(163) stories found containing 'Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute'


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  • Alaska Fish Factor

    Laine Welch|Jan 31, 2019

    Heading into the 2019 salmon season markets are looking good as global demand exceeds supply. That’s due in part to constraints on the world’s biggest producers of farmed Atlantic salmon – Norway and Chile. While farmed production continues to tick upwards, growth in both countries is limited as to the maximum amount of fish regulations permit them to have in the water. Chile also is still recovering from a deadly virus that wiped out millions of fish in 2016, and Norway is battling pervasive sea lice issues. All told, the days appear to be ov...

  • Alaska Fish Factor: Fish Factor's annual Fishing Picks and Pans for 2018

    Laine Welch|Jan 3, 2019

    This column that each week focuses on Alaska’s seafood industry will enter into its 28th year in 2019. It began in the Anchorage Daily News in 1991 at the request of longtime former business editor Bill White and has appeared in the ADN ever since. Fish Factor also is featured in more than a dozen weekly papers across Alaska and nationally. The goal is to make all readers more aware of the economic, social and cultural importance of one of Alaska’s oldest and largest industries. Here are Fish Factor’s annual Fishing Picks and Pans for 2018...

  • Salmon Sisters add wild salmon Skin Serum as first wellness product to popular line of ocean-themed goods

    Laine Welch|Dec 13, 2018

    An Alaskan sisterhood of sorts is advancing a line of tundra botanicals mixed with the sea to create potent anti-aging skin care products bearing the best of both. A wild salmon Skin Serum is the first wellness product the Salmon Sisters have added to their popular line that features original designs on clothing and other ocean-themed goods. "We love how smooth and light it feels. There are beautiful notes of crowberries, which we picked throughout our childhood on the tundra behind our...

  • Trident Seafoods takes first place at 26th annual Alaska Symphony of Seafood and Seattle People's Choice award with pollock surimi protein noodles

    Laine Welch|Nov 29, 2018

    Protein Noodles by Trident Seafoods took top honors at the 26th annual Alaska Symphony of Seafood, winning first place in the retail category and the Seattle People’s Choice award. The winners were announced last week at Pacific Marine Expo. The refrigerated noodles are made from pollock surimi and touted as a high protein, gluten free alternative to traditional pastas. “All pastas are wheat based and they don’t contain any protein and there’s not a lot of nutritional value,” said John Salle, Trident’s senior vice president of marketing, innova...

  • Alaska Fish Factor

    Laine Welch|Nov 15, 2018

    Alaska salmon fishermen harvested 114.5 million fish during the 2018 season for a payout of $595 million at the docks. That’s down 13 percent from the value of last year’s salmon catch. A preliminary wrap up of the 2018 salmon season by the Alaska Dept. of Fish and Game provides summaries for every fishing region across the state. It shows that sockeye salmon accounted for nearly 60 percent of the total value and 44 percent of the statewide salmon harvest. A catch of 50 million sockeyes added up to nearly $350 million for Alaska fishermen. Chu...

  • Fish Factor: Alaska salmon permit values stagnant all year, except for two regions

    Laine Welch|Nov 8, 2018

    Values for Alaska salmon permits have remained stagnant all year, except for two regions, and costs for halibut quota shares have plummeted. For salmon permits, an off kilter fishery that came in 30 percent below an already grim harvest forecast kept a downward press on permit values. The preseason projection called for a salmon catch of 147 million this year; the total take was closer to 114 million. “All of these salmon fisheries in the Gulf, both gillnet and seine permits, had a lousy year. And we see that in the lackluster permit m...

  • Alaska Fish Factor

    Laine Welch|Oct 25, 2018

    Hatchery reprieve - Two proposals to limit production of hatchery salmon were rejected by the Alaska Board of Fisheries at a special meeting on Oct. 16 in Anchorage. Both claimed that hatchery fish are straying and intermingling with wild stocks and are out competing wild salmon for food in the open ocean. Typically, over 30 percent of Alaska’s total salmon harvest each year are fish that began their lives in state hatcheries, mostly pinks and chums. Longtime studies by state fishery scientists show some straying of the fish but in very s...

  • Alaska Fish Factor: Alaska's key species -  pollock and cod appear heading north to colder waters

    Laine Welch|Oct 18, 2018

    Catches for next year’s groundfish fisheries reflect ups and downs for Alaska’s key species - pollock and cod – and the stocks appear to be heading north to colder waters. The bulk of Alaska’s fish catches come from waters from three to 200 miles offshore with oversight by federal fishery managers. Their advisory arm, the North Pacific Fishery Management Council, reviews stock assessments for groundfish each October and sets preliminary catches for the Gulf of Alaska and Bering Sea and updates them as new data become available. If the propose...

  • Alaska Fish Factor:

    Laine Welch|Aug 30, 2018

    More seafood tariffs in Trump’s trade war with China are hitting Alaska coming and going. On July 6 the first 25 percent tax went into effect on more than 170 U.S. seafood products going to China. On August 23, more items were added to the list, including fish meal from Alaska. “As of right now, nearly every species and product from Alaska is on that list of tariffs,” said Garrett Evridge, a fisheries economist with the McDowell Group. Alaska produces more than 70,000 metric tons of fish meal per year (about 155 million pounds), mostly made fro...

  • Alaska Fish Factor: Alaska pollock is the top fish catch in the world for four years running

    Laine Welch|Aug 23, 2018

    As Bill Governor Walker prepares to sign a bill this week enacting the Alaska Mariculture Development Plan, 16 new applicants hope to soon begin growing shellfish and seaweed businesses in just over 417 acres of tideland areas in Alaska. The new growers will add to the 35 farms and 6 hatchery/nurseries that already are producing a mix of oysters, clams, mussels and various seaweeds. Eventually, sea cucumbers, scallops, giant geoduck clams and algae for biofuels will be added into the mix. Most of the mariculture requests in Alaska are located...

  • Alaska Fish Factor

    Laine Welch|Aug 2, 2018

    Alaska appears to be an exception in terms of gender parity at all levels of its seafood industry. Women comprise roughly half of the world’s seafood industry work force, yet a report released last week revealed that 61 percent of women around the globe feel they face unfair gender biases from slime lines to businesses to company boardrooms. The women’s overall responses cited biases in recruitment and hiring, in working conditions and inflexible scheduling. The findings were based on 700 responses gathered in an online survey from Sep...

  • Alaska Fish Factor: Salmon customers at home and abroad poised to take all wild Alaska salmon they can get

    Laine Welsch|Jul 26, 2018

    Alaska’s salmon fisheries continue to lag alarmingly in several regions, with overall catches down by a third from the same time last year. The single exception is at the unconquerable Bristol Bay, where a 37 million sockeye catch so far has single-handedly pushed Alaska’s total salmon harvest towards a lackluster 60 million fish. It’s too soon to press the panic button and there is lots of fishing left to go, but fears are growing that Alaska’s 2018 salmon season will be a bust for most fishermen. Worse, it comes on the heels of a cod crash an...

  • Alaska Fish Factor

    Laine Welch|Jul 19, 2018

    Trump’s trade war now includes tariffs on seafood going to and from China. China is Alaska’s biggest seafood buyer purchasing 54 percent of Alaska seafood exports last year valued at $1.3 billion. On July 6 a 25 percent tariff went into effect on U.S. imports to China, including all Alaska salmon, pollock, cod, herring, flatfish, Dungeness crab, sablefish, geoduck clams and more. Then on July 11 Trump added a 10 percent tariff on all seafood sent from China to the US. According to market expert John Sackton of Seafoodnews.com, it includes pro...

  • Alaska Fish Factor

    Laine Welch|Jul 12, 2018

    Sockeye salmon catches often add up to half of the value of Alaska’s total salmon fishery, and the so-called reds dominate the season’s early fisheries starting in mid-May. But sockeye catches so far range from record-setting highs at Bristol Bay to record lows nearly everywhere else. For example, the Copper River sockeye harvest of just 26,000 is the lowest in 50 years. At Kodiak just 212,000 sockeyes were taken through July 6 making it the weakest harvest in 38 years. Sockeye fishing at Yakutat has been closed due to the lowest returns in...

  • Fish Factor: At start of halibut opener March 24 federal fishery managers announced commercial catches for Alaska will be down 10 percent

    Laine Welch|Mar 29, 2018

    Pacific halibut catches for 2018 won’t decline as severely as initially feared, but the fishery faces headwinds from several directions. Federal fishery managers announced just a few days before the March 24 start of the halibut opener that commercial catches for Alaska will be down 10 percent for a total of 17.5 million pounds. The industry was on tenterhooks awaiting the catch information, which typically is announced by the International Pacific Halibut Commission in late January. However, representatives from the U.S. and Canada could n...

  • Alaska Fish Factor: Alaska crab marketers pushing message that "It's what's on the inside that counts"  to encourage their customers to put appearances aside

    Laine Welsch|Mar 22, 2018

    “It’s what’s on the inside that counts” is the message Alaska crab marketers are pushing to their customers, encouraging them to put appearances aside. “We’re telling them to Get Ugly,” said Tyson Fick, executive director of the trade group, Alaska Bering Sea Crabbers, speaking of the new campaign launched last week in partnership with the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute at the big Seafood Expo in Boston. The promotion showcases Alaska crabs with darker, discolored or scarred shells or adorned with barnacles, that may be less appealing to...

  • Processors at Bristol Bay pay for doctors during salmon season

    Laine Welch|Feb 15, 2018

    The nation’s top fishing port welcomed seven European seafood buyers in late January – all women – and showed off its massive seafood industry during peak operations at Dutch Harbor. The women, whose companies import more than $60 million in U.S. seafood sales, hailed from France, Germany, Lithuania, Portugal, Spain, and the U.K., said Hannah Lindoff, international program coordinator for the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute, which hosted the trip. “They are interested in Alaska pollock, cod, surimi, octopus, salmon, roe, black cod and kin...

  • Fish Factor: America's households more diverse; changes in taste and technology shapes future of seafood eaters

    Laine Welch|Feb 8, 2018

    Millennials are now the nation’s “peak spenders” and they are gravitating towards healthier eating which favors more seafood. “We see year over year that there is this cohort aged 35 to 54 that is going to be spending far more across categories, including food expenditures, than any others,” said Will Notini, consumer insights manager at Chicago-based Technomic, a leading market tracker for over 50 years.” The company has contracted with the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute to identify trends in seafood consumption and how best to position...

  • Alaska Fish Factor: Annual Fishing Picks and Pan: The best and worst fish stories of 2017

    Laine Welsch|Jan 4, 2018

    For 27 years this weekly column has featured news for and about Alaska’s commercial fishing industry. It began in 1991 in the Anchorage Daily News and now appears in more than 20 news outlets across Alaska, nationally and in the UK. Today, Alaska fishermen and processors provide 65 percent of our nation’s wild-caught seafood, and 95 percent of the wild salmon. The industry puts more people to work than oil/gas, mining, timber and tourism combined. Alaska’s diverse fishing fleet of nearly 10,000 vessels is made up mostly of boats under 50 feet....

  • Alaska Fish Factor: Economic importance of supporting sustainable fisheries lost in the farmed fish message: Love the Wild

    Laine Welsch|Nov 30, 2017

    Recurring news headlines that have widely circulated about alarming declines of Pacific salmon have spawned a savvy new marketing strategy that tells consumers they can help save wild fish by eating farmed. Earlier this year actor Leonardo DiCaprio invested in a company called LoveTheWild (“a champion of sustainable, delicious fish”) which is promoting its oven-ready farmed fish dishes to U.S. supermarkets. “With LoveTheWild, we sought to create healthy and easy-to-prepare meals that people can feel good about – both in terms of how the fis...

  • Alaska Fish Factor:

    Laine Welch|Oct 26, 2017

    Alaska’s fishing fleet of 9,400 vessels would span nearly 71 miles if lined up from bow to stern. And Alaska’s fishing industry catches and processes enough seafood each year to feed every person on the planet one serving; or a serving for each American every day for more than a month. Those are just a few of the fish facts highlighted in the annual “Economic value of Alaska’s seafood industry” report by the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute compiled by the McDowell Group. The report breaks down the numbers of fishermen, processors, species c...

  • Alaska Fish Factor: October is National Seafood Month recognizing one of America's oldest industries

    Laine Welch|Sep 28, 2017

    October is National Seafood Month, a distinction bestowed by Congress 30 years ago to recognize one of America’s oldest industries. Alaska merits special recognition because its fishing fleets provide 65 percent of the nation’s wild caught seafood, more than all of the other states combined. Ironically, there is little to no fanfare in Alaska during seafood month. My hometown of Kodiak, for example, (the #2 U.S. fishing port) never gives a shout out to our fishermen and processors, nor do local restaurants celebrate seafood on their Oct...

  • Fish Factor: ​The catch of 213 million salmon has surpassed the forecast by nine million fish

    Laine Welch|Sep 14, 2017

    Alaska’s salmon season is nearly a wrap but fall remains as one of the fishing industry’s busiest times of the year. For salmon, the catch of 213 million has surpassed the forecast by nine million fish. Highpoints for this season are a statewide sockeye catch topping 50 million for the tenth time in history (37 million from Bristol Bay), and one of the best chum harvests ever at more than 22 million fish. The total 2017 salmon catches and values by Alaska region will be released by state fishery managers in November. Hundreds of boats are now f...

  • Fish Factor: Sea Cucumbers added to list of foods claiming to kill cancer cells

    Laine Welch|Sep 7, 2017

    Alaska sea cucumber divers could be helping to cure cancer! Sea cucumber meat and skins have long been considered a delicacy in Asian cuisines; they also are hailed for having healing properties that soothe sore joints and arthritis. Most recently the soft, tubular bottom dwellers are being added to the list of foods acclaimed to kill cancer cells. Dried sea cucumber or extract is anti-viral; anti-bacterial, and an anti-inflammatory, said Ty Bollinger, a leading cancer expert and author of Cancer: Step Outside the Box. “Sea cucumbers are v...

  • Alaska Fish Factor: Around the world the appetite for Alaska seafood is growing

    Laine Welch|Aug 3, 2017

    Seafood is Alaska’s top export by far, usually topping $3 billion in sales each year to 120 countries around the world, and comprising 55 percent of our nation’s total seafood exports. Credit for the state’s export sales goes mostly to the international program run by the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute (ASMI) which runs eight regional offices in Japan, China, Brazil, London, Spain, France, Germany and Eastern Europe. The Overseas Marketing Reps (OMRs) work under contract with ASMI to coordinate hundreds of seafood promotions each year to bu...

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