Monday, February 25, 2008P
Business Toolbox: Your supply
UN agency says fish stocks could collapse
PARIS -- Major commercial fish stocks around the world could collapse within decades as global warming compounds damage from pollution and overfishing, U.N. officials said Friday.
"You overlay all of this and you are potentially putting a death nail in the coffin of the world fisheries," the head of the U.N. Environment Program, Achim Steiner, told a phone-in news conference in Monaco.
His agency released a report Friday detailing new research on how rising ocean surface temperature and other climate changes are affecting the fishing industry. It says more than 2.6 billion people get most of their protein from fish.
The research sheds new light on an undersea flushing mechanism that helps renew fish stocks in three-quarters of the world's primary commercial fishing grounds. Report author Christian Nellemann said global warming is disrupting this circulation.
"If this mechanism stops, we may risk a collapse in major fishing grounds" in the coming few decades, he said.
While threats to fish supplies from pollution and overfishing have been well-documented, Nellemann said this was the first time the combined effect of this and changing temperatures has been closely studied.
"We are seeing shifts in marine life that we have never observed before," he said.
He said deep-sea shrimp in the western Mediterranean were among species under threat.
The report says that some shellfish that had thrived in once warmer water in the Atlantic have moved as much as 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) north in recent decades.
Still, the report says fisheries could recover from all these problems — if countries reduce global carbon emissions and shipping pollution, and stop overfishing and damaging fishing practices such as bottom trawling. – International Herald Tribune
Business Toolbox: Suppliers
China says it will investigate contamination
China and the Republic of Korea are to jointly investigate how Chinese frozen eel exports came to contain carcinogenic malachite green, a fungicide banned in food production in China, according to a statement from China's quality watchdog.
Chinese investigators had found no information about the producer, identified by the Republic of Korea media as Jiangxi Yichun Eel Industry Development Co Ltd, said the statement from the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (GAQSIQ).
The producer had not registered with China's import and export inspection and quarantine departments, nor was it an authorized foreign trade dealer whose qualifications should have been registered with commerce departments, it said.
"This appears to be an illegal export. As the tainted products were discovered in retail sales, the Chinese side will look into the case with the Republic of Korea and release the investigation results in a timely way," it said. – Xinhua, China
Business Toolbox: Your supply
Orange roughy limit overturned by court
The New Zealand Fisheries Minister is disappointed at a High Court ruling which has overturned his decision to cut the catch limit for orange roughy.
Jim Anderton decided to reduce the total allowable catch for commercial operators from 1400 to 870 tonnes last year.
This was challenged by Anton's Trawling Esperance Fishing and Orneagan Developments, which collectively owns 66 percent of the quota.
Anderton says he balanced his desire to reduce the sustainability risk with the very real and immediate economic consequences.
He says last year 1029 tonnes of orange roughy were caught, out of a total quota of 1400 tonnes. – TVNZ, New Zealand
Business Toolbox: Your customers' health
Fish oil may cut fat in diabetic patients’ blood
ISLAMABAD – Fish oil supplements may help reduce some fatty substances in the blood of people with diabetes, but not others, researchers report.
Since people with type 2 diabetes have high levels of fat in their blood, as well as lower levels of HDL ("good") cholesterol, the findings point to a way for patients to "partially correct" the condition, the authors say. Fatty fish such as salmon and mackerel are also rich in fish oil.
But certain types of fat, including one type of LDL or "bad" cholesterol, were not affected, according to Dr. Martin Petersen from The Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University in Rolighedsvej, Denmark and colleagues.
Their study of 42 adults found that those who took a supplement with 4 grams (g) of fish oil for eight weeks lowered their levels of triacylglycerol (TAG), a fatty substance linked to heart disease. Their levels of two subtypes of the "good" cholesterol known as HDL also rose.
Similarly, the ratio of LDL to HDL fell by nearly 1% among patients taking fish oil supplements, and rose 4% among patients taking corn oil, the researchers report in Diabetes Care.
But there was no apparent effect on the ratio of total cholesterol to LDL cholesterol, a measure of heart disease risk. Similarly, fish oil did not reduce levels of small dense LDL particles in the blood, which have been closely linked to symptoms of heart disease. – Pakistan Tribune
Business Toolbox: True-believers Department
Woman changes name to suit her cause
A 21-year-old Flagstaff, Ariz., resident, Rachel Feather, wanted to do something to illustrate her passion for fish. So she has legally changed her name to Rachel Fishing-Hurts.
She wanted to go with Fishinghurts.com — the title of PETA's anti-fishing Web site. But a judge vetoed the "com" part. Ms. Fishing-Hurts calls fish — "the forgotten animal." She contends that fish experience stress and pain, just like other animals, and undergo excruciating decompression when dragged from the ocean's depths.
She says: "I hope that by changing my name, people will be inspired to trade in their fishing rods for hiking boots and their fish sandwiches for veggie burgers." -- FOX News
Tuesday, February 26, 2008P
Business Toolbox: Finances
Investors looking for ‘health,’ aka ‘seafood
Take a good look at the people you see walking down the street, sitting in the airport or working in the cubicle across from you. Did you notice that many of them are either overweight or obese?
This isn't a U.S. issue; it's worldwide. In fact, according to the World Health Organization, more than 1 billion adults are overweight, and 300 million of them are obese, with an increased risk for problems such as diabetes, stroke and some cancers.
Investors have taken notice.
''In general, we're interested in the health care sector,'' says Mari Adam, president of Adam Financial Associates in Boca Raton. ``We feel it's an industry that will hold up well if there is a recession -- you're willing to buy medicine and go to the hospital. We also feel this is one area that isn't overvalued.''
Maria Figarola Arazoza also favors health care because ''governments around the world are promoting better nutrition and lifestyles.'' As vice president and international financial advisor for Merrill Lynch -- Private Client Group in Coral Gables, Arazoza recommends adding a health theme to an already diversified portfolio.
When the stock market is volatile, as it has been so far this year, you'll have some protection by spreading your assets among many sectors.
For example, although the Standard & Poor's 500 Index was down 9.3 percent this year through Friday, the healthcare sector had declined 7.4 percent compared with 16.9 percent for telecom/information technology index.
A health theme has staying power because of the global component, Arazoza says. ``It was thought that being overweight was primarily a U.S. problem, but it is now, more so than before, a global issue.''
Some key areas to consider include organic foods, medical devices, biotechnology, antioxidants, bariatric surgery and pharmaceuticals, despite the recent rough times with drugs being recalled. Before you invest, Adam advises, ask yourself: Is this a discretionary purchase people will make if they're broke?
Will organic products continue to thrive? Sales have risen at least 20 percent each year since the 1990s.
The fastest-growing segment was fish and seafood, which grew by more than 67.4 percent in 2005 to $114 million. – Miami Herald
Business Toolbox: Market of ideas
Political correctness hits fish and chips
Some New Zealand publishers have banned references to fish and chips in modern children's stories, author Don Long said on Monday. "There's quite an issue at the moment about healthy food in schools," he told Radio New Zealand. "Some publishers have misinterpreted sensitivity around that to put a blanket ban on any mention of things like fish and chips in resources that go out to schools."
Long said that completely misinterpreted what the Ministry of Education wanted, "which is for kids to seriously look at the whole issues of healthy foods and so on."
He said it was an example of unofficial censorship in the New Zealand publishing world. – Earth Times, UK
Business Toolbox: Mercury
Health gurus flip-flop (again) on fish
The National Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition has issued an advisory recommending that pregnant and breast-feeding women eat 12 or more ounces of fish or other seafood each week in order to supply essential nutrients for their child's brain and nervous system development.
This advice contradicts that originally issued by the U.S. government in 2001 and reaffirmed in 2004, which advises pregnant and nursing women, as well as young children or women who are trying to become pregnant, to eat a maximum of 12 ounces of seafood each week.
"Every single day, I get questions from my patients about this, because it is such a confusing area," said Ashley Roman, an obstetrician and new mother who participated in the panel that led to the new recommendation.
The U.S. government warns that seafood is particularly high in mercury, a potent neurotoxin that may have more severe effects on a developing fetus or child. In particular, the FDA and Environmental Protection Agency have advised that at-risk populations entirely avoid king mackerel, shark, swordfish or tilefish and eat a maximum of six ounces of albacore tuna per week.
But the National Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition -- which has almost 150 members, including the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention -- says that concerns over mercury in seafood are exaggerated, whereas the benefits provided by such food are critical and well-supported.
In particular, seafood advocates cite the importance of omega-3 fatty acids in the development of the healthy brain and nervous system. They also cite studies that have linked low omega-3 intake to a higher risk of premature birth, low birth weight, and depression for the mother.
"What nobody is telling expectant mothers," explained consumer health advocate Mike Adams, "is that if you take chlorella and cilantro at the same time you consume fish, the chlorella binds to the mercury and removes it from the body, thereby protecting both the mother and the fetus from most of the toxic effects of mercury."
Non-seafood sources of essential omega-3 fatty acids include flax and other oil seeds, acai palm fruit, certain microalgae and supplements or omega-3-fortified foods. – Natural News.com
Business Toolbox: Good news
Clams returning in cleaner New England
Just as shipbuilding is part of the town's history, the clam is a signature food in Essex, Mass.
It is served in abundance at local eateries, and a slice of the town's population still makes a living harvesting shellfish at low tide. In 2007, Essex Bay was the top producer of softshell clams in the state, yielding approximately 2.2 million pounds.
Still, the seascape isn't as productive as it could be. Clamming has been prohibited or restricted in some parts of the bay and in the Essex River, its major tributary, going back to the 1960s.
But now, preliminary tests have aquatic biologists optimistic about the opening of all flats in Essex. The renewed optimism marks the continuation of a trend that started in the 1990s. Beds have been opened and restrictions lifted as tests reveal better water quality in coastal areas.
And the trend extends beyond Essex.
Shellfish beds are being reopened "all the way up and down the coastline," said David Roach Jr., area biologist with the state Division of Marine Fisheries, based in Gloucester. This is happening all the way from the New Hampshire border to the Rhode Island border."
High bacteria levels pushed the federal Environmental Protection Agency and the state's Department of Environmental Protection to order the town to address water pollution in 1996, which eventually led to the installation of sewer lines to replace septic tanks in many areas of town. The sewer system went on line in 2006, and the change has been apparent to aquatic biologists.
"I've been out a few times myself and I can confirm that there has been a definite improvement in water quality," Roach said. He'll oversee comprehensive testing in the area, a study that could take up to two years.
While other biological pollutants may have also been a factor in the high bacteria counts in the river, leaching and runoff from septic tanks is believed to have been the major polluter of the Essex River, which Roach said was in turn "the largest contributor of bacterial contaminants to Essex Bay."
The reopening of so many shellfish beds is news on two fronts.
"Shellfish are two things," said David Sargent, the Gloucester shellfish warden and a longtime commercial clammer. "One is that they're an environmental monitor that's really cost-effective. People harvest them, bring them back, and you can look to see if they're high in indicator toxins such as pathogens, such as bacteria, and things like that. This would show that this might be impacting other things that live in this sensitive environment of coastal wetlands and marsh areas.
"They're also an economic engine," Sargent said, noting that the financial return goes not just to the clammer but also to local restaurants and the tourist-related industry.
"More money stays in the local economy from shellfish harvesting than from any other industry surveyed. Particularly for soft-shelled clams, people come from all over the country to the North Shore for steamers and fryers, so it's a huge economic engine."
Harvests in some areas are still limited -- one reason that few shellfish harvesters do it for 100 percent of their income. -- Boston Globe
Wednesday, February 27, 2008P
Business Toolbox: Your competitors & or suppliers
Japan wants into the U.S. seafood market
Japan -- one of the world's largest importers of seafood -- is vying for a share of the steadily growing US seafood market with the first government sponsored exhibit at the International Boston Seafood Show.
Facing a declining birthrate, Japan recently set out to increase its exports of agricultural and fisheries products worldwide to $10 billion in 2013 from about $3.7 billion in 2006, Toshinori Uoya, Japan's assistant director of the export promotion office, said.
America, which imports about 80 percent of its seafood, is a ripe market for Japan. In 2007, about $13.8 billion pounds of ocean products were imported -- a 35 percent increase from 2002, according to the National Marine Fisheries Service.
Japan, which boasts the world's largest wholesale fish market known as Tsukiji, in Tokyo, is sponsoring 10 seafood companies at a pavilion at the ongoing International Boston Seafood Show. – Boston Globe
Business Toolbox: Science
Maybe we should eat more of the small fry
WASHINGTON — Rules that allow only the catching of larger fish may encourage their replacement with slower growing, more timid varieties. That, at least, is the concern of researchers who studied test populations in two artificial lakes and report their findings in this week's edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Peter A. Biro of the department of environmental science at the University of Technology in Sydney, Australia, explained that it's the fast-growing more aggressive fish that tend to get caught, removing them from the breeding pool.
That leaves reproduction up to slower-growing fish that are more timid, he explained in an interview via e-mail.
"This will cause evolution to slower growth rates and slow the rate of recovery for fished populations, and could explain why fisheries tend not to rebound in the manner we expect after we reduce harvest or close a fishery," he said.
"What surprised me was how fast it occurred," Biro said. He said the largest catch occurred on the first day of fishing.
Biro and his colleague, John R. Post, stocked two lakes in western Canada with different types of rainbow trout — one type was known to be aggressive in seeking food and to grow rapidly, while the other grew more slowly and tended to take fewer risks in foraging.
They set gillnets in the ponds over five days, moving them each day, and caught 50 percent of the stocked fast-growing fish but just 30 percent of the more cautious ones.
"Fish that are highly active and bold tend to bump into these nets more often and are less likely to avoid them," he explained. And increased activity is necessary to get enough food for rapid growth.
John Waldman, an aquatic biologist at Queens College in New York, called the report important.
"Harvest of fishes is probably the most profound impact mankind is having on the sea, yet we rarely succeed in even the basics of achieving long-term sustainability of important commercial species," said Waldman, who was not part of the research team.
The report shows that "differences in 'boldness,' which are positively correlated with grow rate, render bold individuals more vulnerable to harvest, thereby adding an important and, till now, unconsidered direct effect to the known indirect effect" of fishing, Waldman said. – Associated Press
Business Toolbox: The inevitable
Politics intrudes on the purity of Wild News
WASHINGTON — Hillary Clinton on Monday accused China of paying back the United States for a landmark trade deal with "tainted fish and lead-laced toys and poison pet food."
The New York senator warned in a major foreign policy address that China's trade and currency policies were punishing US workers, and hammered President George W. Bush's policies towards the communist giant.
Risking another row with Beijing, which accused her in November of slandering its manufacturers, Clinton said China "has become a global superpower that needs to be convinced to play by the rules in the global marketplace."
"Over the course of the last seven years, Bush policies have allowed the Chinese government to become our banker," Clinton said in a speech at George Washington University here.
"Today, China's steel comes here and our jobs go there. We play by the rules and they manipulate their currency," she said in remarks apparently aimed at the economically distressed state of Ohio which holds a crucial primary vote March 4.
"We get tainted fish and lead-laced toys and poison pet food in return. that will change when I am in the White House," she said, recalling several product safety scares surrounding Chinese-made goods last year. – APF
Business Toolbox: Crime and punishment
Burglars make off with 70 live lobsters
ORLANDO, Fla. -- Orlando police are looking for the people who stole more than 70 live lobsters. The stolen seafood is worth thousands of dollars, but it might all go to waste.
Somehow the thieves made it over a fence and barbed wire before they broke in the back of the Orlando seafood company and carried out a heavy load of live lobsters. The lobsters probably won't last and, if the thieves eat them, they could get sick.
"It's gotta be a joke, there's no way someone's gonna break in and steal lobster," said Juni Ramirez, who runs Reel Fish and Lobster.
Ramirez almost didn't believe the call he got at 3 a.m. Saturday.
"When we came the next morning, there was a crate of lobsters right here and empty one right next to the tanks," he said.
More than 200 pounds, or roughly 70 lobsters, were stolen out the back door. They are expensive lobsters. Seafood restaurants and stores will pay up to $50 a piece for some of them. The thieves made off with a total of $2,000 worth.
The thing about the lobsters is that they have to be kept in 40-degree water or they'll die within a matter of hours. Whoever stole them better eat them quickly.
"If they die, within 24 hours they have to be cooked. Otherwise, you can get sick off them," Ramirez said. – WFtv.com, Florida
Business Toolbox: Consumer information
Feds tout their seafood website
American consumers seeking information about which seafood is sustainable, safe, and healthy need to look no further than the new government-run online consumer education tool, http://www.fishwatch.noaa.gov. Visitors to the site will learn about sustainable seafood and how to distinguish science-based fact from fiction.
“The American public looks to their government for information they can rely on, and we’re proud to give them FishWatch,” said retired Vice Admiral Conrad C. Lautenbacher, NOAA administrator. “Consumers are rightfully confused given all the misleading and conflicting information available to them, but FishWatch will help them become better educated and prepared seafood consumers.”
FishWatch.noaa.gov features information about 50 of the most commonly harvested and farmed species that are consumed in the United States. The species-specific pages offer the most accurate information available on population size, annual landings, management goals and milestones, life history and habitat, fishing practices, photos, factoids, and nutritional content. The public also will find import/export statistics and a whole page devoted to seafood and human health.
The seafood and human health page will be of particular interest since it includes facts about mercury and offers helpful hints about selecting, buying, storing and preparing seafood to ensure quality and safety. – Press release
Thursday, February 29, 2008P
Business Toolbox: Your customers' health
Shrimper argues against current inspection rules
TARPON SPRINGS, Fla. -- John Williams, a shrimp fisherman and executive director of the Southern Shrimp Alliance, testified before the House Subcommittee on Oversight and
Investigations of the Commerce and Energy Committee regarding import seafood safety.
Williams criticized the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) reliance on importers to verify food safety and recommended Congress take legislative actions.
"The FDA has failed to enforce food safety laws on imported seafood. The FDA's approach to imported food safety is to accept unverified representations from importers with only token inspections," explained Williams.
“Concerns about the FDA's inability to assure the safety of imported seafood have caused at least eight states to conduct their own testing programs. Repeatedly, these states have found banned substances in the imports they test-seafood allowed by the FDA and the private sector to enter the U.S. market.
“Since 2002, the state of Louisiana has had an Emergency Rule in place to test imported shrimp and crawfish for chloramphenicol. It added testing for fluoroquinolones in Chinese and Vietnamese seafood in 2007.
“The FDA's failure to prevent the importation of contaminated shrimp has a number of negative effects on the U.S. market, the U.S. shrimp industry and U.S. consumers that benefit from a diet of healthful seafood.
“First and foremost, farmed-shrimp imports contaminated with banned antibiotics,
pesticides and other dangerous contaminants put the health of U.S. consumers at serious risk according to sound medical science that is recognized and applied worldwide.
“Second, U.S. consumers are quite often unable to distinguish between safe and unsafe shrimp in retail markets and restaurants. Their fear of buying or being served contaminated imported shrimp depresses the overall consumption and demand for all shrimp, including healthful, wild-caught shrimp produced in the United States.
“Finally, the FDA's lax inspection system allows volumes of low-value contaminated shrimp into the U.S. market. These illegal shipments depress the price for U.S. shrimp fishermen.” – Press release
Business Toolbox: Your customers' health
Shrimper argues against current inspection rules
TARPON SPRINGS, Fla. -- John Williams, a shrimp fisherman and executive director of the Southern Shrimp Alliance, testified before the House Subcommittee on Oversight and
Investigations of the Commerce and Energy Committee regarding import seafood safety.
Williams criticized the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) reliance on importers to verify food safety and recommended Congress take legislative actions.
"The FDA has failed to enforce food safety laws on imported seafood. The FDA's approach to imported food safety is to accept unverified representations from importers with only token inspections," explained Williams.
“Concerns about the FDA's inability to assure the safety of imported seafood have caused at least eight states to conduct their own testing programs. Repeatedly, these states have found banned substances in the imports they test-seafood allowed by the FDA and the private sector to enter the U.S. market.
“Since 2002, the state of Louisiana has had an Emergency Rule in place to test imported shrimp and crawfish for chloramphenicol. It added testing for fluoroquinolones in Chinese and Vietnamese seafood in 2007.
“The FDA's failure to prevent the importation of contaminated shrimp has a number of negative effects on the U.S. market, the U.S. shrimp industry and U.S. consumers that benefit from a diet of healthful seafood.
“First and foremost, farmed-shrimp imports contaminated with banned antibiotics,
pesticides and other dangerous contaminants put the health of U.S. consumers at serious risk according to sound medical science that is recognized and applied worldwide.
“Second, U.S. consumers are quite often unable to distinguish between safe and unsafe shrimp in retail markets and restaurants. Their fear of buying or being served contaminated imported shrimp depresses the overall consumption and demand for all shrimp, including healthful, wild-caught shrimp produced in the United States.
“Finally, the FDA's lax inspection system allows volumes of low-value contaminated shrimp into the U.S. market. These illegal shipments depress the price for U.S. shrimp fishermen.” – Press release
Business Toolbox: The competition
Omega 3 declines when fish farmers change feed
When the diets of farmed fish are altered, the food we ingest also changes.
For his doctorate, Sverre Ludvig Seierstad investigated the biological consequences of exchanging the fish oils commonly used in fish feed with vegetable oils. What consequences might this have on both fish and human health?
The research project “Fjord til bord (Fjord to table)” has been a collaboration between the Norwegian School of Veterinary Science, the National institute for Nutrition and Seafood Research (NIFES), Nutreco ARC and Ullevål University Hospital.
The main ingredients of fish feed have traditionally been of marine origin. For several reasons, including increased demand for and production of farmed fish, and climatic considerations, feed ingredients of marine origin are becoming both scarce and expensive. The fish farming industry therefore wishes to utilise alternative lipid (fat) sources in feed used for salmon farming.
Vegetable oils have been shown to stimulate the appetite and feed intake of fish, and to increase growth rate and carcass quality. This doctorate investigated some consequences of the use of these alternative fish oils in the feed on the health of both fish and humans.
Marine oils are rich in long-chain omega-3 fatty acids (EPA and DHA), which have been shown to have beneficial effects on heart and circulatory system disease in man.
In collaboration with Ullevål Hospital, heart patients with atherosclerosis (disease of the cardiac arteries) were placed on three different diets, using salmon meat containing varying amounts of fish oil and vegetable oil. It was shown that the fat composition of the salmon meat affected the fatty acid profile of the patients’ blood and that the advantageous marine omega-3 fatty acids increased markedly in those patients that ate fish fed on feed containing pure fish oils. It was also shown that in these patients the levels of marker substances for heart and vessel disease were much better than in patients eating fish fed pure rapeseed oil. – Science Daily from materials provided by Norwegian School of Veterinary Science.
Business Toolbox: Your supply
Managers begin to pinch off Chesapeake crab fisheries
State fisheries biologists are preparing a menu of options to reduce this season's harvest of blue crabs in the Chesapeake Bay, including licensing all recreational crabbers and curtailing the commercial harvest of female crabs until they reach spawning age.
A population survey is about a month from completion, but few scientists believe it will indicate that the number of crabs exceeds the 200 million target needed to sustain a robust rebuilding program. A drop below 86 million crabs might leave too few crabs to restock the population, said Lynn Fegley, a biologist with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.
"The best-case scenario -- over 200 million crabs -- will not happen this year; I can almost guarantee it," Fegley told recreational anglers last night. "If the 2008 survey indicates over-fishing, DNR will be obligated to act in 2008."
Last year, Maryland's commercial crabbers caught slightly less than 22 million pounds, the second-lowest level in three decades. Virginia crabbers caught about the same amount.
Restrictions by Maryland and Virginia over the last seven years "seemed to have stopped the skid, but we haven't gotten where we need to go," Fegley said.
The most drastic measure would be closing the commercial season for up to two weeks. But Fegley said regulators would prefer setting size limits to protect female crabs until they can spawn. On the recreational side, proposals include requiring a license, setting catch limits and reducing the length of "trotlines" used to catch crabs.– The Baltimore Sun
Friday, February 29, 2008P
Business Toolbox: Marketing
During Lent, attention turns to fish sandwich
For Catholics, Lent is the annual 40-day period of prayer, almsgiving and fasting that leads to Easter. And for fast food chains, Lent is the time of year that the dowdiest and least popular item on the menu board -- the fish sandwich -- gets time in the spotlight.
As part of their religious observance, Catholics are instructed to sacrifice during Lent, and that has traditionally meant meatless Fridays. While this tradition has waned considerably since Pope John Paul II declared fish-eating more voluntary than mandatory, the big burger chains are making sure they don't exclude the observant. This year, the biggest promotional push has come from Wendy's, which launched its Premium Fish Fillet Sandwich, pictured, with a major TV campaign taking pot shots at rival McDonald's Filet-o-Fish by emphasizing that its sandwich isn't "mystery fish" but rather "hand-cut fillets of North Pacific cod."
Two weeks ago, Arby's announced it was going to reintroduce two fish sandwiches for a limited time, citing their popularity last Easter. And last year, KFC, which used to exclusively sell chicken, went all the way to the Vatican when it unveiled its Fish Snacker, sending a letter to the Pope in request to give his blessing on the sandwich.
"It's good timing," says Sherri Daye Scott, editor of QSR Magazine, a trade publication that covers the fast food business. "It's like rolling out a new milkshake at the beginning of summer. It just makes sense."
Bob Bertini, a spokesman for Wendy's International in Dublin, Ohio, says the fish option is a must-have for the major chains.
"There's such a demand for fish in the Lenten season that it just makes sense to do it," he says.
That observation isn't new: In 1962, Lou Groen, a McDonald's franchisee in Cincinnati, noticed his restaurant was virtually empty during the Fridays of Lent. He decided to compete against a local seafood-serving rival and the Filet-o-Fish was born.
The sandwich was a hit among customers, but top management at McDonald's remained skeptical. Chief executive Ray Kroc insisted on a more appetizing non-meat offering in the form of "hula burger" -- a slice of pineapple in between a hamburger bun. To test his thesis, he challenged Groen to a contest: Both the Filet-o-Fish and hula burger would be sold on a Friday, and whichever sandwich sold more would be put on the menu. The Filet-O-Fish handily won and was soon placed on menus chainwide in 1963.
To this day, the McDonald's sandwich remains a hit during Easter season: Almost one-quarter of annual Filet-O-Fish sales in the U.S. occurs during Lent. But overall, people aren't pulling into the drive-through with fish on the brain. Market research suggests that even during Lent, fish accounts for just 2% of fast-food sales.
"It's still by far the least popular of all the protein choices," says Scott. So who eats the fish sandwiches during the non-Lent season? "Women--moms, mostly -- and people with religious restrictions. Seafood has a halo around it because it's
perceived to be healthy," she says. "But we're just not a fish-eating country."
Bertini says that after Lent, there's just not enough demand to sustain a fish sandwich through to the summer. "Next month, we move on to burgers." – National Post, Canada
Business Toolbox: Hungry for lobster
Business Toolbox: Hungry for lobster
ORLANDO, Fla. -- About $2,000 worth of live lobsters and other seafood was stolen Saturday from the Real Fish and Lobster Restaurant in Orlando.
According to a police report, the burglar used a crowbar to pry open the back door of the business.
The bandit grabbed 70 live lobsters from several crates and broke into an ice cooler for other seafood.
The restaurant's general manager told police the alarm system and security camera were not working at the time of the robbery. WESH.com, FL
Business Toolbox: Aw-shucks
Massachusetts man top oyster shucker
It can be hard work to open them, but Wellfleet, Mass., oysterman William “Chopper” Young Jr. shucks oysters for sport. His personal best: 24 oysters in one minute and four seconds.
At this week’s Boston Seafood Show, Young won top honors by shucking a dozen oysters in one minute and five seconds.
“It’s all about presentation. So many seconds can be added on as a penalty if (the oysters) are not clean and cut off the bottom shell,” said Young, 41, who hopes to win the Guinness World Oyster Opening Chamionship in Galway, Ireland, next September.
As a commercial oysterman, Young earns 45 cents to $1.10 for each oyster from his two three-acre oyster farms.
There are different classifications of oysters from different species around the world, but “Wellfleet’s are still the best,” claimed Young, who hopes to cash in on his success as a sport shucker and market his own brand of “Chopper’s Choice Oysters.”
“I’m already selling them as far as Canada,” said Young. “Next for me is the World’s Championship, then it’s the end of the road until ESPN picks up shucking as a sport to show.” – Boston Herald
Business Toolbox: Your supply
Long Island Sound lobster dying off
HARTFORD, Conn. -- There are signs that Long Island Sound may be suffering from another die-off that wiped out 80 percent of the Sound's lobsters in 1999.
The president of the Connecticut Commercial Lobstermen's Association says there are reports of pockets of dead lobsters of the Thames River down the coast to Darien.
The director of marine fisheries for the state Department of Environmental Protection says he has some concerns.
Eric M. Smith says state officials began to receive reports last fall of lobsters showing stress and disease problems similar to 1999.
Smith says scientists believe warmer water in the Sound was a key trigger in the 1999 lobster die-off, causing stress that turned other factors such as pesticides and pollution lethal. – Hartford Courant
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