Joanne Friedrick

Contributing Editor

Joanne Friedrick’s connection to SeafoodSource.com dates back more than 15 years to its Seafood Business roots. She has written on various seafood topics over the years, penning numerous Top Species Reports for Seafood Business as well as other features and columns. She currently writes the Seafood Business Insider column for SeafoodSource.com. Joanne has more than 35 years of daily newspaper and business-to-business writing and editing experience. In addition to writing about seafood, she has an extensive background covering the supermarket and specialty food retailing, housewares, convenience store and physical security industries. A Wisconsin native and former Chicagoan and die-hard Cubs fan, Joanne now calls Maine home.


Author Archive

Published on
August 10, 2015

While U.S. distributors are holding a fair amount of tilapia in inventory, raw materials are becoming scarce, which is expected to boost the price on this popular whitefish.

“The market is a bit saturated,” said one southern distributor of both fresh and frozen tilapia. “There’s a decent amount in the (United) States.”

“We had an abundance of fish this year,” said an East Coast importer, noting storage

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Published on
July 6, 2015

Even in the heat of summer the effects of the recent long, cold winter are still evident, especially within the lobster industry.

A late start to the season in both Canada and Maine has kept prices high as demand increases with the summer tourist season in the Northeast and from international markets.

“There’s definitely strong demand,” said a New Brunswick lobster processor and producer of value-added lobster products. “But once the

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Published on
June 1, 2015

“Fickle” is how a Canadian seafood broker characterized the reaction to the early days of the Atlantic snow crab market, noting that there has been a general resistance among U.S. buyers to commit to early season prices.

And “frenetic” was the word used by a U.S. seafood marketer, who noted that “one minute you have too much supply, but in the next minute you don’t have enough.”

The Newfoundland snow crab season opened in early

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Published on
April 23, 2015

There are opportunities to be had in the farmed salmon market these days, as supplies from Canada, Chile and Europe remain plentiful.

“The market is depressed on the financial side and that benefits consumers and buyers,” said an East Coast distributor. “There is plenty of salmon and everyone is producing. That makes ours a pretty easy job. It’s a buyer’s market, so we just find the best fish.”

Prices have dropped over the past

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Published on
March 23, 2015

The scientific name may be different, but pollock remains a “nice, stable item” in the pantheon of whitefish.

According to an East Coast distributor, prices for IQF fillets have held steady for most of the year after a brief resetting of prices in the last four to five weeks of 2014.

All sizes of IQF fillets from China were selling in the USD 1.35 to 1.45 range (EUR 1.27 to 1.36), while Alaska pollock shatterpacks were topping out at USD

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Published on
February 16, 2015

Unlike a more market-driven commodity such as tilapia, the world of pangasius, also known as swai, is dictated largely by packers allowed to supply the U.S. market and the regulations placed on them, such as the newest anti-dumping tariffs.

In mid-January, the U.S. Department of Commerce issued the final results of its anti-dumping duty administrative review and in doing so, raised the duty to USD 0.97 (EUR 0.85) for 24 pangasius exporters in

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Published on
February 8, 2015

After an “unnerving” 2014, the tilapia market is getting back into its regular rhythm.

Prices were higher and it was affecting consumption, according to an East Coast importer and distributor. But, he said, over the past 10 months there has been a return to the mean, with prices in the lower-USD 2 (EUR 1.77) range per pound. Eight months ago, prices were in running about 25 cents a pound more.

In fact, he said, now there are offers that are

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Published on
January 9, 2015

American consumers love their shrimp, and the bigger the better.

“Shrimp sales are always high for us during the holidays,” said a Washington, DC, seafood retailer. “Our customers go for large or jumbos.” The store was selling large for USD 18.99 (EUR 16.07) a pound and jumbos for USD 21.99 (EUR 18.60), sourced either fresh from the Carolinas or previously frozen from Texas.

Catering and parties were major sales drivers for the retailer,

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Published on
December 5, 2014

The question being posed in the North American scallop market is: Who will blink first?

Even with steadily high prices — dry U10s around USD 16.70 (EUR 13.57) per pound and 10/20s just over USD 14 (EUR 11.38) — high-end customers continue to demand them.

“Prices are crazy right now,” said one Midwest U.S. distributor that caters to upscale retailers and restaurants and deals in Atlantic domestic scallops. “Anything 10/20 and up, you

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Published on
November 3, 2014

It’s been a good start to the Alaska red king crab season, according to industry observers who are buoyed by the increased total allowable catch (TAC), large sizes and some moderation on price.

The TAC for Bristol Bay red king was set at just under 10 million pounds for the 2014-2015 season that got underway 15 October, up about 16 percent over last year. Through 29 October, 56 percent, or about 5 million pounds, of the IFQ portion had been

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