Cooke Inc. Acquires California Distributor All Seas Wholesale, Inc.

Cooke Inc. announced on Tuesday that they have acquired California seafood distributor All Seas Wholesale, Inc.

“Purchasing All Seas allows us to continue to strengthen our vertical integration and distribute our True North Seafood products to additional markets,” said Cooke Inc. CEO Glenn Cooke. “All Seas prides itself on being able to receive an order early in the morning and have it delivered fresh to the customer to serve on their lunch menu that same day, and that fits very well with our drive for high standards in both... 

SENA 2019: Corbion Teams Up With Celebrity Chef Sammy Monsour for Short Film on Algae-Fed Salmon

Corbion and celebrity chef Sammy Monsour teamed up at Seafood Expo North America in Boston this week to premiere a short film documenting the impact of AlgaPrime DHA on sustainable aquaculture.

“With algae-fed salmon brands gaining distribution at U.S. retailers, we are excited to work with Chef Sammy Monsour to start a dialogue with consumers and chefs about the impact of sustainably produced salmon,” said Marc den Hartog, Executive Vice President of Innovation Platforms at Corbion...

Chilean Salmon Marketing Council Introduces 'Promise of Patagonia' Campaign for US

The Chilean Salmon Marketing Council (CSMC), a U.S.-based entity dedicated to strengthening the reputation of Chilean Salmon, announced a new creative campaign, "The Promise of Patagonia," at the annual Seafood Expo North America in Boston today.

"The Promise of Patagonia" is focused on forging the connection for American consumers between the cold, clear waters of Chilean Patagonia, and the salmon they put on their table. Starting this month, it will go live on print, online and out-of-home channels.

"The mystique of Patagonia is well-known...

Bakkafrost Releases Second Healthy Living Sustainability Report for 2018

“As the biggest salmon producer in the Faroe Islands, we understand our responsibility to be transparent about the impacts we have on the local economy, society and the environment. One year in to our plan, we are more determined than ever to accelerate progress in how we manage these impacts.” The quote from Bakkafrost's CEO Regin Jacobsen opens the company's second annual report on their commitment to sustainable principles and a responsible approach to aquaculture, not just in production but also investment and corporate citizenship...

Seafood Scotland Looking to Expand Opportunities in North America At Boston Seafood Show

With Brexit on the horizon, Scottish seafood companies are aiming to secure new business in North America while at Seafood Expo North America.

Seafood Expo North America is set to take place in Boston from March 17-19. According to Seafood Scotland’s trade marketing manager, Clare MacDougall, the event is a “huge opportunity for companies to talk directly with those responsible for making purchasing and buying decisions about our world-class seafood.” Scottish companies in attendance include...

PFMC Approves Salmon Season Alternatives for Public Review; Oregon Opens April 20

Most West Coast salmon fishermen are expecting a better season this year. The Pacific Fishery Management Council approved three alternatives for commercial seasons in all areas of the coast on Tuesday.

Those seasons now go out for public review. The Council will adopt final seasons in April.

“Although some forecasts are up over last year, this year’s salmon runs are still challenging for ocean fishermen and managers,” Council Executive Director Chuck Tracy said in a press release. “In the north, conservation requirements for...

FDA Approves AquaBounty GMO Salmon for Sale in US

March 11, 2019

On Friday the FDA announced it was removing the 2016 import alert that prohibited genetically engineered salmon from entering the US.

AquaBounty has developed a process involving inserting genes from Chinook salmon and Ocean Pout to bypass the normal growth regulators in Atlantic salmon.  The result is a fish that grows to market size about 50% faster than traditionally reared Atlantic Salmon.

This GMO salmon is the first genetically engineered animal product the FDA has approved for food consumption.  Its many detractors call it ‘frankenfish’.

Aquabounty first developed its process in the early 1990’s.  The FDA review was not complete until 2015, at which time the FDA determined GM salmon was safe ...

China Overtakes Japan as Alaska's Largest Seafood Importer

China used to mean nothing more than just an Asian country for fishermen in Alaska, but in recent years it has become a magnet, attracting sellers and seafood products with increasingly great demand and deep-pocket buyers. Its seafood imports from Alaska has risen by about 20% in 2017 compared with that of 2016, while the import value was around $1 billion USD that year, according to media reports. And now, China has overtaken Japan and become the largest seafood importer of Alaskan seafood.

In the past few years, there is an obvious increase in ...

AlgaPrime DHA Improving Omega-3 Content in Farmed Fish

Corbion’s partnership with BioMar is paying off. BioMar has produced and sold over 350,000 tons of feed containing AlgaPrime(TM) DHA in Norway over the past two years, and the feed has helped farmers not only improve the omega-3 content, but also reduce the fish-in fish-out ratio of farmed salmon.

“Through our partnership with BioMar, we’ve seen strong adoption of AlgaPrime(TM) DHA and have shown our ability to make a significant impact on the aquaculture industry over a short period of time,” said Marc den Hartog...

VIDEO: Farmed Salmon Update; Lent Seafood; MSC Gulf Snow Crab; SeaPak Budweiser Partnership

SeafoodNews Weekly Recap's Lorin Castiglione is back! Watch Lorin and co-host Amanda Buckle reunite on screen as they talk about the latest farmed salmon market update; Lent seafood offerings; the MSC Gulf Snow Crab Certificate; and SeaPak's partnership with Budweiser.

This video is sponsored by the Urner Barry Executive Conference, now the premier event for the seafood industry. The Executive Conference, taking place at the Bellagio in Las Vegas from April 28th to the 30th, is expanding this year and...

West Coast Salmon Shows Slight Improvement for California, Oregon Ocean Seasons

Oregon and California salmon fishermen, processors and managers are hopeful and optimistic that this year's ocean seasons will be the same or better than last year.

The state reports come as tribal, state and federal fishery managers meet this week at the Pacific Fishery Management Council meeting in Vancouver, Wash. It's the first of two meetings designed to winnow down the options to final seasons determined in April. The Council, states and NMFS will hold hearings in each state later this month after the Council presents preliminary alternatives...

Washington Anti-Gillnet Bill Passes Committee; Restricts Changes to Columbia River

The bill that would eliminate non-tribal gillnets in Washington, SB 5617, passed out of the Agriculture, Water, Natural Resources & Parks Committee last week on a 4-2 vote with a substitute bill that would:

• limit the gillnet ban to the Columbia River fishery (instead of including Puget Sound, Grays Harbor and Willapa Bay);
• change the gillnet license buyout from three phases to one; and
• move the effective date of the ban from Jan. 1, 2023, to Jan. 1, 2021.

Committee chair Kevin Van De Wege, Vice Chair...

Russia Proposes Breaching Lake to Increase Sockeye Production in Kamchatka Region

The Russian government is considering implementing an ambitious project for the creation of a commercial stock of red salmon on Kronotsky Lake, one of Russia’s largest natural salmon habitats in Kamchatka, according to recent statements local authorities and producers.

According to Russian scientists, at present red salmon live in Kronotsky Lake without reaching market weight; however, part of the state plans include creating a commercial salmon stock on the basis of Kronotsky population by the building a fish passage that will connect the lake with the Pacific Ocean...

EU Competition Police Raid 3 Norwegian Salmon Companies with Offices in Scotland and Netherlands

EU competition authorities carried out raids on three salmon companies on Tuesday to seize paperwork in an investigation of whether the companies have engaged in anti-competitive price fixing as a cartel.

"The Commission has concerns that the inspected companies may have violated EU antitrust rules that prohibit cartels and restrictive business practices," it said in a statement.

The companies were Mowi, (formerly Marine Harvest), Grieg Seafood, and Salmar and Leroy’s Scottish Sea Farms.

Mowi plants in both Scotland and the Netherlands were raided...

King Crab and Lobster Again Shine for Chinese New Year, 'The Most Important Dinner in China'

China’s largest-scale shopping carnival has come to an end with the ending of its lunar New Year holiday recently. Impressively, its residents spent more than 1 trillion yuan celebrating the holiday. One new feature of festival consumption is that imported commodities have become increasingly popular and affordable for frenzied Chinese consumers.

According to Alibaba, the country’s e-commerce giant, king crabs have become a hot choice for the festival feast. Their sales ballooned by 769% on its T-mall platform around...

Washington's Anti-Gillnet Bill Draws Strong Support, Opposition in Committee Hearing

The Washington Senate Committee on Agriculture, Water, Natural Resources and Parks held a hearing Tuesday on SB 5617, the anti-gillnet bill, and testifiers on both sides of the issue had strong feelings about the bill.

As introduced, SB 5617 would mandate the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife develop a three-phase program for purchasing and retirement of nontribal salmon gillnets by Dec. 31, 2022. However, no appropriations for buying out the permits was included in the bill. It would effectively eliminate gillnet fisheries ...

CleanFish Brings First ‘Green Rated’ Marine-Farmed Atlantic Salmon to Boston Seafood Show

The first “Green Rated” marine-farmed Atlantic salmon is at Seafood Expo North America.

CleanFish announced that they will be debuting Nordic Blu, the world’s first and only marine net-pen farmed Atlantic salmon rated “Green - Best Choice” by the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch program, at their booth, number 3176.

“We’re proud to be the chosen partner of Salten Aqua Group in bringing this remarkable salmon and the Nordic Blu brand to North America,” said CleanFish Managing Director Mike Moniz...

Antarctic Salmon Brand Sixty South Building New Hatchery

Antarctic salmon brand Sixty South announced on Thursday that they are building a new hatchery 45 kilometers north of Porvenir, Tierra del Fuego.

The new hatchery, a state-of-the-art 4-stage facility, will enable Sixty South to produce 12 million smolts of 120 grams per year, or 3 million every quarter. The facility is indoors, allowing the company to have control over the entire production process. According to the company, the facility supports their commitment to “growing fish without any antibiotics and in the purest, most natural and...

IKEA Canada Adds Sustainable Salmon Balls to Restaurant Menus

Forget about IKEA’s Swedish meatballs. IKEA Canada shoppers can now indulge in salmon balls. The home furnishing retailer announced on Tuesday that they have introduced salmon balls to the restaurant menus from “coast to coast.”

IKEA’s salmon balls are made from ASC-certified salmon, with the addition of MSC-certified cod. But in addition to being sustainably sourced, the new menu items are also responsibly produced in that they are made from smaller sections of salmon that “cannot be used as fillets...

Stavis Seafoods Launches SeaTru Lifestyle Seafood Brand Ahead of Boston Seafood Expo

Stavis Seafoods announced on Wednesday the launch of their new lifestyle seafood brand: SeaTru.

According to the company, SeaTru products meet in-depth brand standards and are “completely traceable, socially responsible and sustainably sourced.” So far the initial products featured in the line include retail-ready pasteurized crabmeat, fresh Norwegian salmon, as well as the Prime Cuts Portion Program, which includes high quality salmon, halibut, swordfish and tuna portions. Each produced is sourced from a sustainable certified, ranked or domestic fishery, or from a fishery involved in...

Russia Hopes To Set New Record for Pacific Salmon Catch in 2019

Russia hopes to set a new historical record of Pacific salmon catch this year in the Far East, according to recent statements of enior officials at the Russian Ministry of Agriculture and experts of Rosrybolovstvo.

According to data of Rosrybolovstvo, Russian total Pacific pink salmon catch last year amounted to 676,000 tonnes, and there is a possibility these figures may grow up to 750,000-800,000 tonnes in 2019.

This year, the salmon fishing season in the Russian Far East begins on June 1, while the biggest catch...

Russian Seafood Industry Could Bear Huge Losses if Kurils Transferred to Japan

The transfer of the Kuril Islands to Japan, currently discussed by the governments of both Russia and Japan, may cost the Russian seafood industry up to $5 billion USD losses a year and a shortage of salmon in the domestic market, according to recent statements of some independent analysts in the field of fish business and experts of Rosrybolovstvo.

According to analysts, the Kurils could be considered as gates through which all fish, and especially salmon, go to the Russian coast of Kamchatka and Sakhalin.

If they are ...

China Establishes Research Center Targeting Seafood Smuggling

In order to show determination and strengthen supervision against smuggling, China established its National Anti-Smuggling Coordination Survey and Research Center, also known as NARC, in Nanning of Guangxi on February 23. This center is said to be responsible for studying the smuggling situation, predicting the trend and also providing suggestions about how to tackle the problem. Seafood smuggling is one of the top priorities on its to-do list, according to media reports.

Seafood smuggling has been haunting China for many years now. Even some renowned seafood companies were caught ...

West Coast Orca Situation Will Impact Salmon Fisheries for Years to Come

The letter NMFS regional administrator Barry Thom sent March 6th to the Pacific Seafood Management Council will have reverberations for many years.

The basic facts are that due to the continued decline in the endangered Southern Resident Killer Whales, NMFS is revisiting the EIS it completed on the orcas in 2009.  At that time it concluded that under the terms of the Endangered Species Act, council fisheries, specifically the West Coast chinook salmon fisheries, did not jeopardize the survival and recovery of the orcas...

Shoney’s Kicks Off Seafood Season with New Menu Items, Enhanced Seafood Fresh Food Bar

Shoney’s has some new seafood offerings – and just in time for Lent.

The Lenten season begins on Wednesday, and now through April 21 Shoney’s is offering their guests the best seafood prepared with “Shoney’s signature quality.”

“Shoney’s prides itself on giving our valued guests what they want when they want it,” said Shoney’s Chairman and CEO, David Davoudpour. “And now, it’s the season for seafood and we’re serving the finest the ocean has to offer. This year’s Seafood Fest will satisfy our guests at every level...

Washington Commission Approves Fall Season for Gillnetters on Main Stem Columbia River in 2019

In a win for commercial gillnetters, the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission has agreed to allow the use of gillnets during the fall salmon fishery on the lower Columbia River.

The allowance is in place while state fishery managers work with their Oregon counterparts to develop a joint long-term policy for the shared waters.

The commission took the action during a public meeting March 1-2 in Spokane.

The commission's action to extend the use of gillnets was one of a number of recommendations...

Washington's Salmon Forecasts Remain Challenging, Even as Coho Runs Improve

Washington fishery managers estimate higher numbers of coho salmon will return to Washington’s waters in 2019 compared to last year, but expect low returns of wild Chinook will again make setting both sport and commercial seasons a challenge.

Forecasts for Chinook, coho, sockeye, chum, and pink salmon – developed by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and treaty Indian tribes – were released Wednesday during a public meeting in Olympia.

The meeting marks the starting point for crafting 2019 salmon-fishing seasons in Puget Sound, the Columbia River and Washington...

Pebble Mine Draft EIS Process Called “Irresponsible and Negligent”

In a harshly worded response to the Army Corps of Engineers’ release Wednesday of its Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS), the Executive Director of the Bristol Bay Regional Seafood Development Association (BBRSDA) said his group is “outraged at the irresponsible and negligent conduct unfolding in the proposed Pebble Mine permitting process. A 90-day comment period is far too short of a time period to review and comment on." BBSDA's Andy Wink called for a 270-day comment period.

"The speed at which...

Chile Looks to Salmon Stability for a Profitable Business Model, Expects Moderate Growth for Years

In a recent interview with Aslak Berge of Salmon Business, Arturo Clement, former CEO of Multiexport and current president of SalmonChile, says that Chile is poised to grow at a moderate, profitable pace for the next five or six years.

This year, Chilean output should grow from 649,000 tons to 674,000 tons, a rate of 3.8%.  Clement sees no barriers  to continuing this growth rate for an extended period of time.

“We have the best performance ever,” he said, adding that...

NOAA, USFWS Release Atlantic Salmon Recovery Plan

On Tuesday NOAA Fisheries and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services released a joint Atlantic Salmon Recovery Plan. The plan, which was created to guide the species recovery process, outlines the needed actions and criteria for “determining when the necessary level of conservation has been achieved, and time and cost estimates for meeting these criteria.”

Atlantic salmon have been listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act since 2000. NOAA and USFWS aim to give salmon “their best chance to recover” with the latest recovery plan...