Seafood Business articles from May 2008

Seafood Business archives from May 2008

Change is in the air.(Editor's Note)
May 1, 2008... When this issue went to press the 3-foot snow pack in my front yard had finally melted and the tulip shoots had just broken through the dirt. After an unusually long Maine winter, I relish these little signs--a subtle reminder of change to...

Times slams Chilean salmon industry: safeway restricts purchasing; SOTA responds.(aquaculture)
May 1, 2008... The New York Times in late March reported that Chilean salmon farmers, fighting the infectious salmon anemia (ISA) virus, lack sanitary controls and are using growth hormones and antibiotics, claims the industry strongly denies. The March...

Greenpeace targets retailers: MSC defends pollock, certification program.(retail)
May 1, 2008... Greenpeace kicked off a sustainable-seafood campaign in March directed at the nation's largest retailers and their sourcing policies. The environmental group began surveying retailers about their seafood purchases and demanded elimination of 23...

Fertitta reduces Landry's buyout offer: Cowen and Co. retained to explore sale.(foodservice)
May 1, 2008... Tilman Fertitta, chairman, president and CEO of Landry's Restaurants, knows a bargain when he sees one. In 2005, he swayed his Houston company to acquire the floundering Golden Nugget Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas and Laughlin, Nev., for...

SeaBear Co. of Anacortes, Wash., has acquired smoked fish producer GD Seafoods, d.b.a. Gerard & Dominique, of Woodinville, Wash.(Biz BRIEFS)
May 1, 2008... SeaBear Co. of Anacortes, Wash., has acquired smoked fish producer GD Seafoods, d.b.a. Gerard & Dominique, of Woodinville, Wash. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. GD Seafoods co-owners Dominique Place and wife ChouChou will remain...

Preferred Freezer Services.(Biz BRIEFS)(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... Preferred Freezer Services is building its first overseas facilities in China and Vietnam. Construction in Vietnam's HO Chi Minh City started in January and will add 8 million cubic feet to the nearly 170 million cubic feet of storage space in...

Fish City Grill.(Biz BRIEFS)
May 1, 2008... Fish City Grill opened a restaurant in Baton Rouge on April 14, the company's 22nd overall and first in Louisiana. The Dallas company also is looking into additional locations throughout Louisiana, including Denim Springs, Lafayette and...

Harrah's in Atlantic City, N.J., announced a McCormick & Schmick's Seafood Restaurant will open in the casino this summer.(Biz BRIEFS)
May 1, 2008... Harrah's in Atlantic City, N.J., announced a McCormick & Schmick's Seafood Restaurant will open in the casino this summer. The restaurant is the Portland, Ore., company's first casino location.

Study: expectant moms should eat seafood: Project Viva shows increased cognition among 3-year-olds.(health)(Medical condition overview)(Report)
May 1, 2008... A study in the April issue of American Journal of Epidemiology finds that women who ate the most fish (more than two weekly servings) during the second trimester of their pregnancies delivered children with the highest scores on two cognitive...

NOSB proposes organic feed rules: cards stacked against carnivorous finfish.(aquaculture)
May 1, 2008... The National Organic Standards Board's Livestock Committee in early April issued recommendations for the use of fishmeal and fish oil in organic aquaculture production. If accepted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, a major piece of...

Stolen snow crab turns up in Calif.: shrimp, tuna, driver still missing.(distribution)
May 1, 2008... A load of frozen snow crab heisted late last year when the truck driver disappeared en route to the Northeast was recovered in early April. Of the 550 cases of snow crab valued at $60,000, 520 cases were found, says Duane Hilghman,...

Hooters of Baltimore won Phillips Foods' Crab Cake Selling Contest.(Line ITEMS)
May 1, 2008... Hooters of Baltimore won Phillips Foods' Crab Cake Selling Contest. First place and the title of Crab Cake Queen was awarded to Hooters server Shelby Rackey. Her prize was two plane tickets to any U.S. location and a $100 American Express gift...

Boneheads Grilled Fish & Piri Piri Chicken.(Line ITEMS)
May 1, 2008... Boneheads Grilled Fish & Piri Piri Chicken added three seafood items to the menu as a limited-time offer. Priced at less than $10 each, Boneheads Scallops, Crispy Seafood Platter and Jumbo Lump Crab Scampi will be available through the end of...

HQ Sustainable Maritime Industries.(Line ITEMS)
May 1, 2008... HQ Sustainable Maritime Industries cut a deal with an unnamed large seafood supplier to distribute the company's frozen tilapia products to major fast food and retail chains. The Seattle company, which raises tilapia in China's Hainan Province,...

Salmon farmers continue PR battle.(One Man's Opinion)
May 1, 2008... Over the years, the salmon-farming industry has endured its fair share of abuse at the hands of the media. And no media outlet has probably produced more heartburn for salmon farmers over the years than the New York Times. Back in 2003,...

Activity stagnant at Oregon's season opener: price negotiations hold boats, but fishery predictions are optimistic.(Market Report)
May 1, 2008... Since the season opened April 1, there has been only a single confirmed trip out of Astoria to kick off Oregon pink shrimp fishing. Boats are remaining at the docks while fishermen and processors work out prices, which has resulted in...

Black cod is red hot: more West Coast fishermen to target sablefish.(FOCUS)(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The United States exported almost 17 million pounds of sablefish last year, down 25 percent from 2006--a clear sign that black cod is increasingly popular with U.S. chefs and retailers, who prize the fish for its...

Calif., Ore. chinook season closed: council shuts down fishery in response to collapse.(Market Report)(Pacific Fisheries Management Council)(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... For the first time since the agency's inception, the Pacific Fisheries Management Council voted on April 10 to cancel all commercial salmon fishing off the California and Oregon coasts this year. Despite the introduction of several options...

East Coast groundfish woes continue: North Atlantic cod, haddock in short supply.(Market Report)
May 1, 2008... Can it get any worse for New England's groundfish fleet? Apparently, yes. A $100 million boat- and permit-buyback plan spearheaded last month by some Maine fishermen would cut the state's fishing capacity by 25 percent if passed. ...

Snow crab market returns to heyday: supplies are rising, and prices are expected to fall.(Market Report)(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... The snow crab market was in transition last month, as the last of Alaska's Bering Sea catch hit the processing line and new product from Atlantic Canada's fisheries started trickling into the U.S. market. Nonetheless, there's been a significant...

Clam sales up 5.8 percent in 2007: the bivalve's biggest sales opportunity is in the South.(Retail Report)
May 1, 2008... Clams are a small but steady contributor to the seafood department, accounting for 0.8 percent of sales during the 52 weeks ending Jan. 26. The majority of clam sales are for softshells and hardshells such as Manilas and cherrystones. Shellfish...

In the can: North America's seafood suppliers grow sales despite fears of an economic downturn.(Top Story)
May 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] A mid talk of a recession and increasingly unfavorable financial conditions, North America's Top 25 seafood suppliers raked in sales of $11.6 billion in 2007 according to SeaFood Business' annual Top 25 list. ...

China: buying quality fish from China means increasing communication.(International Sourcing)
May 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The reality of today's global market is changing. It is no longer just a matter of balancing supply and demand. Quality is now the third essential element. This is playing out in a variety of industries, including...

Farmed salmon: ISA, antibiotic misinformation plague salmon importers.(Top 10 Species)(infectious salmon anemia)
May 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Despite some negative press this spring, the farmed salmon industry continues to flourish as retailers and the foodservice industry continue strong sales of the omega-3 fatty acid-rich fish. Restaurants are offering...

Salt in focus: suppliers work to reduce sodium content to boost sales.(Trend Watch)
May 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Over the years, food manufacturers have worked to trim cholesterol, fat and trans fats from their foods, and now they have one more item on the Nutrition Facts label to focus on: sodium. In November 2007, the...

Damage control: when bad headlines hit, provide answers-fast.(Case Study)
May 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] When headlines piled up over the past year about toxins in fish farmed in China, consumers nationwide took note. Russ Casted, seafood merchandiser at Haggen's, operator of 33 supermarkets in Washington and Oregon,...

Bringing Baja to Biloxi: rockin' Baja Lobster rejiggers/modifies franchise concept for mainstream U.S. markets.(In the Kitchen)(Company overview)
May 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Sometimes you have to slow down before you speed up. Rockin' Baja Lobster, a six-unit seafood concept founded in 1983, in early April announced its new name, Rockin' Baja Coastal Cantina, and its plans for 44 new...

Mahimahi: consistent supply makes mahi a restaurant staple.(Product Spotlight)
May 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] During times when consumers and industry professionals alike are bombarded with news of how the oceans fish supply is being depleted, supplying mahimahi is one decision that allows companies to rest easy. Mahimahi is...

Rowan Jacobsen.(One on One)(Interview)
May 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Rowan Jacobsen is lucky to have been able to write "A Geography of Oysters: The Connoisseur's Guide to Oyster Eating in North America," an informative book about the mysterious mollusk. Lucky because, as a...