Together with the New England Culinary Guild, Legal Sea Foods last week announced that it will host a four-course dinner on 24 January featuring “supposed blacklisted fish” to educate the public about sustainable fisheries.
In a press release, the Boston-based seafood chain, with more than 30 East Coast restaurants, said the sustainable fisheries discussion is “flawed by outdated scientific findings that unfairly turn the public against certain species of fish.”
Hosted by Legal Sea Foods President and CEO Roger Berkowitz, the dinner will include fritters with black tiger shrimp, cod cheeks and prosciutto-wrapped hake as well as a discussion on current information regarding sustainable fisheries.
In brief: La. ag commissioner defends catfish
Mike Strain, Louisiana’s agriculture and forestry commissioner, is taking issue with a recent article in Bloomberg BusinessWeek that referred to the state’s catfish production facilities “despicable.”
In a letter to the editor, Strain takes particular issue with statements made by Norbert Sporns, CEO of HQ Sustainable Maritime Industries in Seattle. Sporns said the seafood farming and processing standards in China’s Hainan province, where the company raises tilapia, are “way, way better” than Louisiana catfish production.
“Louisiana’s catfish are raised under the healthiest conditions anywhere in the world and are by far the safest and best tasting fish you can buy,” said Strain.
Weis Markets freezes food prices — again
Weis Markets on Thursday announced that it will reduce prices of 2,400 staple items, effective 2 January through 2 April. This is sixth time that the Sunbury, Pa.-based retailer, which has stores throughout the Mid-Atlantic, has implemented its 90-day Price Freeze program over the past two years. The price freeze includes store brand and brand-name grocery, including seafood.
“Our 90 Day Price Freeze program continues to make sense in a slow growth economy impacted by high unemployment in most of the markets we serve,” said Weis President and CEO David J. Hepfinger. “It has been a great program for our customers. Over the past two years, our Price Freeze program has helped our customers save more than USD 6 million and we hope to save them more money in 2011.”
Tilapia certification standards turn two
The Best Aquaculture Practices program on Thursday marked the second anniversary of its tilapia certification standards.
Elite Aquaculture in China’s Guangxi province was initially certified in January 2009 and now produces 6,000 metric tons of tilapia annually.
“BAP certification provides a realistic objective for the majority of tilapia farmers, and as such is shifting the whole industry on a path to greater sustainability,” said BAP Standards Coordinator Dan Lee. “BAP is a practical and proven system that has been readily accepted by the global market.”
All Supply & Trade >
