Spring, Summer Dungeness Fisheries Face Closures, Restrictions to Reduce Entanglement Risk

In a little more than a week, most of California will close to Dungeness crabbing. Fishermen will have until 6 p.m. on Monday, April 8, to get their gear out of the water for this year's season. Crabbers in Oregon and Washington, too, will face seasonal restrictions

California Department of Fish and Wildlife Director Charlton H. Bonham assessed whale entanglement risk under the Risk Assessment Mitigation Program. The latest data from aerial and vessel surveys showed humpback whale numbers are increasing. Bonham therefore decided the changes will take effect ...

NL Standing Fish Price Setting Panel To Meet Today To Decide 2024 Snow Crab Price

Newfoundland and Labrador’s Standing Fish Price Setting Panel is meeting today to hear final offers from snow crab harvesters and processors.

The Fish, Food and Allied Workers (FFAW) confirmed last week that they were unable to come to an agreement with the Association of Seafood Producers (ASP) about a market-based pricing formula. The formula was proposed in the Blackwood Report as a way to allow both parties to come up with a fair price for snow crab...

Blue Star Foods Begins Soft-Shell Crab Operations for 2024 Season at South Carolina Facility

Soft-shell crab operations for the 2024 season are officially underway at Blue Star Foods. The sustainable seafood company announced this week that it has started production at its South Carolina facility. 

“Our Recirculatory Aquaculture System (RAS) platform in South Carolina encompasses over 100 tanks and utilizes our proprietary Bio-Plan derived from the vast Blue Crab expertise from our team members and extensive research in this crab species,” said John Keeler, Chairman and CEO of...

FFAW, ASP Fail To Agree on Market-Based Pricing Formula For 2024 Snow Crab Season

All eyes will be turning to Newfoundland and Labrador’s Price Setting Panel next week as harvesters and processors were unable to come to an agreement on a market-based pricing formula for the 2024 snow crab season.

The Fish, Food and Allied Workers (FFAW) and the Association of Seafood Producers (ASP) began face-to-face price negotiations in late January. While that may seem early, the hope was that the two parties would be able to come to an agreement ahead of the start...

ANALYSIS: Snow Crab Insights for Mid-March 2024

The snow crab market pricing in the U.S. has remained unchanged for the past several weeks. As we head into the back end of March and the start of the Canadian snow crab season, all eyes are on Eastern Canada. Some market participants have reported that snow crab fishing will begin in Nova Scotia starting over the weekend. As is typical in Nova Scotia, with weather conditions permitting, market participants report this is a normal start time for this area.

From a historical...

Buyers/Sellers Assemble At Seafood Expo Boston!

The U.S. economy began 2024 on a robust note. Various indicators of business activity, labor markets, and inflation are all trending positively. Economists are increasingly optimistic, with many no longer forecasting a recession in 2024. U.S. consumer spending remained resilient throughout 2023. However, according to The Conference Board, there is expectation that consumer spending growth to moderate in the near future.

The Seafood Exposition North America is taking place in Boston beginning March 10, offering a prime opportunity for businesses to forge new connections, expand product lines, and even reinvent themselves...

ANALYSIS: Checking In With Crab Meat As Ramadan Approaches

The crab meat market in the U.S. has been a tale of two different groupings of sizing grades: larger grades under upward pricing pressure and smaller grades seeing downward pricing pressure. Because the overall size of crabs has been smaller for the past several months out of the Asian producing countries, we have continued to see a smaller percentage of colossal, jumbo lump, and super lump available to the marketplace. When crabs run smaller, you normally see a higher percentage of special and claw...

NL Snow Crab Season 2024: Stock Status Concerns in 3K

On Tuesday the Department of Fisheries and Oceans’ (DFO) Science Department provided a technical briefing on the latest stock assessment for snow crab in Newfoundland and Labrador. And while there was no change in the stock status of all assessment divisions, the DFO expressed concerns about a decline in exploitable biomass in 3K.

“The science is not what we had hoped to have seen,” said Trevor Jones, a fleet chair and harvester from 3K. “We recognize there are things that affected the fishery of 2023...

FFAW Responds To ASP’s Tie-Up Grievance

The (crab) claws are back out ahead of the 2024 snow crab season in Newfoundland and Labrador. 

All eyes are on the Fish, Food and Allied Workers (FFAW) and the Association of Seafood Producers (ASP) as the two groups reportedly work towards a pricing formula. But while many in the industry are looking towards the future and the start of the season, the two parties have been pulled back into the drama of last year.

On Tuesday ASP revealed that they are making some progress with the grievance they filed against...

Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument Now Bans All Commercial Fishing

It’s been seven years since former President Barack Obama declared two areas of canyons and undersea mountains of such importance ecologically that they should be protected from all development with one 7-year exception: fishing for red crab and lobster could continue until September 2023.

Now, the transition period of seven years is over and in a final rule published last week, the full fishing ban within the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument is complete. The rule will take effect March 18, ...

Photo credit: NOAA Fisheries

Unified Command Transitions F/V Aleutian Storm Grounding Response to Sanctuary

It's almost all over for the F/V Aleutian Storm.

After days of transferring fuel, gear and miscellaneous off the vessel and several failed attempts to refloat it, Mother Nature took over. Days of pounding surf after the vessel ran aground on Feb. 9 left gouges and holes in the hull and drove it deeper in the sand.

Now, as of Monday, the U.S. Coast Guard and California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s ...

Level of Consolidation in Russian Crab Sector is Growing

The level of consolidation in the Russian crab sector is growing as the number of crab catchers of small and medium size is declining. Many of them are withdrawn from the market by larger players.

Recently a number of Russian small crab producers have reported about the reduction of their production volumes to “microscopic levels.” That became mainly due to the loss of “historic” production volumes after the bulk of crab quotas were distributed at auctions in 2019–2023.

In January 2024, the companies sent requests to the...

The Winding Glass: Lobster Prices are Exploding...Is that a Signal or Noise for the Crab Market?

[The Winding Glass is the Opinion and Commentary column by John Sackton, Founder of SeafoodNews]

Lobster prices have shot up, catching almost everyone off guard. Live lobster is not the issue. Live prices have jumped 33% since the Southwest Nova Scotia season opened on December 2. This is a normal winter pattern. For the past three years, wholesale live prices have generally risen 30% to 40% between December and February. 

Canadian Lobster landings in Southwest Nova Scotia have been steadily declining...

Russian Crab Looks To Become Leading Crab Exporter and Producer in Russia

Russian Crab, the Russian crab producer, is looking to become one of the leading crab exporters and producers in the domestic market.

As part of the plan, the company last year supplied 8.600 tons of live crabs to China in 2023, which is 1.7 times more than in 2022.

At the same time in 2023 its overall production amounted to 11.700 tons of crabs, which is equivalent to 20% of the overall production of king crab in the Russian Far Eastern basin...

These Are The Seafood Items Taylor Swift Could Possibly Be Eating At The Super Bowl

There is no denying the power of Taylor Swift. The 34-year-old singer-songwriter reportedly made $4.1 billion from her Eras Tour. And Apex Marketing Group reports that through her personal relationship with football star Travis Kelce, she generated an equivalent brand value of $331.5 million for the Kansas City Chiefs and NFL. 

Everyone wants to channel that Swift energy – even the seafood industry. Last September the Association of Genuine Alaska Pollock Producers (GAPP) was inspired by...

Russian State to Confiscate Property and Quotas of Former Crab Kings

The Russian Prosecutor General's Office, together with the local antitrust regulator FAS, have filled a record claim in the Arbitration Court of the Primorsky Territory for the collection of almost 400 billion rubles (US$4,41 billion) of funds from two recent “crab kings” in the Russian Far East - Oleg Kan and Dmitry Dremlyuga.

According to the Russian Kommersant business paper, both FAS and Prosecutor General's Office are demanding a record amount for damages from entrepreneurs who fled abroad. They also want to confiscate of all their structures, ships...

DFO Announces Rules For NARW Temporary and Season-Long Grid Closures Ahead of 2024 Snow Crab Season

The 2024 Canadian snow crab season is set to kick off soon. But before it does, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) has released their rules for temporary and season-long grid closures related to North Atlantic right whale (NARW) management.

Management measures were introduced as a way to prevent endangered North Atlantic right whales from deadly ship strikes and gear entanglement. For years the DFO has been announcing temporary and season-long grid closures when the whales are detected...

ANALYSIS: Mid-Small Blue and Red Crab Meat Under Pressure

Like we discussed earlier this month, the crab meat market in the U.S. has been a tale of two different groupings of size grades: larger grades under upward pricing pressure and smaller grades seeing downward pricing pressure. Because the overall size of crabs has been smaller for the past several months out of the Asian producing countries, we have continued to see a smaller percentage of colossal, jumbo lump, and super lump available to the marketplace. When crabs run smaller...

Northern Gulf of St. Lawrence 2024 Snow Crab Openings Announced For Zone 12A, 17

Some details on the 2024 Canadian snow crab season are finally being released. This week the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) announced the opening date for certain areas in the Quebec Region.

Zone 12A, which has a total allowable catch of 40 tonnes, will open on March 24 at 5 a.m. EDT and run for 10 weeks. The decision was agreed upon in discussions with First nations, as well as the industry. The DFO noted that “in accordance with the...

Wanchese Fish Company Appoints Jack Crouch As National Sales Manager

Wanchese Fish Company has appointed Jack Crouch as National Sales Manager. Crouch joins the Virginia-based company with more than a decade of experience in seafood processing, distribution and supply chain management. 

“We’re excited to have Jack join our team and we’re confident that his experience will be instrumental in driving our national sales strategy, particularly in the Patagonian scallop, crab, and shrimp markets,” said Ross Butler, Wanchese Fish Company’s CEO.

Prior to joining Wanchese — which was purchased by Cooke Seafood USA in 2015 — Crouch worked with the...

Phillips Foods Acquires Two Canadian Plants

After months of speculation, Phillips Foods has confirmed the purchase of two Canadian lobster and snow crab plants.

Rumors started swirling in November that Phillips, which primarily focuses on blue and red swimming crab, was looking to expand with lobster and snow crab. Sources told Undercurrent at the time that Phillips was in talks to acquire Pecheries Bas-Caraquet Fisheries, a New Brunswick-based company that was founded in 2010. Then, last month, Maryland-based Phillips formed a Canadian subsidiary as reports indicated that the company was close to purchasing South Shore Seafoods...

Russian Crab Imports: China's Live Up 50%, Japan's Frozen Snow Crab Up 20%

China's imports of live and fresh crabs from Russia increased by 50% to over 30,000 tons.

According to Minato Shimbun, in 2023, China's imports of live and fresh crabs from Russia increased by 50% (approximately 10,000 tons) from the previous year to 30,105 tons. According to statistics from the China General Administration of Customs, this was the highest number since records began in 2015. A Japanese trading company said, "It's shocking that the number of king crabs has increased by 10,000 tons...

REPORT: Southern Gulf of St. Lawrence Snow Crab Quota To Be Slashed In 2024

According to reports, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) has come up with a preliminary quota for the 2024 Southern Gulf of St. Lawrence snow crab fishery. While the official quota for the upcoming season has yet to be released, a screenshot from a presentation made by the DFO last week shows that the catch for the areas in the Southern Gulf will likely be slashed by about 27%.

In 2023, the DFO set the quota for the area at 35,743.83 t...

Import Ban on Russian Seafood Into U.S. Receives Extension To May

In the final days of 2023, President Joseph R. Biden signed an Executive Order on “taking additional steps with respect to the Russian Federation’s harmful actions.” The U.S. had already banned imports of Russian seafood, but the latest Executive Order closed a loophole that allowed Russian-caught seafood, processed in China, to enter the country. The government gave U.S. importers a deadline of February 21 to bring in any Russian-origin seafood that was already under contract or written agreement prior to December 22...

ASP Gives Update On Tie-Up Grievance As They Work Towards ‘Timely’ Start to 2024 NL Snow Crab Season

It has been a little over two weeks since the last update on the 2024 Newfoundland and Labrador snow crab negotiations. And while the industry patiently waits for an agreement to be made between the Association of Seafood Producers (ASP) and the Fish, Food and Allied Workers (FFAW), ASP revealed that they are making some progress with the grievance they filed against FFAW in July 2023. 

To briefly recap, in 2023 the snow crab fishery in NL was delayed by...

Les Hodges: Russian Crab Dominates Asia

The economy grew 3.1% over the past year according to the Commerce Department while inflation is nearing the central bank's 2% goal. U.S. consumer spending held up remarkably well in 2023 despite elevated inflation and higher interest rates. A year ago, the expectation was for a 0.2% advance in 2023. Much of the credit goes to consumers who spent more on healthcare, dining out, and cars. Housing was flat as expected with the high interest rates. Still, there are signs that the spending and the economy will slow and economists are...

USCG, Agencies Continue Response to Vessel Grounded Near Bodega Bay

Refloating a grounded crab vessel on Sunday and Monday failed; now agencies are turning to cleaning up and offloading any petroleum products and crab.

The unified command and partner agencies continue their response Tuesday, attempting to mitigate any impacts to the environment, the U.S. Coast Guard said in a press release. The 58-foot crab vessel Aleutian Storm grounded two miles southwest of Bodega Bay Friday night; four crew escaped to the beach safely. Rough surf continued to pound the vessel over the weekend.

Initial efforts on Sunday and ...

True North Seafood Crab Dip Named Canada’s Product of the Year Winner in Frozen Meals Category 

The people have spoken – and Cooke’s True North Seafood Crab Dip has been identified by Canada’s Product of the Year as the winner in the frozen meals category.

Product of the Year is a consumer-voted award for product innovation. In Canada, winners are selected based on votes by thousands of Canadian consumers. To be nominated, entries must not only have launched in the past year, but also demonstrate “innovation in design, function, packaging or ingredients.” 

The winners for 2024 were...

Japan: Frozen Snow Crab Imports in 2023 Up 12% to 19000 Tons; 69% from Russia

In 2023, Japan's frozen crab imports increased, mainly from Russia, due to falling prices. According to the Ministry of Finance's trade statistics, the volume of frozen snow crab imported  inceased 12% from the previous year to 18,857 tons, of which Russian imports increased by 18% to 13,079 tons. That is the highest since 2012. According to Minato Shimbun, the proportion of frozen snow crabs imported from Russia was 69%, the highest since records began in 1990...

Norwegian King Crab Exports Off To Good Start in 2024 While Snow Crab Falls

The Norwegian Seafood Council (NSC) is reporting a good start to the year for king crab – despite the 60% quota reduction for 2024.

As SeafoodNews reported late last year, Norway slashed their king crab quota from 2023 - a move that was expected based on the Institute of Marine Research’s Quota Council recommendation. The king crab quota for 2024 is 966 tonnes for male crabs and 60 tonnes for female crabs. 

But NSC says despite the quota reduction, export value in January...