Saving Seafood

Council Actions

Contract Opportunity for Scallop Dredge Vessels

November 16, 2023 — The following was released by The New England Fishery Management Council:

The New England Fishery Management Council is broadly sharing the following information in support of our federal partners at NOAA Fisheries.

 
WHAT IS THIS ABOUT:  The Northeast Fisheries Science Center is looking for appropriate scallop dredge vessels to participate in the annual Atlantic sea scallop survey.  Vessels must be available between May and July 2024 – ideally in June – to participate in the survey.
 
FIRST STEP:  Step #1 is a call for information to help NOAA Fisheries identify vessels that meet a list of required specifications related to sufficient berth space, adequate deck space, equipment requirements, and more.  Interested applicants are being asked to respond to this initial request for information by November 22, 2023.
 
IMPORTANT:  Step #1 is important because it will lead interested vessel owners to register inSAM.gov.  Anyone who is not registered in SAM.gov cannot receive a government contract.  SAM stands for System for Award Management.  If you need help with this initial step, feel free to contactAmanda Rossiter or Carina Topasna, who are both contract specialists.
 
SECOND STEP:  Under Step #2, NOAA Fisheries will issue a solicitation for a vessel contract opportunity, which will happen “in the near future.”  Remember, Step #1 is critical to being able to participate in Step #2.  Each awarded contract will have a one-year base period in 2024 with “option years through 2028.”
 
SURVEY RANGE:  The Atlantic sea scallop survey is currently conducted along the U.S. continental shelf from New England to the Mid-Atlantic region and includes the U.S. waters of Georges Bank.
 
SURVEYS SUPPORT MANAGEMENT:  Survey data helps fishery managers make informed decisions.  The Atlantic sea scallop fishery is managed by the New England Fishery Management Council and administratively overseen by NOAA Fisheries.
 
QUESTIONS:  Additional information about this important scallop survey contract opportunity isposted here.  Questions should be directed to the contacts listed at the bottom of the webpage, which, in addition to Amanda Rossiter and Carina Topasna, include: Ecosystems Surveys Branch Chief Peter Chase; and Shellfish Survey Program Lead Chad Keith, who also is with the Northeast Fisheries Science Center’s Ecosystems Surveys Branch.

New England’s wetter, warmer future is already here

November 16, 2023 — The warmer, wetter future that climate scientists have been predicting for New England is already here.

The fifth National Climate Assessment – issued by the White House on Tuesday – includes data showing the region is seeing extreme heat on land and at sea, especially in the Gulf of Maine, and more frequent heavy rainstorms than any other region of the country.

The assessment shines a spotlight on the links between extreme weather and inland flooding, said U.S. Forest Service scientist Erin Lane, one of the authors of the Northeast chapter. Data shows the number of days when at least 2 inches of rain fell is up, but the number of 5-inch days more than doubled.

These storms can have a big impact on local communities and ecosystems, but they can also spur action.

“The stress of extreme weather is motivating climate action,” Lane said on Tuesday. “In our region, we are seeing more adaptation to build resilience, as well as inclusion of nature-based solutions and carbon emission reduction strategies as communities work toward addressing these issues.”

Rising sea levels and heavy rains are leading to floods, driving up insurance rates, and forcing towns to repair or move roads, bridges and ferry landings. Extreme weather can sometimes mean droughts and floods in succession, wreaking havoc with the growing season, spring thaws and mud season.

Read the full article at the Portland Press Herald

Debate over Pebble mine in Alaska’s Bristol Bay region moves to dueling Supreme Court briefs

November 16, 2023 — The company trying to build a huge copper and gold mine in the salmon-rich Bristol Bay will keep fighting for the project, despite a decision by the federal government to keep the proposed development site off-limits to large-scale metals mining.

John Shively, chief executive officer of the Pebble Limited Partnership, made that vow in a presentation at the Alaska Miners Association annual convention in Anchorage.

He said the Pebble mine had the potential to transform the economy and improve lives in the rural Bristol Bay region, just as he said the Red Dog Mine, one of the world’s biggest zinc producers, has done in Northwest Alaska.

“That’s why we’re still fighting this. The resources are there. We’re still here. We’re not going anywhere,” he told the convention audience in his presentation on Thursday.

The company’s fight is backed by the administration of Gov. Mike Dunleavy. At his direction, the state in July filed a lawsuit directly to the U.S. Supreme Court to try to overturn a decision by the Environmental Protection Agency that bars permitting for any Pebble-type mine in key areas of the Bristol Bay watershed.

Dunleavy, in brief remarks earlier this week at the miners’ convention, expressed pride in his support of the controversial project.

“I was told if I supported Pebble, I would never win another election. Well, I don’t know. I’m here. I’m still here,” he said on Tuesday, drawing applause from the audience. The Republican governor was handily reelected last November.

The EPA decision invoked a rarely used provision in the Clean Water Act to preclude any wetlands permit for the project. The agency determined that the Pebble mine posed an unacceptable risk to the Bristol Bay watershed, essential to a region with the world’s largest sockeye salmon runs and with major fisheries and wildlife populations that depend on that salmon.

To help reverse that decision, the Pebble Limited Partnership and its owner, Vancouver-based Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd., in September filed an amicus brief in support of the state’s Supreme Court effort. Filing supportive briefs, too, were the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority and numerous Alaska and national resource-development groups.

Read the full article at the Alaska Beacon

NOAA Announces Decision To Withdraw Proposal To Expand SIMP Following Public Comment Period

November 16, 2023 — NOAA Fisheries announced on Tuesday that they have decided to withdraw the proposed rule to expand the Seafood Import Monitoring Program (SIMP). The proposed rule to expand SIMP, which would have added species and amended regulations to clarify responsibilities and definitions, was initially published in the Federal Register in December 2022.

“This decision to withdraw the proposed rule stems from the extensive and varied feedback during the public comment period, and our overarching interest in strengthening the impact and effectiveness of our traceability efforts,” said Alexa Cole, the Director of NOAA’s Office of International Affairs, Trade and Commerce. “We’ve received feedback from our stakeholders indicating that SIMP may not fully meet their expectations, and now is the appropriate time to review the program’s scope, format and overall objectives as we plan for the future.”

Read the full article at Seafoodnew.com

ISSF report indicates little change in global tuna sustainability since March

November 15, 2023 — The International Seafood Sustainability Foundation’s (ISSF) latest “Status of the Stocks” report for global tuna fisheries found the sustainability of global tuna stocks has remained flat since its last report in March.

The latest report found that 85 percent of the world’s commercial tuna catch comes from stocks at “healthy” levels of abundance, the same amount the ISSF reported over six months ago. The level of tuna coming from overfished stocks also remained flat at 11 percent, and 4 percent of the catch is coming from stocks at an “intermediate” level of abundance.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Finite supply fuels US market for king and snow crab, defying seafood category dip

November 15, 2023 — Limited availability of king crab and snow crab has boosted U.S. buyer interest, in defiance of a downward sales trend across the seafood category.

On 15 October, the red king crab fishery in Alaska’s Bristol Bay officially opened with a 2.2-million-pound quota, following a two-year closure. As recently as 2016, the total allowable harvest was set at 8.47 million pounds; in 1980, it was 130 million pounds.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

China leads list of labor abusers, sometimes akin to slavery, detected on fishing vessels worldwide

November 15, 2023 — Hazardous, forced work conditions sometimes akin to slavery have been detected on nearly 500 industrial fishing vessels around the world, but identifying those responsible for abuses at sea is hampered by a lack of transparency and regulatory oversight, a new report concluded.

The research by the Financial Transparency Coalition, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit organization that tracks illicit money flows, is the most comprehensive attempt to date to identify the companies operating vessels where tens of thousands of workers every year are estimated to be trapped in unsafe conditions.

The report, published Wednesday, found that a quarter of vessels suspected of abusing workers are flagged to China, whose distant water fleet dominates fishing on the high seas, traditionally lawless areas beyond the jurisdiction of any single country. Vessels from Russia, Spain, Thailand, Taiwan and South Korea were also accused of mistreatment of fishers.

Read the full article at the Associated Press

FLORIDA: Portia Sapp of FDACS details impact of recent storms on Florida’s aquaculture industry

November 16, 2023 — Florida’s farmland is central to the state’s identity, but Florida’s waters are home to a growing farming industry as well.

Portia Sapp is the Director of the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) Division of Aquaculture and Chairwoman of the FDACS Science Advisory Workgroup. She spoke to Senators about the state’s aquaculture industry, explaining its impact as well as several hurdles the still-developing sector is facing.

According to Sapp, there are about 1,000 aquaculture producers in Florida raising more than 1,500 species. Of licensed operators, 40% produce shellfish, 28% grow ornamental fish or tropical fish, and 17% focus on food fish, such as tilapia and shrimp.

The fish and other organisms grown in Florida can serve as food and bait, help conservation efforts and aid in research, among other uses.

Sapp said the aquaculture industry has grown 50-fold since 1990 and now represents about 52% of global fisheries production for protein. While growing for protein is an obvious benefit, Sapp told the Senate Agriculture Committee Tuesday that there are environmental benefits as well.

Read the full article at Florida Politics

ALASKA: Cordova kelp farmers need to process their harvest. A scientist is piloting a solution.

November 16, 2023 — Sean Den Adel and his fiance Skye Steritz live in Cordova and are among a handful of small-scale seaweed farmers in Prince William Sound.

They’ve been harvesting mostly sugar kelp on about five acres of water since 2022. Den Adel said he’s excited about the future of the industry, which he sees as more sustainable – ecologically and economically – than the fisheries that have supported Prince William Sound for generations.

“I really do think it’s going to create a lot more jobs in coastal communities, and it already is doing that,” he said.

But in order to grow the industry, Cordova’s kelp farmers need a way to process seaweed locally.

Prince William Sound has experienced five fisheries disasters since 2016, in part because of climate change. These disasters put a major economic strain on coastal communities. Growers like Den Adel are hoping seaweed can help bolster and diversify the region’s economy.

Cale Herschleb, another Cordova-based kelp farmer with Royal Ocean Kelp Company, has commercially fished for salmon in Prince William Sound for the last 15 years. The fisheries disasters have been challenging and the future of salmon fishing feels uncertain, he said, and growing kelp makes sense as an off-season occupation.

Read the full article at Alaska Public Media

MASSACHUSETTS: Deadly fentanyl raises stakes for addicted fishermen

November 16, 2023 — As the crew of the clam vessel Lori Ann prepared to set out from Fairhaven, the fleet manager was told that something wasn’t right with a fisherman below deck.

The manager climbed down into the cabin. There, he recalled, he found Thomas Post, a 48-year-old deckhand and father of two. The manager had worked with Post for years, and described him as an eccentric mentor to the young crew.

But on Oct. 8, 2021, Post was sitting upright at the galley table. He was naked. His eyes were wide open. His skin was cold. He had no pulse. Post, who often slept on the boat the night before fishing trips, had died that morning due to the combined effects of fentanyl and cocaine.

Post was just one of at least 70 New Bedford fishermen who died of drug overdoses in the five years between 2018 and 2022, according to state death records analyzed by The Light.

Drug overdoses are the leading cause of death for commercial fishermen in Massachusetts, records show. The vast majority of those deaths involve fentanyl. Since 2015, the powerful synthetic opioid has killed fishermen more than anything else. More than car crashes. More than work-related accidents. More than heart disease or cancer.

“This fentanyl is just everywhere,” said the manager who found Post dead in 2021. “I haven’t seen anything like it.” Earlier that same year, he recalled, a 24-year-old deckhand didn’t show up the morning of a fishing trip. When the fisherman’s mother came to pick up his last check, she told the manager that her son had died of a fentanyl overdose the morning of the trip.

Read the full article at the New Bedford Light