BUSINESS BRIEFS
Aquaculture sales rebound from '06
Advertiser Staff and News Services
Hawai'i aquaculture sales last year rose 19 percent to $25.3 million in what was largely a rebound from a 25 percent drop a year earlier when industry sales fell from $28.4 million in 2005 to $21.3 million in 2006.
Last year's increase was from higher production of finfish, ornamental fish and items such as seed stock and brood stock that aren't sold by weight.
Algae was the industry's largest product with a value of $10.9 million last year, down from $11.9 million in 2006. There was a bigger drop in shellfish sales to $520,000 last year from $2.4 million in 2006.
Several local companies, including Cyanotech Corp. and Mera Pharmaceuticals Inc., grow various types of algae at the Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawai'i Authority facility in Kailua, Kona, on the Big Island.
A decrease in shellfish production was primarily the reason for the industry's shrunken value in 2006.
The Big Island continued to lead the state in aquaculture sales at $20.2 million, or 80 percent of the total.
SMALL-BUSINESS BLOG LAUNCHED
The U.S. Small Business Administration's Office of Advocacy has launched a small-business blog that focuses on regulatory issues, small-business research and other issues of concern to small businesses.
The office is encouraging small-business owners and other stakeholders to check out the "Small Business Watchdog" and post a comment or question. The Office of Advocacy is the small-business watchdog of the federal government and represents the views of small business to federal agencies, Congress and the president.
The Small Business Watchdog blog can be found at weblog.sba.gov/blog-advo.
AUGUST PAPAYA PRODUCTION OFF 22%
Hawai'i papaya production fell 22 percent in August from a year earlier, but was still 4 percent higher over the first eight months of this year compared with the same period last year, according to the latest estimates from the National Agricultural Statistics Service.
Farmers produced an estimated 2.2 million pounds of papaya in August as generally dry weather persisted in parts of the state despite rainfall in the early and middle parts of the month.
Production this year through August totaled 20 million pounds, up from 17.8 million in the same period last year.
Growers are expected to receive an estimated 50 cents per pound of fresh papaya in August, 2 cents less than in July but 11.9 cents more than a year earlier.
YAHOO, GOOGLE DROP AD PLANS
Yahoo and Google abandoned a proposed advertising partnership after a group of federal and state law enforcement officials, including the Hawai'i attorney general, told the companies they would file an antitrust lawsuit to block the implementation of the agreement.
The U.S. Justice Department led the investigation and was assisted by attorneys general from 15 states and the Canadian Competition Bureau. The Justice Department said that the proposed agreement, if implemented, would account for 90 percent or more of each relevant market and would likely harm competition in the markets for Internet search advertising.
Yesterday's announcement represented another setback for Yahoo, which had been counting on the Google deal to boost its finances and placate shareholders still incensed by management's decision to reject a $47.5 billion takeover bid from Microsoft six months ago.
