January’s most-read: Alaska salmon shocker

Curious what your fellow SeafoodSource readers are viewing? Here’s a rundown of the website’s five most-read stories and commentaries of January 2012.

5) In his 16 January commentary “Will Vietnam realize its potential?” SeafoodSource Contributing Editor Mike Urch laid out three things that Vietnam must address if its seafood exports are to continue to grow. One is to get the pangasius industry to work together on an organized footing. What are the other two?

4) In her monthly Media Watch commentary titled “Hook, line and opportunity,” SeafoodSource Assistant Editor April Forristall took a look at a new reality TV show providing a woman’s perspective on commercial salmon fishing, posing the question, “Will the program encourage more women to enter a male-dominated profession?” Julianne Curry of the Petersburg Vessel Owners Association and Linda Behnken of the Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association shared their thoughts with Forristall.

3) In 1991, fresh Norwegian salmon was essentially shut out of the U.S. market when the U.S. government slapped a 24 percent antidumping tariff on the product. It took 20 years and the evolution of an industry, but on 26 January the U.S. International Trade Commission finally revoked the tariff, as there wasn’t much of U.S. salmon-farming industry left to protect.

2) Last week, I had the pleasure of visiting both Incredible Fish and Quirch Foods, and I quickly learned that both Miami-based companies face the same challenge — fraud. Millions of dollars in sales may separate the two companies, but both are doing their part to fight fraud by simply saying, “We won’t tolerate it.”

1) January’s most-read story should come as no surprise. On 17 January, eight Alaska salmon processors, citing a need to redirect their resources toward a broader marketing message, dropped a bomb on the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) by announcing that they will not pursue MSC sustainability re-certification, which expires in October. The processors, including Trident Seafoods, Icicle Seafoods and Ocean Beauty Seafoods, represent nearly three-quarters of the state’s salmon haul. The announcement set of a flurry of reaction, from the MSC’s Kerry Coughlin to the World Wildlife Fund’s Bill Fox to the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute’s Ray Riutta.

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