Tom Seaman, editorial director of Undercurrent News, brings you a roundup of the main stories from the previous week. 

For the first time in a few weeks, our top story was not about the worrying spread of coronavirus and its impact on seafood (see our live blog here), although news on COVID-19, as it's now known, still dominated the top ten. 

Louis Harkell revealed on Feb. 24 that China will exempt $300 million worth of US seafood imports -- including live crab and lobsters -- from additional tariffs, as part of the most substantial tariff relief to be offered by Beijing so far.

From March 2, Chinese companies can apply for exemptions from tariffs for 696 US products -- including 44 seafood and aquatic products, putting tariffs in line with the 'most favored nation' tariff rate.

This means seafood products on the list -- which can be viewed here -- will see tariffs reduced from up to 37% to 7%, in some cases. 

Click here for the full story. 

Silver Bay, Trident’s False Pass expansion makes Peter Pan a tougher sell

The expansion of Silver Bay Seafoods and Trident Seafoods in salmon processing in the remote Alaskan community of False Pass makes Peter Pan Seafoods a tough sell for Japan’s Maruha Nichiro, sources told me.  

As a result of how difficult life would be for an acquirer that is not Silver Bay and Trident, one of the two Alaskan giants is seen as the most likely buyer of Peter Pan, a large salmon, whitefish and crab processor. Outside the big two in Alaskan salmon, Canadian Fishing Company is seen as another player likely to have the resources and rationale to buy Peter Pan, sources said.

Trident’s interest in Peter Pan is demonstrated by an approach reportedly made earlier in the year. The top management of Trident -- co-founded by Charles "Chuck" Bundrant and now run by his son, Joe -- met with Maruha Nichiro executives in Japan prior to the commencement of the sale process. It was an effort to seal a deal without Peter Pan going on the block, sources said.

“They were told, 'Thanks for your interest, we look forward to your bid',” one executive following the process told me.  

Click here for the full story. 

Ecuadorian shrimp prices begin rebound as China readies to restart imports

Prices of Ecuadorian shrimp shipped to China have risen in the range of 6% to 10% this week and are expected to improve further in the coming days, an industry source told Maria Feijoo. 

The Asian country's seafood imports have been on hold due to the ongoing coronavirus outbreak that hit last month coinciding with the Chinese New Year holiday. 

As a consequence, Ecuadorian shrimp export prices to China collapsed, leaving the sector deeply concerned.

However, prices for shrimp harvested last weekend increased in comparison to those harvested a month earlier at the start of the outbreak. This could prompt more optimism among Ecuadorian farmers.

Click here for the full story. 

Coronavirus decimates Chinese participation at Boston show, dragging total down 15%

The number of exhibitors from coronavirus-hit China at the 2020 Seafood Expo North America (SENA) is currently at only 22, compared to 200 Chinese companies that had booths in 2019, according to the website of organizer Diversified Communications. 

This 88% year-on-year drop in Chinese companies exhibiting at the 2020 SENA, known as the Boston seafood show, means the total number of exhibitors is down 15% to 1,126, from 1,334 in 2019. The three-day SENA show begins on March 15.

Executives with Diversified were not immediately available to comment to Undercurrent News on whether these numbers were current. But sources are suggesting that attendance from Chinese companies will be minimal. The coronavirus has now killed over 2,700 people, with most of the deaths occurring in China. However, coronavirus is also now present on every continent aside from Antarctica, with a case just reported in Latin America, in Brazil. 

"I trust Chinese companies and business people will skip [Boston] this time," a high-level Chinese seafood entrepreneur told me.  

Click here for the full story. 

Newfoundland ruling slows Mowi’s Canadian expansion

A judge's ruling in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador might be nothing more than a temporary setback for Mowi and its efforts to significantly grow its Atlantic salmon business, but it could have greater meaning for all salmon farms in the area, says one of the attorneys who won the case, reported Jason Huffman. 

NL Supreme Court justice Daniel Boone ruled last Thursday, in a 41-page opinion, that Andrew Parsons, the province's former minister of municipal affairs and the environment, erred in September 2018 when he instructed Northern Harvest Smolt, a division of the Norwegian salmon farming giant, that it could expand its Indian Head hatchery from the production capacity of 4.5m smolts per year to 6.7m -- nearly 50% -- without first conducting an environmental review of its area net pens.

Boone agreed with the challenge of Parsons’ decision filed by Ecojustice on behalf of several wild salmon advocacy groups back in April 2019. He rejected Mowi’s argument that the smolts grown as part of the hatchery expansion would go into some of the company's 33 cages already in place and, therefore, not require new pens, triggering the need for an additional review.

He said such a review was also triggered by the expression of public worry, noting that 25% of the comments received in response to the registration filed by Mowi were opposed to the project, expressing concern in particular about the possible impact on wild salmon populations. 

Click here for the full story. 

CAPPMA head says Brussels show could suffer from coronavirus spread

Chinese companies’ attendance at the Brussels seafood show in April may be in doubt given the recent spread of the new coronavirus in Europe, the head of China’s seafood industry association told Louis Harkell and Hu Luyi.

“At the moment, the epidemic situation in Italy and the whole of Europe is also very serious. The exhibition in Brussels [Seafood Expo Global] at the end of April also will likely be affected [by the coronavirus outbreak],” Cui He, president of the China Aquatic Products Processing and Marketing Alliance (CAPPMA), said. 

“There are still problems for Chinese seafood products because we have inventory issues and supply chain disruption. The international outlook [for the Chinese seafood sector] is definitely not good for this year,” said CAPPMA's Cui.

Day-to-day life in China is yet to return to normal, he added. Related sectors, such as foodservice, are still affected by the outbreak. "The main channel for sales of seafood products is the catering and foodservice industry, and the main distribution channel for seafood products in China is the wholesale market. Both these are currently still not operating," said Cui.

Even if coronavirus is "sorted" in Q2 in China, the country should prioritize supporting domestic producers, he added. “In Q2, if the epidemic in China is resolved, [China's seafood sector] must first digest domestic products and stimulate domestic demand."

Click here for the full story. 

Russia shows willingness to lift import bans on four Chile salmon plants

Russia could lift import restrictions it imposed on four Chilean salmon plants, following a meeting between Russian and Chilean regulators.

The director of Chile's Servicio Nacional de Pesca y Acuicultura (Sernapesca), Alicia Gallardo, met in Russia with the director of the country's veterinary and phytosanitary supervisory service (Rosselkhoznadzor), Sergey Dankvert, on Feb. 27.

The Sernapesca-Rosselkhoznadzor meeting took place after Russia banned imports from a processing plant owned by Chile's Australis Mar earlier this week, meaning all of Chile's major salmon farmers, apart from Empresas AquaChile, have been partially or totally blocked from the Russian market.

Click here for the full story. 

Deal allows Solomon Islands to export duty-free tuna to EU

The EU has decided to include the Solomon Islands in its trade agreement with the Pacific states, which will allow tuna caught there to be exported to EU markets without duties, Matilde Mereghetti reported. 

On Feb. 17, the EU council confirmed the Solomon Islands would be part of the interim Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between the EU and the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) group of states.

"Under this EPA membership, [the] Solomons now join Fiji and Papua New Guinea as able to enjoy qualified duty-free exports to the EU. In the case of the Solomons, this could include tuna loins and canned products produced in qualified shoreline plants," a source told me. 

The Solomons loin plant is 100% owned by Tri Marine International/Bolton Group International and has been sending duty-free loins to the EU under the generalized scheme of preferences, the source also noted, adding that this EPA should formalize the duty-free arrangement.

The EU imported 9,000 metric tons of tuna from the Solomon Islands last year, an EU spokeswoman confirmed to Matilde. "The duty paid was 0% under the Everything But Arms unilateral measures that the EU has in force benefitting developing countries," she pointed out.

The EU signed an interim EPA with Papua New Guinea and Fiji in 2009, the spokeswoman also said, adding that the agreement is open for accession of other Pacific Island States on the basis of the submission of a market access offer that is compliant with WTO rules.

Click here for the full story. 

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