Bornstein Seafoods would add more shrimp-peeling machines if a 20 percent European Union tariff on Pacific coldwater shrimp were eliminated, declared the Astoria, Ore., company. It currently operates four shrimp-peeling machines but has cooking capacity for 10.
“We will put in the investment once the duties get worked out,” Bornstein Sales Manager Doug Heater told SeafoodSource last week.
The company packs Oregon pink shrimp (Pandalus jordani); 70-150 count per pound are packed raw, while smaller sizes are sold cooked and shelled IQF (150-250s and 250-350s are used in foodservice, 350-500s in retail and 500s-and-up in prepared foods like stuffed pasta and egg rolls).
Bornstein’s sales are 90 percent domestic, mainly in seven western states, especially along the coast, where many restaurants serve a shrimp cocktail or sprinkle them atop salads. While British Columbia is a competitor, harvesting the slightly larger Pandalus borealis, the weak U.S. dollar currently gives the local product a cost advantage.
Atlantic Canada, which also harvests P. borealis, dominates the export market. Main importers are Norway, Sweden, Denmark and the United Kingdom. Coldwater shrimp inhabit the North Sea as well and are a familiar food in these countries, but stocks are cyclically down, suffering predation due to the recovery of cod.
Norway, which is outside the EU, has no duty on shrimp and is the main destination for U.S. product. But exports to the EU are hampered by the tariff, which has been bilaterally negotiated away for Canadian shrimp.
The Oregon pink shrimp fishery was the first coldwater shrimp fishery to be Marine Stewardship Council certified in 2007. But Bornstein has yet to land major sales in Japan, despite the similarity in taste to Japanese “amaebi,” or sweet shrimp. While MSC certification has helped the company in Europe, the certification “doesn’t seem to have the same traction in Japan,” said Heater.
The fishery has had a record catch per effort for two consecutive years, even as demand has softened with the poor economy.
Shrimp are harvested on mud flats, using nets equipped with a bycatch reduction device (BRD). A BRD with 32-milimeter bar spacing reduces bycatch to less than 6 percent, while 19-milimeter spacing reduces it to just 2 percent. After the catch is dropped into a hopper on deck, a conveyor runs it over a “smelt belt,” a pair of angled sandpaper rollers. The slick shells of the shrimp allow them to slide down despite the sandpaper, while fish are caught by the friction and propelled up and into a chute returning them to the sea.
Fishermen pay half a percent of landed value to the Oregon Trawl Commission to promote the product. In the United States, joint promotions have been held with chain restaurants Joe’s Crab Shack and Landry’s. The commission combines with other Oregon seafood commissions to sponsor a shared booth at the International Boston Seafood Show, the European Seafood Show in Brussels and the FOODEX show in Japan.
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