North Star Caviar To Halt Fish Cleaning Operations For First Time In 25 Years -- April 13, 2017

The 2017 Paddlefish Snagging Season is set to run May 1-31 in North Dakota. Update here. 

From The Williston Herald:

After dismal paddlefish roe sales, North Star Caviar announced Wednesday that its fish cleaning plant will halt operation this year — a first in its 25-year operation. 

“We’re super disappointed that we can't continue to offer this,” Williston Area Chamber of Commerce President Janna Lutz said on Wednesday. “We’re sad this resource cannot be sold to give back to the community.” 

A late delivery in January 2016 left international market buyers sitting on product that missed their crucial holiday sales. Disappointing 2016 summer roe sales left North Star Caviar with 1,200 pounds of caviar on hand. 

North Star Caviar attributes the loss to a saturated market from Chinese farm-raised products. Regardless of what’s driving the caviar market, the nonprofit was forced to make difficult decisions this year.

The small nonprofit has contributed $2 million in community grants throughout its two decades of operation, though it announced in January it wouldn’t have the funds to support grant funding until it found a caviar buyer. 

The company is now going to cut expenses even further by ceasing its operation of its fish cleaning plant located at the confluence of the Yellowstone and Missouri River — a $70,000 yearly expense.

Much more at the link.

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Perhaps A New Nominee For The 2017 Geico Rock Award

From "The Talk of the Town: Comment, A State Away" in the March 13, 2017, issue of The New Yorker, page 27, by Jelani Cobb:

Amid the stunning Presidential-election results last November, a smaller, though perhaps equally consequential, development went relatively unnoticed: the Republican Party now controls thirty-three state legislatures. On its face, this development demonstrates the discrepancies between the Democratic and Republican farm teams. Not only does the GOP control the US Senate and the House of Representatives; (sic) it has created a pipeline of candidates to fill those offices for the foreseeable future. 

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Visas

From "The Financial Page, Mar-A-Lago Rules," Sheelah Kolhatkar, the March 20, 2017, issue of The New Yorker, page 34:

• H-1: full-time, permanent, long-term
• H-2: part-time, seasonal, short-term

• H-1A visas: expired; enacted during US nursing shortage; replaced by H-1C visas; also expired
• H-1B visas: technical and skilled employees, full-time
• H-2A visas: agricultural workers
• H-2B visas: seasonal workers

Google, et al: H-1B
Mar-A-Lago, et al: H-2B