Here’s a recap of this week’s must-read SeafoodSource news stories, commentaries and market reports:
• The Chilean fisheries directorate released a report confirming two new infectious salmon anemia outbreaks at farms operated by Marine Harvest and Fjord Seafood. The news comes on the heels of a report that Marine Harvest is looking to invest USD 65 million to open four new salmon farms in Scotland to meet growing European demand.
• Citing a difficult harvest and poor market conditions, Ocean Choice International announced it closed its Port Union shrimp plant. The closure will affect the employees in the primary processing line, but the company will keep the repacking line in operation for another month, employing 10 to 15 workers per shift. Shrimp still being landed in the area will be shipped to the Newfoundland-based supplier’s processing facility in Port aux Choix.
• Norway and Russia released their quotas for the Barents Sea fisheries, including cod, haddock and capelin. After a report in late September that said the Barents Sea cod population is on the verge of a “golden age,” the 2010 quota was set at 607,000 metric tons, up from 546,000 metric tons this year. The haddock quota also was increased to 243,000 metric tons for next year, while the capelin quota was cut to 360,000 metric tons.
• Findings published in online journal Marine Biology from researchers at Bangor University and the Universities of York and Liverpool show ocean warming has boosted UK scallop stocks. The study, which analyzed 20 years of data, showed an annual increase in the number of young scallops as well as larger gonads in adults indicating higher egg production in warmer years.
• Sources of Atlantic softshell clams are few but healthy after red tide closures hamstrung Maine for much of peak shellfish demand this year. Mid-Atlantic populations are virtually gone, leaving Maine to meet most of the demand for live, in-shell clams, with shuckers out of Canada filling in the gaps. However, Canadian shellfish harvesters were up in arms last month over what they perceived to be a lack of communication with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans and Environment Canada, which abruptly closed clam beds due to concerns of sewage runoff after heavy rainfall. Shellfish harvesting was banned in all of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island and parts of New Brunswick for more than a week, keeping buyers on their toes.
