Saving Seafood

Russia learning to live with less pollock

March 14, 2019 — Russian fisheries are getting prepared for expected reductions in total allowable catch (TAC) for Pollock, the biggest species in the national harvest.

Companies are seeking to keep their income stable by investing in processing facilities in an effort to produce more fillet. However, there are doubts that there will be sufficient demand for deeper-processed food.

Generational shift brings new challenges

In Russia, Pollock is fished in the Russian Far East, mainly in the Sea of Okhotsk, the Bering Sea, and the Sea of Japan. In 2018, large stocks of the species were also discovered in the Chukchee Sea – scientists remain eager to find out the reasons for this migration.

Currently, the total biomass of pollock in the Sea of Okhotsk is estimated at 11.6 million metric tons (MT), with six to seven of those tons being fishable. TAC for pollock is traditionally set at a level of about 20 percent of spawning biomass to keep the stock above the target level. TAC in a given year depends on the productivity of recent recruitment, which is affected by a number of various factors, including climate, hydrological, food abundance, etc. While the recruitments of 2011 and 2013 were well above the multi-average level – which resulted in high volumes of harvest – there haven’t been any such productive years since.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Russia’s biggest MSC certified fishery reconfirms sustainability

September 5, 2018 — The following was released by the Marine Stewardship Council:

In a milestone development, the Russian Pollock Catchers Association’s Sea of Okhotsk Pollock fishery has received Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification for a second time. Once again confirmed as sustainable and well-managed, the fishery’s catch can carry the blue MSC label.

The fishery is one of the world’s largest suppliers of Pollock from the North Pacific, serving over 20 countries across five continents. Every five years MSC certified fisheries have to go through the full assessment process again to ensure they are continuing to meet the MSC Fisheries Standard. The assessment was carried out by third-party conformity assessment body Acoura Marine.

Continuous improvement

The Pollock Catchers Association (PCA) first obtained MSC certification in 2013. The fishery was given 8 conditions – improvement areas to address during the five-year certificate period – and all of these were closed. Three conditions were aimed at improving the scientific basis of stock assessment and fishery management and were met successfully. Another three conditions concentrated on minimizing the fishery’s impact on the Sea of Okhotsk ecosystem, including fishing operations’ interaction with Endangered, Threatened and Protected (ETP) species. Two further conditions were set for the management process. Closure of these conditions has led to greater transparency and closer involvement of stakeholders, including environmental NGOs.

Camiel Derichs, Director MSC Europe said: “Congratulations to the Pollock Catchers Association (PCA) on their recertification. Over the past five years, the PCA, scientists, management and NGO actors in Russia have worked hard to address the conditions placed on the fishery, resulting in real improvements. The progress achieved was recognised in the re-assessment, where the PCA received higher scores than previously for many assessment indicators.”

“As the only global wild capture fisheries standard meeting the ISEAL codes of good practice, the MSC reviews its standards every five years in light of progressing science and management best practice. As a result of the last Fisheries Standard Review (FSR), the MSC has adopted a new standard (version 2.0). Over the course of their new certification time frame, we hope the PCA will continue to make improvements to ensure a smooth transition to this new version of the MSC Standard,” he continued.

Read the full release here

Japanese scallop fishery on track for MSC

February 23, 2018 — Independent certification body Acoura Marine has determined that Japan’s “scallop hanging and seabed enhanced fisheries” meet the Marine Stewardship Council standard, and should be certified.

The process is now open to a 15 working day period during which a previously involved stakeholder may lodge a notice of objection to this determination.

In 2016 the fishery produced 279,823 metric tons of scallops. The species is naturally distributed in coastal, sub-Arctic areas of the eastern Pacific including the Japan Sea and southern Sea of Okhotsk, around Sakhalin Island, Hokkaido, and northern Honshu.

Japanese scallop grow relatively fast, and may reach 20 centimeters shell height and weigh 1 kilogram at ten years of age.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

 

Scallops poised to jump back on US casual restaurant menus

January 28, 2018 — MIAMI — Previously deemed to be saddled with prices too volatile to offer at casual restaurants in the US, look for scallops to come back on menus in 2018, predicts Sean Moriarty, vice president of sales for Blue Harvest Fisheries.

Good luck finding Atlantic sea scallops at the types of sit-down dining establishments Americans most often frequent, like Olive Garden, Applebee’s or Outback Steakhouse.

The price of the shellfish have proven too lofty and volatile for such major chains to take the risk. But that could change soon as the global supply of scallops promises to reach an epic high in 2018, pushing prices to a more affordable range.

“I think the domestic consumption should continue to increase,” said Moriarty Wednesday during a panel on bivalves at the National Fisheries Institute’s (NFI) Global Seafood Market Conference, in Miami, Florida. “I think, especially in 2018, you’ll see a push to get back on the menu, not just in appetizers but in the center of the plate.”

Moriarty’s vertically integrated New Bedford, Massachusetts-based employer — one of the US’ top five producers of Atlantic sea scallops with 15 vessels operating in New England — will be among those rooting for more restaurants to join the scallop party.

Along with few abrupt changes in recent times – including a sudden drop that followed a glut of landings in May 2017 — scallop prices have grown overall since 2011, according to Urner Barry figures shared by Moriarty at the event.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

 

Japanese scallop village struggling for labor despite profits

August 28, 2017 — A village in the far north of Japan is the nation’s richest thanks to its scallop harvesting industry; however, the operations may be threatened by a lack of labor, reports the Straights Times.

Sarufutsu village boasts some of the highest average incomes of any town in Japan, thanks to the earnings of fishermen working with scallops pulled from the Sea of Okhotsk.

But the new JPY 2.4 billion ($21.9 million) scallop factory is not running at full capacity because it cannot get enough workers for lower-paying but important jobs.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

Russia pushes MSC recertification for pollock from Sea of Okhotsk

May 4, 2017 — Russia’s Federal Agency for Fisheries announced at the 2017 Seafood Expo Global that it would seek Marine Stewardship Council recertification for pollock from the Sea of Okhotsk, according to the agency.

The Alaska trawl fishery in the Sea of Okhotsk was first certified by MSC in 2013 and Russia is seeking a recertification that would extend MSC approval of the fishery by the standard five years.

Russian Deputy Minister of Agriculture of Russia and Head of the Federal Agency for Fisheries Ilya Shestakov said the government “supported and encouraged” recertification for the fishery.

Read the full story at Seafood Source