News Summary: July 3, 2008


Today's Main Stories: July 4th is the traditional time to celebrate salmon. ASMI has sent out word to its foodservice contacts that there is plenty of wild Alaska salmon available for sale. Although many king salmon runs are down, it is too early to tell what the total salmon season will look like. We run the ADF&G's harvest timing graph, that shows next week should really tell the tale. Initial reports from Bristol Bay are good, however, with some saying fishing is picking up.

King salmon runs have also improved a little on the Yukon, with another pulse still expected this weekend.

On the farmed salmon front, a net pen belonging to Marine Harvest in BC got fouled, and up to 30,000 salmon may have escaped. In Norway, Marine Harvest accused a group of Chilean activists who had travelled to the annual meeting to protest Marine Harvest activities in Chile of being Ômanipulated by wealthy U.S. lobbyists who oppose salmon farming.'

Pacific Andes and others have been buying up vessels in the Peruvian anchovy fishery with good reason. The government has passed a law that will rationalize the huge fishmeal and oil fishery, by setting individual quotas for vessels. This will lead to a rapid consolidation in the fleet, and the ability to buy and sale catch shares. Meanwhile, the fishery has closed for the current season in Northern Peru, with high prices for fishmeal, and declining prices for fish oil.

The FDA has released a statement on its progress in monitoring and improving food safety in the U.S. to coincide with a meeting in Washington. At the same time, news reports are full of the tomato/salmonella investigation, and a new 20 state beef recall by Kroger because a supplier has been identified as a source of E. coli.

Finally, the eel scandal in Japan continues to widen. At issue is the consumer rejection of Chinese origin products, and a supplier who mislabeled Chinese origin eels as being produced locally in Japan. 26 locations were raided earlier today, and nearly 300 tons of eels may be involved.

We will not be publishing tomorrow due to the July 4th Holiday. Have a great weekend.

John Sackton, Editor And Publisher , Lexington, Massachusetts
Seafood.com News 1-781-861-1441
Email comments to jsackton@seafood.com

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