September, 2006 Edition

                                          What's Happening at the FCC

Lobster Working Group

The Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada Lobster Working Group had a conference call to determine if there was a consensus to proceed with a follow-up initiative to the Gardner Pinfold lobster benchmarking study. The group decided to investigate the possibility of convening a Lobster Summit, modeled after the haddock workshop held in Yarmouth in January 2006 which was organized by the Canadian Centre for Fisheries Innovation (CCFI).

Preliminary thoughts were to convene the meeting in Halifax or Moncton in mid/late February 2007. The agenda would be comprehensive, addressing emerging economic/financial, structural, market information, quality, fishery management, stock status, etc. issues. As well, the target audience would be comprehensive – harvesters, pound operators, processors, independent buyers, exporters, federal, and provincial officials. Discussions will be held with CCFI regarding the project.

Cooked & Peeled Shrimp Exporters – Avoid Leeuwarden

Custom officials at the Dutch Port of Leeuwarden are ruling that cooked and peeled shrimp in sealed plastic bags are shrimp in air–tight containers. As such, they enter the import in a tariff line that is not eligible for the 6% import quota rate. EU fisheries officials disagree with the Dutch Customs officials. They plan to rectify the situation when the 2006 import quota is officially increased to 10,000mt in the Fall.

Mercury in Fish

The current rule in Canada for total mercury in fish is 0.5 parts per million (ppm) except for the predatory species of swordfish, shark and fresh and frozen tuna. For these species, Health Canada advises consumers to limit their consumption to one meal per week. For women of child bearing age and young children, the advice is to limit consumption to one meal per month. Note that this restriction does not apply to canned tuna. The Canadian limit of 0.5ppm for total mercury is more stringent than the limits set in many countries. For example, the US has a limit of 1.00ppm for methyl mercury alone.

With the extensive media coverage in the US regarding consumer advisories concerning mercury in fish, Health Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency undertook an extensive analysis of fish in Canadian retail stores regarding their mercury content. As a result of this analysis, Health Canada has advised the FCC that it plans to revise its approach. The FCC has formed a working group to review the proposal with Health Canada.

EU to Audit Canada Fish Inspection Program

An EU team of food inspectors will be auditing Canada’s fish inspection system from October 16-27, 2006. Basically, the audit assesses whether CFIA is, in fact, applying its rules and regulations and the undertakings contained in the Canada-EU Inspection Agreement. Indications are that the team will focus on landing & first sale sites, fishing vessels, aquaculture finfish farms, cold storages, as well as the processing plants.

CODEX Meeting – Canned Sardines; Scallops

The Codex Fish & Fish Products Committee will be meeting in Beijing in September. With respect to Canadian industry interest, the agenda contains two issues – canned sardines and scallops- which could be problematic. The FCC in partnership with Connors Bros. and the Canadian Aquaculture Industry Alliance has entered an arrangement with John Emberley, former head of DFO’s Fish Inspection Directorate, to participate on the Canadian delegation as our industry representative.

DFO Can’t Give Fish Away To Get Money

The Federal Court of Appeal recently ruled that DFO cannot use the fishery resource as a source of funds for research and other programs. Such funds must come from the public treasury.

DFO had attempted to enter a co-management agreement with a New Brunswick crab fleet in which the fleet would make payments to DFO to help defray some of DFO costs pertaining to their fishery. The fleet decided not to enter the agreement. In response, DFO issued a “scientific” permit to a vessel to catch 50mt of crab, the sale proceeds of which, after expenses would go directly to DFO. While the Court accepted that the Fisheries Minister’s discretion is broad, it did not include expropriating the resource for the purpose of financing its operations.

Canadian NGOs to Develop Good Fish/Bad Fish List

David Suzuki Foundation, Ecology Action Centre, Living Ocean Society, Sierra Club of Canada, and the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society are planning to launch their SeaChoice program in late September. They claim it will be a sustainable seafood information program.

Frozen Fish Products Well Entrenched in US Homes

A recent report, “Frozen Foods in the US” reports that almost 50% of the 110 million households in the US consume frozen, prepared seafood. Technomic Inc in their “Future Food Trend” report that the top four brands are Gorton’s, Van de Kamps/Mrs. Paul’s, Aqua Star, and Rich-SeaPak. The fastest growing seafood marketers were reported to be Berdex Seafood (sales up 127%), Fishery Products International (grew sales 71% through its Margaritaville brand), and Beaver Street Fisheries (sales up 55%).

Although marketers and retailers say that frozen poultry and seafood are growing faster than frozen meat, Information Resources Inc (IRI) reports that while poultry achieved the highest growth (9.7%) in 2004 and seafood was the fastest growing in 2002 (6.1%), frozen meat led the pack in 2003 with 8.9%. IRI data tracked sales in supermarkets, drugstores, and mass merchandisers (except Wal-Mart). IRI data also shows that 62% of frozen seafood, meat, and poultry sales were made in supermarkets and grocery stores, 21% in supercentres and mass merchandisers, and 9% in warehouse clubs.

September Meetings

NAFO, St. John’s The Industry/Government advisory group to meet to finalize positions, strategy, etc. for the upcoming NAFO meeting

NAFO, Halifax NAFO will meet to decide on quotas and other issues for the 2007 fishery.