Gulf States Try and Gut Magnuson in Unbelievable Red Snapper Grab
In Today’s Editor’s View column John Sackton writes of a radical proposal by the fishery managers of the five Gulf States that would gut federal oversight of the red snapper fishery in favor of a state-run management program. Among the provisions, the plan would give the states power to reallocate the red snapper quota away from the commercial fishery to the recreational sector; it essentially eliminates red snapper fishery management under Magnuson “The Red Snapper grab is probably the most audacious attack yet on the entire concept of commercial fisheries having a public purpose of feeding the nation, which was the bedrock underpinning of the Magnuson Stevens Act,” writes Sackton.
Major Chinese seafood distributor Zhangzidao, which operates as Zoneco in the US, posted US$186 million in losses last year. The sharp decline in earnings follows Zhangzidao deliberately misleading banks and investors about the strength of its yesso scallop harvest.
In other news a major fire has destroyed the Breakwater Fisheries crab plant in Cottlesville, on the northeast coast of Newfoundland. More than 100 full-time and 50 part-time employees were expected to begin work next month at the facility. It’s not yet clear if Breakwater has plans to rebuild the plant.
Finally, two stories from the Gulf: Urner Barry prices for peeled and undeveiend (PUD) shrimp are down sharply this month compared to last March. Traders report higher inventories due to last fall’s late increase in landings. At the same time catches in early 2015 have are also been up with the industry already looking ahead to new season production in May. Meanwhile, the weather has warmed up in Louisiana, sending crawfish supplies up and prices down.
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