Here’s a quick look back at this week’s SeafoodSource news coverage:
• Traceability is an opportunity, not a trade barrier, said Geir Myrold, head of the Nordic region for Norwegian technology firm TraceTracker, who talked to SeafoodSource about the challenges of tracing seafood products from harvest to the consumer. Having a transparent chain of custody, he adds, can offer you a competitive advantage, especially with technologically savvy consumers.
• Can frozen seafood be “fresher” than fresh? According to Mark Tupper of Triad Fisheries, it certainly can be. The Bothell, Wash., company’s Bruce Gore Wild Alaskan Salmon, which is cryogenically frozen at sea to minus-40 degrees F pre-rigor mortis, is a meticulously cared-for product that Tupper says makes new buyers do the “happy dance.” Part two of the interview can be viewed here.
• What is marine spatial planning? Other than a fancy word for ocean zoning, it means an ecosystem-based approach to managing marine activities, including fishing and shipping. This week, the United States government embraced marine spatial planning as a “comprehensive, integrated approach” that U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said will “help our nation plan wisely for the future of our oceans and coastlines.”
• Who better to ask about the impact of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill on New Orleans restaurants than Ralph Brennan, owner and operator of three of 13 Brennan Family seafood restaurants in Louisiana? Brennan told SeafoodSource that the Gulf seafood industry took up the fight to defend the safety and quality of its products much faster than it did in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
• The battle between U.S. catfish producers and imported catfish-like species hit yet another fever pitch this week. Catfish Farmers of America on Thursday enlisted help from Food & Water Watch and U.S. Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.), among others, to tout a new report they say should alarm consumers about the safety of imported catfish from China and pangasius from Vietnam. National Fisheries Institute spokesman Gavin Gibbons criticized the “xenophobic attacks” and a strategy he said is about regulating competition out of the market more than it is about food safety.
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