Tuesday, September 20, 2011

New Zealand CRAMAC5 Rock Lobsters Receive FoS Certification

New Zealand Rock Lobster harvested by members of the CRA 5 Rock Lobster Industry Association Incorporated (CRAMAC5) will now be certified by Friend of the Sea.

The CRA 5 rock lobster fishery is located on the East Coast of the South Island of New Zealand.

CRAMAC 5 represents 54 quota owners, 27 active commercial crayfishing vessels and two main processors. The bulk of the catch is exported live into Hong Kong and China.

Rock lobsters harvested in the fishery are caught by potting, which has a minimal bycatch and a very low impact to the seabed.

The fishery is regulated by the New Zealand Ministry of Fisheries within the Quota Management System. The Total Allowable Commercial Catch (TACC) is 350 tonnes per year. Size limits for Rock Lobster are specified in the Fisheries Regulations 2001, with a minimum tail width of 60mm for females and 54mm for males. Rock lobsters caught below these limits are returned to the sea alive.

The production chain is short as the catch is taken by an owner-operated vessel and generally landed to a processor who is also an exporter.

source: FoS

Friday, September 16, 2011

Types of Smoked Salmon


Salmon is usually smoked by either hot-smoking or cold-smoking.

Hot-smoking is a process by which the fish is smoked from 6 to 12 hours at 120° - 180°F. The type and size of fish, desired flavor, local tradition, and other factors affect the hot smoking process.

Cold-smoking is done using temperatures of 100°F or less. Cold smoking times range from roughly 24 hours to as much as 3 weeks.

Types of smoked salmon:

American style kippered salmon is chunked, steaked or filleted Pacific salmon that has been brined and hot-smoked.

European kippered salmon consists of whole salmon that has been split, brined and cold-smoked.

Lox is a type of brined, cold-smoked salmon that tends to be saltier than other smoked salmon.

Several geographical designations for cold smoked salmon include Nova or Nova Scotia, Scotch-smoked, Danish-smoked and Irish-smoked. In some cases, these names refer more to a process than an actual area.

Cold-smoked Pacific salmon (usually coho or chinook) is often labeled as smoked salmon without reference to the type of smoking process.

Indian-cure salmon is brined fish that has been cold-smoked for up to 2 weeks until it becomes jerky.

Squaw candy is another type of smoked Pacific salmon consisting of thin strips of salmon that has been cured in a salt-sugar brine before being hot-smoked.

Both hot and cold smoked salmon is popular for making smoked salmon dip, fish chowders, and other recipes.

Monday, September 12, 2011

NFI 2010 Top Ten Seafood List

On September 12, 2011, the National Fisheries Institute (NFI) released its 2010 Top Ten Seafood List.

According to NFI, the following list includes the top ten American seafood products. In parentheses is per capita consumption in pounds:

1. Shrimp (4.0)
2. Canned Tuna (2.7)
3. Salmon (1.999)
4. Tilapia (1.450)
5. Alaska Pollock (1.192)
6. Catfish (0.800)
7. Crab (0.573)
8. Cod (0.463)
9. Pangasius (0.405)
10. Clams (0.341)

Americans ate approximately 20 percent more tilapia in 2010 than in 2009, going from number five to number four on the NFI Top Ten Seafood List.

The list reflects a National Marine Fisheries Services (NMFS) recalculation of 2009’s total pounds per capita that changed to 16 lbs from 15.8 pounds.

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

2010 USA Seafood Landings

According to the latest figures from NOAA, U.S. commercial fishermen landed 8.2 billion pounds of seafood in 2010, valued at $4.5 billion. Landings increased by 200 million pounds and more than $600 million in value over 2009.

The report, Fisheries of the United States 2010, shows that for the 22nd consecutive year, the Alaska port of Dutch Harbor-Unalaska led the nation with the highest amount of fish landed, primarily pollock.

For the 11th consecutive year New Bedford, Mass. had the highest valued catch, due in large part to the sea scallop fishery.

Last year, commercial fishermen unloaded 515.2 million pounds of fish and shellfish in Dutch Harbor-Unalaska, an increase of nearly 10 million pounds over 2009 and a rise in the dockside value of $3.4 million to $163 million. Alaska claims three of the top 10 ports for landings volume and six of the top 10 ports for landings value. More than half of the seafood Americans eat from U.S. waters is caught in Alaska.

The port of New Bedford took top place for values of landings, bringing in $306 million in 2010, a 22.8-percent increase over 2009, and the highest landing values in 30 years for that port. While there was a substantial increase in value, the total amount of seafood landed in New Bedford decreased by 36.6 million pounds to 133.4 million pounds.

Fishermen at the nearby port of Gloucester, Mass., also landed their top value in the last 30 years, with landings valued at $56.6 million, an increase of 11 percent from 2009.

All coastal regions of the country saw increases in total value of fisheries landings in 2010. The Gulf of Mexico region, which suffered the nation’s worst marine oil spill in 2010 and saw landings drop by 19 percent, achieved a modest two percent increase in total landings value.

The report also shows that the average American ate 15.8 pounds of fish and shellfish in 2010, a slight decline from the 2009 figure of 16 pounds. The U.S. continues to be third-ranked for consuming fish and shellfish, behind China and Japan. Americans consumed 4.878 billion pounds of seafood, slightly less than the 4.907 billion pounds in 2009.

While seafood consumption remained fairly consistent, the amount of imported seafood consumed by Americans continued to increase. About 86 percent of the seafood consumed in the U.S. is imported, measured by edible weight, up four percent from 2009. However, a portion of this imported seafood is caught by American fishermen, exported overseas for processing and then re-imported to the U.S.

The U.S. exports 63 percent of its domestically produced seafood, measured by live weight, which represents an increase of four percent over 2009.

Almost half of imported seafood comes from aquaculture, or farmed seafood. Aquaculture outside the U.S. has expanded dramatically in the last three decades and now supplies the world with half its seafood demand, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. America’s aquaculture industry, though vibrant and diverse, currently meets less than 5 percent of U.S. seafood demand.



source: NOAA