Joanne Friedrick’s connection to SeafoodSource.com dates back more than 15 years to its Seafood Business roots. She has written on various seafood topics over the years, penning numerous Top Species Reports for Seafood Business as well as other features and columns. She currently writes the Seafood Business Insider column for SeafoodSource.com. Joanne has more than 35 years of daily newspaper and business-to-business writing and editing experience. In addition to writing about seafood, she has an extensive background covering the supermarket and specialty food retailing, housewares, convenience store and physical security industries. A Wisconsin native and former Chicagoan and die-hard Cubs fan, Joanne now calls Maine home.
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It has been a tight market for halibut this season. With resources dwindling because of quota cuts, and demand for this versatile fish remaining strong, prices have remained high through the first six months of the Alaska season that runs from 8 March to 7 November.
The price for whole frozen dressed halibut as of Sept. 23 was around USD 8 to 9 (EUR 6.25 to 7.04) a pound, f.o.b. Seattle, depending on the size. And fresh was slightly higher,
… Read MoreIt’s pollock and politics as importers and exporters of the whitefish try to figure out just what impact there could be on the market based on sanctions related to the tension between the United States and Russia over activities in Ukraine.
On the Russian side, President Vladimir Putin has issued an import ban that would keep American pollock out of Russia in response to ongoing U.S. sanctions. In the United States, Rep. George Hochbrueckner
… Read MoreThe slow start to the 2014 lobster season as witnessed in spring has continued into the heart of the U.S. vacation season when tourists on the East Coast are eager for lobster rolls and shore dinners.
“The shed has been slow coming on,” commented one Maine lobster industry observer, who notes that Maine boat operators were prepared for the season “to begin in earnest” headed into the last couple weeks of July. “The guys have basically
… Read MoreIt is a case of lessons learned and contingency plans put into place for the farmed shrimp industry as it continues to deal with the aftermath of a global shortage brought on by early mortality syndrome (EMS).
In the wake of EMS, farmed shrimp supplies dropped and prices rose. In March, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that shrimp prices had jumped by 61 percent over the previous year.
The outbreak of EMS in Southeast Asia impacted
… Read MoreWith a South American season that started late and ended early, those dealing in mahimahi were up against the age-old problem of supply not keeping up with demand as the season wound down in March.
As a result, most suppliers had to reallocate what they did get to satisfy their customer base.
Mike Walsh, VP at Orca Bay Seafoods in Renton, Wash., says a price dispute between the fishermen and processors resulted in the late start to the
… Read MoreWhile salmon continues to achieve a high level of popularity among all seafood offerings, many in the farmed salmon community are looking to delineate themselves within the overall salmon category by focusing on name recognition. Companies are hoping to make their products more visible and desirable among retail and foodservice customers through branding. Marine Harvest, the world’s largest farmed salmon producer, acquired smoked salmon
… Read MoreUsing words like “stabilize” and “resurrect,” U.S. catfish producers are optimistic about their industry after facing several years of challenges from high feed prices, reduced acreage and competition from imports. They are also awaiting the impact of the recent decision to change oversight for catfish inspection.
The outcome of the 2014 Farm Bill included a provision to move catfish inspection from the Food and Drug Administration
… Read MoreJust as January’s Polar Vortex gave Americans a new perspective on what it means to be cold, the continuing shortened supply of, and steady demand for, sea scallops has made prices from a year or two ago seem like a bargain.
“Prices are through the roof,” said Mike DiNino, the scallop buyer for Fortune Fish & Gourmet in Bensenville, Ill. Over the 12 years that DiNino has been dealing in scallops, he said current prices are the highest
… Read MoreWith supply exceeding demand in the short term, yellowfin tuna importers are looking for creative ways to start reducing inventories. A shortage of product in 2012 that resulted in a flurry of orders to build tuna inventories has left some importers with excess at a time when demand has waned.
Yellowfin processors in Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines ramped up efforts at a time when contracts with higher prices were in the
… Read MoreAs different as the lifestyles may be on the U.S. West and East Coasts, so too are the wild shrimp seasons — at least for the past couple of years. While harvests for pink salad shrimp are increasing in Oregon, Maine shrimpers may not even have a harvest this year.
Coldwater shrimp (Pandalus jordani) harvested off the Oregon Coast are having a great year, says Brad Pettinger, director of the Oregon Trawl Commission in Brookings, Ore. The 46
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