Page 25 - ARUBA TODAY

BUSINESS Monday 25 June 2018
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U.S. imported more seafood in 2017 than any prior year

By PATRICK WHITTLE public consumes. “Our relationship is vital,
Associated Press Ross and others in U.S. fish- and it is symbiotic,” he said.
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — eries are looking at new There are also some fish
The United States imported strategies to cut the defi- the U.S. has imported more
more seafood last year cit, including increasing the heavily in recent years be-
than at any point in its his- amount of aquaculture- cause domestic stocks
tory, and the nation’s trade based farming, said Jen- have dried up. One exam-
deficit in the sector is grow- nie Lyons, a NOAA spokes- ple is Atlantic cod, which
ing, federal data show. woman. was once the subject of a
The U.S. imported more than The U.S. trades in seafood huge fishery in New Eng-
6 billion pounds of seafood with countries all over the land. That industry has col-
valued at more than $21.5 world, and the countries it lapsed due to overfishing
billion in 2017, according buys the most from include and environmental chang-
to data from the National Canada, China and Chile. es. The U.S. imported more
Oceanic and Atmospheric Major buyers of U.S. sea- than a half billion dollars’
Administration, which over- food include China, Japan worth of cod in 2017. That
sees American fisheries. and South Korea. In this Oct. 12, 2008, file photo, farm-raised Atlantic salmon number has grown by more
The country exported more While U.S. fishermen would move across a conveyor belt as they are brought aboard a than $100 million since
than 3.6 billion pounds val- love to grow commercial harvesting boat near Eastport, Maine. 2014, with fish that once
ued at about $6 billion. The fisheries, it’s important to Associated Press came from Massachusetts
widening gap comes at note that domestic and an all-time low. to make it to U.S. markets now coming from places
a time when Commerce imported seafood are “Our stocks are fished to the and restaurants. Some spe- like Iceland and Norway.
Secretary Wilbur Ross, who both important parts of the maximum sustainable yield. cies, such as lobsters, are Exports of other species,
heads the federal agency supply chain and support In order to feed Americans, caught in the U.S., export- such as lobster, are up be-
that includes NOAA, has thousands of American and to feed the raw mate- ed to other countries that cause of emerging markets
identified reducing the def- jobs, said Gavin Gibbons, rials into the jobs that are have greater processing in Asia, said Mike Tourkis-
icit as a priority for the gov- spokesman for the National needed, we have to get capacity, and return to the tas, founder of East Coast
ernment. Fisheries Institute. it from overseas,” Gibbons U.S. as imports. Seafood in Topsfield, Mas-
The U.S. is home to ma- He added that the trade said. In this way, the U.S. and its sachusetts. Lobster exports
jor commercial fisheries imbalance isn’t caused by Some of the seafood items trade partners depend on have grown by more than
for species such as Pacific a lack of fish to catch in that American consumers each other to satisfy world- $250 million since 2007, driv-
salmon, New England lob- U.S. waters, as NOAA an- are especially fond of, in- wide demand for seafood en by growth in China.
ster and Alaska pollock, nounced this spring the cluding tuna, salmon and products, said Geoff Irvine, “With lobster, we know that
but it imports more than 90 number of overfished fish shrimp, are heavily depen- executive director of the we have had some very big
percent of the seafood the stocks in the country is at dent on foreign imports Lobster Council of Canada. years,” Tourkistas said.q

UK euroskeptics urge PM May to prepare for ‘no deal’ Brexit

a “hard Brexit,” including That would mean tariffs Airbus alone employs
ex-U.K. Treasury chief Ni- and other trade barriers nearly 14,000 workers in
gel Lawson, Conservative between Britain and the the U.K.
lawmakers John Redwood EU, and many businesses Health Secretary Jeremy
and Peter Bone, and Tim say it would severely harm Hunt said the warnings
Martin, chairman of the the U.K. economy. from businesses were
Wetherspoons pub chain. Airbus, Siemens and BMW “inappropriate” and un-
They urged U.K. authorities have all warned recently dermined chances of get-
“to accelerate their prep- that leaving the EU without ting a “clean Brexit.”q
arations for ‘no deal’ and a free-trade deal would
a move to a World Trade hurt British businesses and
Deal under WTO rules.” cost jobs.

Crowds arrive in Parliament Square in central London, during
the People’s Vote march for a second EU referendum, in central
London, Saturday June 23, 2018.
Associated Press
By JILL LAWLESS In an open letter, 60 law-
Associated Press makers, economists and
LONDON (AP) — business chiefs accused
Pro-Brexit politicians and the EU of being “intransi-
business figures have gent” in divorce talks and
urged British Prime Minister said Britain should threaten
Theresa May to be ready to withhold the 39 billion
to walk away from the pound ($52 billion) divorce
European Union without bill it has already agreed
a trade agreement, de- to pay.
spite warnings from major The letter released Sun-
manufacturers that a “no day by Economists for
deal” Brexit would be an Free Trade was signed by
economic disaster. prominent supporters of