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Issue link: https://seafoodbusiness.epubxp.com/i/94720
News Recap NEW YORK In BRIEF Virginia-based synthetic biology company Intrexon Corp. agreed to buy a 48 percent interest in AquaBounty Technologies. The largest shareholders for the Massachusetts-based genetically engineered salmon producer agreed to sell their combined 48.6 million AquaBounty shares for $6 million, or about 12.3 cents per share. Young's Seafood of Grimsby, England, was named Protein Manufacturing Company of the Year at the annual Food Manufacturing Excellence Awards. Young's was recognized for encouraging consumers to meet government guidelines to eat seafood twice a week. Alabama-based Gilpin and Co. became the first associate member of the National Fisheries Institute's Crab Council. Gilpin, which provides a wide range of packaging solutions, is the first council member that is not a U.S. crab importer. Associate members have a separate dues structure from importers. Danish fishmeal and fish oil processor TripleNine and Norwegian company Koppernaes merged to form the largest Nordic fishmeal and fish oil business. The new company, TripleNine Group A/S, will be based in Esbjerg, Denmark, and is expected to make profits of DKK 3 billion ($521 million). The merger should be completed this spring. At the GOAL 2012 conference in Bangkok, the Global Aquaculture Alliance (GAA) signed a memorandum of understanding with the Indonesian Aquaculture Society for outreach, education and training. GAA's Best Aquaculture Practices program surpassed the 1 million-metric- ton mark for certified product, from 204 plants, at the end of October. Direct QUOTE When you hear that certain fisheries have been declared a disaster … we try to say that these fish are fished and harvested according to restrictive catch levels so as to not 'overdraft the checking account.' — Laura Foley Ramsden, owner, Foley Fish (see What's in Store, p. 30) 6 SeaFood Business December 2012 New York, New Jersey respond after Hurricane Sandy A s various businesses along the East Coast struggled in early November to get back up and running after Hur- ricane Sandy, a leading seafood industry group in New Jersey turned to the federal cost, in the end, could be much greater for the industry. N.J. consumers are too busy recovering from the superstorm to buy much seafood, even if the industry was functioning normally. "I'm sure demand's going to take a hit for a while," DiDomenico says. Suppliers as far away as Maine said the storm had reduced demand significant- ly. New Jersey companies that export worldwide often ship through New York City. Major shipping ports and lanes through the city were knocked out from the storm as well. Seafood suppliers and wholesalers in government for help. Te Garden State Seafood Associa- tion, which represents about 200 boat owners and operators, restaurants and other industry-related companies, has applied for federal disaster aid. Greg DiDomenico, the association's executive director, says the state's ports took a huge hit from Sandy, dubbed a "superstorm" by meteorologists. Ports in the northern part of the state, such as Belford, suffered the most severe damage. Some of them were still without power in mid-November, making it difficult to as- sess the extent of the damage. "Tese guys are waiting for power to come on to see if everything's working," he says. DiDomenico says the association is not specifying a dollar amount, but is asking for aid through the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act and the Interjurisdictional Fisheries Act, federal laws that allow governors to seek assistance after natural disasters. Te association asked for Gov. Chris Chris- tie's help in seeking federal aid, which he officially requested in November. Amy Cradik, a policy advisor with Christie's office, says the governor's staff is working with a number of federal agencies, including the National Ma- rine Fisheries Service, to help get the association the aid it needs. "We are actively working with the Garden State Seafood Association," she says. "We want to support the industry in every way we can." Te association is looking for aid to help with repairing the ports, but Sandy's the region partnered with restaurants to feed those without power and food. Wholesaler Pierless Fish in Brooklyn, N.Y., for example, distributed seafood donated by its vendors to certain New York restaurants and to City Harvest, an organization that delivers donated perishables to communities in need. "One of the biggest needs right now is warm, nutritious foods. People are sick of peanut butter-and-jelly sandwiches," says Laura Sadai, an accounts manager for Pierless Fish. Chefs want to get in- volved and help their communities, ac- cording to Sadai and others. In fact, top New York seafood restaurants Le Bernar- din and Oceana distributed hundreds of meals via City Harvest. Skuna Bay donated nearly 1,000 pounds of its Vancouver Island farmed salmon to New Jersey chari- ties. And StarKist donated more than $89,000 worth of its pouched and canned products to Feeding America. — Sean Murphy and Christine Blank Facts & FIGURES 51 1 Percent growth of the Asian American population in the United States from 2000 to 2012, according to a Nielsen survey Estimated buying power of the Asian American population, in trillions of dollars, by 2017 28 Percent of Asian American households with more than $100,000 in annual income, compared to 18 percent of the total U.S. population For updated NEWS, go to www.SeafoodSource.com Photo courtesy of U.S. Coast Guard