NAA: America First Seafood Strategy Leaves Aquaculture on the Sidelines 

The National Aquaculture Association (NAA) says the America First Seafood Strategy (AFSS) gives commercial fishing "overwhelming emphasis" and treats aquaculture as a "secondary, complementary role." The group is asking the USDA Office of Seafood to set tangible growth goals for farmed seafood.

NAA sent the letter Nov. 6 to Office of Seafood Director Michael Illenberg. It followed an Oct. 20 meeting between the two sides and the AFSS release on Oct. 23. NAA also issued a public statement the same day...

ADF&G Forecasts 'Strong' 49.3 Million Sockeye Run for Bristol Bay in 2027

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) is forecasting a strong 2027 Bristol Bay sockeye run of 49.31 million fish. That would allow a potential harvestable surplus of 35.26 million fish. The department released the forecast Nov. 6.

The forecast comes with an 80% prediction interval of 35.47 million to 63.14 million fish. The 49.31 million point estimate is 3% below the most recent 20-year average of 50.96 million fish and 31% above the long-term average of 37.56 million (1963–2026)...

Chile Truckers' Fuel Strike Hits Shipping Routes, Putting Salmon Logistics on Watch

Chilean truckers began a national strike Tuesday over diesel costs. Organizers say more than 4,000 trucks are stopped along routes from Arica in the north to Puerto Aysén in the south, according to ADN Radio's live coverage. Aysén is one of Chile's salmon-farming regions.

Truckers are blocking stretches of Route 5 North and South and Route 68. Blockades have been reported in the Tarapacá, Maule, Biobío, La Araucanía and Metropolitan regions. Interurban buses also cut Route 5 South at San Bernardo...

Judges Appear Divided as Chilean Sea Bass Importer Fights US Treaty Reading

A federal appeals panel on Friday heard a challenge to the US ban on Chilean sea bass from South Georgia. The ban stems from a four-year-old standoff over who sets the rules for one of the highest-priced fish in US supermarkets.

Texas-based importer Southern Cross Seafoods is asking the 11th Circuit to overturn the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) decision that blocked its shipments. The fish is Patagonian toothfish, sold in the US as Chilean sea bass. Southern Cross...

USDA Solicits 117,040 Cases of Canned Pink Salmon for Delivery Through June

The US Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) has issued a solicitation for canned pink salmon for federal food and nutrition assistance programs. It is separate from the wild frozen salmon fillet and shrimp request Expana reported Monday.

Solicitation 12-3J14-27-B-0090 seeks 117,040 cases of pink salmon packed 24 cans to a case, with 14.75 ounces per can. That works out to roughly 2.6 million pounds. About 103,360 cases are standard pink salmon, and 13,680 cases are kosher...

Brim Buys Bankrupt Arctic Char Farmer Matorka, Targets 1,000 MT in 2027

Icelandic seafood group Brim hf acquired all the assets of Matorka, a land-based Arctic char farmer that declared bankruptcy this month. Brim bought the business through a newly established subsidiary, and Brim did not disclose financial details in its statement.

Brim said it wants to build on Matorka's existing knowledge and operations, focusing on cost-effective production, product quality, and sustainable growth. It estimates 2027 production at more than 1,000 metric tons of whole char...

Animal Welfare Group Petitions Maine to Write Rules for Farmed Salmon, Targeting Cooke

Animal Outlook, a Washington-based animal welfare nonprofit, has petitioned the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry to adopt rules on the welfare of farmed salmon. The Maine Monitor reported the petition.

Animal Outlook filed under the Maine Administrative Procedure Act. State law requires the department to begin rulemaking within 60 days of a petition signed by at least 150 registered Maine voters. A department spokesperson said it received the petition Sept. 29 and expects to start the process this month. Rulemaking would include a public...

US Import Volumes Expected to Ease after Extended Peak Season, NRF says

Import volumes at the nation’s major ports are expected to taper off through the rest of the year following an extended peak shipping season that has kept terminals busy, according to the latest Global Port Tracker report.

Global Port Tracker, produced for NRF by Hackett Associates, provides historical data and forecasts for major US ports including Los Angeles/Long Beach, Oakland, Seattle and Tacoma on the West Coast; New York/New Jersey, Virginia, Charleston, Savannah, Port Everglades, Miami and...

Eastern Hokkaido Sardine Purse-Seine Fishery Ends Season With Zero Landings

It has been confirmed that the Japanese sardine fishery conducted by the purse seine fleets off the eastern coast of Hokkaido has yielded zero catch for the current season. According to the Hokkaido Purse Seine Fisheries Association, "As of October 30, no fishing fleets are operating in the area, and there is no possibility of any landings on October 31." Reports from the Minato Shimbun indicate that this is the first time since 2001—a span of 25 years—that the season has concluded with a total catch...

ANALYSIS: YTD Canadian Lobster Export Value Remains Stable Amid Shift to Frozen

Canadian lobster exports had a positive month of September, with both live and frozen Homarus americanus shipments performing well. According to Statistics Canada, exports reached 5,428 MT, worth CAD 224.8 million. That is up 5.3% in value from August and 11.5% from September 2025. The annual gain came mainly from frozen products, whose value rose 17.7% year on year, against 1.1% for live...

Cermaq Developing New US Processing Plant as Mitsubishi Cuts Salmon Earnings Outlook

Cermaq is developing a new value-added processing facility in the US, according to its parent Mitsubishi Corporation's first-half earnings presentation. The same slide says Cermaq is adding capacity and automation at its existing facility in Chile. Mitsubishi framed the processing push as a way to improve profitability and make the business more resilient to market swings. The slide gives no location, investment amount or timeline.

The plans come as Mitsubishi warned that salmon earnings will fall short of its initial expectations this fiscal...

Alaska Seafood Harvesting Jobs Rise 4% in 2025, Ending Five Years of Losses

Alaska's seafood harvesting workforce grew 4% in 2025, according to the state Department of Labor and Workforce Development. It is the first annual increase after five straight years of job losses. The gain averaged 216 jobs per month and was the largest in more than a decade.

The recovery is modest. The industry has lost about 2,300 jobs since 2019, and July employment, the annual peak, was about 17,400 in 2025, well below the roughly 24,000 of the mid-2010s...

AKVA Clears 90% Acceptance Threshold in Yanmar Takeover

Shareholders have tendered about 92% of AKVA group ASA's shares to Yanmar's offer, clearing the minimum acceptance condition. Completion still depends on regulatory approvals, and the offer period closes on 20 November.

Oslo-listed AKVA group said on Monday that its offeror, Pontos Bidco AS, has received acceptances for 33,584,769 shares, or about 92.06% of issued share capital and voting rights, subject to customary verification. The offer is NOK 161 per share, valuing the deal at NOK 5.9 billion ($611 million). Pontos Bidco is indirectly owned...

The QRILL Company Antarctic Krill Fishery Set for MSC Recertification

The QRILL Company’s Antarctic krill fishery is set to be recertified under the Marine Stewardship Council’s Fisheries Standard following an independent reassessment that included objections from environmental organizations.

The reassessment was carried out by independent conformity assessment body LRQA, which evaluated whether the fishery is sustainably managing krill stocks, minimizing impacts on the broader marine ecosystem and operating under effective management systems.

Two NGOs, the Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition (ASOC) and WWF-UK, lodged objections to LRQA’s initial recommendation for certification. After investigating the objections...

Rep. Nancy Mace Introduces Bill Targeting Microplastics in Water and Seafood

Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., has introduced the Plastics Understanding and Removal through Government Evaluation, or PURGE, Act, legislation aimed at addressing micro- and nanoplastics in the environment, including rivers, oceans and seafood.

The bill would direct the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to study and test strategies for removing microplastics from the environment and water supplies, while also exploring ways to prevent plastics from breaking down into persistent micro- and nanoplastic particles.

The legislation focuses on two main approaches. In the first, it looks to  filter, capture and remove...

Oregon Congressional Delegation Celebrates USDA $12M Purchase of Whiting

Last week Oregon’s U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley led Oregon Congressional Delegation members—including Senator Ron Wyden and U.S. Representatives Suzanne Bonamici, Val Hoyle, Andrea Salinas, Maxine Dexter, and Janelle Bynum—to announce that after pressure from the delegation, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will purchase Pacific whiting fillets and hazelnuts under the agency’s Section 32 program.

The purchases total $12 million for Pacific whiting fillets and $22 million for Oregon hazelnuts...

USTR Extends Section 301 Exclusions for 10 Seafood Tariff Lines, Keeps Chinese Vessel Fees on Hold

The Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) has pushed back two China-related Section 301 deadlines by two months. The extensions keep a set of seafood tariff exclusions in place and extend the suspension of fees on Chinese-built and Chinese-operated vessels.

In one Federal Register notice, USTR extended all 178 existing product exclusions from the Section 301 tariffs on Chinese imports. Ten of them cover seafood tariff lines. The exclusions had been set to expire today...