Newfoundland Price Panel Sets Cold-Water Shrimp Minimum Price at $0.95 The Province of Newfoundland Price Setting Panel announced that the minimum cold-water shrimp price for spring 2017 will be $0.95 CA. This is a significant change from the $CA 1.40 per lb awarded by the price panel last year. This year, the panel has apparently determined that the price put forward by the processors was closer to the market indications that the panel considered. Shrimp production will be cut back significantly again in Newfoundland this year due to declining stocks, but even with the decline in supply, the panel was not convinced it would lead to an increase in the market price. Japanese conglomerate Nissui and its subsidiary, Alaskan seafood processor Unisea, joined the GSSI as partners. Nissui is the first Japanese seafood company to become a GSSI partner. “UniSea, Inc. is proud to join the leaders of the seafood industry in partnering with GSSI. GSSI has made tremendous progress in its mission to solve the problem of the proliferation of eco-certification schemes. We support GSSI’s efforts to provide a choice in certified seafood, and encourage others to join in partnership of supporting this important initiative,” said Tom Enlow, President & CEO of UniSea. Additionally, major retailer Giant Eagle added GSSI's scheme to its seafood procurement policy. In other news, the New Brunswick snow crab fishery is opening today according to a notice from the Canadian Dept. of Marine Resources. The ice that has been clogging harbors in Shippagan and Caraquet is now broken up and has been moved out enough to allow for the fishery to begin. This is a couple of days earlier than expected last week. In some related snow crab news, Canada will allocate a portion of the Gulf of St. Lawrence snow crab quota to First Nations tribes for the first time in 14 years. Th expectation is that most of the new snow crab allocation will be given to First Nations bands already in the commercial snow crab fishery. Meanwhile, Vietnam's shrimp exports through two months are down. Reports suggest trade barriers put up by Vietnam's major buyers and raw material shortages are starting to cut into its shipments. Finally, shrimp landings from the Gulf of Mexico through the first quarter of the year were about the same compared to the first three months of 2016. Wholesale prices continue to hold at higher levels as the industry waits for new season production to reach the market. Meaningful Gulf shrimp production does not start until May. The season traditionally opens in the middle of the month but is dependent on the size of the shrimp in the waters.