--- A new senate bill in the State of California is set to address the growing problem of mislabelled seafood. According to Senator Padilla, the bill will support public health, consumer choice, and promote sustainable fishing practices. Southern California in particular leads the Nation in mislabelled fish.

The state of Washington is also moving towards more transparency by introducing the Safety and Fraud Enforcement Act (SAFE) that would require more information, such as where and when seafood was caught, to follow through until the final sale.

Over 90 percent of the seafood in the United States is imported, driving both state and federal lawmakers to impose stricter regulations on seafood labelling to protect consumers.

Recent DNA testing by the international ocean conservancy group Oceana determined that one-third of the seafood was mislabelled in a study of 674 retail outlets in 21 states. Upwards of 50 percent was mislabelled in major cities like Austin, Houston, and Boston.

--- The Alaska Department of Fish and Game has just announced catch projections for the upcoming salmon season with a total salmon catch reduction of nearly 50 percent. An all species harvest of just under 133 million salmon is expected, down by almost half of last year’s record catch of 282 million fish. The department is expecting a large decrease in commercial salmon catches in 2014 due to the projected decrease in pink salmon harvests.

Pink salmon is facing a 67 percent decrease to 75 million over last summer’s 226 million haul, whereas Sockeye will see a 14 percent increase to about 34 million.

There is limited inventory of salmon in general as we near the 2014 salmon season. Early speculation is a strong 2014 season for most species except for Sockeye which has potential good increases in the Canadian harvest. Processed Chums and Pinks from China have experienced a price increase over the last 8 weeks.

---Thanks for joining me for the Tradex Foods "3-Minute Market Insight" This is Rob Reierson - “BUY SMART” and “EAT MORE SEAFOOD”

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