How to Kill a Nation (part 279)

Brokor · Apr 14, 2010

Story: Last US sardine cans being packed in Maine - Yahoo! News

Production at Maine canneries has been sliding since peaking at 384 million cans in 1950. Faced with declining demand and a changing business climate, the plants went by the wayside one by one until, five years ago, the Stinson plant was the last one standing. Last year it produced 30 million cans.
Still, it came as a surprise to employees when Bumble Bee Foods LLC — which has owned the facility since 2004 — announced in February that the plant would close because of steep cuts in the amount of herring fishermen are allowed to catch in the Northeast. The New England Fishery Management Council set this year's herring quota at 91,000 metric tons — down from 180,000 tons in 2004 — because of the uncertain scientific outlook of the region's herring population.
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It sucks that we have such a bureaucracy that it always seems to muck things up -bigger government = incompetent government. We are purposefully destroying the lifeblood of this nation by eliminating businesses here at home. The last cannery in the United States -closed. Just, wow.

Even without the quota cuts, the plant was under pressure from shrinking consumer demand, increased foreign competition from countries with lower labor costs — primarily from China and Thailand — and thin margins and low prices on the retail market.
Sardines at one time were an inexpensive staple for many Americans who packed them into their lunchboxes and enjoyed a can or two — or perhaps a sardine sandwich — for lunch. The fish — usually packed in oil or in sauces such as mustard, hot sauce, tomato or green chilies — can still be had at supermarkets for a little over $1 a can, but they're not in too many lunch pails these days.
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I love sardines.

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How to Kill a Nation (part 279)

Brokor Live Free or Cry Moderator Site Supporter+++ Founding Member

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How to Kill a Nation (part 279)

Brokor Live Free or Cry Moderator Site Supporter+++ Founding Member

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