Saving Seafood

Opinion

BRENNAN STRONG: Maine lobstermen and fisheries regulators need more time to assess new whale rules

February 19, 2021 — I am a 22-year-old commercial lobsterman. I got my lobster license at 11 years old and I have poured my heart, soul, blood, sweat and tears into building my business ever since. I am writing out of deep concern for the future of the lobster fishery because of the newly proposed right whale regulations.

For over 100 years, this industry has been the role model for a sustainable and honorable fishery. We throw back more lobsters than we keep every day, as well as remove litter consistently from the bays where we work. This industry has given thousands of people opportunities to work, dream, and contribute to coastal communities. Lobstering is a way of life and is vital for Maine and its people.

However, the Center for Biological Diversity v. Ross court ruling from Judge James Boasberg requiring the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to have new right whale regulations and a new biological opinion by May 31, 2021 is dangerously premature. The problem is that May 31 is too soon to properly evaluate the scientific and real-life factors at play. The entanglement statistics contain many assumptions and more time is needed to make sure everything is fact-based.

The significant threats to right whales have been and continue to be vessel strikes and entanglement with Canadian fishing gear, not Maine lobster gear. Those threats are not discussed thoroughly in the draft biological opinion, which states:

“NMFS is conducting a review of our vessel strike reduction measures … as it pertains to right whale management. … This review is expected to be released soon.”

Read the full opinion piece at the Bangor Daily News

LINDA BEHNKEN & MIKE CONROY: Setting Biden’s seafood policy table

February 16, 2021 — Fishermen have been invited to be partners with the Biden administration on ocean policy and we are prepared to engage. Hard work, honest dialog and commitments to justice and equity will ensure that we remain at the table and not on the menu.

January’s executive order tackling climate change includes ambitious provisions that set agencies on a course to climate mitigation. Most importantly for America’s commercial fishing families, the order established two parallel processes to secure direct input from fishermen on, respectively the appropriate ways to conserve 30 percent of U.S. lands and waters by 2030, an initiative known as 30×30, and ways to make our fisheries more resilient to climate change.

Fishing communities are precisely where policymakers should look for durable ocean-based climate solutions. Here are some starting points.

Today’s ocean is increasingly industrialized and our coasts are more densely occupied than ever. The historic pattern of ocean and coastal development exacerbated by climate change has resulted in reduced protections for fish habitat and serial declines of functional working waterfront. The administration has the ability to reverse both trends.

The U.S. should strengthen existing fisheries habitat protection processes by requiring federal agencies to avoid, minimize and mitigate impacts to Essential Fish Habitat (EFH). EFH consultations are regularly conducted by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), yet NOAA’s recommendations are routinely ignored by other agencies. Executive action requiring permitting agencies to incorporate NOAA’s EFH conservation recommendations into their decisions would significantly benefit fish habitat, fisheries and biodiversity.

Read the full opinion piece at The Hill

JACQUELINE SAVITZ: A pause on offshore drilling is a good first step. Let’s make it permanent.

February 3, 2021 — President Joe Biden hit the ground sprinting on his first day of office. On day one he rejoined the Paris Agreement, and now he has announced a pause on offshore oil and gas leasing. It’s exciting to hear the president’s plan to return science to policy decision-making, even advancing his science adviser to a cabinet-level position. These encouraging moves will certainly translate to more effective action on climate.

Oil and gas are killing us. Burning fossil fuels is driving climate change, which is causing a wave of extinction and disasters that devastate property and the environment, and cost human lives. But President Biden has committed to aggressively address the climate crisis, which gives me great hope that we can work together to permanently protect our climate and coasts from offshore oil and gas.

Permanently ending new offshore oil and gas leasing in U.S. waters would prevent the release of a catastrophic amount of greenhouse gas emissions, which are driving ever larger and more intense wildfires, hurricanes and floods. A new report from Oceana estimates that permanent protection against offshore drilling would prevent 19 billion tons of greenhouse gas emissions and $720 billion in damages to people, property and the environment.

Read the full opinion piece at USA Today

CHINOOK OBSERVER: Crabbing families deserve TLC in this tough year

February 2, 2021 — In normal times, this year’s disastrous Dungeness crab season would be big news beyond the coast. Even in this abnormal year, it’s time for elected officials and agencies to pay closer attention to how local families are being hurt by lack of crabbing.

Typical measures of economic pain fail to capture the extent of damage. Last week it was wrenching to see Pacific County with the worst joblessness in Washington state. But the reported rate of nearly 11% was largely pinned on the pandemic-struck hospitality industry. Based on statistical modeling, county-level job reports often fall short in revealing exactly what’s going on — and that is surely true of crabbing.

The most immediate problem for both commercial crabbing and recreational clamming is the marine toxin domoic acid, created by ocean microorganisms run amok. Federal rules ban crab harvests when the toxin rises above 30 parts per million in the yellowish viscera — also sometimes called crab butter — that some people eat. Some crab sampled off Long Beach have been unsafe, leading to what is now the longest-ever delay in starting the season. (Meanwhile, from the central Oregon coast south into California, toxin levels have been acceptable and crabbing is ongoing.)

Read the full story at the Chinook Observer

OP-ED: Governor’s Pebble appeal ignores the law, science and voices of Alaskans

February 2, 2021 — While Alaskans are looking ahead to a bright future for Bristol Bay, Gov. Mike Dunleavy continues to look backward and is seeking to keep the proposed Pebble Mine project alive through dubious legal tactics. The latest example of this is the state’s appeal of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ decision to deny a key Clean Water Act permit for the project. The appeal is wrong on the law. It is wrong on science. And it is wrong for Alaskans.

Let us start with the legal arguments. The applicable regulations specify that only the party denied a Clean Water Act Section 404 permit can file an administrative appeal of that decision. Corps of Engineers guidance on the appeal process is equally specific, the process “provides permit applicants with an opportunity to seek a timely and objective reconsideration of an adverse permit decision,” and “there is no third-party involvement in the appeal process itself.” This is black and white. Moreover, the Pebble Limited Partnership (PLP), the permit applicant, has already filed an appeal. At best, the state’s appeal is duplicative. At worst, it is an unlawful and wasteful action.

Second, the Corps’ permit denial is based on science and grounded in longstanding precedent. Pebble, even under the conservative 20-year mining plan that PLP itself acknowledges will expand considerably, would impact nearly 200 miles of streams and more than 4,500 acres of wetlands – with no plan to replace these significant losses. These streams and wetlands are part of the unique ecosystem that allows 50 million-plus sockeye salmon to return annually, supporting $1.5 billion in economic output and a millennia-old Alaska Native way of life. The Corps’ finding that the mine would cause significant damage to aquatic resources and is not in the public interest is wholly consistent with extensive scientific data and evidence.

Read the full opinion piece at the Anchorage Daily News

GHISLAINE LLEWELLYN & VICKY W.Y. LAM: Blue food on the policy menu

February 1, 2021 — Ghislaine Llewellyn is the deputy oceans leader for WWF International, and Vicky W.Y. Lam is a research associate at the University of British Columbia’s Institute for Oceans and Fisheries.

Food and nutrition are enjoying a deserved turn in the spotlight, with at least a dozen high-level meetings this year where food systems are on the table for discussion.

“Blue food” describes fish and other food from the ocean and inland waters. This category spans luxury comestibles like bluefin tuna and humble edible algae such as sea grapes. It contributes to nutritional security, is a source of micronutrients, and can be a shelf-stable, fresh, or frozen source of protein.

Read the full opinion piece at Seafood Source

JESSICA HATHAWAY: What you need to know about 30×30

January 29, 2021 — As the Biden administration takes over, I’ve seen quite a bit of hand-wringing among stakeholders in the fishing industry.

Depending on what policies you’re watching closely, that anticipation is coupled with anxiety about what may or may *not* happen next.

While I would never hold my breath for 100 percent buy-in on any policy, I hope we can get a majority speaking in a unified voice around some of the critical pieces of the 30×30 mandates. So here’s my rundown on the key points.

The goal

To commit 30 percent of the nation’s lands and oceans to conservation by 2030, as part of President Biden’s executive order on addressing climate change.

The origin

The way-back machine takes us to a United Nations 2015 Sustainable Development Goal to “conserve at least 10 percent of coastal and marine areas, consistent with national and international law and based on the best available scientific information.”

The 30×30 language got a jump in 2020 as legislation conceived in California, where it failed to pass. It was dusted off, reformatted and expanded to become part of a suite of sweeping Magnuson-Stevens Act reauthorization proposals and introduced in the House last fall, titled the Oceans-Based Climate Solutions Act of 2020.

Now it has become part of the Biden administration’s new climate proposals issued as executive orders. If you haven’t heard, the new administration is prioritizing environmental justice. (Before you roll your eyes, note this can and is designed to work out for everyone. Read on.)

What this could mean for the fishing industry is exactly what so many stakeholders have been asking for — a seat at the table. The primary strategy for implementation of this policy is community engagement.

Read the full opinion piece at National Fisherman

LINDA BEHNKEN: Biden administration should steer clear of environmental colonialism

January 26, 2021 — In the next few weeks, the Biden administration is expected to take sweeping climate action as promised. The president has already done so on day one, including laudable actions such as rejoining the Paris Agreement and promulgating systematic review of Trump administration environmental rollbacks.

But very soon, we expect to see an executive order advancing an initiative called “30×30″ (pronounced ‘thirty-by-thirty’) that calls for the protection of 30% of the world’s oceans to commercial extractive use by 2030. For Americans, this could mean sealing off our access to an area of the ocean larger than Texas off the continental U.S. and Alaska. The move is staggering in its scope, and it could do severe harm to fishing communities.

Let me be clear: Commercial fishermen are on the front lines of climate change, and we have been calling for meaningful climate action for years. We support reductions in carbon emissions globally, and our organization has worked to reduce the Southeast Alaska fleet’s emissions. Nationally, we have led the world in our sustainable fisheries management, including prohibiting bottom trawling in more than 76% of our oceans already, without the need for blanket prohibitions. We proudly provide sustainable high-quality protein to both domestic and foreign markets, and this year provided over 400,000 seafood meals for free to families in need to address regional food insecurity. Despite all this, fisheries stakeholders have had no meaningful opportunities whatsoever to engage in policy discussions around this initiative.

Read the full opinion piece at Anchorage Daily News

DOREEN LEGGETT: The Fishing Life: Beware ’30×30′ in federal climate bill

January 26, 2021 — Commercial fishermen rely on the sea and are often more aware of the changing ocean environment than anyone else.

Take fisherman Kurt Martin of Orleans. For close to three decades he has kept daily logs of everything from where he fishes to weather conditions, water temperatures and depth.

A few things stand out: Fog that was virtually synonymous with Chatham is becoming a rarity, summer ocean temperatures have increased about 10 degrees and walking around an iced-in Pleasant Bay come Christmas is a distant memory.

Meanwhile, the lobster fishery south of the Cape is much diminished while Canada’s is growing as warmer water pushes north. Martin said the lobster fishery on the Cape is “stable” now.

“But we are basically on the edge of disaster. We can definitely see the trend of the shift being made.”

Read the full opinion piece at Wicked Local

JACK MERRILL: Offshore and off course

January 22, 2021 — For more than 50 years I have understood that humans need to reduce their fossil fuel consumption, and that green technology, giving us solar, hydro, and wind power, are great alternative options. Through my association with the Lobster Institute in Orono, Maine, I have participated in multiple research projects and backed others with financial support. I’m a supporter of green energy. I believe in the potential of wind energy.

Why then am I appalled by proposed wind platforms off of Maine’s coast? I had to ask myself: Is this simply a “not in my backyard” knee-jerk reaction? The answer is unequivocally no. While wind power itself (with improved technology) makes sense, Maine’s current offshore project, which essentially is doing research to open the door for ownership of hundreds of thousands of ocean acres to private corporations, is foolhardy.

Here are some of the reasons I oppose offshore wind initiatives off the Maine coast:

They threaten the economic health, cultural fabric, and history of Maine.

By removing thousands of acres of bottom from fishing access, these turbines threaten the economic health of Maine’s second largest industry (lobstering alone has an estimated value of a billion dollars a year), at the same time forcing a severe social impact for coastal communities. In fact, they would have a negative impact on all three of Maine’s coastal economic engines.

The uniqueness of Maine’s coast brings millions of tourists every year. A blow to the lobster industry would be a serious blow to that uniqueness. For the summer resident yachting population (large taxpayers) who now enjoy the freedom of today’s open oceans, the hundreds of platforms we are now being told are coming will be an eyesore and pose serious hazards to navigation. We are living in difficult and unusual times. Covid times. Today Maine’s economy is suffering. Where would we have been in 2020 without the fisheries, our summer population, and tourism?

Read the full opinion piece at National Fisherman