Politics Murkowski Introduces Measure Recognizing 2019 as International Year of the Salmon Alaska Native News by Karina Borger - Office of Senator Murkowski - June 15, 2019 Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) recently introduced S.Res.251, recognizing 2019 as the International Year of the Salmon. The resolution aims to serve as a framework for collaboration across the Northern Hemisphere to recover and sustain salmon stocks through research, cooperation, and public action. The resolution was cosponsored by Senators Dan Sullivan (R-AK), Susan Collins (R-ME), Angus King (I-ME), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Patty Murray (D-WA). https://alaska-native-news.com/murkowski-introduces-measure-recognizing-2019-as-international-year-of-the-salmon/42841/ National First SNP Awards honor those boosting US seafood consumption SefoodSource by Christine Blank - June 14, 2019 Arlington, Virginia, U.S.A.-based Seafood Nutrition Partnership is establishing the annual SNP Awards to honor those have demonstrated exceptional outreach and impact on increasing U.S. seafood consumption. https://www.seafoodsource.com/news/food-safety-health/first-snp-awards-honor-those-boosting-us-seafood-consumption
International Salmon Suppliers Work Hard to Expand in Lucrative Chinese Market SeafoodNews.com by Amy Zhong - June 18, 2019 Salmon has been widely received among Chinese consumers, and the past few years have seen a great increase in the country’s salmon imports. These imports are expected to continue to grow within the coming years, according to recent media reports. This is good news for overseas suppliers, and some have taken action to better promote their products and grab more of the market share in China. Consider the examples of Chilean salmon suppliers whose salmon exports to China have skyrocketed by 32 times in the past 16 years thanks to free trade agreements. Roughly 10 salmon brands from Chile are expanding their businesses in China, and their products are getting more and more popular among Chinese foodies. Multiexport Foods is one such brand. The company is said to have entered China in 2013, and its exports of frozen salmon to that market has jumped by about 60% from 2015 to 2017. To better develop the market, Multiexport Foods has customized products according to the preferences of local consumers. For example, it has adopted a red color, a symbol of happy events, in package design since 2017. Its sales to China are all frozen and large salmon weighing more than 6 kg each, because locals prefer large ones. And it is one of the few which has set up an office in China. This is a smart choice and it helps the company come up with better marketing strategies in China. In addition, its partner, Mitsui, is helpful regarding sales channels and marketing campaigns. Now the company is said to sell salmon regularly to more than 10 Chinese cities every week, and it has outrun other Chilean frozen salmon brands within four consecutive years as the largest supplier to China. Seven percent of its frozen salmon products are sold to the Chinese market, and the proportion is expected to increase to about 15% to 20% in the coming 15 to 20 years. Now 40% of frozen salmon imports come from Chile, but it is facing more and more challenges in the huge and lucrative Chinese market. According to Multiexport’s sales manager for Asian market, China is undergoing an important transition period from traditional sales channels to new retailers. And more new competitors have flooded into the market. Some foreign suppliers have reached agreements with e-commerce giants and new retailers in China so as to promote salmon products with better quality to more cities in China. Feeling optimistic about their market prospects, China’s importers and distributors have even started to build processing plants of their own. Bakkafrost is another overseas supplier. On June 5, it signed a memorandum of understanding with Hema Fresh, a subsidiary of Alibaba and the ASC (Aquaculture Stewardship Council). According to their agreement, Bakkafrost’s frozen salmon certified by the ASC are sold to consumers all over China through Hema’s online and off-line channels. Hema is the first one in China to promise that its store-brand seafood are all certified by the ASC. Its salmon products are the tasty middle part, 35% meat of the whole salmon. Each has been accompanied with specially designated sauce, which makes it more convenient for consumers. They are hen delivered to online buyers in customized thermal insulation boxes to ensure freshness. This is a win-win decision, and Bakkafrost’s salmon are available to Chinese foodies in Hema’s 150-odd stores. At present, 70% of the salmon in China are sold through restaurants, but things are changing with the development of e-commerce platforms and new retailers. Salmon sales through these new channels are expected to balloon in the coming three to five years, so foreign suppliers better catch up with the trend. Otherwise, they may be replaced. https://www.seafoodnews.com/Story/1144846/Salmon-Suppliers-Work-Hard-to-Expand-in-Lucrative-Chinese-Market FYI’s North Pacific Fishery Management Council June Newsletter Saving Seafood by North Pacific Fishery Management Council - June 17, 2019 The following was released by the North Pacific Fishery Management Council: The Council met in Sitka AK, from June 3-10. Our digital newsletter is published! For those interested, all the articles on one page to print is available here, and the three meeting outlook here. As always, you can access all other meeting information through the Agenda. https://www.savingseafood.org/news/council-actions/north-pacific-fishery-management-council-june-newsletter/ Prayers and remembrance at annual blessing of the fleet Members of the Dillingham community gathered to share song, prayer and memories ahead of the 2019 season. KDLG by Alex Hager - June 17, 2019 On a gray Sunday morning, the Dillingham harbor was filled with song and prayer during the annual blessing of the fleet. Nine Bristol Bay religious and community leaders lent their words to the ceremony, praying for protection and productivity this summer. https://www.kdlg.org/post/prayers-and-remembrance-annual-blessing-fleet#stream/0 Trident Seafoods Partners with Food Network Star Nancy Fuller Urner Barry by Amanda Buckle - June 14, 2019 Food Network star Nancy Fuller is the new brand ambassador for Trident's Louis Kemp brand Crab Delights. Trident Seafoods announced the partnership with the star of "Farmhouse Rules" on Thursday, revealing that the move is part of their effort to connect "healthy and easy-to-prepare seafood with current food and lifestyle trends." And Fuller is wasting no time in making that connection. Those that visit the Louis Kemp website can find Fuller's 5-minute "Easy Breezy Crab Dip" recipe, or her "Red, White & BBQ Pizza" recipe, which takes only 30-minutes between prep and cook time. "It is with sheer pleasure that I announce my partnership with Louis Kemp Crab Delights," Fuller said in a press release. "Louis Kemp Crab Delights is a product designed with nutrition as well as versatility in mind, and appeals to many people, in many great tasting recipes- some of which I have been making for years. I'm proud to be a spokesperson for this great brand made with Wild Alaska Pollock, which is the most sustainable fish on the planet. Fuller's role as brand ambassador for Louis Kemp Crab Delights kicks off this summer and will continue through 2019. As part of the partnership, Fuller will appear in advertising and promotional campaigns. "Nancy is our kind of person," said Mike Campanile, Trident's senior marketing manager for consumer brands. "She is genuine, authentic, and embodies the spirit of our Louis Kemp Brand. We are elated to welcome Nancy to the Trident family, and look forward to her helping bring recipe innovation and creativity, as well as new consumers – to the surimi seafood category." You can find more from Nancy Fuller on the Louis Kemp website, or on their social channels. https://www.seafoodnews.com/Story/1144494/Trident-Seafoods-Partners-with-Food-Network-Star-Nancy-Fuller Opinion The Winding Glass: We Need a New Magnuson Act to Deal with Climate Change Impacts on Fisheries SeafoodNews.com by John Sackton - June 14, 2019 [The Winding Glass is an opinion and commentary column from SeafoodNews Founder and Publisher John Sackton.] 50 years ago fisheries were in crisis. The prevailing international law allowed no national control of ocean activities beyond 12 miles. In New England, this meant giant Soviet factory trawlers practicing pulse fishing came in to devastate the abundant haddock stock, leaving US fishermen crumbs after they left. Similar fishing situations were occurring around other coastal nations. Chile and Peru were the first countries to declare a 200-mile exclusive economic zone. Other countries such as the US and Iceland followed and by 1982, the UN recognized the right of countries to establish a 200-mile exclusive economic zone. The implementing legislation in the US was the Magnuson-Stevens Act. Passed in 1976, the act not only restricted foreign fishing but much to the surprise of East Coast fishermen, it also implemented a system of fisheries management to set quotas and control overfishing. The key features of Magnuson were to establish regional councils so as to promote local control over fisheries, to require management decisions be based on the best available science, and to involve all stakeholders in the council and decision-making process. The results have been a fisheries management system that has preserved healthy stocks, as in Alaska, rebuilt overfished stocks (on the West Coast), and became the model for global sustainable fisheries management. It is fair to say that the prosperity we see in the US seafood industry today would not exist without Magnuson. But we are facing a new crisis every bit as profound as the lack of EEZ’s in the 1970s. That is the crisis of global warming and ocean acidification, caused by the use of fossil fuels that have built up CO2 in the atmosphere to dangerous levels. CO2 induced warming is leading to movement of fish to different areas, increased acidification that is interfering with the use of calcium for shells, including for zooplankton, changes in ocean currents, loss of sea ice, and sea level rise that is reducing the area of coastal marshes. Taken together, these changes challenge the very basis of our fisheries management system, which depends on predicting the changes in stocks in a stable environment. Several recent reports have provided eye-opening data. One is an excellent report produced by the Canadian DFO on the state of the North Atlantic Ocean. Finally, the DFO is spending money on transparent science and providing a real public service by documenting in one place all aspects of the North Atlantic ecosystem. The most significant factors in the report are the change in the quality of zooplankton due to mistiming of plankton blooms. This impacts the entire marine food chain. A second is the movement of fish to new habitats, exemplified by the lobster fishery which is currently booming off of Nova Scotia, but which is likely to crash as waters exceed a certain summer temperature. We published a summary of this report this week. Another recent report, issued in May, was the UN report on the loss of biodiversity. This report from the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), was approved and adopted by the UN, and says that around 1 million animal and plant species are now threatened with extinction, many within decades, more than ever before in human history. Sir Robert Watson, chair of the panel, said “The overwhelming evidence of the IPBES Global Assessment, from a wide range of different fields of knowledge, presents an ominous picture. The health of ecosystems on which we and all other species depend is deteriorating more rapidly than ever. We are eroding the very foundations of our economies, livelihoods, food security, health and quality of life worldwide.” The seafood industry is complex because it is so varied, and regional differences abound. This is partly why those of us in the industry love it so much. There is just nothing comparable to the interplay of natural productivity, human knowledge and skill, and highly diverse conditions and ecosystems. Seafood distributors routinely carry over 100 items, even though most sales are from a smaller cluster of major species. The commercial experience of the oyster farmer, a lobster fisherman in Nova Scotia, a salmon grower, a pollock captain in the Bering Sea, or a Dungeness fisherman out of Newport, Oregon are totally different, with each adapted to their particular resource and environment. This complexity and localization make it very hard for people in particular fisheries to see the big picture. Local communities can get dependent on a fishery that appears to be stable, and then have that stability pulled out from under them in an instant. The common denominator for a new "Magnuson Act" should be the economic vitality and resilience of coastal communities. This may not always come from fishing. Wind power, tourism, marine protected areas, as well as fishing all can serve as an economic foundation as communities adapt to climate change and sea level rise. Today proponents of most of these are in their own silos, in a war of all against all. So fishermen oppose wind power developments, even though reducing fossil fuel emissions is the only possible path to prevent catastrophic increases in ocean temperatures. The temperature rise upends the productivity of most of the species on which they fish. Fishermen also, by and large, oppose a massive increase in marine protected areas. Yet a rethinking of habitat protection may be the only approach that would avoid a catastrophic loss of biodiversity. We thrive on complex ocean ecosystems that offer changing opportunities. If the price of maintaining that complexity means changing the way some ocean areas used for fishing, that is a price well worth paying. Tourism is a bit more compatible with traditional fisheries. In Astoria, Oregon, the Bornstein’s built their seafood processing plant in a way they could accommodate cruise ship visitors. In our story about Nova Scotia lobstering, Lucien LeBlanc says he outfitted his new 50-foot lobster boat, the John Harold, to double as a tourist vessel and rely less on the fishery. “Financially, I treat [every year] like it's my last year,” he says. New Bedford, which on the one hand is the center of scallopers opposition to offshore wind power in New England, is, on the other hand, experiencing a dock and marine construction boom as the hub of offshore wind power. The point is that these activities: fishing, power generation, tourism, and protecting biodiversity do not need to be in conflict with each other but could all contribute to the economic vitality needed to keep coastal communities intact. This is where a new "Magnuson" type vision is needed. We need a way to put forward an overarching vision of how to protect coastal communities in an era of climate crisis, not by watching individual ocean industries get destroyed but by developing a framework where they can all thrive together. This not a Pollyanna puff piece about everyone working together. The fact is that all these industries need support. The fishing industry has benefitted massively from having the Magnuson Act as the foundation on which to build. A new framework that focused on making coastal communities economically resilient around all ocean uses is not a zero-sum game. By broadening our idea of what is necessary to keep fishing healthy for another 50 years, and by focusing on what will keep fishing communities healthy, we may find we get more support and better results if we look at the total picture of what we are facing, rather than just fighting over which 10 sq. mile grid to assign to wind, fishing, or protected areas. https://www.seafoodnews.com/Story/1144595/The-Winding-Glass-We-need-a-new-Magnuson-Act-to-Deal-with-Climate-Change-Impacts-on-Fisheries
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