The Winding Glass

High Liner returns to Newfoundland?

Ocean Choice has just released its statement regarding an agreement in principle with FPI. OC says it is buying all the FPI plants except Burin. Burin is the secondary manufacturing plant for FPI, producing many of the items sold at Foodservice by the U.S. marketing group. The fact that Ocean Choice is not taking Burin means that it is likely going to High Liner, which FPI said has signed an agreement in principle to purchase "certain assets in Canada and the U.S." -- which presumeably means the Burin plant.

This will mark the return of High Liner to Newfoundland, following the sale to management of its Arnold Cove primary processing plant a few years ago.

The connection of Burin and the U.S. marketing group makes sense. High Liner also operates a secondary processing plants in Lunenburg Nova Scotia, and Portsmouth, NH. It has retained its secondary processing while selling off its primary processing operations. What remains to be seen is whether the company needs 3 secondary processing plants. The expansion of foodservice sales with the acquisition of the U.S. marketing division of FPI may suggest that in fact it does. In any event, I would guess that High Liner will move slowly after a final sale to determine how it may or may not consolidate its processing operations

Too Hard on the SSA?

In our comments Friday about our story on the SSA outrage over the fact that they can't make settlements in administrative reviews this year without including the LSA (Louisiana Shrimp Association) we may have been a little harsh. But I think the SSA's conduct in the anti-dumping case is one of the most damaging business actions I have seen in the seafood industry. The outcome, in which they pioneered a new way of using government regs to extort money from overseas companies has hurt U.S. business around the world. It has cost consumers and the seafood industry millions of dollars in added costs, bankrupted some businesses, and hollowed out the infrastructure of shrimp importing. It has enraged the DOC, who some say has vowed not ever to get put in that position again, and it has led to major defeats of the U.S. at the WTO. Unfortunately, it has only brought pennies of relief to the ordinary shrimpers who supported the anti-dumping suit. So I have little sympathy with their complaints about the LSA. Their actions guaranteed people would come out against them. Of the $18 million they collected, I am not aware of any money going to any of the state associations that make up the SSA.

Unfortunately, the SSA's conduct of the shrimp dumping case has also hurt the cause of food safety and inspection of seafood, and has contributed to a wave of short-weight and adulterated shrimp coming into the country.

Will there be a new halibut warning in Alaska

Some people working in the Alaska dept. of public health have indicated that the state may be preparing a new halibut warning, telling women of child bearing age not to eat halibut over 100 lbs. Don't know is this is true. Are there mercury or pcb issues with halibut? Most consumers can't tell if the halibut they are buying came from a fish over or under 100 lbs, so the potential for a warning could have an effect.

I would hope that the dept. would publish the scientific data on which they are planning to act, so it could be reviewed by others first.

Welcome to the Seafood.com Blog

Welcome to the Seafood.com blog, "The Winding Glass". I have been thinking about adding a blog to seafood.com news for some time. I get a lot of email and comments on many of our stories, and I would like a more informal way to share comments and discussions-- about stories, people, events, markets etc., in our industry. It is a small world. Many people know each other. We are all opinionated. Why not make a place on seafood.com news for some of these opinions to come out.

What is a blog? How is it different than our news. The two key things about a blog are first, it is personal and opinionated. There is no need to be balanced, objective, or neutral. A blog can have a lot of facts and information, but first and foremost it is a forum for opinion and discussion. Secondly, it is a conversation -- all readers can post comments, challenge statements, make their own statements etc. It is pretty freewheeling.

I chose the name The Winding Glass because of the old Yankee song about whaling, Blow ye Winds Blow, which has as its last verse:

When we get home, our ship made fast, and we get through our sailing,
A winding glass around we'll pass, and damn this blubber whaling

Being associated with Nantucket, since my wife's family has been connected to the island for more than a hundred years, we sang and sang this old whaling song to our children when they were little. I can't sing it to them anymore, but the words still resonate.

And they fit here too. This blog is not just for my opinions-- but I will share them to get things started. It is also for yours.

Groundrules? Don't say anything on this blog you would not repeat in public. I am not a big fan of anonymous handles, even though it is the norm on much of the internet and in chat rooms. I think in an industry blog, knowing who is speaking is as important as what is said. Right now, this blog is open to all, and people can use handles if they wish. But I would encourage the use of your actual name and sometimes company, if you want. Obviously I will moderate comments and remove anything that is falsely inflamatory. If you want to repeat a rumor-- say it is a rumor and sign your name.