seafood – Fishermens News

Pacific Cod Fish and Chips Proving a Popular Menu Item

22Jan

By Fishermen's NewsNo Comments

Columns, Fishermen's News Online, News

Pacific Cod Fish and Chips Proving a Popular Menu Item

Pacific cod harvested by pot and longline fishermen since their season opened on Jan. 1 has been a popular lunch and dinner item these days in Anchorage restaurants. And the groundfish fisheries in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands that opened on Jan. 20 are anticipated to soon be delivering their catch to wholesalers and retail shops. As of Jan. 20, 10th & M, a popular retail seafood shop in downtown Anchorage, manager Tito Marquez said they were selling about 700 pounds a week of fresh Pacific cod fillets for $8.95 a pound, down from $12.95 at this time a year ago. Fred Meyer supermarkets had fresh Pacific cod fillets for $10.99 a pound and Costco was offering the fillets for $7.99 a pound. Several Anchorage restaurants have Pacific cod fish and chips entrees on their...

GAPP Planning Ahead for Lenten Seafood Promotions

22Jan

By Fishermen's NewsNo Comments

Columns, Fishermen's News Online, News

GAPP Planning Ahead for Lenten Seafood Promotions

Lent doesn’t begin until early March, but Craig Morris, chief executive officer of Genuine Alaska Pollock Producers (GAPP), said Jan. 20 that his organization is ready with several collaborative seafood promotion to provide those observing Lent from March 5 through April 17. Morris said that Gorton Seafood plans a “The Sea Belongs to All of Us” campaign at retail to direct Lent-conscious consumers to the frozen seafood aisle with its iconic yellow bags of seafood, including their anchor, Alaska pollock battered fish fillets. Harbor Seafoods will promote the Skipper’s line of Wild Alaska pollock for sale at convenience stores and restaurants for those who prepare seafood for Lent, and High Liner Foods will promote its foodservice line of Alaska pollock products for limited time me...

OBI, Ocean Beauty Seafoods Settle Class Action Wages Lawsuit

18Dec

By Fishermen's NewsNo Comments

Fishermen's News Online, News

OBI, Ocean Beauty Seafoods Settle Class Action Wages Lawsuit

A federal district court in Washington state has ordered OBI Seafoods and Ocean Beauty Seafoods to pay $2.1 million to resolve a class action lawsuit for paying employees late and underpaying them during mandatory quarantines put into effect during the COVID-19 pandemic. U.S. District Judge Marsha J. Pechman for the Western District of Washington signed the order on Dec. 5, ordering the two seafood processing companies to pay $2.1 million to class action members and $10,000 each to plaintiffs in the case, Marija and Dusan Paunovic, plus related settlement administration costs and attorney fees. OBI CEO John Hanrahan said in a statement obtained by the publication Seafood Source that his company “values its employees, pays competitive wages, and complies with all federal, state an...

Smoked Black Cod from Southeast Alaska Sells Out Fast as Holiday Gift

18Dec

By Fishermen's NewsNo Comments

Fishermen's News Online, News

Smoked Black Cod from Southeast Alaska Sells Out Fast as Holiday Gift

A new line of canned smoked black cod tips at the Wildfish Cannery in Klawock, Alaska, is proving a hot holiday season item. Packaged for the holidays in blue boxes, they sold out quickly. In retail markets, the five-ounce cans sell for $39 apiece. “It’s a really special line too,” Wildfish Cannery director of facilities and operations Mathew Scaletta said. The company used a $6,000 grant from the Alaska Sustainable Fisheries Trust in Sitka to refine its processing operations and work quickly to get the first run ready by December. Black cod tips are a delicacy usually purchased frozen and then grilled, but Scaletta wanted to break the mold by smoking and canning them. Their product sold out to wholesalers within just a few days. “In seafood processing, survival depends ...

Seafood Industry Urges Biden to Halt Expansion of Marine Monuments

27Nov

By Fishermen's NewsNo Comments

Fishermen's News Online, News

Seafood Industry Urges Biden to Halt Expansion of Marine Monuments

Several dozen seafood industry, related business entities and coastal communities are urging President Biden to halt proposals to create or expand any marine national monuments in the U.S. exclusive economic zone (EEZ) during his final days in office. The group told Biden in a Nov. 18 letter that between 2006 and 2016, five marine national monuments spanning nearly 1.2 million square miles of ocean were created in the U.S. EEZ by presidential proclamations, so that over one-quarter of U.S. ocean territory is now part of a Marine Protected Area where commercial resource extraction is prohibited. Further reliance upon the Antiquities Act to proclaim additional tracts of ocean territory off limits to fishing and other sustainable uses would cause significant negative impacts, the gr...

Trident Declines to Open St. Paul, Alaska Snow Crab Processing Facility

23Oct

By Mark Edward NeroNo Comments

Fishermen's News Online, News

Trident Declines to Open St. Paul, Alaska Snow Crab Processing Facility

A decision by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game to reopen the snow crab fishery this year could have offered some economic relief to the Pribilof Island city of St. Paul, with a population of some 300 people, but now Trident Seafoods says its plant there won't reopen for economic reasons. Trident in mid-October confirmed plans to work with stakeholders and the community of St. Paul, after telling the North Pacific Fishery Management Council during its October meeting in Anchorage that there were many reasons for its decision to keep the plant closed. Unalaska public radio station KUCB noted that Shannon Carroll, Trident's director of public affairs and fisheries development, told the council that the low total allowable catch (TAC) set by ADF&G would mean a significant l...

NOAA Fisheries’ 5-Year Plan Focuses on Boosting Seafood Economy

9Oct

By Fishermen's NewsNo Comments

Fishermen's News Online, News

NOAA Fisheries’ 5-Year Plan Focuses on Boosting Seafood Economy

NOAA Fisheries’ National Seafood Strategy Implementation Plan, announced in early September, outlines the agency’s focus on boosting the domestic seafood economy and enhance the resilience of the seafood sector in the face of climate change over the next five years. NOAA Fisheries officials acknowledged that while the domestic seafood industry enhances public health and nutrition, creates jobs, and helps build a climate resilient food strategy that’s facing many challenges, including putting the domestic supply of sustainable seafood at risk. “The Implementation Plan is where the rubber meets the road,” NOAA Fisheries Assistant Administrator Janet Coit said. “It outlines the specific actions to achieve the goals we laid out in the strategy to support our nation’s seafood sector a...

ADF&G Commissioner Says Fisheries Overall Remain Healthy

25Sep

By Fishermen's NewsNo Comments

Fishermen's News Online, News

ADF&G Commissioner Says Fisheries Overall Remain Healthy

Challenges of climate change, market conditions and politics aside, Alaska's fisheries resources remain overall healthy, Alaska Department of Fish and Game Commissioner Doug Vincent-Lang told a legislative task force seeking to evaluate the state's seafood industry. “Yes, we have some poorly performing stocks, for example king salmon and Bering Sea crab, but overall, our fishery resources remain healthy,” Vincent-Lang told the joint legislative task force meeting in Juneau on Sept. 19. The commissioner recounted the status of the state's commercial fisheries, from groundfish and halibut to salmon, including the impact of changing climate, the markets and political issues for each, as well as related litigation, particularly in the case of a lawsuit aimed at shutting down the Sou...

11Sep

By Fishermen's NewsNo Comments

Fishermen's News Online, News

Former Microsoft Executive Named COO of Trident Seafoods

Former Microsoft executive Mike Quinn, a member of Trident Seafoods’ board of directors, has been appointed as the company’s new chief operating officer, effective Oct. 1, the company announced Sept. 5. Trident also announced the appointments of Jeff Welbourn as president of Trident USA, and Kenji Nasu as president of Trident Alaska. The addition of Quinn as COO and the appointment of Welbourn and Nasu to new leadership roles within the company are the next steps in Trident’s long-term vision to modernize operations and refocus its global commercial strategy, according to Trident CEO Joe Bundrant. “These are the right leaders and the right changes that will position Trident for future growth, enabling us to continue our mission of responsibly sharing wild Alaska Seafood with t...

ASMI Report Indicates Increasing Interest in Seafood Consumption

4Sep

By Fishermen's NewsNo Comments

Fishermen's News Online, News

ASMI Report Indicates Increasing Interest in Seafood Consumption

A new domestic marketing report featuring food industry research by industry insights provider Technomic indicates increasing interest in seafood consumption by consumers dining out. The report, released Aug. 30 by the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute, states that according to Technomic, Alaska is the most appealing source for seafood at foodservice and is widely preferred over any other seafood. Technomic, with offices globally, has for the past five decades provided foodservice clients around the world with research and strategic consulting support used to enhance their business strategies and decisions. The online 2024 study drew from 1,000 nationally representative consumers, all of whom were required to eat at foodservice facilities at least once a week and eat fish or ...