Chicken of the Sea Frozen Foods last week announced the completion of its merger with Empress International as of 1 January.
The merger will allow the new company, operating under the Chicken of the Sea banner, to expand its product offerings to include pasteurized crab meat and value-added products as well as Latin American shrimp, warmwater lobster tails, Canadian snow crab and finfish.
“While this merger obviously signifies change, we are committed to making the process of integrating our two companies seamless. Our corporate headquarters will be in El Segundo, Calif., with our New York Office continuing to serve the company with sales and operations staff,” said Chicken of the Sea Frozen Foods President and CEO Bryan Rosenberg.
Leroy acquires majority of Finnish seafood firm
Norway’s Lerøy Seafood on Tuesday announced that it acquired a 51 percent stake in Finnish seafood firm Jokisen Eväät as part of its plan to expand in the Nordic region.
In 2009, Jokisen Eväät, which distributes seafood domestically, recorded earnings of EUR 24.3 million.
NFI: Mercury claims way off base
The National Fisheries Institute is warning media outlets to disregard health claims by Hollywood websites claiming movie star Hillary Swank has suffered from mercury poisoning after eating too much fish. Swank claimed that for the film “Million Dollar Baby” she put on 19 pounds of muscle by eating so much fish it caused “elevated mercury problems.”
NFI is urging the press to take the news on gossip websites with a grain of salt, pointing out that no peer-reviewed medial journal has ever published any evidence of a case of methylmercury poisoning caused by the normal consumption of commercial seafood in the United States. Despite her comments, Swank herself is not alleging that she had mercury problems.
“We already know Americans are not eating enough seafood,” said Jennifer McGuire, a registered dietitian with NFI. “Messages that inappropriately scare consumers away from fish because of mercury can do a real disservice to public health. When people eat less seafood, they miss out on a significant disease prevention opportunity.”
WWF Scotland releases year-end report
World Wildlife Fund Scotland on Friday released its year-end assessment of the state of Scotland’s main whitefish stocks.
Results included North Sea haddock achieving MSC certification and cod stocks failing to recover enough to allow for a quota increase in 2011.
According to the conservation group’s assessment, the country’s cod stocks totaled 9,400 metric tons valued at EUR 16.7 million, haddock totaled 32,680 metric tons worth EUR 32.1 million, monkfish totaled 9,900 metric tons worth EUR 31.3 million and whiting totaled 8,000 metric tons worth EUR 8 million.
WWF Scotland said there is a “bright future” for fish stocks and those who depend on them, but only if at-risk stocks such as cod are given greater protection. The organization also reiterated the need to reform of the European Union’s Common Fisheries Policy and for the Scottish government to offer support to allow more fisheries to become sustainable and achieve MSC certification.
