Monday, April 4, 2022

National US doles out thousands of additional H-2B worker visas, but will it be enough to satisfy Alaska processors' labor shortage? The visa are critical to the operations of seafood plants across the state. Intrafish by John Fiorillo - March 31, 2022 In a potentially good piece of news for the Alaska seafood processing sector, which is facing an unprecedented labor shortage, the US government on Thursday announced is its making an additional 35,000 H-2B temporary nonagricultural worker visas available for the second half of fiscal year 2022. https://www.intrafish.com/processing/us-doles-out-thousands-of-additional-h-2b-worker-visas-but-will-it-be-enough-to-satisfy-alaska-processors-labor-shortage-/2-1-1194439 International GAPP Identifies 4 “Very Favorable” International Markets for Alaska Pollock in Next Two Decades SeafoodNews.com by Peggy Parker - April 1, 2022 Recently released research conducted for members of the Genuine Alaska Pollock Producers (GAPP) on where marketing efforts may bring best results over the next twenty years, also provide a perspective on current conditions for seafood exporters today. Four markets emerged — The United States, Malaysia, Spain, and the United Kingdom — as most favorable future markets for Wild Alaska Pollock, but 20 markets were compared in the research, done by McKinley Research Group. The release of the report marks the conclusion of a months-long, comprehensive process to support long-term industry investments in market diversification and international marketing efforts for Wild Alaska Pollock. GAPP contracted with McKinley for this marketing in early 2021. The result is objective, data-driven assessments about current and potential future Wild Alaska Pollock markets over a mid-to long-range time horizon (year 2040). “GAPP invests heavily in research for this very purpose—to identify long-range opportunities to build demand for our fish,” said Craig Morris, GAPP CEO. “It’s hard to overstate the impact of this study—our industry now quite literally has a prioritized treasure map leading us to the most valuable future markets for our fish and provides us the tools to boldly market our products in those countries with the highest return on our investment.” The top four markets were closely followed by six others — France, Germany, Japan, Poland, South Korea and the United Arab Emirates, from where GAPP CEO Craig Morris just returned from an in-depth trade mission. “Most favorable” , according to McKinley, are those with “the greatest opportunities for important growth with investment, in near-term or by 2040.” Those ranking “favorable” are or have the potential to be important markets and are “relatively stable” in terms of demand for Wild Alaska Pollock, the report explains. “We know that much of our growth can and will be outside of our domestic market,” said Rasmus Sorensen of American Seafoods, who chaired the research on this important project. “This report and the research behind it underscores the service that GAPP provides to the industry—helping us understand our opportunities and then working with us to strategically leverage those through marketing and communications, partnership and innovation, to the best possible extent to drive value for the entire fishery.” The research compared primary economic indicators, such as annual gross domestic product (GDP) on a per capita basis, size of the population’s middle and upper income classes, annual imports of pollock from all countries, and seafood consumption and production data. But it also looked at political stability, percentage of women in the workforce, control of corruption, port infrastructure, and other indicators to determine the foundations for growth. “We are pleased to help GAPP identify the most favorable global markets for wild Alaska pollock products,” said McKinley Research consultant Heather Brandon. “Our team utilized a data-driven approach and insights from industry leaders to support our recommendations.” Not only will this research drive GAPP’s international marketing efforts, Morris said, but perhaps more significantly, also its partnership programs. “As we look to continue expanding our Partnership Program into more foreign markets, this research has now provided us with prioritized pins on a map of where to seek out new partners and drive investment in innovation,” said Morris. “While the U.S. will always be a focus of our Partnership Program, the Board has long wanted us to ‘go global’ in expanding our Programs and now we can prioritize those markets with the best opportunities for the future.” The four favorable countries achieved that position due to high scoring on nearly all indicators. For instance, Malaysia has a projected population growth of 19.7% by 2040 and a GDP of only $11,400 per capita, also has the highest seafood consumption rate of any of the countries surveyed and strong port infrastructure and shipping connectivity. By contrast, Mexico — also with a similar growth rate, per capita income, and far closer proximity to the U.S. for shipping — ranks in the lowest group due to political and economic challenges there. Global indices rank Mexico particularly low among study countries for corruption, political stability, and general competitiveness. The full report is here. The twenty countries included in its analysis are: Very Favorable: Malaysia, Spain, U.K., U.S. Favorable: France, Germany, Japan, Poland, South Korea, and United Arab Emirates Somewhat Favorable: Brazil, China, Indonesia, Italy, Mexico, Thailand Least Favorable: India, Russia, South Africa, Ukraine. https://www.seafoodnews.com/Story/1222525/GAPP-Identifies-4-Very-Favorable-International-Markets-for-Alaska-Pollock-in-Next-Two-Decades East Coast Fishery Massachusetts seafood industry leader says ban on Russian fish shouldn’t impact prices ‘too much’ Boston Herald by Rick Sobey - March 31, 2022 As concerns swirl about the impact of the U.S. banning Russian seafood, a Massachusetts seafood industry leader says he’s confident that local prices won’t be hiked. https://www.bostonherald.com/2022/03/31/massachusetts-seafood-industry-leader-says-ban-on-russian-fish-shouldnt-impact-prices-too-much/ Federal Register Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic Zone Off Alaska; Pacific Cod by Catcher Vessels Using Trawl Gear in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Management Area A Rule by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on 04/04/2022 NMFS is prohibiting directed fishing for Pacific cod by catcher vessels using trawl gear in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands management area (BSAI). This action is necessary to prevent exceeding the A season apportionment of the 2022 Pacific cod total allowable catch (TAC) allocated to catcher vessels using trawl gear in the BSAI. https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2022/04/04/2022-07079/fisheries-of-the-exclusive-economic-zone-off-alaska-pacific-cod-by-catcher-vessels-using-trawl-gear Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic Zone Off Alaska; Pacific Cod by Catcher Vessels Greater Than or Equal to 50 Feet Length Overall Using Hook-and-Line Gear in the Central Regulatory Area of the Gulf of Alaska A Rule by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on 04/04/2022 NMFS is prohibiting directed fishing for Pacific cod by catcher vessels greater than or equal to 50 feet (15.2 meters (m)) length overall using hook-and-line (HAL) gear in the Central Regulatory Area of the Gulf of Alaska (GOA). This action is necessary to prevent exceeding the A season allowance of the 2022 total allowable catch (TAC) apportioned to catcher vessels greater than or equal to 50 feet (15.2 m) length overall using HAL gear in the Central Regulatory Area of the GOA. https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2022/04/04/2022-07058/fisheries-of-the-exclusive-economic-zone-off-alaska-pacific-cod-by-catcher-vessels-greater-than-or

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