Other News Archives - Saving Seafood

New film highlights resilience of Guam deep-sea fishers

May 18, 2022 — The following was released by the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council:

The Guam Museum will screen the new documentary “Open Ocean Fishing in the Mariana Archipelago” Saturday, May 28, at 2 p.m. A panel discussion with fishermen from Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands will follow, and be live-streamed on the Guam Museum’s Facebook, YouTube and Twitter accounts. Admission is free.

The original inhabitants of the Mariana Islands were great open-ocean fishermen for 3,000 years, catching marlin and other deep-sea fish from their sailing canoes. After Spanish colonization in 1668, warfare, disease and the relocation of the remaining people put a stop to CHamorus building their såkman canoes, sailing between islands. It led to a 200-year gap (1750-1950) where they did not fish in the open ocean. After World War II, and with the introduction of modern boats with motors, CHamorus have returned to the open ocean, leading to a resurgence in deep-sea fishing.

The screening and panel discussion is the fourth Heritage-Ideas-Traditions-Arts or HITA Talk of 2022, a monthly education program and lecture series offered by the Guam Museum. Funded by the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council, directed by Judy Amesbury and produced by Shooting Star Productions, the film is also available on the Council’s YouTube page: youtube.com/watch?v=jf56B6YaJ0I.

“We are excited to have Ms. Amesbury present her video on this topic,” said Dr. Michael Bevacqua, Guam Museum curator. “In our permanent exhibit, we have a section on ancient CHamorus’ skill in deep-sea fishing, alongside an image and model of a 15-foot-long blue marlin caught off the coast of Litekyan that held the world record for a number of years.” Bevacqua added, “People find this connection from past to present fascinating, and this documentary and HITA Talk can help bring out this cultural continuity.”

Judith R. Amesbury earned her degree in anthropology from the University of Arizona. She has worked with Micronesian Archaeological Research Services, Guam, for more than 25 years. Her area of expertise is marine resource use. Amesbury has authored numerous reports and publications about fishing and invertebrate collecting, and shell artifacts in the Mariana Islands.

The Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council manages federal fisheries operating in waters offshore of the State of Hawai‘i, the Territories of American Samoa and Guam, the CNMI and the U.S. Pacific Remote Islands Areas.

Read the full release at Mariana Variety

Celebrate Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month

May 13, 2022 — To celebrate Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, we are highlighting some of our colleagues who contribute to NOAA Fisheries’ core missions every day. Learn more about more about their career journeys, why they became scientists, their day-to-day jobs, and what Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month means to them.

Meet Kilali Ala’ilima Gibson, Oʻahu Marine Wildlife Response Coordinator

Kilali is an Oʻahu marine wildlife response coordinator. Her job is to coordinate a team to respond to issues with Hawaiian monk seals, whales, dolphins, and occasionally sea turtles. A lot of that is connecting with native and local communities to learn more about some of those hot spot areas where issues may often occur. She spent most of her childhood in the ocean surfing, scuba diving, and paddling in Hawaiʻi and she knew that she wanted to work in a profession where she could focus on protecting her marine ecosystem for the next generation to enjoy.

Read the full story at NOAA Fisheries

Cultivating Tomorrow’s Fisherman Across New England

May 10, 2022 — The kids who hung around Perkins Cove, Maine, back in the 1960s wanted to be fishermen. By the time we were 10 or 12 years old, the ocean, boats, and fish had cast their spell on us. We knew who Mickey Mantle and Carl Yastrzemski were, but our heroes parked their pickups by the bait wharf and harpooned bluefin tuna from their boats.

We dreamed not so much of hitting home runs but of chugging into the harbor at night and unloading 600-pound giants in front of awestruck tourists peering down from the wharf.

Quite a few of us wound up fishing, at least for a while. And some of us still do.

But times have changed. And as fishing’s fortunes have declined, so, too has the number of aspiring fishermen.

“It has become painfully evident that our area is suffering from the ‘graying of the fleet,’” says Andrea Tomlinson, founder and executive director of the nascent, New Hampshire-based New England Young Fishermen’s Alliance. The Alliance’s mission is to provide aspiring fishermen with a pathway into the fleet. “This is a project I have been trying to develop for over four years.”

Read the full story at National Fisherman

The Development of the New England Young Fishermen’s Alliance – NH Based Young Fishermen’s Alliance Organization Forms with Help from the USDA

May 9, 2022 — The following was released by the New England Young Fishermen’s Alliance:

As a response to the national phenomenon called the “graying of the fleet” former GM of NH Community Seafood, Andrea Tomlinson sets out to organize, train and advocate for the next generation of northern New England fishermen and women

In response to an increasing decline of younger generation fishermen and women entering the commercial fishing industry in northern New England, former GM of NH Community Seafood, Andrea Tomlinson, has collaborated with Yankee Fishermen’s Cooperative, the UNH NH Food Hub Network, Gorhan Public Health Consulting and the Rockingham Economic Development Center to develop the New England Young Fishermen’s Alliance

(NEYFA). The development of the long-awaited Alliance is made possible by a USDA LAMP Farmer’s Market Promotion Program grant, awarded in late 2021, with funding secured in February of this year. In addition to forming the New England Young Fishermen’s Alliance into a nonprofit entity, the USDA grant also supports three annual Deckhand to Captain Training programs, which will be sponsored by the Alliance.

In a series focus groups called Dock Talks: Next Generation, held in 2019, with collaboration from NH Sea Grant, NH Community Seafood and NH Food Alliance, young fishermen expressed that the major barriers to entering the industry as a Captain were capital requirements necessary for a boat and a permit, complex and restrictive regulations within the industry, lack of reliable and knowledgeable labor and consumers misinterpretation of the commercial fishing industry. As an entry level Captain in the commercial fishing industry today, the initial capital requirement is $250,000 minimum, to purchase a boat, permit and equipment.

Experienced deckhands and sternmen, with a minimum of 5 years’ experience in the industry working on either groundfish, charter and/or lobster boats will be eligible to apply for a free 10 -month training program to get more of the next generation of young fishermen and women into the Captain’s wheelhouse. The cohort of 6 trainees for the 2022 training have been chosen and range in age from 27-38 years old. The Deckhand to Captain training program is a first of its kind in New England, where experienced young fishermen and women will receive instruction on business management and training, collaborative marketing, industry standard and regulations, permitting and compliance, public speaking and pairing with a veteran Captain as a mentor.

There has been a drastic reduction in succession within commercial fishing industry nationwide with the average age of both groundfish and lobster Captains in New Hampshire and much of northern New England, currently averaging 55 years old. Similarly, the amount of 600-trap lobster permits in NH, the most common permit in the state, has declined by almost 66 % from 2000 to 2021 (NH Fish and Game, 2022). More concerning is the dramatic decrease in groundfish vessels currently fishing in NH and northern New England. In NH alone, 104 groundfish vessels were licensed to harvest groundfish in 2000, but by 2021, a mere 18 vessels obtained groundfish licenses and of them, only five vessels are currently commercially fishing for groundfish from our NH shores. Within the last two years, NH has seen four veteran groundfish Captains retire with no younger generation Captains to take their place.

The Deckhand to Captain Training Program, intends to assist entry level Captains in transitioning from the back of the deck to the Captain’s wheelhouse. The development of the organization as a nonprofit will be assisted through a recent acceptance into the Portsmouth-based nonprofit incubator called GoodWork. With a team of skilled and experienced coaches, professional partners and mentors, the GoodWork nonprofit incubator program helps facilitate learning and guide incubator participants on the path towards success. The program builds on participant’s strengths to assist them to be more effective, collaborative, adaptive, and better prepared to achieve their mission.

Once developed, the NEYFA plans to offer resources and networking opportunities, relevant speakers as well as ongoing training programs designed to benefit the young fishing industry in southern Maine, NH and northern Massachusetts. The Alliance also intends to increase young industry participation at both state and regional regulatory meetings that encourage industry input when developing regulations and industry standards at public hearings.

“This is a project I have been trying to develop for over four years. Through my years of direct interaction with the commercial fishing community in northern New England, it has become painfully evident that our area is suffering from the “graying of the fleet”. There are far too many deterring obstacles in the path of an entry-level Captain in this industry and we need to change that scenario in order to preserve the heritage and culture of our working waterfronts in northern New England. The New England commercial fisherman is becoming an endangered species and we need to fix that, “says Founder/Executive Director, Andrea Tomlinson.

David Goethel, veteran fisheries advocate, and recently retired commercial fisherman also sits on the Yankee Fishermen’s Cooperative Board of Directors. “I am very pleased to see six qualified people selected for training in starting their own commercial fishing businesses. Commercial fishermen feed America and I am glad to see young people stepping forward to replace those of us aging out of the fishery,” said Goethel.

Yankee Fishermen’s Cooperative is the grant applicant and administrator. General Manager and Authorized Organizational Representative (AOR) on the grant, Linda Hunt feels “We at Yankee Fishermen’s Cooperative are so happy to see this program in our area. We are so excited to support this.”

Southeastern Fisheries Association urges industry to support legal defense fund for Mark Harrison

May 9, 2022 — The following was released by the Southeastern Fisheries Association:

If you are or involved in the U.S. shark fishery or if your fishery is impacted by the explosion of shark populations, please read this.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) has brought the export and selling of shark fins and most of the shark fishery to a virtual standstill by bringing serious but vague and unsubstantiated criminal charges against Mark L. Harrison, the founder of the Sustainable Shark Alliance and the nation’s primary shark fin exporter.

If you have not read the first outreach on Mark’s behalf, please do so now at https://www.savingseafood.org/shark-defense-fund

Mark’s story:

At the time of his arrest Mark was working directly with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to develop a means to trace shark fins and invoices under a study ordered by Governor Ron DeSantis to protect sharks. Mark also had worked directly with USFWS on a project to develop a methodology be able to trace most all the nation shark fins that were under CITES regulations. Then they arrested him. He has also worked with the National Marine Fisheries Service’s (NMFS) to help improve shark identification and with NMFS’ Office of Law Enforcement to protect shark species.

Mark was instrumental in drafting the Sustainable Shark Fisheries and Trade Act, introduced by Senator Marco Rubio and Congressmen Daniel Webster and Ted Lieu. This bill would promote the ending of shark finning abroad and promote shark conservation globally. His organization, the Sustainable Shark Alliance was the main supported of this bill, along with Wildlife Conservation Society, many commercial fishing associations, and the leading shark scientists.

What you can do to help:

Bob Jones, the former long-time head of Southeastern Fisheries Association, is requesting an investigation by the Department of the Interior’s Inspector General into USFWS law enforcement division to determine if it has targeted Mark. Bob makes the point in his letter that “Selective Law Enforcement, especially targeting one individual citizen, is anathema in our society. It must never be tolerated.”

The letter was also sent to Senator Rubio’s office asking for his support in the investigation.

We are asking that you please take the time to write a letter to the Interior Department Attorney General to echo Bob Jones’ request for an investigation. Please also send a copy to your Senators and Representative in Congress. Here is a link to help you contact your representatives:

https://www.usa.gov/elected-officials/

Also ask them to oppose a national fin sales ban and support the Rubio/Webster/Lieu bill.

Every letter helps!

If you know Mark, you know that has always scrupulously adhered to the law and work with government agencies to better enforce our shark conservation laws. If you personally know Mark, please include any thoughts on his character. Finally, if you are all able, please donate to Mark’s defense fund on the Saving Seafood link:

https://www.savingseafood.org/shark-defense-fund

For those who have already donated and helped Mark thank you very much! You helped him to retain a solid defense attorney. However, he still has legal bills stemming from this unjust and vindictive prosecution. Mark can use your help to ensure his legal team can address the constitutional issues raised by his prosecution and ensure there is not only a future for the sustainability U.S. shark fishery but other fisheries as well.

If we don’t stop this abuse here, you, in the fishing industry, are likely the next target. This is America. By helping Mark, you will help other Americans and yourself.

Nicholas Sullivan looks ahead to a ‘Blue Revolution’ of high-tech fishing

May 6, 2022 — Nicholas Sullivan is an author and senior research fellow at The Fletcher School at Tufts University. He is interested in how developing technology is influencing the fishing and maritime industries in New England.

His new book, “The Blue Revolution: Hunting, Harvesting, and Farming Seafood in the Information Age” uses New England, and often, New Bedford as a model for the fishing industry across the United States. Sullivan looks ahead to see how these staple maritime industries will change in the information age.

Here, The New Bedford Light talks to Sullivan about his new book, “The Blue Revolution,” the future of the fishing industry, the challenges facing maritime economies, and the role of New Bedford in a post-industrial blue economy.

Read the full story at The New Bedford Light

More diversity begets better innovation, seafood leaders say

April 25, 2022 — Atlantic Sea Farms CEO Briana Warner is a believer in the direct, cyclical relationship between diversity and innovation.

“I think some of the people who are innovating and doing innovative stuff, you’re going to see new people come into [the industry] because it goes back to a circular thing – if we get more diversity in the industry, they’re going to be coming up with more-diverse ideas that break out of the mold, and then we’ll attract more diversity,” Warner said.

Read the full story at SeafoodSource

Thai Union Chairman Kraisorn Chansiri resigns following insider trading fine

April 18, 2022 — Thai Union Founder and Chairman Kraisorn Chansiri has resigned after receiving civil sanctions from Thailand’s Security and Exchange Commission for alleged insider trading.

In an 18 April, 2022, letter to the Stock Exchange of Thailand, where the company’s stock is traded, Thai Union said Chansiri and Thai Union Executive Director Chuan Tangchansiri will resign “in order to show their sincerity and prevent any negative impacts on the company.”

Read the full story at SeafoodSource

New advisors for NOAA marine fisheries

April 13, 2022 — Seven new members from fisheries and environmental groups were recently appointed to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Marine Fisheries Advisory Committee.

The new appointments by Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo brings the panel up to its full complement of 21 members, who advise the Department of Commerce and NOAA on living marine resources.

The seven new members are:

• Natasha Hayden, Kodiak, Alaska: Vice President of Lands & Natural Resources, Afognak Native Corporation

• Meredith Moore, Washington, D.C.: Director, Fish Conservation Program, Ocean Conservancy

• Linda O’Dierno, Somers, N.Y.: Fish and seafood development specialist

• Jocelyn Runnebaum, Ph.D., Bath, Maine: Fisheries Project Manager, Nature Conservancy

• Sarah Schumann, Warren, R.I.: Owner/principal, Shining Sea Fisheries Consulting, LLC

• Clayward Tam, Kailua, Hawaii: Cooperative Fisheries Research Coordinator, Pacific Islands Fisheries Group

• Brett Veerhusen, Seattle, Wash.: Principal, Ocean Strategies, Inc.

“These new members have such a rich and diverse background working across a wide range of fisheries, seafood, and marine resource issues,” said Janet Coit, assistant administrator of NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

Meet Janet Coit, NOAA Fisheries Assistant Administrator

March 30, 2022 — To wrap up Women’s History Month, we sat down with Janet Coit, NOAA Fisheries Assistant Administrator, to find out more about her career path, passions, and perspective on leading NOAA Fisheries. Explore her answers below.

Tell us a little about yourself. What are a few words that describe you?

I am a mom, wife, daughter, and sister. A reader. A conservationist, who has always loved nature and learning. I am an extrovert, drawing energy from people. But I need time to myself and like to restore my soul in nature. The older I get, the more I realize the importance of spending time with friends and loved ones. I am also super passionate about making a difference in the world.

Where did you grow up?

Little known fact: I did not grow up on the coast! I grew up in Syracuse, New York, the hub of New York State. I fell in love with nature at my family’s very rustic camp—or cabin—in the Adirondacks. We have a place you can get to by boat with no electricity and no plumbing! Yes, that means an outhouse. But this place was a North Star in my life. It’s still “off the grid,” and helped me appreciate wild places. That connection to a natural place seems to be at the heart of many careers in conservation and environmental policy. For those in the fisheries world, maybe that’s out on an estuary or on the open ocean. I still visit the cabin and feel every cell expand when I’m there. My children have grown up there, too.

Read the full story at NOAA Fisheries