Our editors had plenty of opinions to share in 2018, but which of our opinion columns really resonated with IntraFish readers? To see which ones really grabbed readers' attention, take a look through the list below.
1. The farmed shrimp industry keeps making this same mistake
Which mistakes was Senior Reporter Lola Navarro talking about in this column, 2018's most- read IntraFish opinion column?
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Editorial Director Drew Cherry doesn't pull any punches in this column in which he takes on the decision by Washington State to kill salmon farming and send Cooke Aquaculture packing. Cherry starts his column by saying,"Let's celebrate a big win for ignorance and raw emotion," and it only gets better from there.
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Executive Editor John Fiorillo shares his disgust with the decision by Washington state lawmakers to outlaw salmon farming and boot Cooke from operating in state waters. The company made its share of mistakes, but it doesn't deserve to be legislated out of business, he argues.
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4. These leaders have forever changed the seafood industry
Here at IntraFish we are very proud of our Seafood Person of the Year award, bestowed annually at the Brussels seafood show in recognition of a seafood leader who is influencing change. In this column, Executive Editor John Fiorillo reflects on the leaders who have won this honor since its creation 12 years ago.
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5. How to build a frozen seafood empire
Former IntraFish Editor Elisabeth Fischer explores the evolution of frozen-seafood giant Nomad Foods from its creation in 2015. Her conclusion back in April when she wrote the column: "Nomad still has to prove it can deliver on its strategy." But its big entrance into the frozen seafood industry has contributed to the new stability we're seeing in frozen whitefish in particular.
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6. Why did this CNN journalist change his mind about salmon farming?
Senior Reporter Lola Navarro details how Amaro Gomez-Pablos, a Spanish-Chilean journalist with a prominent career as a CNN correspondent and national news anchor, went from being a vocal critic of Chile's salmon industry to openly endorsing the sector as being vital for the country and for the world’s growing population.
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IntraFish Editor Rachel Mutter takes on sex in the seafood industry. The amazingly witty Mutter highlights some of seafood's sexiest figureheads, taking time to appreciate their curvaceous figures, pouting lips and lustrous locks.
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8. Why isn't the seafood industry shouting about this?
In this provocative column, Editor Rachel Mutter challenges the industry to do a better job regarding the growing crisis of plastics polluting our oceans. And why, she asks, as a sector heavily reliant on the health of our oceans, are so few seafood companies and leaders not rallying and crying out for something to be done?
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9. Who wants AquaChile's tilapia operation?
When Agrosuper signed a deal to pay $850 million for AquaChile, the group certainly wasn't thinking about the promise of AquaChile's tilapia business. Agrosuper, of course, is all about salmon, and salmon is where the money is. Senior reporter Lola Navarro explores what the future might hold for AquaChile's struggling tilapia division.
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10. Is the MSC losing trust with German consumers?
For years, Germany has been the Promised Land for the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC). There's hardly any other market with a comparable success story for the blue eco-label. Former Editor Eisabeth Fischer argues, however, that the love affair between German consumers and the MSC could be cooling. The Promised Land might be sliding out of view, she concludes.
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11. Once again, China changes everything
With Joyvio's acquisition of Chilean salmon farmer Australis, seafood is now on the radar of China's massive conglomerates. Expect more mega-deals to follow, writes Editorial Director Drew Cherry.
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After being effectively barred from farming salmon in Washington state, Canadian seafood company Cooke Aquaculture was still left with a few choices for moving forward -- and none of them are great, as you will see in this column by Executive Editor John Fiorillo.
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13. Seafood's most dangerous foe
Editorial Director Drew Cherry examines the impact of the US/China trade war, concluding: The whims of one dangerous man -- D. Trump -- are certainly testing the strength of global seafood supply network.
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14. For sale: The US retail smoked salmon market
Executive Editor John Fiorillo explores a simple question in this column: Will there ever by a nationally dominant brand of smoked salmon in the US market? The answer is complicated.
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Travel into the fictional future to learn about "the great seafood crash of 2020" and why it was totally avoidable. Executive Editor John Fiorillo spins a tale about how, buoyed by nationalistic fervor, the US President issued executive order No. 3474 – “Achieving Seafood Self Sufficiency” – immediately banning ALL seafood imports from every country, and prohibiting the exporting of any seafood caught or raised in the United States. Things go straight to hell from there.
