Editorial commentaries on the domestic and global seafood industry.
By Steven Hedlund, SeafoodSource editor
10 October, 2008
Iceland is teetering on "national bankruptcy," Prime Minister Geir Haarde warned this week, and seafood executives worldwide are on edge. Over the past several days the Icelandic government has seized control of the nation's three largest banks, all major lenders to the global seafood industry. Will it be enough to prevent an all-out collapse of the country's overgrown banking sector?
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By James Wright, SeaFood Business senior editor
08 October, 2008
Alaska's valuable crab fisheries kick off next week, starting with king crab. But with a sluggish economy stateside and aggressive Japanese crab buyers seeking product, how much domestic crab will actually end up in the U.S. market?
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By Steven Hedlund, SeafoodSource editor
06 October, 2008
Expect Greenpeace's second sustainable seafood report card to make no more of a splash than it did in June when it debuted. Instead, let it serve as a wake-up call to seafood suppliers that aren't actively collaborating with their retailer customers to discuss sustainable purchasing programs.
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By Steven Hedlund, SeafoodSource editor
03 October, 2008
Negative characterizations are tough to shake.
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By James Wright, SeaFood Business senior editor
01 October, 2008
A consumer panel about seafood held in Las Vegas last week was a revealing event, to say the least. Eight people were asked everything under the sun about their seafood consumption, and what they had to say was absolutely priceless.
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By James Wright, SeaFood Business senior editor
29 September, 2008
With an expanding middle class, living standards are improving in Russia. But how the world's eighth-largest economy and its curious politics fit into the global trade picture is as mysterious as a Cold War spy novel.
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By Fiona Robinson, SeaFood Business editor and associate publisher
26 September, 2008
Gulf shelters and hunger-relief organizations are overwhelmed as a result of Hurricanes Gustav and Ike. Seafood non-profit SeaShare has put out a call for donations to help the region's food banks, which are in desperate need of nutritious food to feed people who have nothing left.
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By Steven Hedlund, SeafoodSource editor
24 September, 2008
This year's active Atlantic hurricane season may be a blessing in disguise. Storms can stir up shrimp and the marine nutrients on which the crustacean relies - the so-called "Bubba Gump effect." However, the Gulf shrimp industry's woes don't lie as much with the resource as they do with high fuel prices.
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By James Wright, SeaFood Business senior editor
22 September, 2008
Increasing demand is driving up the price of agricultural products, which in turn is making farmed fish more expensive. The aquaculture industry is working more with their feed manufacturers on new formulations in an effort to keep costs down.
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By Steven Hedlund, SeafoodSource editor
19 September, 2008
Retailers and restaurateurs need to step up and better educate consumers about the perceived health risks associated with eating seafood relatively high in mercury. If they don't, there are a number of entrepreneurs, state legislators and activists who will do it for them. One activist, San Francisco physician Dr. Jane Hightower, is about to release a book tying mercury poisoning to seafood consumption.
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By James Wright, SeaFood Business senior editor
17 September, 2008
By partnering with a leading farmed-seafood trade association in China, the Global Aquaculture Alliance strengthened its position as the foremost third-party certifier of imported farmed seafood. It'd be surprising if the U.S. government doesn't lean on the GAA to improve its food-safety efforts.
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By James Wright, SeaFood Business senior editor
12 September, 2008
The healthful benefits of seafood are well documented - yet another study in a respected medical journal released this month confirms as much. The muddled message of a 2004 federal advisory, however, is confusing to those who need a seafood-rich diet the most: pregnant women and their children.
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By James Wright, SeaFood Business senior editor
08 September, 2008
To enhance its sustainability profile and attain a better rating from the Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch program, one aquaculture company made a bold series of moves to reduce the quantity of fishmeal from its feed. But in doing so, it lost a major nationwide customer.
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By Steven Hedlund, SeafoodSource editor
05 September, 2008
It's easy to blame the economy for Shells Seafood Restaurants' woes. But a number of internal and external factors contributed to the seafood chain's tribulations and one that's often overlooked is the casual-dining segment's unprecedented, and unsustainable, growth.
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By James Wright, SeaFood Business senior editor
03 September, 2008
As I woke each morning of the long Labor Day weekend, I quickly turned to CNN for the latest on Hurricane Gustav, which was making a beeline for the Louisiana coastline.
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By Steven Hedlund, SeafoodSource editor
29 August, 2008
Years ago, seafood's presence on fast-food menus was limited. But in recent months a number of quick-service chains, from Jack in the Box to Del Taco and KFC, have either introduced a seafood item to the menu for the first time or added more seafood items, a clear sign that Americans' awareness of the protein is growing.
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By James Wright, SeaFood Business senior editor
27 August, 2008
Sustainable seafood is a global goal, and so is securing energy and other lucrative natural resources. As oil and precious metals beckon, the impact on fisheries may be ignored.
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By Steven Hedlund, SeafoodSource editor
25 August, 2008
Consumers worldwide are getting accustomed to rising food prices. However, prices of Pacific white shrimp, which until recently had bucked the trend of soaring food prices, have jumped about 20 percent since early spring. But increasing production costs are not entirely to blame.
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By James Wright, SeaFood Business senior editor
22 August, 2008
Two lawsuits making headlines this week show that food companies--from primary suppliers on down the line--are vulnerable to all sorts of harmful claims, true or false. The need for savvy public relations and corporate legal counsel has never been greater.
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By James Wright, SeaFood Business senior editor
18 August, 2008
In a competitive business like seafood, some companies will cut corners to gain an advantage. A common form of economic fraud, short weights, creates an uneven playing field for companies committed to selling true weights.
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By Fiona Robinson, SeaFood Business editor and associate publisher
15 August, 2008
Forget the "wild-caught" and "farm-raised" terminology. A seafood product is either farmed or wild, period.
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By James Wright, SeaFood Business senior editor
13 August, 2008
Companies looking to develop their sustainability message can either go with a pocket-sized card or work directly with a group like the New England Aquarium to develop an internal program. A trip to Boston's famed aquarium shed some light on the latest industry-related sustainability workings.
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By Fiona Robinson, SeaFood Business editor and associate publisher
11 August, 2008
While many CEOs and managers have likely gone through extensive customer-service training, employees who come face to face with customers learn these skills on the fly. While their answers or reactions aren't always the most graceful, in retrospect the stories can be comical.
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By Steven Hedlund, SeafoodSource editor
08 August, 2008
Despite efforts to shed its "Whole Paycheck" moniker, Whole Foods Market is struggling to retain its core customers during lean economic times. Its new "Real Deal" program is a step in the right direction, but the natural foods retailer still has a long way to go.
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By Fiona Robinson, SeaFood Business editor and associate publisher
06 August, 2008
On a positive note, gas prices are down, which spells good news for retailers and restaurants trying to eke out seafood sales at the end of the summer. But the entire food industry continues to struggle in a sluggish economy.
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