The International Boston Seafood Show has come to a close. After two days of torrential rain and vicious wind, it’s finally pleasant outside. Inside the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center, the SeafoodSource and SeaFood Business editorial teams were busy up to the last minute of the three-day event, scouring the show floor and conference rooms for news. Here’s what I came across as I walked the aisles on Tuesday:
• Favorable market conditions are opening up the U.S. market to Faeroe Islands salmon farmers, and they’re seizing the opportunity. Salmon prices are up, shipping costs are down and U.S. sushi chefs are on the prowl for high-quality, sustainably raised salmon. The result: U.S. imports of Faeroe Islands salmon were up an impressive 315 percent last year, said Arni Olsen, spokesman for the Faeroe Islands Salmon Producers’ Association, which exhibited in Boston for the first time this year. In fact, the association is only two weeks old, representing three companies at the show — Bakkafrost, Salmex Faroe SP/F and Luna. Norway-owned Marine Harvest, which exhibited in Boston, also farms salmon in the Faeroes. The production shortfall in Chile also prompted the Faeroes to target the U.S. market, but only marginally. Higher farmed salmon prices and U.S. sushi chefs’ desire for farmed salmon with a high fat content had a much bigger impact, said Olsen. Faeroes salmon production is expected to total about 50,000 metric tons this year.
• Is barramundi the next big thing? Quite possibly. Don’t be surprised if more suppliers add barramundi to their product mix, said Christa Ingalls, director of the global seafood program for Phillips Foods. The Baltimore-based company last November shipped its first batch of barramundi raised in Bali. So far, production is limited — there are three cages in the water now, yielding about 4.5 metric tons every 90 days, and two more cages are on the way. “Customers love it,” said Ingalls, adding that Phillips is expanding its product base beyond blue swimming crab over the next few years and is also looking at farming cobia and hamachi in Bali.
• Speaking of barramundi, Australis showcased two new barramundi products at the show — Lemon Herb Butter Barramundi and Crispy Asian Sesame Panko Barramundi. Both are available in frozen bags and bulk for retail and foodservice. The Turners Falls, Mass., company also introduced larger fillets (12- to 24-ounce and 24- to 48-ounce) and center-cut portions (6-ounce and 8-ounce). In addition to its indoor facility in Massachusetts, Australis raises barramundi in Vietnam and Indonesia.
• After a weak fall chum salmon run and a really weak chinook salmon run (the chinook fishery didn’t even open last year), Yukon River fishermen are pulling for stronger chum and chinook runs this year. Kwik’Pak Fisheries had several Yukon salmon products on display at the show, and on Friday, the Emmonak, Alaska, company hosted a function in conjunction with Oldways at Harvard University to promote Yukon salmon’s high fat content and hearth-healthy attributes. Last May, Oldways and Kwik’Pak formed a partnership whereby Oldways — a Boston-based nonprofit that supports healthful, sustainable, traditional diets — will promote Yukon salmon.
• Trace Register announced that its client base, which includes Kwik’Pak Fisheries, grew 350 percent in the past year, as more organizations recognize the importance of traceability. Will buyers expect full traceability of seafood within the next five to 10 years? “It’ll happen sooner than that,” said Phil Werdal, the Seattle company’s president.
• This winter, the National Aquaculture Association (NAA) created a question-and-answer pamphlet to help retailers and foodservice operators field consumer inquiries about aquaculture and clear up any misperceptions that may exist. The questions include: What is aquaculture? Why is aquaculture important to the future of our oceans? What about color-added salmon? And is U.S. aquaculture environmentally friendly? Linda O’Dierno, outreach specialist for the National Aquaculture Association, handed out a lot of pamphlets to retailers and foodservice operators at the show. Soon the NAA will distribute them to health professionals and dieticians, she added. There’s no question that Americans receive mixed messages about farmed fish, which may be preventing them from eating more seafood — farmed or wild.
• Similarly, the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute displayed its new booklet, “Alaska Seafood: Sustainability in Plain English.” The booklet, featuring the artwork of Alaskan artist Rie Munoz, is designed to help consumers grasp the concept of seafood sustainability in an easy-to-navigate format by providing definitions to terms such as sustainable seafood, catch limits and traceability. Lunds & Byerly’s, an upper Midwest supermarket chain, is making the booklet available to its customers, said ASMI’s Karl Uri.
