Crabbers and others in the fishing industry would like to see at least one change in country-of-origin labeling (COOL).

President Bush signed the law, known as the 2002 Farm Bill, on May 13, 2002. One of its initiatives requires beef, lamb, pork, fish, perishable agricultural commodities and peanuts to bear a label showing its country of origin.

However, it does not require the labeling of processed fish, which includes canned fish and crab.

Alaska seafood producers support this bill because it provides a strong marketing advantage by letting the public know the product originates in the United States.

Other industries slated to come under COOL successfully lobbied for a two-year moratorium to give them time to work into it, but the seafood industry had to comply with the requirements by Sept. 30, 2004.

“Since the final rule came out for COOL, there have been no changes,” said United Fishermen of Alaska president and marketing committee chairman Bruce Schactler.

But those in the crab industry would like to see crab, which is most often cooked, included under COOL. Others in the industry want to see the labeling of canned fish.

“Thanks to Sen. Stevens and the delegation, we were able to keep seafood in there. But by the time the Department of Agriculture got done with it, thanks to the tuna fish lobby, canned and cooked products were one of the things that were not covered under the COOL,” Schactler said.

Some producers of Alaska canned salmon are voluntarily using labels that say, “product of Alaska,” he said.

But some Russian crab is marketed as Alaska king crab. According to an article by fisheries reporter Laine Welch in the Mirror Sept. 5, fisheries officials estimate the Russian poaching rate topped 44 million pounds of crab in the past year — twice the legal catch quota.

Crab coming into the U.S. is not subject to COOL and is causing problems in the marketplace.

Since it is coming in as a cooked product, it doesn’t have to be labeled, Schactler said.

“COOL is good,” he said. Schactler said the most recognized brand of seafood is from Alaska, due to the state’s marketing efforts.

UFA will spearhead an effort to modify COOL to include cooked product because of markets around the world that call their crab “Alaska” crab when it isn’t, or label it “wild” when it isn’t.

Schactler said it is likely the effort will attract opposition from other sectors of the seafood industry.

“We just don’t know until we get into it,” he said.

When Gov. Frank Murkowski was senator, he introduced COOL into the Senate.

“That support has always been there for the process and I can’t imagine that whoever will be in control of the next administration would not support that, too. It is good for business in Alaska and for Alaskans,” Schactler said.

Restaurants are also exempt from COOL. Schactler said those in the seafood industry would like to see them come under the COOL requirements.

“When you start seeing abuse in the marketplace, that’s always good for people to want change,” he said.

Fisheries consultant Linda Kozak said the crab fleet is in the process of looking to change COOL regulations.

“We are working to try to amend the COOL regulations to specifically require that crab be labeled, whether it is coming in as a live crab or whether it has been traditionally cooked and frozen,” Kozak said.

Their aim is to stop the importation of illegal crab into the United States and consider COOL for crab a possible solution.

“As recently as two weeks ago there was Russian crab being sold at Pike Place Market in Seattle labeled as Alaska crab,” she said. “When a crabber went to Pike Place and looked at the crab, it didn’t look like Alaska crab and he asked to see the boxes. There was Russian printing on the boxes.”

Norway is also attempting to stop the import of illegal crab.

Evidence is mounting that indicates in some cases, crabbers in waters outside the United States are taking more than three times the total allowable catch.

Although the crab is being illegally harvested, it is not coming into the United States illegally.

“It’s flooding into the U.S. market and causing a huge price reduction for domestic crab,” Kozak said.

A local processor said the price of crab has been eroding steadily and is at a 25-year low at around $3.25 per pound.

He added that over the years, the price has not gone much below $4 per pound. Halibut is now selling for $4 per pound.

Alaska Fresh Seafood co-owner Dave Woodruff believes people need to know what country their crab is coming from.

He said it is a far too common practice to remove the crab’s original box and put an American label on it without indicating the country of origin.

“We’re dealing with the rules and regulations and foreign countries are not,” Woodruff said. “We have no idea under what conditions the stuff is being cooked and cooled and processed in.

“We have FDA inspectors that come in regularly. We have to operate under all these state and federal laws … Other countries don’t have to, and don’t,” he said.

Woodruff said the extra paperwork involved with the COOL regulations is not daunting.

“We figured it out and it’s working fine,” he said.