July 19, 2018 — Lawmakers on Wednesday held a hearing on sharks to examine new research, conservation techniques and ways to improve understanding of the unique animals.
Change in Area 1A Trimester 2 Effort Controls and Meeting Notice
July 19, 2018 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:
The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s (Commission) Atlantic Herring Section members from Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts revised the effort control measures for the 2018 Area 1A Trimester 2 (June 1 – September 30) fishery.
Days Out of the Fishery
- Vessels with a herring Category A permit that have declared into the Trimester 2 Area 1A fishery may land herring five (5) consecutive days a week. One landing per 24 hour period. Vessels are prohibited from landing or possessing herring caught from Area 1A during a day out of the fishery.
- Landing days in New Hampshire and Massachusetts begin on Monday of each week at 12:01 a.m.
- Landings days in Maine begin on Sunday of each week at 6:00 p.m.
- Small mesh bottom trawl vessels with a herring Category C or D permit that have declared into the Trimester 2 fishery may land herring seven (7) consecutive days a week.
Weekly Landing Limit
- Vessels with a herring Category A permit may harvest up to 640,000 lbs (16 trucks) per harvester vessel, per week.
- 160,000 lbs (4 trucks) out of the 640,000 lbs weekly limit can be transferred to a carrier vessel (see below).
At-Sea Transfer and Carrier Restrictions
The following applies to harvester vessels with a herring Category A permit and carrier vessels landing herring caught in Area 1A to a Maine, New Hampshire, or Massachusetts port.
- A harvester vessel can transfer herring at-sea to another catcher vessel.
- A harvester vessel is limited to making at-sea transfers to only one carrier vessel per week.
- Carrier vessels are limited to receiving at-sea transfers from one catcher vessel per week and can land once per 24 hour period. A carrier vessel may land up to 160,000 lbs (4 trucks) per week. The carrier limit of 4 trucks is not in addition to the harvester weekly landing limit. Carrier vessel: a vessel with no gear on board capable of catching or processing fish. Harvester vessel: a vessel that is required to report the catch it has aboard as the harvesting vessel on the Federal Vessel Trip Report.
The Area 1A sub-annual catch limit (ACL) is 32,084 metric tons (mt) after adjusting for a carryover from 2016 and the research set-aside. The Section allocated 72.8% of the sub-ACL to Trimester 2 and 27.2% to Trimester 3. After incorporating the 295 mt fixed gear set-aside and the 8% buffer (Area 1A closes at 92% of the sub-ACL), the seasonal quotas are 21,291 mt for Trimester 2 and 7,955 mt for Trimester 3.
These effort controls are projected to extend the Trimester 2 fishery through the end of August. Landings will be monitored closely and the fishery will be adjusted to zero landing days when the trimester’s quota is projected to be reached.
The Atlantic Herring Section members from Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts are scheduled to reconvene via conference call to review fishing effort on:
- Wednesday, August 8 at 12:30 pm
To join the call, please dial 888.585.9008 and enter conference room number 845-202-505 when prompted.
Fishermen are prohibited from landing more than 2,000 pounds of Atlantic herring per trip from Area 1A on no landing days. Please contact Megan Ware, Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, at mware@asmfc.org or 703.842.0740 for more information.
A copy of the announcement can be found here –http://www.asmfc.org/files/AtlHerring/AtlHerringDaysOutTri2_July2018.pdf.
Ex-manager says processor repacked expired seafood
July 19, 2018 — Gloucester Seafood Processing, the largely shuttered local subsidiary of Illinois-based Mazzetta Co., is a defendant in a lawsuit accusing the seafood giant of artificially manipulating lobster prices and repackaging expired seafood into new packaging with new expiration dates.
The accusations are contained in a wrongful termination suit brought by Corey Thompson, a former general manager at Mazzetta’s Atwood Lobster subsidiary in South Thomaston, Maine. Besides Gloucester Seafood Processing, the action also names Mazzetta Co. and its parent company, JorZac Inc., as well as Atwood, Londonderry Freezer LLC., and other Mazzetta subsidiaries as defendants.
Thompson claims in the lawsuit that he was fired with no explanation on May 26, 2017 — five days after he sent an email to Mazzetta Co. owner Tom Mazzetta and another company executive “expressing his concern that artificially deflated raw material prices” to benefit other Mazzetta subsidiaries “was illegal and in violation of domestic and international tax laws.”
In the same email, attached to the lawsuit as an exhibit, Thompson “expressed his concern that repacking expired seafood with new expiration dates was morally wrong and illegal.”
MARYLAND: Offshore Wind Projects’ Impact On Fishing Grounds Discussed
July 18, 2018 — After hearing a strong presentation on the potential impacts of offshore wind energy farms on fishing off the Ocean City coast and throughout the mid-Atlantic, resort officials this week seemed poised to strengthen their opposition to the proposed projects.
Since the Maryland Public Service Commission over a year ago approved the leases for two wind energy projects off the coast, Ocean City officials have been in a prolonged battle with the two approved developers to site the massive turbines offshore by at least 26 miles, or a distance perceived to have them not visible from the shoreline. From the beginning, the Mayor and Council’s official position has been an overall support of the concept of renewable, offshore wind energy, but not at the expense of sightlines from the resort’s coast and the potential impact on tourism and property values.
While much of the wind turbine issues, at least locally, have focused on the proposed distance and the perceived impact on tourism and property values, there has been little formal discussion of the possible impact on the resort’s vast fishing industry. Almost certainly, there will be some disruption of commercial and recreational fishing during the construction of the vast wind farms off the resort coast including some likely closures.
MAINE: Those lobster license plates are supporting $340,000 in research on vital industry
July 18, 2018 — The Maine Department of Marine Resources is using $340,000 from the sale of specialty license plates to bankroll lobster research.
The state agency is using lobster license plate profits to fund six research projects, including five run by the University of Maine and one by the Gulf of Maine Research Institute, and give $5,000 mini-grants to four other researchers. Project data will be shared through a research collaborative created to address the impact of a changing ocean environment on Maine’s lobster industry.
“Maine’s lobster industry is our most valuable and is a critical piece of the economy of nearly every community along the coast,” Marine Resources Commissioner Patrick Keliher said in a prepared statement Tuesday. “We know that change is happening in the Gulf of Maine and we want to be positioned with improved science to adapt to those changes.”
The agency in charge of regulating the state’s $1.5 billion industry is trying to up its own scientific efforts with these grants, which will be shared and shaped by a research collaborative made up of state officials, scientists and industry leaders. At the centerpiece of the new emphasis is research to support Maine’s most valuable fishery. The plan was to fund $500,000 in lobster science projects.
NOAA Fisheries Propose Northeast Skate Catch Limit Increase
July 18, 2018 — NOAA Fisheries is accepting public comment on its proposed catch and landing limits for Northeast skate.
The federal government is looking to increase the catch limit for the 2018-19 fishing year by almost 1 percent from 2017 to over 69 million pounds.
Skate is used for both food and bait.
NOAA is accepting public comment on its Northeast Skate Complex Fishery Management Plan through August 6.
Major US food companies form sustainability alliance
July 18, 2018 — Unilever United States, Danone North America, Nestle USA, and Mars Incorporated have joined together to create the Sustainable Food Policy Alliance (SFPA), a new advocacy group that aims to benefit fishing communities and the environment.
The SFPA seeks to advance policies that are beneficial for the environment, while accounting for the specific business imperatives of its supply chains, including fishing communities, farmers, ranchers, and other producers.
The formation of the new organization was announced by Danone North America CEO Mariano Lozano; Mars Wrigley Confectionery Americas President Tracey Massey; Nestlé USA Chairman and CEO Steve Presley; and Amanda Sourry, president of Unilever North America.
“As an Alliance, we commit first and foremost to leading by example. Each member company has independently proven a willingness to advocate for the long-term interests of the people who farm and supply our raw materials, and people who make and consume our products,” they said.
The manufacturers said they have already been aggressive in sourcing sustainable seafood and are at the forefront of human rights issues, including forced labor in the seafood industry.
Nestlé, which purchased around 134,000 tons of seafood in 2017, formed an Action Plan in 2015 to tackle Thai forced labor practices, which it called “unacceptable.”
Financing aquaculture: The cash is there, but information is lacking
July 18, 2018 — Finance can “drive change on the water,” according to Neil Sims at Kampachi Worldwide Holdings. But for aquaculture projects, it’s still hard to come by.
Speaking at the SeaWeb Seafood Summit in Barcelona, Spain in June, Sims told the story of his company. He said it took 10 years to raise enough funds to initiate his marine aquaculture project in Hawaii. There was a temptation to put one pen out while he raised the rest of the cash.
“But that would be throwing money down the rat hole,” he said. “In mariculture you need scale, you need to have the cash together.”
There’s plenty of money waiting to invest in aquaculture, according to Trip O’Shea, vice president at New York, U.S.A.-based investment house Encourage Capital. But first the sector needs to offer would-be investors data and models to profitability.
“There are several pillars of sustainable development but where is financial sustainability on the list? Otherwise how do we get it off the ground?” he said. “We need a set of principles for aquaculture investment, so that investors can quickly understand what to benchmark to. Right now there are so many metrics quoted. We have to compare apples to apples.”
O’Shea cited feed conversion ratios as an example.
Groups sue over offshore drilling expansion in Gulf, will also defend Atlantic
July 18, 2018 — Environmental groups on Tuesday sued the Trump administration over its expansion of offshore drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, and said they are prepared to do the same if lease sales are announced for the Atlantic coast.
“This lawsuit is specific to lease sales happening in the Gulf, but we are prepared to defend the Atlantic from offshore drilling as well,” said Maggie Caldwell of New York City based Earthjustice.
The group filed the suit on behalf of the Gulf Restoration Network, the Sierra Club, and the Center for Biological Diversity.
The suit alleges the administration moved to expand drilling to 78 million more acres of the Gulf of Mexico, without fully analyzing the risks to people, wildlife, and the environment.
The lease sales targeted in the suit are the largest ever offered for oil and gas development in U.S. history, the organizations said.
It was in response to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s (BOEM) announcement last week of its next lease sale on August 15.
MASSACHUSETTS: Report Urges State Officials to Dramatically Expand Clean Energy
July 18, 2018 — The push for Massachusetts to completely rely on renewable energy by the year 2050 is growing as state officials consider whether to pass legislation that would accelerate the growth of clean energy.
The state House and Senate has until July 31, the end of legislative session, to decide on enacting a law that would dramatically expand renewable energy in Massachusetts. It would also eliminate arbitrary caps on solar power and increase the renewable portfolio standard by three percent per year.
In anticipation of the July 31 deadline, the Environment Massachusetts Research & Policy Center has released a report that includes a state-by-state assessment of the growth of clean energy technologies over the past decade. The report, entitled Renewables on the Rise 2018: A Decade of Progress Toward a Clean Energy Future, compares the Commonwealth’s progress to that of other states in key areas such as wind energy, solar energy, electricity energy efficiency programs, electric cars, and energy storage.
State Director of Environment Massachusetts Ben Hellerstein and President and CEO of the South Coast Chamber of Commerce Rick Kidder presented the report to the media at Fall River’s Kennedy Park on Tuesday. Hellerstein says that the legislation being discussed at the state house require the state to work to reach goals of fifty-percent reliability on renewable energy by 2030, and 100-percent by 2050.