The 10 most read stories of 2013

From American foodservice giant Sysco buying longtime rival US Foods in a USD 3.5 billion deal to the roller coaster decisions on shrimp countervailing duty rates, SeafoodSource covered it all this year. Here’s a rundown of the 10 most-read news stories of 2013.

10. McDonald’s U.S. locations to serve MSC-certified fish
In January, McDonald’s USA became the first national restaurant chain to adopt the Marine Stewardship Council blue eco-label on its fish packaging nationwide.
Beginning in February, McDonald’s, which uses MSC certified wild Alaska Pollock for its Filet-O-Fish sandwich, displays the MSC eco-label on product packaging, in-restaurant communications and external marketing.

9. EJF: Thai fisheries human trafficking ‘widespread’
According to the Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF), human trafficking continues to not only be widespread, but also well known within Thailand’s fishing industry.
In May, the group released a report of its investigation into the situation focusing on the plight of 14 Myanmar men trafficked on fishing boats.
According to the report, within Thailand, lackadaisical enforcement contributes to the problem. In the case of the 14 rescued fishermen, for example, the six interviewed by EJF reported that the broker responsible for their trafficking had also forced them to work on a rubber plantation belonging to a senior Thai police officer while they were in port.
EJF has been lobbying for a downgrade of Thailand’s ranking on the U.S. state department’s annual Trafficking in Persons report.

8. Wild American sea cucumber latest craze in China
SeafoodSource Contirbuting Editor Mark Godfrey reported in April that due to the taste compared to the farmed Chinese version, American sea cucumbers have become a sought-after commodity in China.
Leading analysts predicted a huge market still to develop for China’s sea cucumber producers. As the product becomes a “consumer good” there will be a market to build sales channels and demand for sea cucumber as an input in other good products.
Likewise, if self-sufficiency in sea cucumbers is raised from 50 percent to 90 percent China’s sea cucumber firms stand to gain massively in terms of profits.

7. US sets preliminary CVD shrimp rates
The U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) announced its preliminary determinations on frozen warmwater shrimp duties from China, Ecuador, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam. While Ecuador and Indonesia escaped without any collectable duties (most producers were assigned rates less than 1 percent), the DOC found that many producers and exporters received countervailable subsidies. In China, Zhanjiang Guolian Aquatic Products Co. and its affiliates received a rate of 5.76 percent; all other producers and exporters in China were also assigned a preliminary subsidy rate of 5.76 percent.
All the countries spoke out against the countervailing duties, but the uproar turned out to be unwarranted.
Less than four months later, the U.S. International Trade Commission voted 4-2 that the trade subsidies did not harm the domestic shrimp industry enough to warrant countervailing action.
The vote, according to the ITC, showed it had made “negative determinations in its final phase countervailing duty investigations” and setting duties on imported shrimp.

6. Pangasius is the moneymaker that nobody loves
The European seafood industry is only interested in how little they can pay for pangasius; they don’t like it and they don’t eat it, according to a commentary written by SeafoodSource contributing editor Mike Urch. In order to achieve ultra low prices they are asking for the fillets to be tumbled in polyphosphate solution and then glazed by up to 30 percent. Unfortunately competitive Vietnamese pangasius processors/exporters agree to demands for low prices and force the farmers to acquiesce. Processors take advantage of the farmers situations and offer prices so low that farmers desperate to harvest their fish accept.
Urch said due to this combined with rising costs for farmers, soon the only pangasius farms in Vietnam will be those owned by processing plants.

5. US professor builds new shrimp-farming system
In September, David Brune, University of Missouri professor, announced he invented a shrimp-farming system that not only grows shrimp quickly, but also produces zero waste.
Brune, who has researched aquaculture for around 30 years, developed a Partitioned Aquaculture System (PAS) which partitions the fish culture from the water retreatment system. Using paddle wheels at the university pond holding one-twentieth an acre of water, a high rate of algae is produced.
It costs Brune around USD 3 (EUR 2.17) per pound to produce the shrimp, so buyers would need to pay between USD 4 (EUR 2.90) and USD 5 (EUR 3.76) a pound for the system to be profitable.
Brune said consumers will have to be willing to pay a premium for a product that is produced locally and sustainably and he estimates only 10 percent of consumers will do that, still representing a big market.

4. Sysco buys rival US Foods for $3.5b
In early December, American foodservice giant Sysco Corp. bought longtime rival, US Foods, in a deal worth USD 3.5 billion (EUR 2.6 billion).
The merged firm, head by Sysco President and CEO Bill Delaney, will be worth about USD 8.2 billion (EUR 6 billion), retain the Sysco brand and operate from the company’s headquarters in Houston.
Sysco said it will combine the staff, customers and suppliers of both companies.

3. A surprise in the top suppliers list
When SeaFood Business published its annual list of the top North American seafood suppliers in May, an unfamiliar name made the cut.
Yihe Corp. of Pasadena Calif., flew under the radar for about 16 years packing seafood including vast amounts of Marine Stewardship Council-certified Alaska salmon harvested by sister company Silver Bay Seafoods and processed at Yihe’s facilities in Qingdao-Yantai and Behai, China.
The decision that put them on the map was made five years ago, when the company began selling direct to retailers, cutting a link or two in the supply chain.
However, the company’s fairy tale rise to annual sales of USD 500 million (EUR 39 million), hit a snag when, in the fall the company was placed in receivership with one of its creditors. California Central District Federal Court appointed consultant James Wong the company’s interim CFO to resolve a dispute between Yihe and creditor Resource One.
Dennis Morgan, the company’s EVP of U.S. operations, left the company, details of why were not disclosed. The receivership only applies to Yihe’s U.S. operations, and does not involve any subsidiaries overseas.

2. Halibut prices drop slightly
The start of this year’s Alaska halibut season brought soaring prices for the first week and remained strong due to supply challenges. Many supermarket chains started out the season with USD 20 (EUR 15.25) a pound halibut fillets and prices dropped only slightly in the weeks after.
By the second week of April, average wholesale prices reported by distributors reported USD 16.50 (EUR 12.58) to USD 16.90 (EUR 12.89) a pound for fillets and between USD 6.25 (EUR 4.77) and USD 7.50 (EUR 5.72) a pound FOB for 10 to 20 ounces whole and USD 7.25 (EUR 5.53) to USD 8.75 (EUR 6.67) a pound FOB for 40 pounds or more whole.
As a result of initial high pricing, some restaurants held back from featuring halibut at the start of the season.

1. What’s causing the pangasius sales crash?
In August, SS contributing editor Mike Urch discussed the dramatic decline in sales of pangasius to European countries. Imports to the EU were down by a massive 27 percent in volume and 22 percent in value compared with the year before, according to a report from the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization.
Urch argued the crash — seen in Germany, Belgium, Spain, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania and Italy, was caused by adverse publicity. The World Wildlife Fund put pangasius on its red list of species to avoid and then promoted a television program lambasting the methods for farming and processing it. The reputation isn’t deserved though. Problems have been found with the presence of banned substances, but not one person has been reported as being harmed in any way by eating pangasius.