March 27, 2020 — The Southern Shrimp Alliance noted this week that Gulf of Mexico shrimp landings in February 2020 were 36.1% above historical averages.
The National Marine Fisheries Service Southeast Fisheries Center released February Gulf of Mexico shrimp landings earlier this week.
March 27, 2020 — Regulations and foreign trade have battered local shrimpers for years, and the economic quagmire caused by Covid-19 is only adding to the problems.
During Lent, sales of shrimp can double or even triple, but the closure of restaurants has frozen sales – literally. Because sales have plummeted, many shrimp processors are keeping their product on ice to wait out the crisis. This leaves a grim outlook for the future of the shrimping industry.
“Sales have plummeted,” said Kimberly Chauvin, of David Chauvin Seafood Company in Dulac. “I think we are down about 90-something percent.”
In 2018, Gulf of Mexico commercial fishermen caught 374 million pounds of seafood worth $780 million, according to the Gulf of Mexico Reef Fish Shareholders’ Alliance.
Chauvin said processors are keeping their product frozen, and this has meant that many shrimpers are staying on shore to avoid unstable prices. The larger shrimp are frozen with their heads still intact, preserving product to be sold at a later date but, Chauvin said, the overhead cost remains the same. Costs like utilities, payroll, insurance and licenses must still be met, and while she has heard talk of financial assistance to small businesses, she said she hasn’t seen action.
March 6, 2020 — US importers of Mexican shrimp and other seafood should soon be prepared to present documentation certifying that any of the products they are bringing over the border do not match a list of roughly five species caught in the upper Gulf of California using multiple gear types.
The US’ National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) announced Wednesday that it will ban the import of virtually all Mexican shrimp and other fish caught in that region of the country over concerns about the endangered vaquita porpoise. An effective date has not yet been set, but it is expected to be within a month and require importers to maintain a “certification of admissibility” that is signed by a Mexican government official establishing that the products being shipped are not from the upper Gulf of California’s:
March 5, 2020 — New Bedford, Massachusetts-based seafood supplier Northern Wind is launching a new line of culinary-inspired seafood products under its Bon Cuisine brand this month.
Sixteen offerings comprise the latest Bon Cuisine line, including Zucchini & Smoked Salmon Fritters, Spinach & Cheese Salmon Kiev, Salmon En Croute, Pre-fried Crab Bites, Raw Garlic Butter Shrimp Skewers, Pre-Fried Shrimp Zucchini Fritters, and a Hoki Fish Taco Kit. Catering to consumer demand for adventurous flavors and ready-to-cook convenience, the new range “offers customers a trendy restaurant quality seafood option,” Northern Wind explained in a 2 March press release.
February 25, 2020 — The following was released by the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council:
Federal fishery managers will gather next week in Jekyll Island, GA to address a number of topics including proposed management measures for dolphin and wahoo, Spanish mackerel, shrimp, and species within the snapper grouper management complex. Members of the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council will also discuss regulatory actions proposed for the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, allocation issues, and receive reports from NOAA Fisheries on the status of the 2020 red snapper season as well as shark depredation.
The meeting will take place March 2-6, 2020 at the Westin Jekyll Island, 110 Ocean Way, Jekyll Island, GA, 31527. The meeting week begins Monday at 1:30 p.m. with a series of committee meetings and concludes with a meeting of the Full Council on Thursday afternoon and Friday. The meetings are open to the public. Briefing book materials for each committee meeting, as well as a meeting of the Full Council are now available.
A formal public comment session will be held on Wednesday, March 4th beginning at 4:00 PM. An online comment form for agenda items is also now available. The meeting is available via webinar as it occurs. Registration is required and can be completed in advance for each meeting day.
Webinar Registration Links:
Additional information for next week’s meeting, including briefing book materials with committee agendas and overviews, is available at: https://safmc.net/march-2020-council-meeting-details/.
February 21, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:
In 2018, U.S. fishermen landed 9.4 billion pounds of fish valued at $5.6 billion at ports around the nation—consistently high figures on par with recent years, which bring economic benefits up and down the seafood supply chain.
According to the Fisheries of the United States report, which is compiled by NOAA using data and analysis not immediately available at the same end of a fishing year, U.S. highest value species groups in 2018 included lobster ($684 million), crabs ($645 million), salmon ($598 million), scallops ($541 million), and shrimp ($496 million).
Dutch Harbor in Alaska, and New Bedford in Massachusetts, continue to dominate the list of top ports driven by landings of pollock for Alaska (the nation’s largest commercial fishery) and top-valued sea scallops in Massachusetts.
New Bedford brought in $431 million in 2018, up from $390 million in 2017, making it the top port by value in the country for the 19th straight year. Other top ports by value in the New England/Mid-Atlantic region include Cape May/Wildwood, NJ ($66 million), Point Judith, RI ($64 million), Stonington, ME ($60 million), Hampton Roads Area, VA ($55 million), and Gloucester, MA ($53 million).
Top ports by landings in the New England/Mid-Atlantic region are Reedville, VA (353 million pounds), New Bedford, MA (114 million pounds), Cape May/Wildwood, NJ (102 million pounds), Gloucester, MA (59 million pounds), Point Judith, RI (48 million pounds), and Portland, ME (46 million pounds).
February 20, 2020 — Acquisitive Canadian seafood giant Cooke is eyeing a deal for Grupo Cabo Virgenes, an Argentina-based fishing and processing firm with a plant in Spain, reports Alimarket.
According to the website’s sources, Cooke is looking at buying all Cabo Virgenes’ assets, which include nine vessels and a plant in Argentina, and the value-added factory in Spain, but the talks are in the early stages and a deal is not imminent. Cooke is already operating in Spain, with seabass and seabream farmer Culmarex.
Cabo Virgenes and Cooke were not immediately available for comment to Undercurrent News.
An Undercurrent source confirmed he’d also heard of the talks. “Cooke needs to enter the Spanish [shrimp] market and Cabo Virgenes is a good operation for starting with wild shrimp in Argentina,” he said.
Cooke has already started to expand in the Argentinian shrimp sector and Glenn Cooke, co-founder and CEO, told Undercurrent last year the company plans more deals. Cooke was previously being linked to a deal for vessels owned by Grupo Conarpesa Continental Armadores de Pesca (Conarpesa), but nothing materialized. The company has also snapped up two Central American shrimp farmers, Seajoy Group and Farallon Aquaculture de Nicaragua.
February 18, 2020 — The following was released by the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council:
Briefing book materials are now available for the next meeting of the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council scheduled for March 2-6, 2020 at the Westin Jekyll Island, 110 Ocean Way, Jekyll Island, GA, 31527. The meeting week begins on Monday at 1:30 p.m. with a series of committee meetings and concludes with a meeting of the Full Council on Thursday afternoon and Friday. Briefing book materials for each committee meeting as well as a meeting of the Full Council are now available.
A formal public comment session will be held on Wednesday, March 4th beginning at 4:00 PM. An online comment form for agenda items is also now available. The meeting is available via webinar as it occurs. Registration is required and can be completed in advance for each meeting day. Meeting information, including briefing book materials with committee agendas and overviews, the online comment form, links to webinar registration, and more is available at: https://safmc.net/march-2020-council-meeting-details/.
Agenda Highlights:
February 18, 2020 — The following was released by the Global Sustainable Seafood Initiative:
The Global Sustainable Seafood Initiative (GSSI) Steering Board is pleased to announce its first recognition of a scope extension. The Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) scope of recognition now includes their Shrimp Standard (Version 1.0, March 27, 2014).
ASC applied for this scope extension in early 2019, having already obtained recognition for the scope of their Salmon Standard (version 1.1, April 27, 2017) in August 2018. The Independent Experts and the Benchmark Committee found the ASC Shrimp Standard to be in alignment with all the GSSI Essential Components for Section C (Aquaculture). The Independent Experts and the Benchmark Committee also confirmed the Governance (Section A) and Operational Procedures (Section B) have been appropriately applied to this ASC Shrimp Standard.
February 10, 2020 — NOAA Fisheries announced on Wednesday, 5 February, that changes to the Gulf of Mexico Shrimp Fishery Management Plan will take effect next month.
The main purpose of the amendment is to change the amount of red snapper bycatch for shrimpers. In 2005, limits were enacted after a stock assessment determined that shrimp fishing was a primary factor in affecting the red snapper’s viability.