Seafood

Salmon season is winding down and it’s still a guess if the statewide catch will reach the 132 million fish forecast. Achieving that all comes down to those hard to predict pinks, whose catch makes up more than half of the total harvest. …

The full California Legislature has approved Assembly Joint Resolution 39 by Assemblymember Wesley Chesbro (D-North Coast), which urges the federal government to use seafood import revenues to market American fish and seafood. …

Noting the success of the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute (ASMI), U.S. Sen. Mark Begich is introducing legislation to create a national seafood marketing and development effort to increase value and create jobs in the seafood industry. The proposal was drafted by a nationwide coalition and is supported by 75 fishing groups and others from the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, the Great Lakes and the Gulf of Mexico. The legislation is being finalized and will be introduced when the Senate reconvenes next month. …

Mike Parsons, an FGCU professor of marine sciences, is lead investigator of CiguaHAB, an international team of scientists conducting a five-year project to investigate conditions that lead to outbreaks of ciguatera fish poisoning. The $5 million study is financed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. …

A customer advisory panel of major buyers of wild seafood has told the state’s key seafood marketing entity that they trust the Alaska brand, but are concerned about certification issues and fear the Pebble mine could devalue Alaska seafood. …