China Fishery and Pacific Andes Seek U.S. 
Bankruptcy Protection Amid Probes
China Fishery Group and its parent company Pacific Andes Resources each filed for bankruptcy protection in the US as market regulators in Hong Kong and Singapore are investigating the group. China Fishery filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protections in New York City this week while Pacific Andes filed a separate Chapter 15 petition for companies reorganizing outside the U.S. China Fishery listed as much as $50 million in liability and more than $500 million in assets. Four months ago China Fishery defaulted on $300 million worth of bonds. The filings allow the group to fend off creditors and bondholders from seizing its assets. China Fishery said its decision to seek relief under Chapter 11 followed failed negotiations with Bank of America and HSBC Holdings to extend a January agreement with the lenders to end their legal actions, an arrangement that is set to expire on July 15. One immediate impact from the filings is a hold on the group's efforts to sell off its fishmeal assets in Peru.
Nova Scotia and Newfoundland's Fishery Ministers disagree with the recommendation to eliminate the Last In, First Out management policy for the Northern shrimp fishery. Nova Scotia Minister Keith Colwell said he was disappointed with the decision and will petition Canada’s federal Fishery Minister Dominic LeBlanc to back his position. In Newfoundland, Fishery Minister Steve Crocker supported the recommendation on the grounds that the LIFO policy should have never existed and that a permanent quota sharing policy should be applied to the fishery.
In other news, Alaskan salmon in the Kuskokwim River will not be fished commercially since no fish buyer signed up to process the fish. The sole local buyer in recent years, a branch of the Coastal Villages Region Fund, isn't operating its $40 million fish processing plant in Platinum, on the Bering Sea coast in Southwest Alaska. Without an identified market, the ADF&G won't call any commercial openings in fishing districts in Kuskokwim Bay and the Bering Sea near Quinhagak, Goodnews Bay or up the Kuskokwim River main stem to around Tuluksak.
Meanwhile, a report from the Chesapeake Bay Program found blue crab stocks are continuing to rebound in the Bay. Female stocks are up to 196 million crabs since the start of the season this year. Juvenile crab numbers were also holding steady. "The blue crab population is at a healthy level," said Glenn Davis, a biologist with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources and chair of the Chesapeake Bay Stock Assessment Committee. "Having both juvenile and adult components at or above the long-term average has only happened once since 1994."
Finally, we are running a new video concept today that recaps some of our top stories from the last week.
We will be closed this Monday in observance of the July Fourth holiday in the U.S. We will be back to our normal publishing schedule on Tuesday, July, 5. On behalf of John, Peggy, Linda, Susan and the rest of our staff we wish all of our readers and their families a safe and happy holiday weekend.
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