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The Minister of the Environment has sent a letter to COSEWIC directing him to follow up on the recommendations resulting from the March 2005 DFO/COSEWIC Marine Fish Workshop. ICFA Meeting with the United Nations A delegation of International Coalition of Fisheries Association members, including FCC’s Patrick McGuinness, met with the UN Secretariat charged with overseeing the annual year end UN General Assembly’s (UNGA) resolution on fisheries and ocean issues. The meeting was prompted by the 2004 UNGA resolution that tended to stigmatize bottom trawling as a destructive fishing practice. ICFA was able to report that the 2005 resolution is an important advancement over the 2004 resolution. The 2004 resolution went beyond identifying issues of concern and prescribed solutions. Solutions that were blunt, unenforceable, and, unfortunately, increased the level of confrontation between States, NGOs, and the fishing industry. ICFA noted that the UNGA quite rightly should draw attention to challenges to sustainable fisheries and wide-scale irresponsible fishing. However, having identified the problem, UNGA should task its expert organizations to develop an action plan to attack the issue. In the case of fisheries, the expert organization is the FAO’s Fisheries Division and its consultation body, COFI. Inspection/Technical Aquaculture Finfish Imports from Asia - Malachite Green 100% of aquaculture finfish imported from China and Vietnam are being inspected by CFIA for Malachite Green. CFIA has been inspecting at the 100% rate for China since August 2005 and for Vietnam since September 2005. Imports of aquaculture finfish from China and Vietnam represent about 80% of all aquaculture finfish from Asia. CFIA’s standard inspection frequency for imported products with a history of compliance is 5% of all shipments. With the concern regarding Malachite Green, CFIA has now increased its random inspection frequency to 20% for aquaculture finfish from other Asian countries. (i.e. China and Vietnam – 100% inspection; other Asian countries – 20% inspection.) As noted, CFIA introduced 100% inspection of aquaculture finfish from China and Vietnam late August and late September respectively. To ensure that no adulterated product remains on the market, CFIA is reviewing its import records to identify imported lots from China and Vietnam that were not inspected for the three months prior to the introduction of the 100% inspection regimes. Such lots identified and still available will be tested. CFIA Enforcement – Atlantic Canada In response to persistent comments of an inconsistent enforcement of CFIA fish inspection regulations in the different regions of Atlantic Canada, CFIA’s Atlantic group has developed an Enforcement Guiding Principles document. Issues that lead to a letter of warning must first be addressed by an Issues Analysis Team. Warning letters are only to be signed by the Inspection Manager. Notices of more serious offences have to be approved by the Regional Director. Market Reports Food Retailers Continue to Consolidate With Tesco, Britain’s largest retailer, investigating the purchase of Albertsons, one of America’s largest supermarket chains, there seems no end to the consolidation wave that is sweeping the world’s supermarket industry. The world’s largest retailers are: Company Sales($US Billions) Headquarters 1.Wal-Mart 285 USA 2.Carrefour 90 France 3. Metro Group 70 Germany 4. Ahold 65 Netherlands 5. Tesco 62 UK 6. Kroger 56 USA 7. Schwarz Group 53 Germany 8. Rewe 51 Germany 9. Aldi 51 Germany 10. Intermarche 49 France 11. Costco 47 USA 12. Albertsons 40 USA Redfish Japanese redfish processors in the Sanriku area are having a difficult time obtaining enough raw material for their operations. The supply problem is the combined result of reduced catches in the Irminger fishery in the Atlantic and US production in the North Pacific. The wholesale price for redfish from both the Irminger and US fisheries are double the levels seen last year, and many of the Japanese processors fear a major decline in the supply of redfish for their operations. This year's redfish fishery started with the April opening of Area 1 in the Irminger fishery, followed by the opening of redfish fisheries in the US waters. Current fishing operations are focused in the NAFO Area 2 around Greenland. The allocation for the Icelandic fleet in the Irminger fishery was only 34,650 tons this year, a 37% reduction over the quota in 2004. The fishery ended with the Icelandic fleet only taking about 42% of their allocation within their 200 mile zone. And while the fishery in Area 2 is underway, the fleets have reportedly only taken about 11% of their quota so far this year. In addition to the higher prices, the Japanese buyers have had to compete with buyers from China. It is estimated that at least half of the US redfish production went to China, with some stating that Japan users lost more than half of the frozen redfish. Russian Seafood Consumption US Department of Agriculture reports that Russian consumption of seafood is expanding rapidly. This is reflected in the dramatic increase in Russian imports of fisheries products, and a similar decline in exports. The Russian GDP growth rate in 2004 was reported at 7.1%, higher than projections for the year. Actual income also increased by 7.8%. In the marketplace, the strong economic index has resulted in an increase in food consumption in the country. This trend is especially seen in the consumption of fisheries products. Russian fisheries imports during 2004 totalled $643 million, close to a 60% increase over the previous year and a record for fisheries imports. In comparison, fisheries export values only totalled about $325 million, for a 19% reduction. Traditional fish products, such as herring, mackerel and salmon continue to be popular in stores and eateries in throughout the country, but there is a striking increase in the consumption of more exotic species, such as squid, shrimp, oysters, and so forth. Part of the new and/or expanded markets for seafood products is the result of the consumer's increased buying power, coupled with a change to general consumption patterns. Russian consumption of seafood products declined dramatically after the collapse of the Soviet Union. The chaos seen from the breakdown of the communist government resulted in a major decline in the supply of fish and fisheries products in Russia. Per capita consumption of fish and fisheries products went from 20 kilos per person in 1980, to 10 kilos during the first half of the 1990's. With the improved and more stable economic conditions, fish began to return to the counters in stores in the greater Moscow area. While fish remains third on the per capita consumption list, the amount and variety of fish and fisheries products on the shelves and counters of stores around Moscow are equal to those seen in the EU. And there is a marked increase in value-added fish -- breaded, steaks and surimi-based products -- being offered in the provincial markets. Irish Herring Roe The Irish roe-herring fishery in the north opened from around October 10th, but catches haven't been very good again this year. Production of herring roe has already started in Ireland, but this year's production is running well below last year; while about 60 tons of herring roe was produced during October last year, only about 20 tons was produced for the period this year. There are a number of reasons for the poor catches this year, led by bad weather and strict monitoring of quotas this year. The size of quotas have also affected the roe-herring fishing effort this year, with some weekly catch allocations not worth the trouble -- the weekly quota for medium-class trawler allocation is only about 75 tons. As a result, many fishermen are opting for other target species. At this point, the Japanese fish media reports that the Japanese don't expect very much volume from the Irish fishery this year. (HKS November 11, 2005) |