VIDEO: FDA Flags Contaminated Shrimp; Red Lobster Sale Update; Mother's Day Celebrations

Seafoodnews Weekly Video host Amanada Buckle is joined by Urner Barry Seafood Market Reporter Josh Bickert to break down some of the biggest stories of the week, including the FDA flagging contaminated shrimp; an update on the sale of Red Lobster; and Mother’s Day celebrations.

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ANALYSIS: Chilean Salmon Fillet Imports Through First Quarter Down 5.9 Percent

The farmed salmon market saw imports of fresh fillets through the first quarter of the year fall behind 2023. Year-to-date levels are trailing 2023 by 4.2 percent. Out of Chile, the leader in the category with a 73 percent market share, imports of fresh fillets are down 5.9 percent YTD. Imports out of Norway, on the other hand, are up 11.4 percent through March 2024 as compared to 2023. The Netherlands, another European producing country that processes, are also...

ANALYSIS: The 2023-2024 C&SA Mahi Season Update

The 2023-2024 mahi fishing season in C&SA stands out from prior years for several reasons. Foremost among them was the significant speculation surrounding the potential occurrence of an El Niño event, which could impact water temperatures, fishing yields, and even signal a shortage in inventory. However, what truly marked this season was the absence of U.S. buyers eagerly awaiting to bid on products just landed. Typically, when boats return to port there is quite a bit of bidding from processing plants...

Arctic Lady Enterprises Files Complaint Against Peter Pan Seafoods

Struggling Peter Pan Seafoods is taking yet another hit — this time from Arctic Lady Enterprises. Court documents released show that last month Arctic Lady Enterprises filed a complaint against Peter Pan in an Alaska court, alleging that they caught, delivered and sold seafood products to Peter Pan and never received payment.

Arctic Lady Enterprises, the owner of the F/V Arctic Lady, conducted fishing operations in Alaska, catching pollock and pacific cod for Peter Pan between January 4, 2023 and October 14, 2023. Payment to...

Annual Shrimp Closure In Gulf of Mexico For Texas and Federal Waters Set For May 15

NOAA Fisheries has confirmed that the annual closing of the Gulf of Mexico commercial shrimp season off the Texas coast will take place on May 15. A closure is necessary in order for brown shrimp to reach a larger — and therefore more valuable — size.

“The goal of this closure is twofold,” commented Robin Riechers, the Coastal Fisheries Division Director for Texas Parks and Wildlife. “Allowing shrimp to migrate into Gulf waters gives them time to mature and grow before the...

The Retail Rundown: Showdown for Consumer Dollars this Mother's Day

Grocers and foodservice are preparing for a showdown with Mother's Day just a few days away. 

The upcoming holiday typically favors foodservice sales over retail as consumers celebrate their loved ones by visiting a dining establishment. According to the National Restaurant Association, 34% of consumers will dine out this Sunday, particularly during lunch and dinner. An additional 12% will order takeout or delivery.

However, retailers have a few tricks up their sleeves to get shoppers through the door by promoting deals on flowers, cards, gifts, and more. Grocers...

Choice Canning Refutes FDA Refusal For Antibiotic-Tainted Shrimp

Over the weekend the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released its seafood entry line refusals for the month of April. One of the companies flagged by the government agency for shrimp contaminated with veterinary drug residues was India’s Choice Canning. However, the company is refuting those claims, revealing in documentation shared with Seafoodnews that the three shrimp lines in question that were refused entry into the U.S. were by a different company that was using Choice Canning’s name.

As Seafoodnews reported on Tuesday, Choice Canning, which has...

Alaska Legislature Rejects Dunleavy Appointee to Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission

In a tie vote on Tuesday, Alaska lawmakers rejected Mike Pocaro, who has been serving as one of two commissioners on Alaska’s Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission (CFEC) since he was appointed last summer. 

The vote was one of three other rejections among approvals for many other state board and commission appointments, by wide margins.

Pocaro, a conservative talk radio host and owner of an advertising company, was a strong supporter of Govenor Mike Dunleavy as a candidate and became part of the team running the campaign in...

Clean Seas Seafood CFO Resigns; Company Appoints David Di Blasio As New CFO

Clean Seas Seafood announced on Wednesday that its current Chief Financial Officer, David Brown, has resigned in order to “pursue an opportunity outside of the company.” Brown has served as CFO for Clean Seas for the past four years. Now, Yumbah Aquaculture alum David Di Blasio will be taking the reins as the new CFO of Clean Seas Seafood. 

“David Brown has made an outstanding contribution to Clean Seas over the last seven years, having served as our CFO for...

Lerøy Faces Escape of Estimated 14,000 Salmon

An estimated 14,000 fish are reported to have escaped a Lerøy Midt facility in Norway’s Hitra municipality. The company confirmed the escapement, with general manager Harald Larssen commenting that “this should not happen.”

“We have a vision of zero escapes, and take this very seriously,” said Larssen.

The escaped fish in question are said to weigh approximately 7.3 kilos each. The company has brought in additional resources to not only secure the pen, but also recapture as many of the escaped fish as possible. Lerøy has already deployed more than...

Mowi Acknowledges “Biologically Challenging” Q1 in Norway

Mowi released its Q1 2024 results this week, reporting revenues of 1.33 billion euros in the first quarter, compared to 1.36 billion euros in Q1 2023. Mowi CEO Ivan Vindheim chalked up the decrease in revenue to “challenges” related to a cold winter, winter sores and an “unusually high prevalence of string jellyfish."

“Consequently, I am pleased to see the situation in Norway has improved considerably in the second quarter,” said Vindheim. “We are now vaccinating our smolt with an improved winter sore vaccine which has...

Japan: March Shrimp Imports Up 1% to 13,100 Tons, Increasing for the Third Consecutive Month

Japan’s Ministry of Finance recently announced that the amount of shrimp imported in March was 13,127 tons, an increase of 1.1% from last year. This is the third consecutive month of positive growth since January. The amount decreased by 2.5% to 17,983 million yen. Although there are signs of recovery in imports due to low inventories as a result of a decline in imports in 2023, a cautious stance continues as the yen weakens, reported Suisan Keizai Shimbun.

The "other frozen shrimp category," which...

World's Largest Snow Crab Fishery Is Underway — Is The Market Ready For Higher Prices?

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell has expressed that the current interest rates are restrictive which could potentially slow economic activity and aid in curbing inflation. Last week he suggested that a further rate increase is "unlikely," providing a positive jolt to the markets. However, Powell also stepped back from earlier indications of potential rate cuts, stating that the Fed needs to be assured that inflation is on a definite return to the target level. source: WSJ

In related economic trends, there are signs that...

Thai Union Confirms In Financial Results That They Expect Red Lobster Sale To Be Completed This Year

Thai Union has released its financial results for Q1 of 2024, for the three month period ending March 31, 2024. While the report is full of wins for the seafood giant —particularly in the PetCare side of its business—all eyes are on updates regarding Thai Union’s exit from Red Lobster.

As previously reported by Seafoodnews, the company made a decision to exit its minority investment in the seafood restaurant chain in the fourth quarter of 2023.

“The combination of...

ANALYSIS: U10 Scallops Rally Ahead of Mother's Day

The Atlantic sea scallop sector has reported conflicting pressures dependent upon scallop size, affecting the market as the season closes out the second month of the 2024-2025 fishing year. Framework Adjustment 38 to the Atlantic sea scallop Fishery Management Plan has resulted in an estimated harvest of 27.4 million pounds of Atlantic sea scallops for the new season that began April 1, 2024, a 2.4 million pound increase from the previous year, marking the first quota increase since 2019.

As seasonally expected, prices began to...

Cermaq Deficit JPY 20 Billion: Consolidated Mitsubishi Corp. Profit/Loss for FY Ending March 2024

Among the consolidated results of Mitsubishi Corporation for the fiscal year ending March 2024, the Cermaq Group, a subsidiary dedicated to salmon farming, processing, and sales, faced significant challenges. The profit and loss of the group was in the red, recording a loss of 20.3 billion yen ($130.44 million), a stark contrast to the previous fiscal year's surplus of 30.8 billion yen ($197.91 million). Minato Shimbun reported that the factors contributing to this downturn were...

FDA Flags Choice Canning, 3 Other BAP-Certified Shrimp Exporters For Antibiotic-Contaminated Shrimp

India’s Choice Canning has been flagged by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for antibiotic-positive shrimp just weeks after a whistleblower accused the company of shipping antibiotic-tainted shrimp to the U.S.

The FDA recently published its seafood entry line refusals for the month of April. The government agency documented 89 entry line refusals, 15 of which (16.9%) were for shrimp related to banned antibiotics. Those 15 entry lines were split amongst four companies — one of which was the embroiled...