US Scallop Catches Likely Stable for 2017 after NE Council Approves Plan  The New England Fishery Management Council opted for stability in the scallop fishery for 2017, approving a plan that slightly reduces fishing pressure in open areas, and provides for one more trip to the rotational closed areas. Landings are expected to be around 47 million lbs. which is just marginally higher compared to the current fishing year. An EU delegation visited Thailand earlier this month to inspect the progress the country has made to combat IUU issues in its seafood sector. Thai officials said the visit went well. The EU is expected to announce its assessment of Thailand in tackling the IUU fishing issue in January 2017. In other news, Hanwa, a major Japanese trading firm, reported significant recovery in its consolidated profit in the first half of its current business year because of improved profitability of Seattle Shrimp, its US subsidiary. Meanwhile, VASEP told Vietnam's shrimp producers and exporters that production costs need to be reduced and the quality of shrimp needs to improve if the industry wants to remain competitive in the global market. Exporters were told they will lose their market share to Thai and Chinese producers if they do not make improvements.  Finally, Charoen Pokphand Foods (CP Foods) announced a deal to buy frozen foods distributor Bellisio Foods for $ 1.075 billion that will close this December. Bellisio is the third-largest frozen food company in North America. "We are excited to be part of CP Foods and look forward to leading the North American strategy for one of the world's most successful and innovative food companies,” said Joel Conner, Chairman of Bellisio. Today SeafoodNews subscribers will get their first in our series of commodity newsletters. Over the next few weeks we will roll out commodity newsletters for shrimp, salmon, lobster, crab, cod and all the other species we cover. The newsletters will highlight the stories and market information we have recently run, and will provide an easy way to keep up with important stories you may have missed. Initially, we are sending the newsletters to all subscribers. However, each newsletter has an opt-out link at the bottom which takes you to your account preferences, where you can check or uncheck any specific newsletter. We welcome feedback on this new service.