Some Fast Facts to start this week’s insight: - just a quick note this week - I heard from a reliable source in china that 2 processing plants in china have issued letters of warnings from the canadian government regarding short net weights - processing companies such as Tradex Foods have begun looking for secondary processing in Asia – and Vietnam seems to be the country of choice. - stay tuned for more on this… ----------- In news this week – - The International Pacific Halibut Commission is recommending that the 2011 Halibut quota drop by 19 percent. - The largest reductions are recommended for fisheries in southeast Alaska - while increases have been proposed for fisheries off the coast of Oregon & Washington. - Halibut quotas have been trimmed down the last five consecutive years. - We believe a further supply cut in 2011 will have a considerable impact on the market. - Halibut prices are currently the highest they’ve been in more than 10 years – with prices for dressed fish wholesaling at about $7.00 in Seattle. - We have heard that talk of reduced quotas - already has buyers bidding up prices. - As we all know - Halibut is a very popular fish in foodservice - and not one that is easy for restaurants to remove from Menus. - A final decision on the quota is scheduled for January. ------------ In other news – - Christmas Salmon sales are just around the corner - and prices of Norwegian farmed Salmon are rising. - Prices have increased $0.82 in the last 2 weeks and are now sitting at approximately $6.50 for most sizes. - Part of this increase can be attributed to a lack of supply in other regions of the world. - Chilean supply of farmed salmon to the US market fell by 70 percent in terms of volume – a gap that was partially filled by Norwegian frozen fillets – effectively pulling supply away from European markets. - The European processing industry is operating full-tilt in anticipation of Christmas sales. However - exporters are beginning to worry that high prices won’t be tolerated by purchasers for much longer. - Stand by for more on these topics in future episodes… Thank you for joining me for The Tradex Foods - "3-Minute Market Insight" This is Robert Reierson - “BUY SMART” and “EAT MORE SEAFOOD”

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