Here’s a glance at this week’s can’t-miss SeafoodSource news stories, commentaries and market reports:
• For the third time in four weeks, the battle brewing over whether to require post-harvesting processing on live Gulf of Mexico oysters captivated SeafoodSource readers. Late Friday afternoon, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration broke its silence and announced that it will work with the industry and state officials to lay out the next steps in its plan to mandate post-harvest processing. The industry, as well as the legislators who ran to their aid, breathed a collective sigh of relief — the measure would have effectively banned the sale of live oysters for several months a year, beginning in 2011. But the industry isn’t out of the water yet — the FDA is still moving ahead with its plan to facilitate implementation of post-harvest processing or equally effective alternatives to reduce outbreaks of Vibrio vulnificus (consumption of Vibrio-infected Gulf oysters results in about 15 deaths annually, according to the FDA).
• There were two acquisitions to report this week: More than five months after American Chartered Bank placed it into receivership, The Plitt Co. was purchased in an auction by North Elston Seafood Partners LLC, a team of four Plitt executives. The Chicago-based seafood distributor, which has 100 employees and a seven-state reach, will continue to operate under its current name. Meanwhile, Sonoma Seafoods, a Santa Rosa, Calif.-based value-added seafood, poultry and beef producer, was scooped up by Slade Gorton & Co. The acquisition expands the Boston-based company’s presence on the West Coast.
• Does a week go by without news of bluefin tuna’s plight? Rarely. This week, it was the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tuna’s vote to cut the eastern Atlantic bluefin tuna quota by nearly 40 percent in 2010 that made headlines. The European Commission applauded ICCAT’s decision, but the United States called the quota cut “insufficient” to ensure the fishery’s long-term viability. The environmental community took it a step further — the World Wildlife Fund deemed the decision “entirely unscientific and entirely unacceptable.” Additionally, SeafoodSource Contributing Editor Chris Loew took an in-depth look at how the quota cut is resonating in Japan, which consumes about 80 percent of the roughly 60,000 metric tons of bluefin tuna caught worldwide annually.
• There was another quota cut to report this week, but this one wasn’t nearly as drastic: U.S. scientists recommended setting the Bering Sea pollock quota at 813,000 metric tons in 2010, which would be down only 2,000 metric tons from this year. The advice came as little surprise to the U.S. pollock industry — this summer’s bottom trawl and mid-water acoustic surveys revealed that the pollock spawning biomass has dipped below target levels, as fewer young fish entered the population between 2001 and 2005.
• Hannaford Bros.’ new Close to Home program has been a boon for a few local seafood vendors. SeafoodSource Contributing Editor Christine Blank took a look at the supermarket chain’s program, which allows customers to search by city and state to find local vendors that supply the retailer. The program turned out to be a tremendous help to Maine’s lobster industry last fall.
