Christine Blank

While the snow crab market is backed up due to an excess of Canadian product and a higher quota for Alaska opilio this season, supermarket chains are working to move red king crab that they bought at higher prices early in the season.

At the start of Alaska’s red king crab season in October, wholesale prices were pushed to record highs when Japanese buyers snatched up large portions of the anticipated yield. However, those higher prices

North Pacific Seafoods’ recent purchase of Yardam Knot’s Red Salmon processing plant will allow the Japanese-owned company to expand its product base from primarily frozen fillets and shellfish to canned product.

Seattle-based North Pacific, which is a subsidiary of Marubeni Corp. of Japan, purchased the Red Salmon facility — one of Alaska’s largest sockeye salmon producers — for approximately USD 47 million in late December. The

Seafood retailers are faced with one daunting challenge after another, but there is a bright spot. One of seafood’s positive growth areas is frozen seafood, a category that continues to spark product innovation and one that retailers continue to grow with additional space and merchandising techniques.

Consumer demand for frozen seafood products has risen because people are eating out less often and they are continuing to seek convenient and

U.S. seafood restaurants are pushing gift cards again this holiday season, boosting dining at their eateries both during the season and for months to come.

Legal Sea Foods is offering consumers who purchase USD 200 or more in gift cards from the chain this holiday season a complimentary lobster dinner.

Bonefish Grill is also taking a unique approach this year, offering guests who buy USD 100 worth of gift cards, a free USD 20 bonus card and entry

The Park Grill Steakhouse and Peddler, which is also a steakhouse, are longstanding restaurants in Gatlinburg, Tenn. Contributing Editor Christine Blank recently dined at The Park Grill, sampling seafood fare that included local farmed trout, the Shrimp and Crab Bisque, and the Smoked Trout Appetizer Cheese Spread. Blank talked to Dale Bright, director of operations for The Park Grill and Peddler, about the restaurants’ seafood purchasing and

Florida spiny lobster prices are strong this season, thanks to increased demand from China and somewhat lower production.

The spiny lobster season runs from August through March and is one of Florida’s top commercial seafood products in dockside value. 

“The export market to China on live has been doing very well,” one producer told SeafoodSource.

“I understand that the price is up because China and other countries are buying it and

The live seafood market is exploding in stores across the United States as an influx of Asian customers has changed the landscape of traditional seafood retailing. While many Americans are still leery of buying live fish and shellfish from tanks, more consumers want to pick out the still-wriggling seafood themselves.

“It has grown by leaps and bounds with the changing demographics in the country. A lot of Asians are coming in, particularly

A recent survey shows that some consumers are still concerned about eating farmed fish. At the same time, they are willing to pay a little more for sustainable food and seafood when they eat out.

In a recent Mintel survey of more than 1,900 U.S. restaurant patrons, only 25 percent of consumers believe that farmed fish is the same quality as wild fish. In addition, only 33 percent agree with the statement: “farmed fish is as safe as wild