Aquaculture: "The outlook for salmon producers post-COVID-19"

From The Fish Site who were just acquired by Hatch Blue.
We'll see what if any change in editorial direction this brings. Under 5m Publishing ownership (sub of Benchmark Holdings, BMK:LON) the publication was pretty much just the news, sustainability oriented without getting preachy.

Here's the latest:

Whether the upswing in salmon sales in supermarkets during the Covid-19 pandemic will be maintained once restaurants reopen is the subject of debate among salmon producers.

“Since February, Covid-19 has disrupted the salmon market resulting in a drastic drop in the salmon spot price and imposing logistical problems with air transport. Over a few weeks, the demand for salmon has changed in favour of products for the retail segment, but at great harm to the fresh-oriented HORECA [hospitality, restaurant and catering] segment,” noted Regin Jacobsen, CEO of Bakkafrost in the company’s Q1 report.

“It will be interesting to see if the huge number of new consumers, buying salmon from the supermarkets, will be a part of an increased demand for salmon, when the HORECA segment re-opens during the next coming weeks and months,” he reflected.

The report, which was published today, notes that the group – which harvested almost 18,000 tonnes of salmon in the quarter – was impacted by the significant market disruption from Covid-19, especially towards the end of the quarter. Along with the loss of 1.2 million fish during a storm at the end of February, Covid-related disruptions led to losses of DKK 148 million, compared to profits of DKK 212.8 million in the same quarter of 2019....MORE

And here's Bakkafrost's news, numbers, and commentary:
Operational EBIT of DKK 248 Million for the First Quarter of 2020

The pickup in supermarket sales has not come anywhere near offsetting the losses in the restaurant channel. As noted in April 16's "Seafood Market Craters After Restaurants Shuttered Worldwide":
This could be a wake-up call for the industry that they may have sold the consumer on the "specialness" of seafood, to the point people don't prepare it at home.
Or folks may be substituting pasta for everything.