Severe weather hampered fishing operations in the Far East last week, with a large cyclone impacting all regions, particularly the Shelikhov Gulf and the Kamchatka-Kuril and North Kuril subzones. Many vessels endured storms for three to four days.

Despite the challenging conditions, Far Eastern fishermen have achieved strong results in some fisheries. As of February 2, 2025, the pollock catch reached 269,000 tons, with 55 vessels actively fishing, according to the Federal Fisheries Agency's monitoring system.

Pacific herring has seen a particularly successful season, with a catch of nearly 110,000 tons, exceeding 2024 levels by over 115%. Ten vessels participated in the herring fishery.

Cod catches in the Far Eastern basin reached 14,500 tons, matching the 2024 level.

The Ministry of Agriculture of Russia has implemented fishing restrictions in the West Bering Sea and Karaginsky subzones. Order No. 29, dated January 21, 2025, prohibits longline fishing until March 31, 2025, and bottom trawling and seine netting until April 15, 2025 (excluding scientific research and control catches).

In Primorsky Krai, refrigerator occupancy for fish product storage was 39% as of February 2. Thirty-one vessels carrying over 26,000 tons of fish products were en route to port.

The pelagic fishing vessels Polar Ammassak and Aðalsteinn Jónsson have, in cooperation with the Marine and Freshwater Research Institute (MFRI), been conducting capelin surveys southeast and east of Iceland from Monday to Friday this week.

The aim was to repeat the measurements of the main capelin migration in that area to compare to the measurements from the week before. Both vessels covered the entire area along different routes and therefore these are two independent measurements of the abundance there.

The preliminary results of the measurements indicate a slightly lower estimate of the fishable biomass than in the week before. It is therefore clear that the results will lead to an unchanged advice of no capelin fishing for the fishing season 2024/25. MFRI plans to go on RV Árni Friðriksson to search for capelin north of Iceland around next weekend.

The figure to left shows the tracks of Aðalsteinn Jónsson (blue) and Polar Ammassak (pink) 27-31 January 2025, where the perpendicularly lines with the tracks represents capelin density. The figure to right indicate with colour-scale the capelin density.

Source: Marine and Freshwater Research Institute (Iceland)

Despite winning a reprieve on US tariffs, Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his government have come under strong attack from the Canadian Aquaculture Industry Alliance (CAIA).

The Alliance has accused Trudeau of significantly weakening the sector and says the situation is getting worse.

In the face of US tariff threats, the industry body says, it is now more important than ever that the government is stopped from inflicting more damage. Canadians go to the polls later this year.

Author: Vince McDonagh/ Fish Farmer l Read the full article here

Norway exported seafood worth NOK 15.3 billion in January. This is an increase of NOK 1.9 billion, or 14 per cent, compared with the same month last year.

January was characterised by increased export volumes for salmon and solid value growth for several of our wild-caught species. In addition, the Norwegian krone has weakened against both the dollar and the euro compared with January last year. In terms of value, this was the best January ever for Norwegian seafood exports

The US was the largest single market for Norwegian seafood exports in January, measured in value. Norway exported fish and shellfish to the US market worth NOK 1.5 billion, which accounted for 9.7 per cent of total seafood exports last month.

Source: Fish Focus l Read the full article here

IFFO, the Marine Ingredients Organization, reported the overall production of fishmeal and fish oil throughout 2024 increased thanks to a successful anchoveta season in Peru.

According to statistics gathered by IFFO from its members, global fishmeal and fish oil supplies grew 26 percent in 2024. That growth is almost entirely thanks to the Peruvian anchoveta fishery, which ended up catching over 95 percent of its total allowable catch of 2.51 million metric tons (MT).

Author: Chris Chase / SeafoodSource l Read the full article here

South Korea's frozen octopus imports totaled 401 tons in December 2024, an 11% increase compared to the 362 tons imported in December 2023.

Despite this monthly surge, cumulative imports for the year (January-December) reached only 2,883 tons, a significant 23% drop from the 3,728 tons imported in 2023. These imports represent just 0.32% of South Korea's total seafood imports of 901,242 tons.

Mauritania remained the dominant supplier, providing 2,324 tons (84.1% of total frozen octopus imports). Other key import sources included China (189 tons), Venezuela (120 tons), the Philippines (94 tons), and Chile (36 tons). Average import prices varied considerably, with Mauritania at the high end (USD 9.78/kg), China in the mid-range (USD 6.29/kg), and Indonesia at the low end (USD 5.63/kg).

The December 2024 import value of frozen octopus reached USD 3.59 million, a 36% increase from USD 2.63 million in December 2023. However, the total import value for the year was USD 26.05 million, a 15% decrease from USD 30.58 million in 2023. The average import price rose by 10% to USD 9.04/kg, up from USD 8.20/kg in 2023. This price increase, despite lower import volumes, suggests greater price volatility in the market.

For context, the domestic wholesale price of frozen boiled octopus from Mauritania (13 pieces or more per 8kg) is approximately 185,000 KRW.

Source: Union Forsea Corp.

Japan faces a potential decline in Norwegian snow crab imports due to shifting global trade dynamics.

The White House's recent announcement of tariffs—25% on imports from Canada and Mexico, and an additional 10% on imports from China—is expected to impact seafood markets. Japanese trading companies anticipate price drops for Canadian lobster and Mexican wild brown shrimp.

The future market price of frozen Canadian snow crab in Japan will likely be influenced by supply and demand in the United States. With increased US demand for Norwegian snow crab, exports to Japan are projected to decrease significantly.