Portland, Maine (AP) — Customs disputes on the US-Canada border jeopardize the US supply of major fish used in popular commodities such as fish sticks and fast food sandwiches.
Walleye pollock has a complex supply chain. After being caught as part of the largest commercial fishery in the United States, the fish are shipped to New Brunswick, Canada, near the border with Maine. They are then loaded onto rail cars for short trips on Canada’s 100-foot (30-meter) railroad tracks before being trucked across the border into the United States.
The US Customs and Border Protection claims that the shipper violates Jones Law. Under Jones Law, goods shipped between US ports must be shipped on US-owned vessels.
Authorities have recorded fines of more than $ 350 million on shippers. Two of the shipping companies have appealed in federal court to suspend execution.
The dispute left £ 26 million of fish in Canadian refrigeration until a federal court judge issued an injunction allowing seafood to be shipped to the United States on Sunday. Disagreements continue.
Gavin Gibbons, a spokesman for the Virginia-based National Fisheries Research Institute, said:
Gibbons said refrigerated fish are unlikely to start moving on Monday because it was a holiday in both countries.
US Customs filed court documents in early October, stating that authorities agreed with the shipper who wanted a quick resolution of the case. However, the schedule proposed in court to resolve the case will still take weeks.
A government spokesperson said authorities refused to comment on the case because the proceedings were ongoing. The shipping companies behind the proceedings, Kloosterboer International Forwarding and Alaska Reefer Management, also have offices in Seattle, but both declined to comment.
Michael Alexander, president of King and Prince, Georgia, which manufactures seafood for the food services industry, is currently in conflict at a bad time for the seafood industry as the business prepares for the busy Lent season. Said that was happening. Many Christians use lean meat instead of fish during Lent, and Pollock is in higher demand for that part of the year. Most fast food chain fish products, including McDonald’s Filet-O-Fish, are made from walleye pollock.
“If you don’t get Pollock right away, you’ll run out of time and other raw materials. It will idle the production line and people,” Alexander said.
Republican Governor of Massachusetts Charlie Baker urged Democratic President Joe Biden to help resolve the dispute. In a letter to the president in mid-September, Baker said his state, home to one of the country’s largest seafood processors, could be financially hurt if fish didn’t start moving again. ..
It could sacrifice work in an industry that is still upset from the coronavirus pandemic, he wrote.
“Massachusetts processors are forced to run out of remaining inventories, stop production and dismiss workers,” Baker’s letter said.
Fish trucks enter the United States in Calais, a small city in Maine, about 220 miles northeast of Portland. The city relies on cross-border economic activity and suffers during a coronavirus pandemic, said city manager Michael Ellis.
“Borders are a big part of our economy, so we all want the borders to reopen,” Ellis said.
Supply of US fish sticks and fillets under threat of customs disputes
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