Monday marked the debut of the redesigned SeafoodSource.com, and I hope that you find the Web site informative and easy to navigate. We will continue to improve the site as the weeks progress. As part of our goal to keep you abreast of the latest news affecting the global seafood industry, each Friday we'll post a "week in review" containing a summary of the week's most popular stories, so you know what your colleagues around the world are reading. Here are the stories that piqued reader interest this week:
1) The "white roughy" debate: The National Fisheries Institute on Wednesday backed the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's determination that "white roughy" is an unacceptable market name for basa and other fish in the Pangasiidae family. NFI added that white roughy is not part of the local vernacular but rather a concerted attempt to pass off less expensive fish as roughies and other fish in the Trachichthyidae family. The FDA is seemingly stepping up its efforts to crack down on seafood mislabeling and other forms of economic fraud.
2) Farmed fish is the future: Aquaculture now represents 47 percent of the seafood consumed by humans, according to a United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization report released on Monday; 51.7 million metric tons of farmed seafood was produced in 2006. The FAO used its annual State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture report to emphasize the need to better understand climate change and its impact on global seafood production.
3) And the winner is: Well, we won't find out until March 15 when the winners of the International Boston Seafood Show 2009 New Products Competition are unveiled at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center. On Monday, Diversified Business Communications, publisher of SeafoodSource.com, announced the competition's 10 finalists. The entries encompass a variety of value-added seafood products, including smoked salmon, oysters, mussels and lobster.
4) SOTA settles: Salmon of the Americas said Tuesday that it reached a five-figured settlement over a wrongful termination lawsuit brought by former executive director Alex Trent. Trent filed the suit in U.S. District Court in Miami last year, but SOTA claimed there was no merit to the accusations.
5) New player in the shrimp trade: Surimi stalwart Trans-Ocean Products announced on Monday that it's jumping into the shrimp business, adding a shrimp product line to its existing line-up of surimi seafood and smoked salmon products. The Bellingham, Wash., company will receive support from its parent company, Japan's Maruha Nichiro, one of the world's largest seafood companies with USD 500 million (EUR 396 million) in annual shrimp sales.
