SEAFOODNEWS.COM — September 8, 2014 — Vietnam’s shrimp exports to the US are up 44% for HLSO, 69% for peeled, and 94% for cooked. But a significant portion is based on Vietnamese purchases from India, as local production though improved, has not been able to supply processing plants.
This is likely to be a permanent change as Vietnamese factories become importers of raw material, along with their locally sourced shrimp.
The owner of D.C. Air & Seafood, a Maine based seafood dealer, will spend 30 months in jail, and his company is banned from buying or selling scallops for five years, and will pay the feds over $500,000. This is the result of a case where Chris Byers conspired with six scallop vessels to over harvest their trip limits in the Elephant Trunk area, with unrecorded landings. The success of the scallop industry has come from the controls on the closed areas and trip limits inside those areas. It is good to see jail time for those who would try and illegally game the system.
More talk of a shrimp tie-up in Louisiana this week,as the Louisiana Shrimp Association calls for a five day pause in landings, seeking meetings with processors over dock prices. Hundreds of shrimp fishermen attended a meeting and voted to do this on Friday.
CSA’s – Community Supported Fisheries – have sprouted in coastal communities around the country, giving fishermen a little more income as a way to sell their catches directly to quality conscious consumers. Now a Long Island based CSA has expanded that to a restaurant model, enlisting New York Chefs who pay $2500 per month for a selection of 100 lbs of seafood delivered weekly, including both premium and ‘trash’ fish.
Les Hodges, of Vantage Seafood, writes an opinion piece about the proposed Russian crab ban. He suggests it could have long term consequences that would be negative for US buyers – and might enable to development of a large live king crab market in China – which is already underway. Such a market would mean lower supplies to the US, and could ultimately replicate what we have seen with Dungeness Crab – as a restaurant signature item becomes scarce due to China demand. At Chandler’s crab House in Seattle, a franchise built on Dungeness Crab, it was off the menu because of lack of availability when I visited in August.
Finally, a effective ban on Norwegian exports of whole salmon to China will take effect this week, as China has decided to require a certificate that the salmon is free from all ISA viruses, including those that naturally occur in European waters. H&G salmon is allowed, however.
This story originally appeared on Seafood.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission.