White Spot Outbreak Forces Indian Shrimp Farmers in Tamil Nadu to Clear Ponds
An outbreak of white spot disease at shrimp farms in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu forced farmers in the area to destroy the shrimp in the ponds. Farmers blamed low-quality broodstock for why the outbreak spread so rapidly in just a matter of days. Producers also said MPEDA failed to inspect the quality of the broodstock that was supplied to the farms. “It is a tough time for us. The entire area is affected with this white spot disease. We have no other options except to destroy the farms completely,” said D. Mathiyazhagan a shrimp farmer with operations in the area.
A federal court upheld NMFS's cost recovery program that charges catcher-processor co-ops a tonnage fee that is used for management, scientific research and public education. On Wednesday, a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit upheld a lower court's decision that approved the fees and accounting methodology, but did rule the calculations for the 2014 fees should be revisited. According to the majority opinion written by Judge Sandra Ikuta NMFS "could reasonably determine the co-op permit to be a limited access privilege." In 2014, Glacier Fish Company challenged the fees, claiming NMFS is only authorized to collect the fees from "limited access privilege holders."
Restaurant same-store sales declined 1.4 percent in July, and traffic fell 3.9 percent, which was the weakest performance for both metrics since December 2013 according to TDn2K’s Black Box Intelligence. Ongoing declines in US restaurant sales run counter to government data, which show overall growth in US economic performance, including from food and drinking establishments. However, restaurant performance is uneven depending on the sector.
In other news, squid inventories in Japan are at historically low levels. The volume of squid in cold storage at the end of May was below 40,000 tons, 7 percent less than the previous month. The low inventories are attributed to the poor catches in most squid producing areas. Japanese processors say they are limited in what they can do to make up for the poor supply situation.
Finally, NMFS says Sweden has issued a rebuttal to back up its proposal to ban imports of live North American lobsters from its market. Sweden's report is a response to a US-Canadian scientific analysis that explains why there is not enough evidence to support Sweden's claim that North American lobsters are invasive. NMFS said it will brief fishery officials in New England about Sweden's response and is working on an official statement. "We received Sweden's response to the U.S./Canadian scientific analysis on August 1," said Kate Brogan, a NOAA spokesperson. "NOAA is working closely with Canada and other U.S. agencies on an official response, which I can share with you when available."
Have a great weekend.
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