Navigating the Trump Tariff Turbulence: A Comprehensive Timeline

US President Donald Trump and his administration have paused reciprocal tariffs on most countries.

“Based on the lack of respect that China has shown... I am hereby raising the [tariff] charged to China by the [USA] to 125%, effective immediately,” wrote Trump on Truth Social at 1:18 pm ET. 

It’s not clear if this 125% is in addition to the 20% imposed on Chinese imports to the US. In early March, Trump noted that he would add another 10% tariff on Chinese goods...

Tariff Talks 2025: Expana's Weekly Rundown #9

Expana’s global team of specialist reporters has been tracking every twist and turn in the fluid tariff situation.

Click to read "Tariff Talks 2025: Expana's Weekly Rundown #9."

This report allows the Expana community to see where key commodity markets stand as of this past week... Click the above PDF report, or keep scrolling to read in plain text...

Russian Crabbers Increase Domestic Prices, Hope to Resume Exports to the US

Crab prices in Russia are steadily growing, mainly due to the country's ongoing export growth. According to analysts, in the first three months of 2025, Russia exported 17,000 tons of crab worth more than $440 million, which is almost by 25% more in both volume and value terms than the previous year.  

That contributes to the growth of crab prices in the domestic market.  

According to recent statements made by Valentin Balashov, Chairman of the Interregional Association of Coastal Fishery Industrialists of the Northern Basin, in an interview...

Les Hodges: Canadian Snow Crab is Open for Business

As the first quarter of 2025 concludes, early indicators offer insights into market direction for the remainder of the year. Despite high crab prices in various segments, market conditions remain generally favorable. Norwegian red king crab is currently the only red king crab listed on the Urner Barry Price-Current, as inventories of Alaska red and golden king crab are limited and held by only a few hands. 

Total red king crab quotas for 2025 across the U.S. and Norway stand at 5.408 million pounds, while Alaska’s golden king crab adds...

Russia Expects Steady Growth of Crab Supplies to Domestic Market

Crab supplies to the Russian market are expected to grow this year due to the ever-growing demand and consumption of crab from local customers and a significant decline in exports.

According to earlier data provided by the Russian Association of Fish Producers (VARPE), domestic crab supplies in 2024 grew by 20% year-on-year, reaching up to 8,000 tonnes. Given the availability of affordable crab options combined with increased consumption and supply, there is a possibility that that growth will continue this year.

Unlike previous years, crab is no...

ANALYSIS: Squid Market Faces New Crosscurrents Amid Recently Imposed Tariffs

In our top story today, Joshua Bickert analyzes the squid market as it continues its volatile trajectory into 2025, with many of the same challenges persisting and one significant development poised to reshape the broader market landscape. He reports that supply across most squid species and origins entering the U.S. remains difficult to navigate, while the market continues to show signs of disruption, with sourcing diversification now proving even more critical...

Tariff Talks 2025: Expana's Weekly Rundown #7

Expana’s global team of specialist reporters has been tracking every twist and turn in the fluid tariff situation.

Click to read "Tariff Talks 2025: Expana's Weekly Rundown #7."

This report allows the Expana community to see where key commodity markets stand as of this past week... Click the above PDF report, or keep scrolling to read in plain text...

ANALYSIS: Unsettled Start for 2025 Snow Crab Market as Supply and Sectoral Pressures Mount

The U.S. snow crab market, particularly for product sourced from Newfoundland, has experienced a notably unsettled start to the 2025 season. While such early-season volatility is not unusual, this year’s market is exhibiting an especially wide range of offers and sales from seller to seller. As is typical, the market is expected to stabilize as more product flows into the U.S. and trading patterns normalize...

Watch Out for Hairy Crab Claws: Invasive Chinese Mitten Crab Found in Columbia River

A Columbia River commercial fisherman pulled up quite a surprise last week.

A Chinese mitten crab, a prohibited species in Oregon, was caught on April 22 in the Lower Columbia River east of Tongue Point, according to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW). Chinese mitten crabs have not been confirmed in the Pacific Northwest until now. A single Japanese mitten crab was found in the same area in 1997. 

While this is a rare event in Oregon, mitten crabs caused significant infrastructure and ecological...

CSI Launches Global Certification Program for Wild-Capture Seafood

When it comes to certifications, Certified Seafood International is making some changes. 

Or, more specifically, it’s going global and encompassing the successes gained by the Responsible Fisheries Management Program, a certification program for wild-capture fisheries.  

CSI was developed in partnership with credible regional certification. The certificates and standards of the GSSI-benchmarked RFM program will now be part of CSI, meaning that approximately 3 million metric tons of fishery landings are currently certified under the updated umbrella of CSI’s certification program.  

The Program’s new global governing board currently includes individuals...

Today’s Top Story: SalMar Acquires Norwegian Salmon Farmer Wilsgård for USD $168.27 Million

In our top story today, SalMar ASA published a recent statement indicating its purchase of Norwegian salmon farmer Wilsgård AS for the amount of NOK 1.8 billion (USD $168.3 million). Per the agreement, the sale will be rendered paid using a combination of 80% consideration shares and 20% cash. In addition, SalMar’s board resolved to increase its share capital to NOK 392,054, in connection with SalMar’s issuance of consideration shares, which amount to 1,568,216 shares, each with a nominal value of NOK 0.25...

Today’s Top Story: Presidential Proclamation Breathes New Life into Western Pacific Fisheries

In our top story today, Hawaiian and other Western Pacific fishermen are reacting positively to President Donald Trump’s recent executive order “Unleashing American commercial fishing in the Pacific,” which aims to open up marine national monuments in the Pacific Ocean to commercial fishing. As a result of the proclamation, the Hawaii longline fishery, a highly regulated fishery that targets tunas and swordfish, could again be able to fish productive areas without risk of overfishing and without competing with foreign fleets on the high seas...

Russia Increases 2025 Seafood Exports to South Korea

This year, Russia is increasing its fish exports to South Korea, reaching record figures compared to the last two years, according to Russian media reports and recent data from the South Korean statistics agency.

In March, Russia exported 31,400 tons of fish and seafood to South Korea, which became one of the highest figures in the last several years and showed a 30% increase compared to February 2025.

The bulk of supplies accounted for frozen fish (26,100 tons), fish fillets (2,700 tons) and crab (2,000 tons).

Currently, Russia remains the second main...

West Coast Salmon Seasons Set: No California Season, Limited Elsewhere

In our top story today, Susan Chambers reports on U.S. West Coast salmon seasons. Following a week of tense negotiations and discussions, salmon managers finally adopted a set of seasons for Washington, Oregon, and California, including a commercial closure in California for the third year in a row and limited seasons in Oregon and Washington. The decision, which was made on Tuesday, is still awaiting approval from the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS, or NOAA Fisheries)...

Grounded Cargo Ship Off Newfoundland’s West Coast Raises “Growing Alarm” for Fishing Fleets

FFAW-Unifor President Dwan Street is urgently calling attention to the grounding of the MSC Baltic III cargo ship on the province’s west coast as members of her group — the Fish, Food & Allied Workers Union, representing over 14,000 workers in Newfoundland and Labrador — begin fishing the rich waters near the grounded vessel.

“This ship is sitting on the rocks of Cedar Cove with hazardous materials and fuel onboard,” Street said. "We’ve seen reports of structural damage, leaks, and an oily mixture in the engine room...

FFAW Applauds Panel’s Decision on NL Snow Crab Price

According to a news release published yesterday afternoon by the Fish, Food & Allied Workers Union (FFAW), the Standing Fish Price-Setting Panel finally reached a decision on snow crab pricing for the 2025 season in Newfoundland and Labrador (NL), ruling in favor of the FFAW’s proposed floor price of $4.97 per pound.

Per the Panel’s decision, the FFAW’s starting price was approved across the board, with an adjustment at the end of the season based on market performance, says FFAW-Unifor President Dwan Street. The chosen floor price is...

The Winding Glass: Destruction of NMFS Cancels Trump’s Order Supporting American Fisheries

[The Winding Glass is the opinion and commentary column by John Sackton, Founder, SeafoodNews]

Staff firings and budget cuts are dismantling the fishery management regime established through the Magnuson Stevens Act.  In 2005 when NOAA implanted a system for monitoring the sustainability of fish stocks, only 38% of US commercial stocks were not overfished or within 80% of their biomass targets.  By 2023, this had increased to 78% of the monitored commercial stocks.   

This record was achieved despite climate factors decimating some important commercial fish species, such as pacific salmon, crab, and American lobster.  That means that while total commercial landings have...

Les Hodges: Canadian Snow Crab is Open for Business

Our top story today is Les Hodges’ monthly newsletter, where he discusses the progress of the snow crab market this month. He notes that as Q1 2025 concludes, early indicators offer insights into the market's direction for the remainder of the year, the conditions of which remain generally favorable despite high prices in various segments, with some prices surging 50% to 65% year-over-year, depending on size...

California Closes Sardine Harvests Below Point Conception Due to Biotoxin

As summer approaches and ocean water temps start to rise, so do the risks of harmful algal blooms, such as domoic acid, a naturally occurring toxin produced by the Pseudo-nitzschia alga. 

This time, state officials found high levels of domoic acid in Pacific sardines in Southern California.   

State health agencies determined that Pacific sardines sampled off Southern California contained elevated levels of domoic acid and recommended a fishery restriction for Southern California for the commercial and recreational take of sardines for human consumption in the area...

Seafood Expo Global 2025: Seafood Excellence Global Awards Announced

The 2025 Seafood Excellence Global awards were announced yesterday evening during a reception in the Galleria of Fira de Barcelona’s Gran Via venue at the 31st Seafood Expo Global (SEG), with finalists representing 15 different countries worldwide.

Of the 40 finalists that were selected this year, nine products were selected as finalists for Best Hotel/Restaurant/Catering (HORECA) Product, and 31 products were selected as finalists for Best Retail Product. Products were evaluated based on taste and overall eating experience, packaging, market potential, convenience, nutritional value, and innovation...

West Coast Fisheries Infrastructure Waxes and Wanes: Part 2

Loss of infrastructure and spreading repercussion

Editor’s note: This is the second of a three-part series on the struggles facing shoreside infrastructure that supports West Coast fisheries, submitted by Pacific Fishery Management Council Executive Director Merrick Burden. Part 1 discussed the decline in fisheries and infrastructure in the past 20 years.  

Infrastructure problems are particularly acute in California due to depleted salmon populations, closures in the nearshore rockfish fishery, delayed Dungeness crab seasons, changing regulations, and shifting markets. In the early 1980s, between 2,400 and 3,300 commercial boats...

ANALYSIS: Unsettled Start for 2025 Snow Crab Market as Supply and Sectoral Pressures Mount

In our top story today, Janice Schreiber analyzes the 2025 snow crab market, pointing out that while such early-season volatility is not unusual, this year’s market is exhibiting an especially wide range of offers and sales from seller to seller. Of note this year, and in the present market, is the current price spread between snow crab from Newfoundland and the Gulf. Several contributing factors help explain this divergence including a significant quota reduction in the Gulf and a current shortage in crabs of larger sizes...

Canadians Focused on Economy in Today’s Federal Election; Stakes High in Seafood Industry

The federal election in Canada will end tonight with final ballots cast no later than 7 p.m. local time in British Columbia. This comes after a month-long campaign marked by a rare flip in the polls, as voters reacted to U.S. President Donald Trump’s ‘retaliatory’ tariff policy against Canadian goods and a threat to annex the nation as the 51st state.

In early January, former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced he would be stepping down in March. At that time, Pierre Poilievre’s Conservative party had a...

Today’s Top Story: NOAA Fisheries Closes Federal Scallop Fishing in Northern Gulf of Maine Until April 2026

In our top story today, NOAA Fisheries (NMFS) announced the closure of the Northern Gulf of Maine (NGOM) Scallop Management Area to all scallop vessels fishing under federal scallop regulations, effective April 28, 2025, at 0001 hour. According to NMFS’ recent press release, the federal entity projects that 100% of the set-aside for the NGOM Scallop Management Area will be taken by April 28, effective until March 31, 2026...

Fishermen’s Interest and Renewed Testing Allows Partial Opening of California Rock Crab Fishery

It’s been a rocky crab fishery for fishermen in California. Now, after being closed for almost a decade, fishermen can now harvest rock crab in northern California, thanks to a recent announcement from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW).  

The announcement comes after a recommendation from state health agencies, which was released by the California Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment on April 23.

Per the recommendation and CDFW’s subsequent announcement on April 24, the commercial rock crab fishery in northern California...

Russia Increases 2025 Crab Exports by 26%

Russia has increased its 2025 crab exports by 26%, compared to the same period last year, according to data provided by Russian analysts and local media.

According to estimates from experts at the Federal Center for Development of Agricultural Exports of the Ministry of Agriculture of Russia (Agroexport), Russia exported about 17,000 tons of crab during Q1 2025, worth more than US$440 million. Compared to the same period last year, supplies increased by 23% in volume and 26% in terms of value.

The majority of crab was exported to China, which...

California Closes Crabbing in San Francisco Zone, Keeps Northern California Open

Returning whales to California waters is a sign that Dungeness crab season closures aren’t far behind.  

In prior action, California Department of Fish and Wildlife Director Charlton H. Bonham closed Fishing Zones 4-6, Pigeon Point to the U.S./Mexico border, on April 15, while the northern zones remained open.  

Now, though, the whales are moving north. Zone 3, in the Central Management Area from the Sonoma/Mendocino County line to Pigeon Point, is slated to close at 6 p.m. on May 1...

Russia to Sell New 2025 Crab Quotas to Investors

The Russian Federal Agency for Fisheries (Rosrybolovstvo) has announced a tender for the distribution of crab quotas for a total sum of RUB 2.1 billion (US$26 million).  

Under the terms of the tender, the winner of the tender will build medium-tonnage fishing vessels over 50 meters long that are designed for crab catch.  

As for quotas, they will be for extracting red snow crab in the Primorye subzone (50%), red snow crab in the West Sakhalin subzone (50%), snow crab angulatus in the East Sakhalin subzone (50%) and...

ANALYSIS: Reduced Catches and Demand Shape Floridian Stone Crab Season

The 2024–2025 Floridian stone crab season has been marked by irregularity, with lighter overall landings and reduced demand contributing to uneven market behavior. Monthly harvests were generally lower year-over-year, with the exception of a stronger November. Colder weather and isolated red tide events affected availability...

Today’s Top Story: FFAW Applauds Panel’s Decision on NL Snow Crab Price

In our top story today, the Standing Fish Price-Setting Panel finally reached a decision on snow crab pricing for the 2025 season in Newfoundland and Labrador, ruling in favor of the Fish, Food & Allied Workers Union’s (FFAW) proposed floor price of $4.97 per pound, according to a news release published yesterday by the FFAW. The Panel also approved harvesters receiving sales receipts up to November 1—extending it beyond the previous three-week post-fishery deadline—while also including receipts for 5-8 oz. sections for sales beyond Boston and guaranteeing that crewmembers will be paid directly...