Saving Seafood

State and Local

Trump Says He’ll Listen to Both Sides on Alaska Mine Project

August 6, 2020 — President Donald Trump said Wednesday he would “listen to both sides” after his eldest son and a campaign adviser urged him to intervene to block a proposed copper and gold mine in Alaska’s Bristol Bay region.

Donald Trump Jr. on Tuesday agreed with a tweet from Nick Ayers, a former aide to Vice President Mike Pence and a senior adviser to the Trump campaign, expressing hope the president would direct the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to block the proposed Pebble Mine.

Trump Jr., in response, wrote: “As a sportsman who has spent plenty of time in the area I agree 100%. The headwaters of Bristol Bay and the surrounding fishery are too unique and fragile to take any chances with.”

The EPA has said the Bristol Bay watershed supports the largest sockeye salmon fishery in the world and contains significant mineral resources. An environmental review released by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers last month — and assailed by critics as deficient — stated that under normal operations, the alternatives it looked at “would not be expected to have a measurable effect on fish numbers and result in long-term changes to the health of the commercial fisheries in Bristol Bay.”

The corps has yet to make a permitting decision. When it does, it could issue a permit, approve a permit with conditions or issue a denial. The project, should it advance, also would face a state permitting process.

Read the full story at U.S. News

KENNEDY: COVID-19 PACKAGE MUST PUT ESSENTIAL WORKERS & LOW-INCOME FAMILIES IN MASSACHUSETTS FIRST

August 6, 2020 — The following was released by The Office of Congressman Joe Kennedy III (D-MA):

Guided by conversations with constituents and local leaders across Massachusetts, Congressman Joe Kennedy III today called on Congressional Leadership to put essential and frontline workers, and low-income families first in the next COVID-19 emergency funding package. In a series of letters to Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Leader Mitch McConnell, Kennedy demanded the inclusion of specific funding for firefighters, teachers, child care providers, postal workers and fisheries, as well as billions more for programs protecting low-income families, including more than $1.5 billion for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) and $2.5 billion for the Legal Services Corporation. Building on his recent calls with Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal to guarantee Medicare coverage to all recently unemployed people and direct funding to food insecure and environmental justice areas, Kennedy has continuously led efforts to focus recovery efforts on the most vulnerable communities.

“Working families have been hit hardest by this pandemic. They can’t just be a consideration in our efforts to recover and rebuild, they must be at the heart of the actions we take, policies we write and relief we provide. By intentionally providing funding for firefighters, teachers, child care providers and postal workers, we can support the people on the frontlines of this pandemic with more than just words of gratitude. By offering relief to fisheries, we can support the fishermen and fisherwomen who keep our Commonwealth’s economic lifeblood alive along the coast. By investing in the Legal Services Corporation and LIHEAP, we can help families keep their homes and their heat as we brace for the fall and winter, and the potential of another wave of infections.

“Now is not the time to shy away or to allow hypocritical Republicans to hide behind fake concerns about the debt, we need to be big and bold. Our people deserve nothing less.”

In his series of letters to Congressional leaders, Kennedy called for the inclusion of at least:

NORTH CAROLINA: Recreational fishermen sue trawlers, state over coastal shrimping

August 6, 2020 — A group of recreational fishermen and fishing guides sued some of the state’s largest shrimping companies and state regulators this week, taking a long-running fight over coastal fishing rules to federal court.

The lawsuit accuses shrimp trawlers of violating state and federal rules, killing off large populations of fish and churning up sediment as a byproduct of dragging shrimp nets across the sea floor. The group asks a federal judge to enforce the rules in place.

“Each defendant independently and significantly has harmed North Carolina’s coastal waters by using non-selective, destructive trawling equipment to harvest shrimp, or by allowing such shrimp trawling practices to continue despite federal and state laws prohibiting such activities,” the lawsuit states.

Read the full story at WRAL

LOUISIANA: USDA to buy $30 million pounds of domestic shrimp

August 6, 2020 — The federal government will buy $30 million worth of domestic shrimp to distribute as part of its emergency food assistance efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic, officials said.

Lawmakers say the action will also benefit Louisiana’s shrimp industry as fishermen struggle with decreased sales amid restaurant closures states have enacted to slow the coronavirus’s spread.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture approved the purchase this week under a law that allows it to provide food assistance to states and food banks nationwide during emergencies.

“This is great news for the U.S. shrimp industry, including Louisiana shrimpers, who tirelessly work to provide their delicious, world-class product,” said U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise, R-Metairie, whose district includes southern Terrebonne and Lafourche, home to many shrimp fishermen and processors. “This program will support our shrimpers who have been adversely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic while providing U.S. shrimp proudly produced in Louisiana and the entire Gulf Coast to the families who need it most.”

U.S. Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., also praised the action.

Read the full story at Houma Today

President’s son Donald Jr. on Twitter calls for blocking Alaska mine in sensitive fishing area

August 5, 2020 — The president’s namesake and the vice president’s former top staffer both tweeted Tuesday asking President Trump to block a giant gold and copper mine from being built at the headwaters of the world’s greatest sockeye salmon fishery in Alaska.

Just last month, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers issued a final environmental analysis allowing a small Canadian firm to go ahead with its Pebble Mine near Bristol Bay. The Army Corps in its new report said the project would not cause grave harm to the region’s watershed.

But Nick Ayers, Vice President Pence’s former chief of staff, said in a tweet that “Like millions of conservationists and sportsmen, I am hoping @realDonaldTrump will direct @EPA to block the Pebble mine in Bristol Bay. A Canadian company will unnecessarily mine the USA’s greatest fishery at a severe cost. This should be stopped and I believe @POTUS will do so!”

Read the full story at The Washington Post

Massachusetts Begins Distribution Process of CARES Act Funds to Fishing, Seafood Industries

August 5, 2020 — The Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries announced on Tuesday that they have begun the process of distributing federal disaster relief aid related to the coronavirus pandemic.

The CARES Act was passed in March with $300 million earmarked for the  fisheries assistance fund. However, at the time of the announcement, there had been no agency named to oversee the disbursement of the fund. Frustrated with the situation, fishermen wrote to Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross asking that the Department of Commerce and NOAA “clearly articulate their distribution process for the $300 million in fisheries assistance funds to ensure it is public and transparent.”

Read the full story at Seafood News

MASSACHUSETTS: Northern Wind Seafood ammonia leak prompts hazmat response

August 5, 2020 — Northern Wind Seafood’s facility in New Bedford, Massachusetts, suffered an ammonia leak prompting an evacuation of the building on 4 August, South Coast Today reported.

The New Bedford Fired Department announced via a Facebook post that the facility had been evacuated for an ammonia leak at around 9 a.m. on 4 August. The leak, according to local media, elevated to a “Tier 2” hazardous response and required a state hazmat team to investigate.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Concert Held on Water to Help Maine Fisherman Who Still Need Your Help

August 4, 2020 — Last Sunday, a concert fundraiser was held off the coast of Chebeauge Island to help raise money for lobstermen that are suffering due to the pandemic according to newscentermaine.com. Brilliant idea really, a concert held on the water to maintain social distancing. Fishing for lobster is not just a job, it’s a calling for many Maine residents. It’s a way of life for many families in the area.  With restaurants closed and restrictions put on imports, the lobstermen and their families are suffering greatly during this pandemic.  Some are not even fishing at this time. Others are working hard only to see the prices for lobster fall so low that it cost more to go get the lobster than saying home.

Crystal Canney is with the Protect Maine’s Fishing Heritage Foundation and tells newscentermaine.com that fishing for lobster in Maine is ‘iconic’ and a large part of the state’s economy. Fishing is not just a job for these families; it is a way of life.  One lobsterman at the concert told newscentermaine.com “Price is down but the industry pulling together to pull through it.  It’s what the coast of Maine does.” I must admit, there are so tough, yet supportive people in Maine.

Read the full story at WOKQ

MSC suspends Maine lobster fishery certification

August 4, 2020 — The Maine Certified Sustainable Lobster Association (MCLSA) has announced that the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification for the Maine lobster fishery has been suspended due to a recent decision on a federal court case.

The case, the Center for Biological Diversity v. Ross, found that the National Marine Fisheries Service failed to include an “incidental take statement” for the highly endangered North Atlantic right whale. As a result, U.S. District Judge James Boasberg found that the U.S. lobster fishery is in violation of the Endangered Species Act.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Louisiana seafood industry says adequate federal help is needed as the pandemic persists

August 4, 2020 — People working in Louisiana’s seafood industry and their advocates hope Congress treats fishermen better when it passes the latest COVID-19 aid package.

The pandemic is crushing restaurants and by extension the local seafood industry.

Pete Gerica is a longtime commercial fisherman.

“Your in-town sales, your sales out of state and all that, everything is at a standstill basically,” said Gerica.

Because of rising cases of the deadly virus Louisiana restaurants have mandated capacity limits.

“Everything is at a standstill basically with everybody with 25, 45, 50 percent of their sales and all of the wholesalers and retailers that we deal with directly they’re all having a rough go of it just like we are,” Gerica stated.

Louisiana Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser works with the seafood industry.

Read the full story at WAFB