September 3, 2020 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:
The meeting summary and motions from the September 1 webinar of the ASMFC Tautog Management Board is now available at http://www.asmfc.org/files/
New version of MarinTrust’s Chain of Custody certification introduced
September 2, 2020 — MarinTrust, the global marine ingredient standard for responsible supply (formerly IFFO RS), has published a new version of its Chain of Custody, according to a 1 September announcement.
Effective from 30 November, when application process will begin, the latest MarinTrust Chain of Custody incorporates a variety of new features, including: audit technologies to source the origin of certified MarinTrust compliant marine ingredients; recognition of other standards (such as Global Food Safety Initiative-recognized) and regulatory authority standards; a new risk assessment framework; and new traceability system checks.
USITC investigating effects of CETA on US lobster industry
September 2, 2020 — The United States International Trade Commission (USITC) has announced it is planning to investigate the impacts of a Canada-E.U. trade agreement on the U.S. lobster industry.
The investigation was kicked off by a letter from the United States Trade Representative requesting the USITC provide a complete overview of the U.S. and Canadian lobster industries, including the trends in exports between both countries and the U.K. and E.U. That letter was itself kicked off by an executive order from U.S. President Donald Trump, intended to boost the U.S. lobster industry.
NOAA to boaters: Watch out for right whales
September 2, 2020 — Federal fisheries regulators are asking mariners to either go slow or find a route around an area south of Nantucket where groups of right whales have recently been spotted as the endangered mammals migrate.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said it established a “dynamic management area” south of Nantucket where “an aggregation of right whales” was seen on Monday. There are estimated to be fewer than 400 right whales remaining on Earth. Boaters are encouraged to slow their vessels to 10 knots or less or to avoid the area altogether.
WASHINGTON: Navy, state clash over increased testing that could harm whales, marine life
September 2, 2020 — Navy and state leaders are at odds over a proposed rule for military testing in Puget Sound and coastal waters of Washington that allows the increased potential to harass and harm marine life, including the endangered and fragile Southern Resident orca population.
The Navy, in seeking approval from the National Marine Fisheries Service, is seeking to conduct testing and training involving a number of activities — firing torpedoes and projectiles, detonating bombs up to 1,000 pounds, using underwater sonar, piloting undersea drones and more. A proposed new rule would allow for the potential “take” — a term meaning “to harass, hunt, capture, or kill, or attempt to harass, hunt, capture, or kill any marine mammal” — of Southern Resident orcas from twice a year to up to 51 times, though federal officials say no conditions that could injure one of the 73 known remaining southern residents would be allowed.
On Friday, the state’s Department of Ecology pushed back with demands to constrict the Navy’s testing, including increasing the whale buffer zones to at least 1,000 yards and ceasing sonar exercises when orcas are spotted. The agency also asked for the Navy to use real-time whale alert systems like those used by the Washington State Ferries.
Alaska fishing industry likely incurred tens of millions of dollars in coronavirus-related expenses
September 2, 2020 — Alaska seafood processors are paying tens of millions of dollars extra to cover costs from the COVID-19 pandemic, and most of it is coming out of pocket.
Intrafish Media provides a first, in-depth look at how costs for providing protective gear like masks and gloves, testing thermometers, extra staff to handle sanitizing demands between work shifts, and modifying worker lines for social distancing are playing out in the nation’s seafood processing sector.
At Bristol Bay, for example, where around 13,000 workers from outside Alaska come to work on fishing boats and in 13 plants of varying sizes, it’s estimated that all major processors combined likely spent $30 million to $40 million on COVID-related costs during the two peak fishing months of June and July this summer.
Change.org Petition Has Over 4,000 Signatures to Free Imprisoned Commercial Fisherman Michael Foy
September 2, 2020 — A petition created on Change.org to free imprisoned commercial fisherman Michael Foy has gathered over 4,000 signatures.
Foy, who lives in Puerto Rico, has been imprisoned in Tortola, the largest of the British Virgin Islands, since June 8. As the captain of commercial fishing vessel Rebel Lady, Foy departed Puerto Rico for a fishing expedition on May 29. His vessel was carrying 7,000 pounds of fish when he was detained for illegally entering the British Virgin Islands during the pandemic. Foy allegedly believed that the BVI port had been closed, not the border itself. He was reportedly drifting near the coastal border off Norman Island while waiting to get customs clearance to return to Puerto Rico when a patrol boat escorted him to shore. Authorities arrested Foy for not only illegal entry, but for illegal fishing. His vessel was seized, as well as the cargo, which was worth a reported $60,000. He was placed in a cell, where he’s been sitting ever since.
At-sea monitor meeting to be held online, not in person
September 2, 2020 — The New England Fishery Management Council dispensed with the suspense on Monday when it announced its September meeting, initially set for Gloucester, will be conducted online via webinar.
The three-day meeting, scheduled for Sept. 29 to Oct. 1, is expected to include the council’s final action on the highly contentious measure — Amendment 23 — to establish future monitoring levels for sector-based vessels in the Northeast multispecies groundfish fishery. The council hopes to post the remainder of the agenda by the end of this week.
The September meeting was scheduled for the Beauport Hotel Gloucester on Commercial Street. But that was before the dawning of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent indoor and outdoor gathering restrictions that have forced all but one of the council’s public meetings and hearings online.
The current Massachusetts indoor gathering restrictions call for no more than eight individuals per 1,000 square feet of space, with the gathering not to exceed 25 individuals in any single enclosed space.
Those restrictions would have limited an in-person meeting to the council’s 18 voting members, a handful of non-voting members and legal counsel. The public and even some council staff presenters would have been forced to participate via online webinar.
Reminder: Atlantic Herring Fishery Restrictions in Management Area 1A
September 2, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:
NOAA Fisheries reminds participants in the Atlantic herring fishery that the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission and the states of Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts implement fishery restrictions, including landing limits, landing days, and spawning closures, on herring landed from herring management area 1A.
Details of these fishery restrictions can be found on the Commission’s Atlantic herring webpage.
How This Seafood ‘Sourcerer’ Runs New York City’s Lobster Game
September 2, 2020 — “Selling lobsters is definitely a complicated process,” says Steven Wong, owner of Aqua Best Seafood Market in New York City. “I’ve eaten so much lobster in my life I can actually taste the difference in where they caught it.” Wong and his family have been selling and shipping diverse seafood to customers, many of whom are restaurateurs for some of NYC’s best restaurants, for over 30 years. In that time, Wong has become known for his sourcing of high-grade lobster, so much so that he earned the nickname “the lobster ‘sourcerer’”
“A lobster’s not just a lobster. A lobster is just like a diamond,” says Wong of the many different types of lobsters he sources from all over the country. “There are different cuts, different grades, different sizes, there are different areas from where you catch lobster that have different qualities.”
Before COVID-19, the shop went through an average 60 to 80 thousand pounds of lobster per week, and during the holidays that number could be up to 150 thousand pounds. Wong’s company sells lobster and other fish to 175 restaurants in the northeast, and they ship anywhere in the world in under 24 hours; “even in Singapore,” he notes, “which has the longest flight, like 19 hours.”