June 17, 2020 — New Jersey wants to be known for more than just its shores and casinos.
Salmon Farmers Hit by China Boycott After New Virus Outbreak
June 17, 2020 — Salmon farmers have been hit by restrictions in China, where a new outbreak of the coronavirus was blamed on imported fish.
The red-fleshed fish is now being boycotted in China after new infections were traced back to the chopping board of a seller of imported salmon at a market in the capital. Orders have been canceled and “it’s difficult to ship fish to Beijing” in the near term, said Anders Snellingen, manager for global operations at the Seafood Council for Norway, the world’s biggest producer.
China still represents a small share of global salmon demand, making up less than 5% last year, but it’s also one of the fastest growing markets and fish farmers were already feeling the squeeze of pandemic restrictions.
“We had to rebook our shipments to China and direct it toward other markets,” Grieg Seafood ASA spokeswoman Kristina Furnes said by phone. While there is now closer scrutiny of salmon, the same applies to other food imports as well, she said. Grieg doesn’t export large volumes to China and hasn’t had any cases of Covid-19 in its organization.
Pandemic Reveals Need for Connectivity Solutions for Fishing Industry
June 17, 2020 — Connectivity at sea has never been more important than during these difficult times. New regulations can be introduced at any moment and it is of great importance to ensure that this information is communicated to all marine sectors.
While large vessels are equipped with multiple channels of communication, including circuit-switch terminals and VoIP applications powered by VSAT, smaller vessels, like those used in fishing industry, are hardly reachable.
MarineStar is an easy-to-install terminal with built-in handset and small antenna, that operates using Thuraya’s extensive satellite network, providing dependable voice communications.
Nabil Ben Soussia, CEO Middle East, Asia & Turkey of IEC Telecom Group, said: “In the past crew communication has not been a high priority for many fishing vessels. Often the crew make use of one corporate satellite handset and switch sim cards in order to use it. This approach can be problematic – the phone can be lost, stolen, run out of charge, or be stored in areas with no signal, and therefore shore offices may not be able to call it. In light of fast-changing Covid-19 regulations, it is important for crews to remain reachable at all times – and with MarineStar you have a robust handset providing reliable always-on communication.”
Today the global fishing fleet is estimated to include some 4.6 million vessels, the majority of which are small boats with crew daily away from their loved ones. Such boats have neither the budget nor room for a costly satellite set up, but this does not mean that the crew has no other option but to stay disconnected.
Report: Without Federal Aid, 85% Of Independent Restaurants Could Permanently Close
June 17, 2020 — The COVID-19 pandemic could force a staggering 85% of independent U.S. restaurants to shutter by the end of the year, according to a new report commissioned by recently formed trade group the Independent Restaurant Coalition (IRC).
Conducted by Compass Lexecon, a Chicago-based consulting firm, the report predicts a grim future for roughly 500,000 Main Street restaurants unless a more robust financial assistance program is established.
According to IRC, privately owned restaurants with fewer than 20 establishments — including fine dining spots, neighborhood joints, pizza parlors, bistros and food trucks, among other types of businesses — make up 76% of the industry and directly employ 11 million people across the country.
Pebble mine developer launches plan to share profits with local residents
June 17, 2020 — The developer of the controversial proposed Pebble mine in Southwest Alaska launched a profit-sharing plan for residents from the Bristol Bay region on Tuesday, drawing condemnation from an Alaska Native corporation opposed to the project.
The Pebble Performance Dividend will share 3% of the net profits from the copper, gold and molybdenum mine, Pebble Limited Partnership said in a statement on Tuesday.
The mine won’t make a profit during its initial years of construction, but Pebble pledged to provide $3 million annually during that period to ensure a dividend. Under that plan, if 3,000 residents applied for the program, each would receive $1,000 once construction starts, the company said.
“Developing a mine at Pebble will provide jobs, economic activity, local tax revenue and infrastructure,” said Tom Collier, Pebble chief executive.
The program will provide one more way local residents can benefit, he said.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers could permit the Pebble mine this summer. If permitted, the open-pit mine would be about 200 miles southwest of Anchorage, near salmon-producing headwaters of the valuable Bristol Bay fishery.
In a rare outcome, former Bumble Bee CEO will be sent to prison for price-fixing
June 17, 2020 — The former chief executive officer and president of Bumble Bee Foods, LLC, one of the world’s largest producers of canned tuna and other seafood products, has been sentenced to 40 months in jail for his leadership role in a three-year antitrust conspiracy to fix the prices of canned tuna. Christopher Lischewski’s sentence, which also includes a $100,000 criminal fine, comes after a San Francisco jury found him guilty in December of helping to orchestrate the scheme, which also involved the StarKist and Chicken of the Sea companies.
“The conduct was deliberate, it was planned, it was sustained, over a three-year period,” said Judge Edward M. Chen, according to reporting from Seafood Source. “This was not a rash act of having to commit a crime under distress, under episodic circumstances as we see sometimes, this was a contemplated and deliberate plan.”
Moreover, he said, the scheme targeted poor people.
Frozen premium seafood line debuts in Midwest, East Coast retailers
June 17, 2020 — Even as some large grocery chains are reducing the number of different frozen products they carry, many retailers are still seeking new frozen seafood meals, portions, and other items.
Sales of frozen seafood products increased faster than all other frozen food categories for the week ending 24 May, 2020, compared to a year ago, according to Information Resources Inc. (IRI) data presented by 210 Analytics Principal Anne-Marie Roerinkin a recent webinar hosted by the National Fisheries Institute.
Seafood industry moves to quash rumors of Beijing’s COVID-19 spike being linked to salmon
June 17, 2020 — China has halted shipments of salmon from Europe after it was incorrectly linked to a new coronavirus outbreak in Beijing.
Shipments were frozen after the virus was discovered on fish chopping boards in Beijing’s Xinfadi seafood market, the epicenter of a new cluster of COVID-19 infections.
WTO talks on curbing fishing subsidies may restart in July
June 17, 2020 — There are some signs that talks at the World Trade Organization on ending harmful fishery subsidies may restart next month after being suspended due to the coronavirus outbreak.
A Heads of Delegation meeting has been announced by the negotiations chair for 25 June to begin discussing the latest draft proposal for a deal. A follow-up meeting for delegation leaders on 21 July will set a potential Autumn work program for negotiators.
Environmental groups sue Trump administration for allowing commercial fishing in protected waters
June 17, 2020 — Environmental groups filed a federal lawsuit against the Trump administration on Wednesday, challenging its recent decision to allow commercial fishing in nearly 5,000 square miles of protected waters off Cape Cod.
The Boston-based Conservation Law Foundation and other groups said President Trump’s decision to open the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument — the only such protected waters off the East Coast — violated the Antiquities Act, a 1906 law that President Obama used to create the monument in his last year in office.
Fishing groups had lobbied for the change, saying the restrictions had cost the industry millions of dollars. In a meeting with fishermen in Bangor, Trump told them: “This action was deeply unfair to Maine lobstermen. You’ve been treated very badly. They’ve regulated you out of business.”
Critics of Obama’s decision to use the Antiquities Act said the move circumvented federal law established in the 1970s to regulate fisheries.
“President Obama swept aside our public, science-based fishery management process with the stroke of a pen,” said Bob Vanasse, executive director of Saving Seafood, a Washington, D.C.-based group that represents commercial fishermen. “That was a mistake, and whatever anyone thinks about President Trump is irrelevant.”
He also criticized the Conservation Law Foundation for its interpretation of the law.
“The record is clear that the highest political bidder during the Obama years was the environmental community, and that is why they succeeded in including a prohibition against commercial fisheries,” Vanasse said, noting that Obama did not ban recreational fishing in the protected area.
He and others in the fishing industry called Trump’s decision overdue. Before the ban, fishermen estimated that as many as 80 boats had regularly fished the area for lobster, crab, scallops, swordfish, and tuna. Fishermen said the closure has harmed their livelihoods.