Saving Seafood

Opinion

BOSTON HERALD: Feds offer more protections to seals than humans

August 4, 2020 — Maine’s first shark-caused human fatality came as a shock to residents and vacationers alike, but the odds of that occurring in Massachusetts waters increase virtually daily, thanks to conservation efforts that have swelled both seal and shark populations.

Authorities have confirmed that a 63-year-old woman from New York City was killed by a great white shark on Monday while swimming with her daughter off Harpswell, Maine’s Bailey Island.

Julie Dimperio Holowach became the first known person to die from a shark attack in Maine’s history, Patrick Keliher, the state’s Marine Patrol Commissioner, said at a Tuesday press conference.

Holowach, wearing a wetsuit, was swimming with her daughter about 20 yards from the shore when she was attacked. Thankfully her daughter escaped injury.

Read the full story at The Boston Herald

SEAN HORGAN: Watching the watchers

August 4, 2020 — Stop us if you’ve heard this one before: NOAA Fisheries, persisting in an increasingly bad optic and potentially dangerous policy, last week said it will begin redeploying at-sea monitors aboard Northeast groundfish vessels on Aug. 14 despite the continuing national surge of the COVID-19 pandemic. It extends the previous waiver period by two weeks.

“NOAA Fisheries has been working with the regional observer and monitor providers to enact safety protocols that match those that are in effect for vessel operators and crew during this continually evolving situation,” NOAA Fisheries Assistant Administrator Chris Oliver said in a statement announcing the extension.

Oliver said the agency has developed national criteria for vessels to be released from monitor and observer coverage on a trip-by-trip basis. Waivers may be granted if observers or at-sea monitors are not available for the trip or the observer providers “cannot meet the safety protocols imposed by a state on commercial fishing crew or by the vessel or vessel company on the crew.”

And now the lawyers weigh in: “Within our limited authority, our efforts are intended to ensure observers and monitors are following the same safety protocols that fishermen are following,” Oliver stated.

We’re sure that makes everybody feels way safer.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times

NICK WHITNEY AND GREG SKOMAL: Facts, but no easy answers, around shark bites in New England

July 31, 2020 — A terrible tragedy took place in the waters off Maine this past Monday when a woman was fatally injured by a bite from a white shark. As shark scientists, we follow these incidents closely and try to learn whatever we can, but we fully realize that data and analyses are of little comfort to all those affected.

We also know that part of our job as scientists is to communicate the facts to the public as clearly as possible: This was the first-ever shark-related fatality in Maine’s history. There were only two fatalities from sharks in the world in 2019. Globally, shark bites on humans were lower than average in 2018 and 2019, and this trend appears to be continuing in 2020, according to the International Shark Attack File at the Florida Museum of Natural History. Given the number of people who enter the water every year, shark bites are rare (64 bites worldwide in 2019), and the vast majority of people who are bitten survive.

Those are the numbers, but other facts around shark attacks are much more difficult to assess: Why did this specific incident happen? What brought the shark so close to shore? What attracted it to the pair of swimmers? Why did it bite? The reality is that such incidents are so rare that the single biggest factor is probably chance.

Read the full story at The Boston Globe

Help for Hawaii’s Fishing Industry

July 14, 2020 — When it comes to Hawaii’s homegrown food sustainability, farming operations usually come to mind. But beyond farm aid, fish aid can’t be forgotten. That’s particularly true in Hawaii, the source of coveted quality catches such as tuna, billfish (swordfish and marlin), and open-ocean fish (mahimahi, ono and opah).

Just as farmers have been hard-hit by the months-long pandemic shutdown, so, too, have fishers and related operations. The shuttering of restaurants, seafood markets and other fish outlets have left some vessels inactive in Honolulu Harbor for 3-1/2 months, with about half of the workforce laid off. The COVID-19 lockdown has caused a 50% reduction in revenue for Hawaii longline vessels over the last four months, totaling losses of more than $20 million so far.

Read the full opinion piece at Seafood News

MARCUS FERRO: Kennedy Has and Will Deliver for the SouthCoast

July 13, 2020 — On Friday at New Bedford’s Pier 3 – located off of JFK Boulevard – with a backdrop of the harbor and fishing boats that are the foundation of our local economy, Congressman Joe Kennedy III delivered his vision for a stronger New Bedford and SouthCoast region.

Gathered in attendance were community residents, city officials, and some of our elected leaders, virtually all of whom have endorsed Kennedy’s run for Senate. Among them is Hugh Dunn, New Bedford City Councilor and lead on the visionary Blue Economy project in Southeastern Massachusetts. 

“Congressman Kennedy has been a strong advocate for Southeastern Massachusetts for years,” Dunn said. “His work on the Blue Economy demonstrates that he understands the power of convening government, academia, and industry to make our region more globally competitive. He supports us, and I’m glad to support him.”

Kennedy, whose congressional district includes a large chunk of the SouthCoast, remarked that before the Blue Economy, each subregion of Southeastern New England was working separately, and thus inefficiently, on blue economic development. The goal was to bring the region together for a cohesive shoreline economy that maximizes its enormous resources and natural assets.

Read the full story at WBSM

ALEXIA AKBAY: Building A Post-COVID Oceans Economy For Hawaii

July 13, 2020 — The impact of COVID-19 is leading localities around the world to rethink their economies. With a record-high 39.4% of the workforce unemployed, Hawaii is no different.

As a global pandemic dries up tourist dollars and a climate crisis lurks in our future, it is clear that Hawaii’s economy, like our ohia forests and coral reefs, is a fragile ecosystem vulnerable to disruption.

A growing number of calls for a new economic model are gaining traction but they forget Hawaii’s crown jewel: 143,000 acres of mariculture-ready ocean and centuries of indigenous ocean stewardship knowledge.

As we consider Hawaii’s post-COVID economic future, we cannot miss this chance to build a blue economy that restores Hawaii’s self-sufficiency while bringing it forward to a climate-resilient future.

Read the full story at the Honolulu Civil Beat

TYSON FICK: Alaska’s fishing boats are weathering an unprecedented storm

July 6, 2020 — No one reading this needs to be reminded that we are in uncharted waters as thousands of Alaska fishermen set out to sea for the salmon season. As a fisherman with two young boys, I felt a deep sense of both privilege and responsibility as I set my nets in the glacier-fed waters of Taku Inlet in late June.

Most fishing seasons the biggest questions are: Will the salmon come early or late? Will they be swimming deep or along the shoreline? This summer the questions are: Will Alaska’s independent fishermen financially survive the coronavirus? Will there be buyers willing to pay a decent price for their catch? Will fishermen get access to the personal protective equipment and testing that they need to avoid the spread of coronavirus? Will the long-fought Pebble mine be permitted while Bristol Bay’s fishing fleet is out risking their lives?

Realizing that spring in 2020 was like no other, here at SalmonState we felt it was important to reach out while hunkering down. We did that via SalmonState’s Spring Fishermen Survey. What we heard from the nearly 800 commercial fishermen who responded is while there are new concerns when it comes to their fishing operations, there are a couple of bedrock issues that continue to be priorities for those who make their living from the ocean.

Read the full opinion piece at the Anchorage Daily News

BRIAN PERKINS: A new wave of sustainable seafood to feed generations to come

July 6, 2020 — Seafood is having a moment.

Fish, especially canned and frozen options, increasingly have become a go-to choice for Americans during the pandemic as they stock their pantries and freezers; seek out new immune-boosting meal ideas; and look for alternatives to meat due to shortages and health concerns over meat processing. For example, U.S. shelf-stable tuna sales were up 31.2 percent over last year in March, according to Nielsen data.

While increased seafood consumption may be good short-term news for the U.S. seafood industry, it also is combating other major challenges, such as severely decreased foodservice and export business due to the pandemic. We must look at the flexibility and long-term viability of the seafood industry globally to prepare for the long-term implications of the current crisis.

Earlier this month, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) released its “The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2020” (SOFIA) report, which indicates more than a third of fisheries (34.2 percent) globally are operating at unsustainable levels. Compare that to 10 percent in 1990, and it becomes an abundantly clear global issue we must quickly and sustainably address, even as the industry is plagued with pandemic challenges.

While these numbers seem perilous, efforts by the U.N., the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), fisheries and conscious consumers already have led to stock recoveries for skipjack tuna, Alaskan pollock and Atlantic cod. The industry must look to these examples to enact changes that will ensure seafood is around for generations to come.

Read the full opinion piece at GreenBiz

BEN MARTENS: Federal COVID response a missed opportunity to help Maine fishermen

June 26, 2020 — President Trump’s recent roundtable meeting with fishermen in Bangor was a unique opportunity to bring national attention to COVID-19’s catastrophic impact on fishing communities here in Maine and around the country. Most Americans are unaware of the devastation the crisis has inflicted on fishing economies, which support 40,000 jobs in Maine and 1.5 million jobs in the United States. The president’s visit put a spotlight on Maine’s fishermen for a brief moment during this time of crisis.

What resulted from this meeting was the opening of a national marine monument south of Cape Cod to additional commercial fishing, and the creation of a yet-to-be-defined fisheries task force. While significant, this action does not address the underlying economic challenge facing Maine fishermen because of the pandemic – the collapse of domestic and international demand for seafood.

Roughly three-quarters of the seafood consumed in the U.S. is eaten at restaurants. With restaurants closed or severely constrained, prices and demand have dropped dramatically – close to 70 percent for many New England species. As families struggled to find healthy, affordable food, fishermen were being told not to go fishing. Seafood is one of the healthiest food choices you can make for your mind, body and the environment. More access to heathy food should be our shared priority. Unfortunately, the pandemic has illuminated the cracks in our national food system, meaning that now is the time to invest in comprehensive solutions to protect local, sustainable seafood for our nation.

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald