Newsletter Home     Industry Bite     Wild Watch     Featured Articles     Recipe of the Month     Order Materials New Consumer Print Ad Campaign Features Seven of Today's Top Chefs The Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute (ASMI) builds consumer preference for wild Alaska Seafood by showcasing seven prominent chefs who are "putting wild Alaska Seafood on their lists." Chefs Laurent Tourondel, Bob Tam, Govind Armstrong, Rick Bayless, Eric Ripert, Maria Hines and Christine Keff star in the cleverly designed ad insert that functions like an advent calendar, revealing a different chef and his/her favorite Alaska Seafood dish. Consumers are encouraged to "Ask for Alaska" when purchasing or ordering seafood and are directed to www.alaskaseafood.org to download the recipes and learn more about each of the chefs participating in the campaign. Click here to read the full article »» Time to Gear Up for the COOK IT FROZEN! Season With consumer interest in wild Alaska Seafood at an all time high, retailers have the opportunity to offer customers Alaska Seafood all year long through the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute's COOK IT FROZEN! program. COOK IT FROZEN! techniques make it easy and convenient for consumers to prepare frozen wild Alaska Seafood directly without thawing. Skipping the thawing process takes the planning out of mealtime and makes frozen Alaska Seafood a pantry item that can be on hand and readily available for quick, healthy and delicious meals. ASMI has a wide range of materials available. COOK IT FROZEN! point-of-sale materials range from recipe leaflets, floor decals, posters, static clings, demonstration DVDs, and bookmarks. New this year is a COOK IT FROZEN! tear pad, with a creative new recipe and five easy preparation steps - a fresh addition to the wide range of point-of-sale possibilities. Utilizing these sales tools will enable you to bring your customers to the counter year-round while communicating two very important messages: cooking from frozen is easy and fast and that even more information, recipes, and cooking tips are available at www.COOKITFROZEN.com. As always, these materials will enable you to sell Alaska Seafood based on the health benefits it provides. In addition, Alaska Seafood is frozen at sea when it is at its freshest, so it retains its prized superior flavor and texture. Customers will appreciate these cooking techniques as well as the ability to offer a healthy, delicious and convenient meal to their families. For more information on available CIF point of sale materials, please contact Karl Uri with the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute at 1-800-806-2497, or visit www.alaskaseafood.org. The Federal Government to Begin Auditing for Country of Origin Labeling Compliance According to an article in IntraFish, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) "has entered into cooperative agreements with 15 states to conduct retail compliance reviews or audits. The states with whom USDA has entered into agreement include: Alaska, California, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio and Texas." Federal enforcers will audit the remaining states. These audits are slated to begin August 1, 2006. Eligible for audit are retailers licensed under the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act (PACA). This excludes fish markets. The penalty is steep for offenders, "Retailers are subject to a fine of up to $10,000 per offense for willful violations," Suppliers are also subject to a fine of $10,000 per offense for violations. The article notes three types of violations:   • "Failure to Label Products. It is a violation for a retailer to fail to identify the country of origin       and method of production of a covered commodity."   • "Mislabeled Product. It is a violation for a retailer to incorrectly identify the country of origin and       method or production (wild caught vs. farmed) of a covered commodity."   • "Failure to Maintain Records. It is a violation for a retailer and their supplier to fail to maintain       records that will permit substantiation of country of origin and method of production claims." Alaska Seafood Species Harvesting Update Salmon - Over 50 million Alaska Salmon have been caught thus far this season. That includes 34.5 million sockeye and nine million keta. Thirteen million pink's have been caught, however, the catch will be increasing over the next few weeks for both pink's and coho's. Ninety-seven percent of the forecasted statewide catch for sockeye has been caught. Black Cod - Over 21 million pounds of Alaska Black Cod have been landed so far this season. With 62% of the quota caught, harvesters still have just over 13 million pounds to go to reach the quota of 34,546,083 pounds. This is slightly up from the 2005 catch, which was over 32 million pounds. Halibut - Over 32 million pounds of Alaska Halibut has been landed during the harvesting season thus far. That is 58% of the total quota of 55,260,000 pounds. Dungeness Crab - The Department of Fish and Game announced on July 28, 2006 that "the projection indicates that the total season's harvest will exceed 2.25 million pounds…" for the Southeast Alaska Dungeness Crab harvest. Look for further information on this fishery in the October/November E-newsletter.