The recent expansion of the U.S. ban on Russian seafood has deepened a divide that has split the U.S. industry into opposing camps: those who support the prohibition and those who oppose it.
The tensions, which have spilled over via proxies onto the floor of the U.S. Senate and divided the U.S. industry's largest trade group – the National Fisheries Institute (NFI) – are the byproduct of an important and rigorous debate, according to Arctic Fisheries President Michael Kotok, but one that is in danger of crossing over into physical confrontation.
In an interview with SeafoodSource at the 2024 Global Seafood Market Conference, hosted by NFI from 23 to 25 January in Orlando, Florida, U.S.A., Kotok claimed he has received multiple physical threats since proclaiming his opposition to the U.S. ban.
“I've been threatened. I've had two physical threats,” he said.
Kotok said one threat had come from ...
Photo by Cliff White/SeafoodSource
