|
Monday, July 16, 2007 In Depth: Hidden Cam Supermarket Fish Test
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- You asked for it; you got it.
After WCNC tested fish two months ago to see if you’re getting what you pay for in local seafood restaurants, dozens of viewers e-mailed us to ask us to test fish in supermarkets and grocery stores as well. So we did. The WCNC fish test is back. In May, we tested grouper and snapper in restaurants. We found six out of 10 times, we didn't get what we ordered but a cheaper fish instead. We took a hidden camera to grocery stores and went shopping to see if you're getting what you pay for. Our objective: the seafood counter. On our shopping list - grouper and snapper - species for which we found lots of substitution in restaurants. And just like our restaurant test, our selections ran from mom-and-pops to big chains. We bought fish at Bi-Lo, Bloom, Compare Foods, Fresh Market, Harris Teeter, the Home Economist, Reids Fine Foods and Whole Foods. To conduct our tests, we bought filets, iced them down and shipped them to Nova Southeastern University where we paid for them to be DNA tested. When we tested restaurants, we found cheaper imports like Asian catfish and tilapia substituted for more expensive wild fish like grouper and snapper. There are several key differences in distribution and regulation between restaurant fish and supermarket fish. First, restaurants are not required to list the country of origin on the menu. But grocers are—federal law requires it. “We need to tell the consumer how the fish is caught and where it's caught,” says Paul Crowson, seafood marketing manager for all Bi-Lo and Bruno’s supermarkets. Fish in the Bi-Lo seafood section bears labels from Chile, Indonesia, Ecuador and “product of the USA.” A second key difference between restaurants and supermarkets: No one routinely inspects restaurant kitchens to see where the food comes from. But state agriculture inspectors do look at labels in supermarkets. "North Carolina law mandates that fish sold here have a label stating where the fish comes from,” says Oscar Sosa, seafood manager at Compare Foods on Arrowood. “If that's not there, we could be fined." The lab's DNA tests found this time, in every single case, the fish was indeed as advertised. The grouper was grouper. The snapper was snapper. Most grocers told us they carefully examine shipments from suppliers. “We have our own terms with suppliers,” says Paul Crowson of Bi-Lo. “They know our specs; they respect our specs.” A Harris Teeter spokeswoman told us they require letters of guarantee from all suppliers. So why did groceries so significantly outperform restaurants? One reason might be those additional regulations. “The facilities are subject to inspection,” says Joe Reardon, Director of the Food and Drug Protection Division. “Hopefully some of the regulatory oversight is having an impact.” Within weeks of our first fish tests, the state began its own testing in supermarkets. And they did find some problems. Inspectors sampled Asian fish from supermarkets across the state. Tests of silver barb fish sampled at the Southeastern Oriental Market in Morganton revealed an antibiotic banned in the United States. The result: the Chicago-based importer voluntarily recalled the fish from across the state. The state continues to sample and test imported fish from supermarkets large and small in all regions of the state. – Stuart Watson, WCNC, North Carolina Food and Seafood Delivery Giant Sold for £1.4 Billion Brakes, one of Britain and Europe's largest food and seafood distribution companies, has changed hands for an estimated £1.4billion.The company, which owns the nationwide fish distribution business M&J Seafoods, has been sold by the private equity owner Clayton Dubillier & Rice to the U.S. private equity group Bain Capital. Bain is thought to have beaten off competition from the Icelandic based group Baugur and former Asda boss Archie Norman, among a number of other possible suitors. The deal marks a highly successful and profitable exit for Clayton Dubillier & Rice, which bought the company for £434m five years ago with the founding family's backing and took out a debt repayment of about £275m last year. Brakes (formerly known as Brake Brothers) supplies schools, restaurants and large catering companies with a wide range of fish and general food. In a statement, Brakes chief executive Frank McKay said the company doesn't expect any significant changes to its strategy and he added that growth in 2007 has been "encouraging.” Cash rich buyout firms have been very active in the food distribution and seafood manufacturing industry recently. M&J Seafoods has bases in several parts of the country including Grimsby, Fleetwood—and at Garstang in Scotland where it has its own smokehouse, combining traditional smoking methods with the latest kiln technology. Grimsby specializes in buying and processing round and flat whitefish and exotics, while Fleetwood specializes in salmon buying and regularly processes over 30 tons of that fish each day. The business was founded by Marion & Jeff Archer in 1978 to provide the UK catering market with fresh, frozen and chilled seafood. It then grew organically, becoming the UK's largest independent seafood supplier by the 1990s. Brakes acquired M& J seven years ago and in 2002 the Brake family decided to sell their shareholding. - www.fishupdate.com News: New Bedford Nation’s “Most Valuable Port” says NOAA New Bedford fishermen hauled in $281.2 million worth of seafood in 2006 to capture the title of the nation’s most valuable port for the seventh year in a row, according to a report released Thursday by NOAA Fisheries.The city maintained its No. 1 ranking despite restrictive groundfish regulations that have kept fishermen from catching large amounts of high-value stocks such as cod, said Richard Canastra, co-owner of the Whaling City Seafood Display Auction. “The scallop industry is doing well, but the groundfish fishery is having a hard time,” Canastra said. Landings of sea scallops, lobster, ocean quahogs, flatfish, Atlantic mackerel and herring helped the Whaling City earn the top ranking in 2006 in terms of the dollar value of the catch, according to the report. Meanwhile, for the 18th consecutive year, Dutch-Harbor Unalaska held onto the No. 1 ranking in terms of overall seafood landings. The Alaskan port recorded a catch of 911.3 million pounds of seafood in 2006. In that category, New Bedford placed seventh with 169.9 million pounds of fish and shellfish. In 2005, New Bedford landed 153.4 million pounds of seafood for a total value of $282.5 million. How did the port land more seafood for less money in 2006? Canastra said it has to do with groundfish regulations aimed at reviving depleted stocks of cod, yellowtail flounder and other fish that swim along the bottom of the ocean. The regulations forced fishermen to target low-value stocks instead of high-value stocks, he said. Instead of landing cod, which can sell for $2 per pound, fishermen caught lots of skate wings, which sell for around 40 cents per pound, he said. As for the higher amount of landings, Canastra attributed it to the addition of Southern scallopers that fished out of New Bedford in 2006 to be closer to scallop fishing grounds. Jim Kendall, a former scallop fishermen who now heads up New Bedford Seafood Consulting, blamed the $1.3 million drop in the value of New Bedford’s landings on a weak U.S. dollar in 2006. The annual rankings are a source of pride for New Bedford fishermen and “a bellwether” of how their industry is faring, Kendall said. - Becky W. Evans for Standard-Times Food News: Fish Stew Hooks Sauvignon Blanc With all the recent press about Spain's culinary revolution, it's no wonder Spanish food has been on my mind and in my kitchen.Today supermarkets carry pimenton, the smoky Spanish paprika, as well as saffron, short-grain rice and Marcona almonds. I can shop online or visit local specialty stores to get other regional items for my pantry. I am having so much fun playing with these ingredients that I decided to pair a Basque recipe with the Central Coast Sauvignon Blancs tasted this week. Some of the best food in Spain comes from the Basque region. It is a prosperous area with excellent dairy products, fine produce and great seafood from the Bay of Biscay. The Basques are quintessential foodies, with a long tradition of gastronomic societies, or what we'd call cooking clubs. Because Sauvignon Blanc does well with assertive ingredients like peppers and tomatoes, I selected a Basque classic, the famed "marmitako," or tuna stewed with peppers, tomatoes and potatoes. This stew traditionally was prepared aboard ship by fishermen, just after the tuna catch. Every summer, when tuna are at their richest and most well-fed, there are cooking competitions between Basque chefs to see who makes the best marmitako. There's no need to go broke on expensive sushi-grade tuna for this dish. Because you aren't serving it rare, you could use the less costly tombo or albacore. You also may substitute another meaty fish like opah, because the recipe matches the wine to the sauce, not the fish. The potatoes could be either tender russets or firmer Yukon golds. Some cooks use all green peppers, others mix red and green, or add a hit of piment d'Espelette, the hot dried pepper beloved by Basque cooks. Some recipes suggest using diced fresh tomatoes along with the peppers, while others add a good hit of Biscayne sauce, a tomato sauce enriched with red bell peppers, at the end of cooking. As I did not have the traditional choricero peppers and did not want to use dried anchos, I opted for roasted red peppers, the pimenton and a pinch of hot pepper. You also could use Spanish piquillo peppers instead of roasted red bell peppers. Sauvignon Blanc's high acidity can more than stand up to sharp ingredients like peppers and tomatoes. The green peppers, bay leaves and thyme pick up on any green and vegetal hints in the wine. For another level of complexity, use roasted tomatoes such as Muir Glen for the sauce or fresh tomatoes, roasted or not, as they are just now coming into season. And the wine's fruit is brought out by the tomato and sweet roasted pepper puree. I did add some hot pepper, as Sauvignon Blanc is not high in alcohol and can stand up to some heat. Marmitako can be simmered on top of the stove or baked in a moderate oven. In other words, marmitako has as many interpretations as there are Basque cooks. But no matter which recipe you follow, you will have a rich stew of potatoes and fish, bound with a sauce of peppers and tomatoes, that's felicitous with Sauvignon Blanc. - Joyce Goldstein for The San Francisco Chronicle News: Export Problems Not Only a China Problem Black pepper with salmonella from India. Crabmeat from Mexico that is too filthy to eat. Candy from Denmark that is mislabeled.At a time when Chinese imports are under fire for being contaminated or defective, federal records suggest that China is not the only country that has problems with its exports. In fact, U.S. inspectors have stopped more food shipments from India and Mexico in the last year than they have from China, an analysis of data maintained by the Food and Drug Administration shows. And despite China's much-publicized problems with contaminated seafood—including a temporary ban late last month on imports of five species of farm-raised seafood from China—federal inspectors refused produce from the Dominican Republic and candy from Denmark more often. For instance, produce from the Dominican Republic was stopped 817 times last year, usually for containing traces of illegal pesticides. Candy from Denmark was impounded 520 times. By comparison, Chinese seafood was stopped at the border 391 times during the last year. "The reality is, this is not a single-country issue at all," said Carl Nielsen, who resigned from the FDA in 2005, after 28 years. His last job was director of the agency's Office of Regulatory Affairs Division of Import Operations and Policy. "What we are experiencing is massive globalization." The FDA database does not necessarily capture a full and accurate picture of product quality from other countries. Only one year of data is available on the agency's Web site, and FDA officials declined to provide more data without a formal Freedom of Information request, a process that can take months or years. In addition, the FDA inspects only about 1 percent of the imports that fall under its jurisdiction. The FDA database also fails to disclose the quantity of products that are refused, so it is impossible to know whether just a box of cucumbers was refused or a shipload. In cases of recurrent problems, the FDA may issue an import alert, which leads to additional scrutiny at the border. Last month, for instance, the FDA issued not only the import alert for the Chinese fish, but also import alerts for Mexican cantaloupes and basmati rice from India, among others. Despite the shortcomings with the FDA database of import refusals, the available information makes clear that quality problems extend well beyond China, where officials recently admitted that nearly 20 percent of the country's products are substandard. Critics say the FDA has not changed to deal with the flood of imports in the last decade, as trade agreements have opened up borders to products from across the globe. The United States imported $1.86 trillion in merchandise last year, compared with $1.14 trillion in 2001, a 63 percent increase, according to Commerce Department records. An FDA plan to revamp the way it inspects imports, called the Import Strategic Plan, was completed in 2003, but shelved because of budgetary constraints, several former FDA officials said. The plan would have focused more on finding potential risks in the food supply using vast quantities of information -- from inspectors and manufacturers to foreign governments and consumers -- to aim at problem imports. "It basically got deep-sixed," said William Hubbard, a former FDA associate commissioner who resigned in 2005 and is now a part of a coalition that is advocating for more financing for the agency. "There was no capacity to cover as imports went up," he said. - Andrew Martin and Griff Palmer for The New York Times <<<•>>> Tuesday, July 17, 2007 News: Menhaden Schools Attract Swarms of Fishermen PROVIDENCE, R.I. - For the first time in years, big schools of menhaden are migrating into Narragansett Bay and attracting out-of-state fishermen who use airplanes to find the schools of small baitfish and auxiliary boats to deploy vast nets to sweep them up.The upsurge caught state fishing regulators by surprise and prompted the state Department of Environmental Management two weeks ago to change course from minimally managing the fishery to enacting an emergency regulation limiting each boat to 75,000 pounds of fish daily. No one can explain with certainty the sudden increase in menhaden. But it further complicates a struggle between recreational and commercial fishermen over who will have access to what had been a badly depleted fish population. This year, the long-simmering feud erupted at the State House over a bill that would have banned commercial fishermen from netting menhaden in Narragansett Bay. The bill never got out of committee. It was never heard in a public hearing. But it spawned letter-writing and e-mail campaigns, prompted bitter arguments and broke up at least one friendship. Save the Bay, the state’s largest environmental group, had endorsed the bill and then raised the ante by hosting a New Jersey professor named H. Bruce Franklin, whose book The Most Important Fish in the Sea raises alarms about declining menhaden. The Rhode Island Saltwater Anglers Association sponsored a petition supporting the bill signed by 11,697 people. In the 1970s, catches of 30 million to 40 million pounds of menhaden in Narragansett Bay were commonplace. But the numbers dropped to such low levels in recent years that the authorities didn’t attempt to quantify them. One boat, Ark Bait’s Sea Huntress, would fish the Bay as long as it found menhaden. When the fish were gone, the boat would move on to New Jersey waters and truck its catches back to Fall River. The issue isn’t necessarily one of the small fish, but what people catch with it: Lobster. – Providence Journal News: Louisiana Shrimpers to Certify Quality HOUMA, La. - Some Louisiana shrimp could get a "premium" rating, under a new plan being launched by the Louisiana Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board.Marketing Chairman Harlon Pearce said he hopes that reinventing Louisiana as a provider of quality seafood will mean fishermen can get more than bare-bottom prices for their work. Though imported shrimp have been a big problem for local shrimpers in recent years, driving down the overall price of shrimping and making it harder to make a living in the industry, Pearce said that the move to reinvent Louisiana seafood isn't just an effort to compete with imports. "Our goal is not to be in that commodity market, our goal is to create a niche market," he said. "The way people think about Louisiana shrimp now, is they think 'How cheap can I buy it?' But this isn't the thought process we want here. We want people to think about how much they need to pay these fisherman to get the quality product they're looking for." Louisiana Seafood Promotions and Marketing Board Executive Director Ewell Smith compared the effort to the thinking at Chevrolet: Not everyone goes into a Chevy dealership to buy a Cadillac, but the company makes sure to offer the premium brand for those who do. - Houma (La.) Today New York Times Op Ed: Unsafe Seafood? When my wife was pregnant with our son, her obstetrician gave her a list of food dos and don’ts. Chief among the don’ts: alcohol, unpasteurized cheeses and raw fish. Meanwhile, every French mother I know consumed alcohol and unpasteurized cheese in moderation during her pregnancy, and my friends in Japan laugh at the notion of avoiding sushi when they’re expecting.Indeed, in Japan, eating raw fish is considered part of good neonatal nutrition. You can be sure that, were there documented complications resulting from pregnant women eating sushi in Japan, there would be swift government intervention. Yet, in the United States, it is taboo for a pregnant woman to eat raw fish. But this isn’t because scientific research has concluded that unborn children have been damaged by sushi. Rather, it’s because the speculative risk of food-borne illnesses, especially parasites, has captured the public imagination. There are several reasons, however, that these fears are unfounded. While Americans tend to associate raw fish with sushi and Japan, we have been eating raw seafood for centuries — namely, oysters and clams. And it is these raw mollusks, not the fish typically used in sushi, that are responsible for the overwhelming majority, about 85 percent, of seafood-related illnesses. If you take raw and partly cooked shellfish out of the equation, the risk of falling ill from eating seafood is 1 in 2 million servings, the government calculated some years back; by comparison, the risk from eating chicken is 1 in 25,000. (Over all, 76 million cases of food poisoning are reported a year.) The main risk of illness from non-mollusks isn’t from eating them raw. Rather, as the Institute of Medicine reports, the problem is “cross-contamination of cooked by raw product,” which is “usually associated with time/temperature abuse.” In other words, no matter what you order in a restaurant, if it’s not kept at a proper temperature and protected from contamination, you’re at risk. Conversely, if the restaurant follows good food safety practices, there is little to worry about. Having been inside the kitchens of dozens of restaurants of all kinds for research, I can say that Japanese kitchens are, on the whole, the cleanest, the most careful and the most conscientious in the business. Sushi may not be cooked, but it has, for the most part, been frozen. Food and Drug Administration guidelines require that before being served as sushi or sashimi (or in any other raw form), fish be flash-frozen to destroy parasites. While the fish you see in the sushi-bar display case looks fresh, it has almost certainly been frozen at some point in the distribution system. This freezing kills any parasites as sure as cooking would. But rational analysis doesn’t hold sway with the pregnancy police. “Why take any risk?” they ask. The medical establishment and the culture at large have twisted logic around to the point where any risk, no matter how infinitesimal, is too much. So powerful is this Puritanical impulse that, once a health objection is raised, however irrational the recommended behavior, it’s considered irresponsible to behave any other way. There’s a temptation to say there’s no harm in this type of thinking. Women should simply not eat sushi for nine months; surely that’s no big deal. But there are problems with this approach. For one thing, between the warnings about parasites in sushi and about mercury in certain species of fish, pregnant women are being scared off fish altogether. And that’s bad news, since the fatty acids in fish are the ideal nourishment for a developing baby. For another thing, the sushi ban is insulting to Japanese culture. It speaks of ignorance and prejudice to reject one of that culture’s basic foods based on unfounded health claims. And perhaps most important, pregnancy should be a time of joy, not stress. The result of an over-regulated pregnancy is fear and negativity. Perhaps the best antidote would be to relax with a salmon roll and a nice sake. - Steven A. Shaw for New York Times Food: All About Canadian Salmon For a look at the different varieties of salmon and the different varieties of cooking them, check out B.C. Seafood Online.Although the flaccid, pale, artificially colored farm caged variety is mentioned, you’ll also find a vast amount of information about salmon that live wild and free. – bcseafoodonline.com News: Restaurants, Market Accused of Poaching COLUMBUS, Ohio – A Columbus market and two restaurants — one in Reynoldsburg and the other in New Albany — have been buying and reselling illegally caught fish, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.Agents from the department took records and equipment over the weekend from the restaurants and the market, Frebis Food Center at 1505 Frebis Ave. on the South Side, said Ron Ollis, a supervisor in the department's special-operations bureau in Columbus. The raids followed a 13-month investigation of illegal fishing in the Maumee River near Toledo and a two-year investigation at the Sandusky River near Fremont. Eight people have been charged in the Toledo case. Their names and the names of the restaurants are to be released Monday. Agents arrested David "Davey" E. Crockett, 61, on Saturday at the Frebis market when he showed up to buy food while state agents were collecting evidence. Crockett, of 1744 Penfield Rd. on the East Side, was charged with carrying a concealed weapon without a permit, but Ollis said yesterday that records show he was illegally supplying fish caught in the Sandusky River and that more charges will be filed against him. A worker at the Frebis Food Center would not comment yesterday, and the restaurant manager could not be reached. Crockett was in the Franklin County jail tonight. It is illegal to buy or sell sport fish, such as walleye, in Ohio without a commercial license, and Crockett didn't have one, Ollis said. The eight people in the Maumee River case are accused of catching more than the daily limit, particularly of walleye, and most were arrested Saturday Ollis said. During the investigation, called Operation Numbers, undercover officers fished next to or with the sportsmen, noting the illegal capture of more than 570 fish over 20 days, he said. Each illegally caught fish is a misdemeanor with a maximum sentence of up to 30 days in a jail and a $250 fine. "We found that they bagged their limit of fish several times a day," Ollis said. "We didn't go in looking for a target, and we wanted to make sure no commercialization was going on. We didn't find any of that." The Maumee River is famous for a spawning season called the Walleye Run, which attracts thousands of fishermen from across the country. Each fisherman has a four-fish limit per day. Bag limits were introduced in the 1930s as a wildlife-conservation tool, Ollis said. – Columbus Dispatch <<<•>>> Wednesday, July 18, 2007 News: Minister Issues Warning On Eve of Crawfish Season In just over two weeks the crawfish season will open, but Minister of Agriculture and Marine Resources Larry Cartwright warned Monday that while the season will be opened, fishermen must adhere to fishing regulations, as they will be enforced to ensure the longevity of the seafood.The crawfish season will open on August 1 and will close on March 31, 2008. During a press conference Cartwright said the crawfish is by far the most valuable commercial species in Bahamian waters and has provided good income for many Bahamians, and further, that authorities must ensure that fishermen are not breaking fishing laws. He said records at the Department of Marine Resources show the landing of 5.2 million pounds of crawfish tails valued at $92 million in 2006. "The recorded landings of crawfish in The Bahamas have been showing slight declines for the past four years. Elsewhere in the region most of the countries that have significant crawfish resources have in recent years been showing even larger declines," Minister Cartwright said. The reasons listed as a factor for the decline include disturbed weather, changes in oceanographic conditions, over-fishing and degradation of the marine environment. "Much is unknown but there are issues that we know that we must pay attention to as we seek to manage this very important resource to ensure that it will continue to provide employment, income and food for Bahamians well into the future," Cartwright said. Cartwright said due to the high monetary value of crawfish tails, significant gains can be made by waiting the extra days for the crawfish to reach legal size. To ensure this, the Ministry will enforce rules that mandate crawfish tails must not be undersized and females carrying eggs cannot be caught. "Legal" crawfish are to be a minimum of five and a half inches. "With the appropriate permit, persons are allowed to use air compressors to aid in the harvesting of fisheries resources in waters between 30 and 60 feet in depth. Fishing outside of these depths puts excessive fishing pressure on the resources and also can cause the users of the apparatus to be exposed to unsafe conditions that can have serious negative health impacts over the short and or long terms," Cartwright said. "Unfortunately some fisherman continue to use detergents, gasoline and other toxic chemicals to aid in the capture of crawfish. The use of any such chemicals is against the law and presents a real threat to the marine environment," Minister Cartwright said. In order to ensure that catches are properly handled, the Department of Marine Resources has initiated a program of inspection of sanitary conditions aboard commercial vessels. Cartwright said this is essential if The Bahamas is going to continue to have access to foreign markets willing to pay competitive prices for the crawfish exports. – Bahaman Journal News: Scup Fishermen Snag Quota Loss EAST HAMPTON, N.Y. - Members of the Town of East Hampton’s Commercial Fisheries Advisory Committee blame what they say is a byzantine accounting system for lost revenue, as much as $6,000 for each of the town’s inshore fishermen during May and June’s productive scup (also known as porgy) fishing season. The town, with support from Congressional representatives, is asking for "human" accounting."This is so inhuman. I’m not sure there’s a human that looks at these numbers. There’s one port agent for all of Long Island. East Hampton lands more fish than the entire state of Delaware, and we don’t have a [federal] port agent," said Brad Loewen, a trap fisherman and member of the East Hampton Town Board. During a meeting on last week, high-ranking officials of the National Marine Fisheries Service were told by Loewen and others that it was not the first time that landing statistics have been misapplied, leaving "the small guys" without their valuable summer fisheries. Patricia Kurkul, Northeast regional administrator for the fisheries service, and John Witzig, director of the service’s regional statistics office, said there was little they could do. They had traveled from their headquarters in Gloucester, Mass., at the request of Supervisor Bill McGintee. They were told that accounting mistakes in 2005 and 2006 caused the quota to be reduced during the summer season. By the time the mistakes were discovered and quota given back, it was too late in the season to do inshore fishermen any good. Attending the meeting, in addition to Supervisor McGintee and his guests, were Loewen, who sits on the fisheries advisory committee; Arnold Leo, secretary of the East Hampton Town Baymen’s Association and a committee member; Robert Valenti, owner of MultiAquaculture Systems, a fish dealer; Norman Edwards Jr., an inshore draggerman, town trustee, and committee member; Bruce Hoek, a commercial rod and reel fisherman from Springs and committee chairman; Lauren Montes, aide to Senator Hillary Clinton; and John Schneider, aide to Representative Timothy Bishop. Laura Molinari, the town attorney, also sat in. Leo offered what he said was a perfect example of unfair accounting. On the state level, the commercial porgy fishery is divided between winter and summer seasons. The seasons are, in turn, subdivided. In this way, the state’s share of the annual coastal quota for the species is divvied up among the different sorts of porgy fishermen. On April 28 or 29, two large draggers packed out a total of 56,000 pounds of scup at the Inlet Seafood dock in Montauk. It was the end of the second winter period and the big trawlers had a trip limit of 30,000 pounds. The fish were landed legally. Leo explained that while the scup were landed in April (still considered the winter season), they were not reported as sold in the Hunts Point market until May 1, the start of the summer season. The real problem, according to the committee, is that when fisheries service computers read May 1 on required dealer reports of Inlet Seafood’s 56,000 pounds of scup, the statistic was passed along to the State Department of Environmental Conservation, as all sales statistics are. Upon receiving that statistic, the D.E.C. promptly cut the trip limit. For 22 days, from June 8 through June 30, fishermen were permitted to keep only 60 pounds instead of the 250 pounds they would ordinarily have been given starting June 1. At the time, porgies were selling for $1.50 per pound, and there were plenty around. Leo asked the federal fisheries managers how it was possible for government statisticians not to see that something was amiss when 56,000 pounds of scup were attributed to the first week of the summer season when the daily trip limit was only 100 pounds? Director Kurkul listened, and then told the gathering: “We don’t base our numbers on landing reports. It’s not an error, it’s the system. It was designed that way because landing data supplied on dealer’s reports had proved to be untrustworthy." However, she agreed that in New York there was a "disconnect" in reporting between dates fish were landed, and dates they were sold. Leo took issue with Kurkul. "It is an error. When you gave scup back it was an adjustment from incorrectly deducted catch. That was a correction. You make a correction but much too late. There has to be a way to see figures jump up [when they’re obviously wrong]. We must have a fail-safe before trip reports come in a month later," Mr. Leo said. Loewen pressed on. "The numbers you get from dealers, you send those numbers to the state. The state changes the daily limits. What we’re saying is, we have evidence that the numbers you’re getting are not correct, and there’s no system that can correct the errors in a timely fashion. There needs to be an accounting before the fisheries service gets the numbers." Valenti said the bad reporting was not confined to season changes, that it was not unusual for New York fishermen who have purchased a New Jersey landing license to have their catch credited against the New York quota, instead of the New Jersey quota. "The fishermen shouldn’t be penalized," Mr. McGintee said. "I'm not a rocket scientist but the first thing is [the reporting] should be based on the date landed for the numbers to be accurate. How about some kind of color-coding to differentiate between New York, New Jersey, and Rhode Island fish in the market?" he repeated. Kurkul said such a changes would require an amendment to federal fisheries law, a long process. "The state might have options," she suggested. - East Hampton (N.Y.) Star News: Phillips Food President Dies Phillips Foods and Seafood Restaurants announced the death of their company president, Mark W. Sneed. Sneed passed away the morning of July 16, 2007, at the age of 50, from a sudden heart attack at his home.A graduate of the University of Kentucky, Sneed is a thirty-year veteran of the restaurant industry. He started his career at Phillips more than 20 years ago as Director of Training for Phillips Seafood Restaurants. After acting as general manager for Phillips Seafood in Washington D.C., he became Director of Operations for all of Phillips restaurants. In 1996, he joined the helm of Phillips Foods, Inc. as its president. Sneed led the explosive growth of the company over the last 10 years. He was a member and past president of the Washington-Baltimore Chapter of the Young Presidents' Organization and an active member of the community. Sneed is survived by his wife Candace and three young children. – Phillips press release News: Opening Day for Gulf Shrimpers PALACIOS, Texas - Gulf shrimpers took on their first full day of shrimping this week, and the big unknown is how successful the season will be and whether the recent rains will help or hinder the harvest. The harvest season officially began 30 minutes after sunset Sunday."It's really difficult to forecast," said Bill Balboa, a Texas Parks and Wildlife biologist stationed in Palacios. "It's like trying to predict the outcome of the Super Bowl. Mother Nature is very unpredictable." As far as the heavy rainfalls, Balboa said, the fresh water flushes out the bays and washes in new nutrients. As many as 100 boats were expected to sail from Palacios, which has the largest Gulf fleet along the Texas Coast. Some are equipped to stay out for two months. Balboa said commercial fishermen are faced with the high cost of fuel, imported shrimp and the difficulty of finding reliable crews. Dinh Nguyen of Palacios has harvested the Texas and Louisiana Gulf waters for 25 years. The captain and owner of two 94-foot boats, the St. Lucas and the Big Lucas, said it takes about a week to get the boats stocked and manned and ready to go out. His said he goes out anywhere from 15 to 50 miles in the Gulf and plans to stay 30 to 40 days. "If there is nothing here, we go south or north or to Louisiana and if we find no shrimp, we go somewhere else." As far as what to expect in the way of harvest and prices, the 50-year-old said, "We don't know. We never know." He said his expenses are about $3,000 a month, which includes pay for five employees, and that he borrows from the bank to cover those expenses. It is not clear whether that amount includes the cost of fuel. When asked actual dollars and cents for fuel, shrimpers were a little hedgy, not wanting to give exact costs. With a wry laugh, Nguyen said, after expenses "sometimes the captain makes $150." Seferino Cuellar of Port Lavaca, who worked 26 years for retired shrimp fleet owner Bobby Clegg, said that while he is also a bay shrimper, "I can't seem to get away from the Gulf. For someone like me, with no education, it's a quick buck for a person not educated." At least that's the way it once was. He remembers the early 80s as being very good years. Texas Parks and Wildlife's Coastal Fisheries Division is opening the season after collecting samples and using information from the fish industry, according to a news release from the department. "Brown shrimp are widely distributed with some areas having high populations," said Larry McKinney, director of coastal fisheries, in a news release. The purpose of closing the Gulf season is to protect brown shrimp during emigration for the bay until they reach a larger and more valuable size in the Gulf, McKinney explained. – Victoria (Texas) Advocate Feature: Private Label Manufacturers Hot Sector NEW YORK - Ralcorp Holdings Inc. of St. Louis has seen sales surge close to 60 percent over the last few years, thanks to steady sales of its cereal, crackers, cookies and jellies.But don't look for the Ralcorp brand name on your supermarket shelves. The food company is the among the largest "private-label" manufacturers, which make their profits by producing goods that are sold under the labels of various retailers and grocers. It's a hot sector because more consumers are beginning to trust these cheaper-store brands, sold under names like Wegman's or ShopRite, and like paying less than national brands. Plus, private-label products are getting a boost from some missteps by traditional food manufacturers. Sales of private-label peanut butter at Ralcorp, for instance, got a boost from ConAgra's recent recall of its Peter Pan and Great Value peanut-butter products amid concerns about salmonella contamination, says BB&T Capital Markets analyst Heather Jones. "It helped consumers to see that there may not be as much difference in private-label and branded products," she said. That's putting pressure on traditional manufacturers of branded-food products to put a cap on prices, spend more on marketing and work harder to differentiate their offerings. Kraft Foods Inc., for instance, has seen its share of some food categories drop amid competition from private labels. Now it's beefing up its marketing. While private labels have penetrated almost every consumer group in the United States, the market share in the food industry - at about 16 percent - has been the strongest. In Europe it's 30 percent. To be sure, private labels' share in the U.S. food market has been almost flat for the last few years, but that could change as a flood of more-sophisticated store-branded offerings hit the shelves. Recent research from International Business Machines Corp., for instance, found that three-quarters of all consumers surveyed in the U.S. and U.K. don't see any benefit in buying branded-food products. A majority of consumers surveyed felt the quality and safety of private-label products were the same as similar branded products. Private labels in the United States have already grabbed strong shares in categories like milk, cheese and eggs, which are hard to differentiate. Edward Jones packaged-food analyst Matt Arnold says that Kraft Foods is "a great example of what can happen if you don't do a good job of managing the private-label threat." With private labels making inroads into categories like cheese, Kraft has had to fight harder to hold its ground. According to Euromonitor, Kraft's share of the U.S. packaged-food market dipped from 8.2 percent in 2001 to 7.4 percent in 2005. Kraft says it approaches private labels like any other branded competitor, and is always innovating to provide consumers with added benefits at the right price irrespective of the product involved. On the flip side, Kellogg has done a great job fending off private labels with its Kashi brand of healthier and organic cereals, says Arnold. Much of private labels' growing acceptance has come from a much greater effort among the large retailers to push their in-house brands. A recent McKinsey & Co. report done in partnership with the Grocery Manufacturers Association found that some retailers have managed to achieve much higher-than-average private-label dollar share, even in categories once thought to be strictly branded territory. In spaghetti sauce, industry average private-label dollar share is around 5 percent, but Wegman's made this category a priority, driving its private-label dollar share above the industry average to beyond 20 percent, according to the McKinsey report, while private-label retailers like Kroger Co. have driven up their dollar share in the natural-cheese category to 65 percent to 75 percent. Some branded-food companies have been trying to tap the lucrative private-label business themselves, a move that can some times be cannibalistic of their own internal brands. Dean Food's, which sells Horizon Organic milk, has a substantial private-label business, while ConAgra Foods Inc. also sells both private-label and branded products. Analysts believe that Dean Food's move to tap both markets is prudent because of the high level of private-label penetration in the milk category. But ConAgra's private-label business has drawn more critics. "ConAgra doesn't have many leading brands as it is," said Arnold. The company may be cannibalizing some of its own brands, he added. ConAgra representatives couldn't be reached for comment. – Associated Press <<<•>>> Thursday, July 19, 2007 Editorial: Plenty More Fish in the Sea? Not Today NEW ZEALAND - Most New Zealanders assume that fish caught in New Zealand waters must come from well-managed, healthy and abundant fisheries. But whether through the fishing methods used or the intensity of exploitation, many of our fisheries are far from sustainable.Of New Zealand's 68 fisheries, 17 are over-fished or have substantially declining stocks. In 51 of them fishing practices damage marine habitats and non-target fish species are caught. In 27 a significant number of seabirds are killed, and in 32 a significant number of marine mammals are killed. Many of the species we know and love to eat - groper, oysters, most species of tuna, blue warehou, squid, hoki, orange roughy, snapper - are caught in fisheries that are simply not sustainable. Our Fisheries Act 1996 is supposed to allow our $3.8 billion fishing industry to make use of fishing resources as much as possible while ensuring sustainability of those resources. In the decade since the Fisheries Act was introduced we have seen our two most significant fisheries go from bad to worse. The majority of our orange roughy stocks continue to be significantly over-fished (several stocks have collapsed so far they are now closed) and in the past six years hoki catches have plummeted by 60 per cent, from more than 250,000 tons to 100,000 tons per year. In many cases there is insufficient information because the research has not been done to determine with absolute certainty whether or not a fishery is sustainable. It is internationally accepted that when information is uncertain the proper course of action in managing fisheries is to act cautiously. As Fisheries Minister Jim Anderton told a seafood industry conference recently: "Fish left in the sea are fish in the bank. To keep on taking fish when you don't have a good idea of how many are left is, in my view, like robbing the bank." The problem is that when Anderton (and other Fisheries Ministers before him) have attempted to make decisions in favor of sustainability of fisheries in such situations, legal action by the fishing industry or even the mere threat of legal action forces them to back down. For example, the minister was prevented from reducing the number of sea lions killed by trawl fisheries, reducing orange roughy quota to rebuild collapsed fish stocks, and implementing emergency measures to stop excessive by-catch of sea birds. Earlier this year, the minister proposed a Fisheries Amendment Bill, which would give decision-makers clearer directions to act more cautiously - and therefore in favor of sustainability - in situations where information is uncertain. If amended in this way, the Fisheries Act would provide for environmental sustainability and the long-term future of our fisheries ahead of immediate and short-term economic gain. Te Ohu Kai Moana (the Maori Fisheries Trust) called for the Government to withdraw the bill, with director Ngahiwi Tomoana claiming that it was to the detriment of Maori and the fishing industry and was not needed to ensure sustainability. Labour's Maori MPs are also opposed to the bill. Most vocal among them is Shane Jones, who until recently was chairman of Te Ohu Kai Moana. In May Parliament's Primary Production Select Committee, which was due to report back on the bill by June 4, asked for a three-month extension because of concerns over a lack of consultation. After a meeting with Labour's Maori MPs, the Fisheries Minister agreed to allow extra time on the bill. Opposition to the bill is shortsighted and threatens the long-term economic and environmental sustainability of our fisheries. To quote Anderton: "Why would anyone interested in the long-term vitality and growth of the fishing industry want to risk destroying the very resource it is based on?" A large number of fishers, community groups, conservation groups and political parties support the bill. Neither are all Maori opposed. The bill received nearly unanimous support - 115 votes in favor at its first reading - but the rest of its journey through the parliamentary process may not run so smoothly. The select committee will now report back to Parliament on the bill in August. Until then, no doubt, behind-the-scenes pressure by vested interests to drop the bill will continue. Let's hope they do not succeed - the future of our fisheries may depend on it. - Kevin Hackwell for New Zealand Herald News: F.D.A. Inspections Lax, Congress Is Told WASHINGTON — It did not take exporters and importers long to learn that the safety net for goods regulated by the Food and Drug Administration is full of holes.According to testimony Tuesday before a House subcommittee, they have been able to bring tainted products into this country because the FDA has neither enough resources nor inspectors to stop them. And each year it has become easier: since 2003, the number of inspectors has decreased while imports of food alone have almost doubled. Recently consumers have had a crash course in the hazards of imported products, especially those from China: pet food and pig and chicken feed contaminated with melamine; counterfeit toothpaste with diethylene glycol; fish contaminated with antibiotics and a suspected cancer-causing agent; the use of carbon monoxide to make decomposed fish look fresh. Despite headlines about these imports, the FDA intends to close 7 of its 13 laboratories that test for these problems. Representative Bart Stupak, a Michigan Democrat who is chairman of the subcommittee, said the closings “would likely expose Americans to even more danger from unsafe food, particularly imports.” But Andrew C. von Eschenbach, the F.D.A. commissioner, told the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations of the House Energy and Commerce Committee that closing the labs would make the agency more efficient. Outbreaks of food-borne illness in 2006 and 2007 “underscore the need to develop new multidisciplinary and integrated food safety strategies,” von Eschenbach said. Representative John D. Dingell, the Michigan Democrat who is chairman of the House committee, has put a stop to the labs’ closings until the Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress, issues a report on the agency’s plan. Unlike the Department of Agriculture — which sets standards for imported meat and poultry, has authority to visit overseas facilities and limits imports to 10 ports — the FDA has no control over imports. Even though it has inspectors at only 90 of the more than 300 American ports, the foods it inspects can come into any of them. Over all, the Agriculture Department inspects 16 percent of imported meat, while the FDA inspects about 1 percent of the food over which it has jurisdiction. Just a fraction of that is actually sampled. Another witness Tuesday was David Nelson, an investigator on the oversight subcommittee’s staff who spent more than four months visiting F.D.A. laboratories and customs offices at ports, as well as talking with former and current FDA employees. He said the agency allowed importers to take possession of suspect goods and arrange for their testing by private laboratories that are not approved by the FDA. The subcommittee staff report quoted an FDA official whom it did not identify as saying private lab results were “shoddy” and “driven by financial rather than scientific concerns.” Once there have been five consecutive analyses of an exporter’s products by private labs, with no violations, importers are no longer required to test products of that exporter. Importers of swordfish, tuna or mahi mahi, the largest of which are likely to have unacceptable levels of mercury, will switch to smaller fish that can pass the mercury test, the report said. Once the importers have passed the five consecutive analyses, they switch back to the large fish. The report quoted one FDA seafood expert as saying that over half of the imported swordfish probably contains unacceptable levels of mercury. Importers often go port shopping, the report said. Some fish, for example, are sent to Las Vegas to avoid the lab in San Francisco lab, where inspectors have earned a reputation for their analytical skills. The San Francisco lab is scheduled for closing. According to the report and Mr. Stupak, when an import alert was issued for toothpaste containing diethylene glycol, a chemical most often found in antifreeze, exporters combined the toothpaste with a toothbrush and described the product as a toothbrush rather than toothpaste. When the problem was discovered by the FDA district of San Juan, P.R., the alert changed to include the combination product. According to the subcommittee report, the FDA has long been aware of the widespread use of antibiotics in farm-raised fish from China and other countries, but it did not issue an import alert for catfish, shrimp and several other farm-raised fish until the committee started investigating. China produces 70 percent of farm-raised fish worldwide. “The timing of the import alert is curious,” the report says. Since the 1990s the agency has known that in imported fish frozen after being treated with carbon monoxide to keep it looking fresh, 20 percent was actually decomposed. Yet in 2001 the agency gave use of the gas the status of “generally recognized as safe.” – New York Times Restaurants: Chattanooga Raises the Beverage Bar CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - While we're not the snobby setting for extreme purists who'll only use organic kefir lime infused ice cubes and nearly refuse to make a Cosmo like in the Bay Area, we're way more than just a city full of bottle openers. Mixologists, chefs and sommeliers are taking note. They're taking time. They're taking risks. And what we sip has become as rewarding as what we sup as a result.Three of the city's finest share their take on their bars and how wine and spirits play into their mix. Eric Neil, Executive Chef/Owner It may be a coincidence that Easy Seafood is close to the aquarium. It's not a coincidence that just as Chef Eric Neil infuses his culinary creations with Cajun and Creole flavor; the bar at Easy is a bounty of handcrafted, flavor-infused vodkas. I certainly have my favorites, but the bartenders and I are constantly coming up with new ideas for infusions and the drinks that go along with them, enthuses Neil. Quality in the kitchen is crucial. But it's also an important component of the bar business. And the sublime flavors of Easy's infused vodkas are proof. Infusing liquors allows me to play with flavors in different ways, allowing me to bring seasonal product out of the kitchen. It's a great deal of fun to see fresh peaches in the bar, for example, when they are in their peak season. That way, the final product has the flavor of the season. It's ripe, fresh peach vodka instead of peach vodka made with a chemical that just happens to taste like a peach. The end result is a drink that looks and tastes like the ripe fruit itself, he adds. Sipping one of the infused vodkas yields bright, fresh, clean flavor. The careful alchemy that turns ordinary vodka, rum and tequila into these rich, intriguing drinks takes a steady hand and discerning palate. Among Neil's infused vodka creations are: Hot Pepper made with a variety of chiles, Georgia Peach, Strawberry, and Vanilla, along with Pineapple Tequila and Mango Rum. Paired appropriately with food or just to sip and savor on their own, Easy Seafood's flavor-infusions are a welcome addition to the Chattanooga bar scene. Michael Lacasio, Executive Chef A contemporary steakhouse that offers their take on a classic menu must have a bar that offers a contemporary take on classic cocktails. And with Executive Chef Michael Lacasio now at the helm, quality ingredients and expert preparation are required. Choosing the right wines for the meal can be a make-or-break endeavor. Just as when we put together our wine list "with pairing in mind," we look to create cocktails that are seasonal and on-trend without being trendy. A good bartender must know the basics, enthuses Lacasio. His involvement in what you drink doesn't stop with fresh pomegranate for the signature Pomegranate Martinis at the bar. With an watchful eye, Lacasio works to stock Hennen's cellar with a broad selection of wines designed to complement the menu, including more than 30 wines by the glass. Whether a crisp white to enjoy with a expertly grilled fish dinner or an precisely prepared classic like a Manhattan before your Angus beef Delmonico steak, the pours at Hennen's are always top of Lacasio's mind: From aperitif to digestif and everything in between, we work hard to guarantee quality and taste, Lacasio says firmly. Scott Adams, Managing Partner It's about balance and blend at Foodworks. Managing Partner Scott Adams says they create featured cocktails and select wine and beer that enhance the flavors of our menu, balancing acidity with richness, brightening and highlighting tastes. Imagine sipping their Black and Blue Martini—Ketel One vodka served dry with blue cheese stuffed black olives while noshing on crisp house-made sweet potato chips tossed in a secret spice blend and served with blue cheese fondue. Or how about a Dirty Downtowner—Skyy vodka, a little dirty with whole, brined caper berries with lush smoked tomato bruschetta featuring crispy crostini topped with olive tapenade, fresh mozzarella and basil, drizzled with olive oil and finished with shaved Asiago cheese. Pair Foodworks' signature chop, a grilled double-cut pork chop marinated in hoisin, ginger and cilantro served with braised red cabbage and indulgent twice-baked mashed potatoes, with a hearty red wine from their list of nearly three dozen wines by the glass. From entree to dessert, Foodworks strives for a fusion of libation and meal, concludes Adams. – Chattanooga Pulse Restaurant Review: Back Street Bistro BRUNSWICK, Maine - The secret of success, Back Street Bistro chef Bob Magda will tell you, is simple: Keep it fresh, and let food taste like food."That's our schtick," he said. "Keep it fresh, always changing. We go with what's in season, and what inspires us that week." During late June, for example, Magda eyes juicy native strawberries, and whips up a shortcake. He'll also feature the freshest seafood from Plant's Seafood in Bath and perhaps more exotic shellfish such as softshell crab from Harbor Fish in Portland. Later in the summer, fresh Maine blueberries will likely call for creme brulee. As cooler weather rolls in, double-thick, bone-in-rib pork chops are soaked for 48 hours in a Maine maple syrup and apple cider brine. The concoction keeps the food tender during cooking, Magda says, and imparts flavor and moisture. "We always say, 'We're not re-inventing the wheel,'" Magda says. "We want pork to taste like pork. We're not disguising the flavors. We're letting fresh speak for itself, rather than cover it up." Fresh is best Magda, 30, learned the importance of fresh ingredients while training with restaurant virtuoso Sam Hayward, whose 22 Lincoln restaurant drew in the foodie crowd in Brunswick years ago. More recently, Hayward has led Fore Street in Portland, where Magda worked while enrolled in the hotel-restaurant management program at Southern Maine Technical College, and where he met his partner in Back Street Bistro, Chris Pillsbury. Magda credits Hayward with teaching him techniques such as searing meat and then letting it rest, as well as an emphasis on fresh ingredients. Magda's "schtick" invariably results in a fresh menu each Friday as well. These steps make his regular customers enjoy the "culinary adventure" they find at Back Street Bistro, said Magda. "They don't know exactly what's going to be on the menu, but they know they'll like it," he said. The bistro's rustic decor includes an open kitchen set above the dining room. Diners savoring rustic food need only glance up to see the crew in action, perhaps adding the finishing touch to what is slowly becoming Magda's signature dish: seafood paella. Magda slow-cooks arborio rice, saffron, chicken, chorizio sausage and vegetables, adding whatever seafood — maybe fresh tuna, jumbo scallops and Maine crab — is available that day. "People like looking up at the open kitchen and seeing the same familiar faces," Magda said. He leads a small, dedicated crew with a "duck in the water" mentality — calm on the surface, but frantically paddling underwater. "Ultimately, I think everyone respects what we do here, as far as not yelling, keeping it simple and making food taste like food," said Magda. Front of the back Pillsbury orchestrates the front of the house at Back Street Bistro, focusing on the extensive wine list and greeting customers — often by name, Magda said. After leaving Fore Street, Pillsbury took over The Cannery restaurant in Yarmouth, changed the name to the Royal River Grillhouse, and named Magda kitchen manager. In 2005, the two |