ANALYSIS: King Crab Market Firm as Demand Outweighs Supply

A lack of supply and available replacement product from Russia continues to be the overall theme in the king crab market. Through November 2020, king crab imports are down 6.8 percent from Russia, the top producing country in the world.

The past two months of imports have fallen well below the 3-year average of monthly imports. In taking a closer look at the cyclical behavior of imports, both October and November are noticeably lower; down 34 and 49 percent respectively in comparison to the 3-year average...

Crabbers Face Potential February Season Opening in Washington if Domoic Clears

Biotoxins just want to hang around Washington waters, it appears. Domoic acid is again delaying the Dungeness crab season north of Cape Falcon, Ore., the industry learned Friday.

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife sent out a notice advising the industry that recent tests from Jan. 9 showed continued levels of domoic acid that exceeded the action level of 30 ppm in the viscera.

Tri-State policy representatives from WDFW, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife agreed to...

30 Alaska Communities Obtain 3% of Crab Quota Valued at $35 Million, Seven Vessels 

Thirty Alaskan Communities, the Coastal Villages Region Fund (CVRF), and Bristol Bay Economic Development Corporation (BBEDC), announced on Thursday that they bought out the Mariner Companies, a Seattle-based fishing enterprise majority-owned by Kevin Kaldestad and Gordon Kristjanson. The acquisition will provide the participating communities with opilio and red king crab quota, equaling 3% of the total crab fishery.

According to the press release, the Mariner Companies will sell crab quota valued at $35 million to 30 Western Alaskan communities in...

Washington Crab Season On Hold Beyond Jan. 15; Researchers Find Delays Force Fishing Changes

A current delay of the crab season in Washington due to domoic acid mirrors previous impediments that researchers say altered fishermen's use of ocean resources.

The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife said Thursday the area north of Cape Falcon, Ore., remains closed in order to coordinate an orderly start with the Washington coastal Dungeness crab fishery, which is expected to be delayed beyond Jan. 15 due to elevated levels of domoic acid.

The most recent samples of crab viscera from Oregon’s crabbing areas remains...

Quinault Tribe Voluntarily Recalls Dungeness Crab Due to Domoic Acid

The Washington Department of Health posted the voluntary recall of Dungeness crab from a Washington tribe shortly after Christmas in December.

"The Quinault Tribe is voluntarily recalling 57,891 pounds of live or un-eviscerated Dungeness crab due to possible domoic acid contamination," the Department posted on Dec. 28, 2020.

All live or un-eviscerated Dungeness crab harvested from December 23, 2020, to December 28, 2020, from the Point Chehalis to Destruction Island (GHPO056 zone) by the Quinault Tribe are subject...

NOAA Releases Proposed Changes to Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan

NOAA announced its proposed modifications to the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan on December 30.

NOAA said it is looking to “further reduce the impacts of entanglement in fishing gear on right whales in U.S. waters.” The modifications are focused on the Northeast Jonah crab and lobster trap/pot fisheries, which are responsible for roughly 93 percent of the buoy lines fished in areas where right whales occur.

According to NOAA, the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Team will be asked to recommend risk reduction measures...

Domoic Acid Furthers Dungeness Crab Delay in Washington

That little devil domoic acid is still showing up in crab from Washington, so the existing closure from Cape Falcon, in northern Oregon, to the Canadian border will remain in place through at least Jan. 14, 2021.

Tri-State Dungeness crab fishery managers for Washington, Oregon and California agreed Friday to further delay the opening of the 2020-21 coastal commercial Dungeness crab fishery after tests showed crab tested off Long Beach, Wash., had viscera that was above the federal domoic acid action level of...

Russian Fishermen Plan to Catch Almost 100,000 Tonnes of Crab in 2021

Russian fishermen plan to catch almost 100,000 tonnes of crab in 2021, according to recent statements, made by producers and some local media reports.

Of these, the biggest production volumes are planned for the Far East basin, where next year the volume of total allowable crab catch will reach 75,000 tonnes. At the same time, for the Northern basin the planned catch will reach 24,000 tonnes.

In regard to the Far East basin, up to 16,100 tonnes of the planned crab catch will account for Kamchatka crab...

Dungeness Catch at Southeast 2nd Highest Ever

This is Alaska Fish Radio. I’m Laine Welch – It’s a near record for Southeast’s Dungeness crab fishery.

Both the catch and number of boats on the grounds were down a bit for Southeast Alaska’s Dungeness fall crab fishery that wrapped up on November 30^th.

“So far we’ve had 790,000 pounds so far caught in the fall season and we usually catch right around a million pounds.”

Adam Messmer is area shellfish manager with the Alaska Dept. of Fish and Game at Douglas. He says 104 crabbers dropped pots this fall compared to...

Major Decrease in King Crab Imports

The NOAA Foreign Trade report for October data has been released and king crab imports were down over 50% in October!

On the other hand snow crab imports in October continued from both the Russian Barents Sea and Far East. Imports from this source are up 32% vs. October 2019 and 85.6% year to date.

Overall snow crab imports are up 24.5% through October which is remarkable with the ongoing pandemic. Credit goes clearly into the Canadian producers who with the pandemic lowered initial prices on snow crab to a level that motivated...