The Retail Rundown: Independence Day Deals in Focus

As the Fourth of July holiday draws closer, competition for front-page ad space among proteins is heating up. Seafood is currently leading with a 29% share, followed by beef and pork, each capturing 24%. Chicken accounts for 18%, while turkey trails at 2.6%.

Burgers and hot dogs remain backyard barbecue mainstays. Several national grocers were promoting 78–84% lean ground beef under $5 per pound, with eye-catching specials as low as $2.27 on a discounted basis.

Over Father's Day weekend...

Starway International Group Expands Recall for Ineligible Frozen Siluriformes Imported from Vietnam 

New York-based Starway International Group is expanding its recall of Siluriformes fish products imported from Vietnam.  

The US Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced Wednesday that another 15,980 pounds of product from a Vietnam facility that is not authorized to export Siluriformes to the United States, has been recalled. This is in addition to the 9,513 pounds of Siluriformes initially recalled on June 12, as reported by Expana. 

The expansion includes the following Siluriformes sausage products, which were shipped to...

Groundfish Harvester in British Columbia Fined $37,000 For Illegally Catching and Selling Halibut

A commercial groundfish harvester in British Columbia was fined nearly $37,000 for illegally catching and selling halibut during a fishery closure last year in the Haida Gwaii Archipelago.  

According to Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO), Stefan Grega, owner of the commercial fishing vessel Pacific Sunrise, pled guilty to multiple violations of Canada’s Fisheries Act. As a result, the court imposed a $30,000 fine and ordered Grega to pay back the $6,989 he made from the illegal harvest, resulting in a...

Coast Guard Responds to Aflame, Sunken Cargo Vessel Off Alaska Coast Carrying 3,048 Vehicles

According to the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), the cargo ship Morning Midas experienced a fire onboard on Monday, June 23, 2025, after which the vessel capsized and sank in international waters approximately 450 miles southwest of Adak, Alaska.

The USCG was notified of the vessel’s capsizing on Monday at 5:35 p.m. and concluded its response the next day, on June 24, following the sinking of the vessel at a depth of approximately 16,400 feet in international waters.  

The vessel was carrying 3,048 total vehicles...

Rafael Sanchez Joins Bloomin’ Brands as Chief Information Officer

Bloomin’ Brands Inc. announced the appointment of Rafael Sanchez as Senior Vice President & Chief Information Officer. Sanchez joins the company from Davidson Hospitality Group where he served as Senior Vice President of Information Technology. His appointment is effective June 30, 2025.

“Rafael has a strong history in out-of-home entertainment and restaurants.” said Mike Spanos, CEO of Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. “He is a strong leader that focuses on the team members and guests.”

Before joining Davidson Hospitality Group, Sanchez served as a Senior Technology Advisor and...

Bristol Bay Sees First Landings of Forecasted 35 Million Sockeye Salmon This Season

The first landings of the year from Bristol Bay, Alaska's phenomenally rich sockeye salmon fishery, showed up on ADF&G’s leaderboard, otherwise known as the Bluesheet, last weekend with 392,000 sockeye. That, along with additional landings from the Copper River and Aleutian Peninsula, brings the total sockeye catch to date to nearly 1.2 million fish. 

Those empty cells of the Bluesheet will not be empty for long. Another 393,000 salmon were recorded as catch from the Nushagak District yesterday.  

Bristol Bay’s five river systems each have differently...

East Coast Seafood Commemorates 25 Years of Plastic Lobster Crates

On June 23, 2025, seafood processor and distributor East Coast Seafood (ECS) celebrated the 25th anniversary of its shift to reusable plastic lobster crates.

ECS was founded in 1981 as a live lobster distributor. Since then, it has evolved into a vertically integrated seafood company with operations spanning North America, Europe, and Asia, offering lobster and scallop products to customers across the world.

The move from wooden lobster crates to resuable plastic crates was spearheaded by Executive Vice President Spiros Tourkakis, who partnered with Eric Fredrickson of IPL Plastics IPL...

New Report Says Coast Guard Failed to Intercept 79% of Foreign Vessels Suspected of IUU Fishing

The Office of Inspector General (OIG) recently released its final report, “Coast Guard Missed Opportunities to Interdict Foreign Fishing Vessels Suspected of Illegally Fishing in U.S. Waters,” which details several instances in which the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) failed to intercept 79% of foreign fishing vessels that were suspected of illegal fishing in the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).

According to the report—which was released on June 6, 2025, under the Department of Homeland Security—the USCG did not meet its illegal, unreported, and unregulated...

Trace Register Rebrands with New Digital Platform, ORIGIN, and Refreshed Website

Yesterday, Trace Register, launched its next-generation seafood traceability platform, ORIGIN by trace register™, alongside the unveiling of the seafood traceability solutions company’s refreshed website and product rebranding.

The new platform—which will be available in nine languages—is set to roll out in phases throughout 2025, offering users critical tools for managing documents, achieving interoperability, and fulfilling requirements, backed by one-on-one assistance from Trace Register’s global customer service team.

ORIGIN is designed for seafood companies of all sizes and can deliver an 80% reduction in...

Chile's Small-Scale Fishers Win Big in Landmark Quota Redistribution Law

The Chilean government announced significant changes to its fisheries law, which will create updated fishing quotas for the industrial and artisanal sectors, with a larger share going to artisanal fishers.

According to a notice from Chile’s congress, the new quota laws impacted the fisheries of anchovy, sardines and hake.

The Chilean government said the law will lead to a “fairer and more equitable distribution between artisanal and industrial fishing.” The government estimated that $160 billion pesos ($169 million) will be transferred from industrial to artisanal fishermen...

Hokkaido Fall Chum Return Forecasted to Fall 36% to a Record-Low of 11 Million

On June 23, the Hokkaido Research Organization and Inland Waters Fisheries Research Institute announced that the forecasted number of fall chum salmon returning this year (total number of coastal catches and river captures) is 11.4 million fish, a 35.5% decrease from 2024.  

Due to the record-low return of 3-year-old salmon last year, the return of the dominant 4-year-old school is not expected to be high this year, leading to a forecast below the previous low of 17.37 million...

Norwegian Government Proposes New Lobster Conservation Areas

The Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries recently proposed new conservation areas for lobster in the Oslo Fjord, Agder, Rogaland and Vestland.

Accompanying each of the four conservation area proposals, the Directorate of Fisheries also sent out a parallel consultation.

Specific areas that were proposed include the following:

* Inner Oslofjord: with six new areas in Asker, Horten, and Bunnefjorden;

* Kristiansand and Farsund: with five total areas, some of which require the discontinuation of sea grazing activities;

* Karmøy and Haugesund: with four areas proposed after local cooperation and professional advice; and 

* Øygarden: with two areas near...

DoorDash Doubles Down on Grocery and Food Retail Offerings With New Merchants

Today, we’re thrilled to announce new on-demand grocery and food retail delivery partnerships with several beloved merchants across the country. From restocking inventory to grabbing last-minute dinner ingredients or discovering unique local items, shoppers on DoorDash can now enjoy even more convenience with on-demand delivery from these trusted partners.

Now available on DoorDash:

Big Y: A family-owned supermarket serving its local communities for nearly 90 years, Big Y offers everything from fresh, locally sourced produce and premium meats to hand-decorated bakery items and...

New Report Finds Aquaculture Could Create More Than 20 Million Jobs By 2050 

Aquaculture could generate as many as 22 million jobs by 2050, according to a new report from the World Bank and the World Wildlife Fund.  

The report titled “Harnessing the Waters: A Trillion Dollar Investment Opportunity in Sustainable Aquaculture,” anticipates roughly $1.5 trillion in investments within the sector over the next 25 years.  

Based on the current state of the industry, business-as-usual (BAU) investments of even $0.5 trillion within this time frame could lead to a production increase of...

Hilton Foods Builds First North American Plant in Ontario With $140M Investment

Hilton Foods Canada, a subsidiary of United Kingdom food giant Hilton Foods, will build a CAD 192 million ($140 million) facility in Brantford, Ontario.

The new facility would mark Hilton Food’s first North American plant. It will be a 230,000-square-foot food processing and warehouse distribution facility. Per the Ontario government, Hilton Foods will process protein products, including beef, pork, lamb, and seafood, for distribution centers as far as Mississauga, Cornwall and Moncton.

“Today is an exciting milestone and the official start of construction...

Seafood Supplier Culimer USA Becomes Oddisea SuperFrozen Amid Sustainability Push

Culimer USA, a company specializing in sushi-grade seafood products, announced that it has rebranded as Oddisea SuperFrozen, LLC.

The company said the rebrand reflects its “ongoing investment in a better seafood future.” It added that the move responds to growing US consumer concerns surrounding the health of oceans, origins of seafood and the purity with which seafood arrives on their plates.

“Launched from the experience and success of Culimer USA, Oddisea is here to set a new industry standard for clean tuna,” the company wrote on its LinkedIn page...

2025 Seafood Expo Asia to Unlock New Business Opportunities in Singapore 

Seafood Expo Asia will return to Singapore for its fourth consecutive year from September 10-12.  

The three-day event organized by Diversified, brings together seafood suppliers from around the world and buyers from across Asia, providing them with a platform to explore new business opportunities. 

"The uniqueness of this event is in its tailored approach to connecting worldwide seafood companies with the buyers they need to expand their business in the Asian market," said Wynter Courmont, Vice President of Seafood at Diversified. "The event offers several...