No doubt -- most of the world is happy to have 2016 behind them. It's OK to be concerned about 2017, but in the seafood sector, you can be encouraged by the words of some of the industry's top executives, who generally offer a positive picture in their outlooks on the year.

It certainly wasn't all bad in the seafood sector last year, but like any industry, it had its ups and downs.

Here's the stories -- in no particular order -- that made the biggest waves in the seafood last year:

Chile's algae crisis. Few industries were tested the way Chile was over the past two years, and the algal bloom, which caused producers millions in losses, was perhaps one of the biggest challenges the industry faced in its history next to the ISA crisis. Companies are taking precautions against future blooms, but the extent of losses had some left asking if the scale of the incident could have been minimized.

Cooke acquires Icicle Seafood. Cooke was a force unto itself last year, but no move was as exciting as its acquisition of Icicle Seafood, which gives the Canadian giant access to an incredible mix of wild and farmed seafood. After a farcical botched sale to an Indonesian no-name in 2015, it was nice to see the company find a good home that plans to invest. CEO Glenn Cooke, incidentally, was named the 2016 IntraFish Person of the Year in part because of the bold deal.

Farmed salmon prices hit historic highs. When per kilogram prices hit NOK 80 per kilo, suddenly, even the world's most expensive salmon doesn't seem that expensive. While doomsday predictions indicated a crash, neither prices nor consumption took a major dive, prompting some to call this era "salmon's new normal." The fish' success helped Norway reach record seafood exports again in 2016.

Labor issues still dogged the industry. From forced labor in the US to Thai slavery allegations, labor problems will be at the top of the sustainable seafood agenda this year and beyond.

Trident Seafoods moves into Germany. No US pollock supplier has ever attempted any large-scale production in Europe. Hopes are high that the US giant will succeed, but no doubt they are facing a cut-throat climate. Efforts to differentiate once-frozen from twice-frozen products are underway by US pollock producers, and Trident spelled it out bluntly in an online video campaign.

Brexit. The impact of Britain leaving the European Union may not be fully known for months or even years, but the fisheries sector has been at the heart of the debate. Already, the chaos of working out the details has some second-guessing their opinions.

Trump. No denying, this year's US election was one for the ages. We weighed in on the impact of America's new president elect on the seafood sector, comparing his style to Russian President Vladimir Putin, warning against his bumbling in China, and cataloguing the potential benefits and pitfalls.

Pacific Andes continues to unravel. The Chinese seafood giant declared bankruptcy in a US court, while theoretically gives the group protection to reorganize in anticipation of selling off assets. With challenges selling its Peruvian operations and increasing financial woes, things are not necessarily going to plan.

Norway's wacky salmon farming concepts. The development licenses scheme launched by the Norwegian government has been one of the most ingenious ideas in aquaculture. By giving companies incentive to truly innovate, major groups were able to bring some far-fetched ideas to the table, some of which may be a part of fish farming's future.

Brussels terror impacts the seafood show. No business inconvenience can compare to the human tragedy of the Brussels terror attacks, but nonetheless the attacks, which came just weeks before the world's largest seafood trade event, caused several companies to cancel, and raised questions about the future of the show in the city.

Icelandic's unravelling. Iceland's once-mighty seafood giant continued to shrink, and its owners even set a "sell by" date of 2019. The company offloaded Ny-Fiskur, and Spanish subsidiary Icelandic Iberica. The company was delivered a tough blow with the loss of its contract with Marks & Spencer. It remains to be seen who will snap up Seachill in the United Kingdom, but there are plenty of suitors.

Investigating antibiotics. In a five-part series, IntraFish looked into Chile's use of antibiotics in farmed salmon, including efforts producers are making to reduce levels.

Seafood staffing changes. There were a lot of big moves in 2016 -- we rounded them up for you.

Speaking of executives, turns out seafood CEOs make bank. Our ranking of top executive salaries was one of our most popular, in part because a slew of execs probably used it for leverage with their bosses. Our editorial team tried this trick. No luck.

Ecuador earthquake. Though far less damaging to the industry than originally feared, the Ecuadorian earthquake disrupted shrimp supply from the country and caused significant losses to some producers.

Thai Union. Another year, another outlandish investment from the unstoppable Thai giant. Though it made more than one deal this year, the biggest -- and most unexpected -- was the acquisition of a minority stake in US restaurant chain Red Lobster. Where it goes from here is anybody's guess, but it will be interesting regardless.

Iceland opens up to salmon farming. Where will the growth in the salmon sector come from? We found out last year. Though for years Iceland has been touted as a potential area for the industry's expansion, last year will be viewed as the year the industry got serious and attracted big attention. Norway Royal Salmon CEO Charles Hostland laid out a case for the sector at the IntraFish Seafood Investor Forum, and the picture he painted was compelling.

Sysco heads East. Another head-turning acquisition was foodservice giant Sysco's purchase of UK foodservice group Brakes. The moves brings US-style broadline distribution into Europe, and it's likely a jump onto the Continent is next.

An NGO eats its own. Tuna is a marginal species for the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), but a confidential WWF report aired major problems with the MSC's mission and practices. We hashed out the fallout in our commentary pages and our new podcast.

40 Under 40. The industry saw a ray of hope for the future with our feature on young executives making a difference in the sector. We weren't able to include as many as we would have liked, showing that there is indeed a strong group of people ready to take the industry's helm.

Pamela Anderson's attack on BC salmon farming. It pains us to add this to our list of the year's top stories, it really does. But, as with Trump and Brexit, the people have spoken: the blonde bombshell's hare-brained attempt to use her celebrity to disparage the industry may have fallen flat, but you all wanted to read about it.

One IntraFish. OK, this one is purely self-serving, we admit it, and that's why we put it last. But the rebranding of the largest titles in seafood news, marketing, aquaculture and commercial fisheries under the IntraFish banner was a major change for us, our readers and the way the industry stays informed. The onus is now on us to continue to deliver seafood news that matters, and we take that mission very, very seriously. Give us your thoughts, input and story ideas anytime.

Welcome to 2017!

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