1. HURRICANE DORIAN TIGHTENS SEAFOOD SUPPLY ACROSS MANY CATEGORIES – The storm that “wouldn’t go away” has finally gone away but only after smashing into Nova Scotia yesterday. Lobster prices took a quick 25 cent jump across the board.
2. FRESH CRABMEAT SUPPLY HAS TIGHTENED – Crabbers pulled their pots in Carolina last week and are just now putting them back overboard. Houses should start picking again tomorrow. Chesapeake Bay crabbers were not affected other than not being able to fish on Friday. THERE IS PLENTY OF MARYLAND MEAT available.
3. NORTHEAST SWORD TUNA PRODUCTION INTERRUPTED – all the boats targeting swordfish off the northeast coast of US were abruptly blown inland this weekend. That market remains stable thanks to big production out of South America. THE TUNA STORY is very different. The tuna supply was tight prior to the storm and a low pressure formed in the western Gulf late last week and made the situation even worse. We will have Gulf fish this weekend along with some beautiful fish from South Africa.
5. WILD SALMON CHOICES THIS WEEK ARE KINGS & COHOS – The cohos are from Ketchikan Alaska and the wild kings are from the Barkley Sound in British Columbia
6. HALIBUT PRICES JUMP 10% BECAUSE OF DORIAN – prices will remain elevated for at least a week until the boats get back out and cycle back in again
7. FRASIER RIVER LANDSLIDE UN-BLOCKED TO ALLOW WILD SALMON TO RESUME THEIR SPAWNING MIGRATION – A potentially “catastrophic” situation was resolved on the Frasier River in British Columbia just in time to allow wild sockeyes, and wild kings to complete their spawning runs upstream of the blockage. During the blockage, 60,000 wild salmon were AIRLIFTED BY HELICOPTER upstream of the landslide, which tells you how serious this problem was viewed by the Canadian government.
8. JOINT OPERATION BETWEEN US COAST GUARD & CANADIAN DFO TO COMBAT IUU FISHING – The US Coast Guard just returned from an 80-day patrol detecting and deterring illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing activity in the Pacific Ocean. IUU fishing deprives the international economy of billions of dollars and steals real money out of the pockets of legitimate fish harvesters around the world. They boarded 45 vessels flagged in Japan, Russia, South Korea, China, Chinese Tapei and Panama. They found evidence of 68 potential violations.
9. MAHI MARKET FINALLY DROPS – Sanity is finally returning, somewhat, to the mahi market. Prices fell 15% this week and should continue to slide in the coming weeks.
10. WILD ROCKFISH STILL VERY SCARCE & EXPENSIVE – Prices are still in the stratosphere on Massachusetts big rock – our local pound netter out of Rock Hall, MD is still catching but his volume is falling off.
