Saving Seafood

Applications open for Alabama’s CARES Act Marine Industry Relief Program

September 25, 2020 — The Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources’ Marine Resources Division announced this week that it is currently accepting applications for its CARES Act relief program for fishery-related businesses.

The program was established to provide financial relief for losses suffered by the state’s marine fishing industry due to the COVID-19 pandemic. For more information about the program, visit this website.

Congress awarded $3.2 million of CARES Act money to the state of Alabama to address financial losses caused by the pandemic that occurred in the state’s seafood industry between March 1 and May 31, 2020.

Read the full story at the Alabama Political Reporter

Gulf Fishing Family Hurting After Hurricane Laura Destroys Cameron, Wrecks Havoc on Surrounding Area

September 1, 2020 — The Gulf fishing fleet docked at or near Cameron, LA bore the brunt of Hurricane Laura as it roared ashore in the early hours of August 27th as a category four storm. In one area alone, ten of the 15 shrimp boats tied-up sank to the bottom of Bayou Contraband after being ravaged by rough waters and constant winds gusting up to 135 mph.  The Gulf Seafood Foundation is calling upon government officials in Louisiana, Texas and Mississippi for an immediate coordinated seafood specific disaster relief effort for fishermen, seafood processors and the extended seafood family.

“We are calling upon both our state leaders and federal representatives to quickly get monetary help for our fishing communities,” said Raz Halli, president of the Gulf Seafood Foundation.  More than 120 miles of Gulf coastline was impacted by the storm, a coastline that is home a variety of commercial fishermen.  Even though Mississippi was not impacted by this storm, we are calling upon their representatives to join our effort because their fisheries still have not received compensation for the fresh water diversion that ravished their fisheries last year.”

Sitting a mere three feet above sea level, Cameron has been an epicenter for hurricanes.  In 2005 Hurricane Rita hit the city, home to just over 6000 residents, with winds clocked at more than 120 mph. Three years later Hurricane Ike leveled Cameron with a 12-foot storm surge.

Read the full story at Gulf Seafood News

$11 million in aid aimed at Alabama’s seafood, fishing industries

May 21, 2020 — Gov. Kay Ivey has announced that more than $11 million in federal relief money, some of it coronavirus-related, will be directed to fishing- and seafood-related industries.

Details such as who will be eligible for the funds and how the application process will work remain to be ironed out. A statement issued Wednesday by the governor’s office said some of the money will be used to offset coronavirus-related losses, while the lion’s share “will be used to address a range of impacts including those to commercial fishing businesses, charter/for-hire fishing businesses, qualified aquaculture operations, seafood processors, and the fishing ecosystem and environment.”

According to the governor’s office, $3.3 million from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act will go to “qualifying applicants in the state’s seafood industry who have been affected by the COVID-19 epidemic.”

An additional $8.6 million comes from federal fisheries disaster relief funds being directed to Alabama because of freshwater flooding that harmed Gulf of Mexico fisheries in 2019. According to Wednesday’s announcement, the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (ADCNR) is working with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s fisheries division to establish eligibility guidelines.

Read the full story at AL.com

Disaster funding granted to Gulf of Mexico fisheries hit by spillway opening

May 18, 2020 — U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross announced the allocation of USD 88 million (EUR 80.6 million) in disaster-relief funding to Gulf of Mexico fisheries in Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi to counter the impacts of the opening of the Bonnet Carre Spillway.

The Bonnet Carre Spillway is a flood control system for the Lower Mississippi Valley, with its opening releasing massive amounts of freshwater from the river into the Gulf of Mexico. In April, the spillway was opened for the third straight year, something that has never happened in the spillway’s history.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Alabama shipyard is a go-to for East Coast scallopers

May 6, 2020 — Jemison Marine & Shipbuilding of Bayou La Batre, Ala., recently delivered the scallop boat Patriarch, the fourth new fishing vessel built by Jemison for Tom McNulty Sr. of T&S Fisheries out of Cape May, N.J.

The double-dredge permit F/V Patriarch is the latest of the four boats at 80′ x 27′ x 13′ and holds 50,000 pounds of payload in its insulated ice hold. In comparison, McNulty’s boat Pride and Joy, also built by Jemison, holds 25,000 pounds.

“You can fit twice as much in the Patriarch as in the Pride & Joy,” said McNulty. “We have just started working the new boat, and it is outstanding.”

McNulty said he has had two different crews work the Patriarch on seven closed trips and 15 open bottom day trips. “The crews cannot say enough about how comfortable the boat is.”

Patriarch was designed by naval architect Travis Carver of Sterling Marine in Gulf Breeze, Fla., with the aid of McNulty’s son Tom McNulty Jr.

“Tom Jr. played a big part in the design of the boat,” says his dad. “He provided a great deal of input into the design of the deck and fish hold.”

Read the full story at National Fisherman

How to maximize coastal ecosystem recovery 10 years after BP spill: report

March 12, 2020 — As the 10th anniversary of the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill approaches, state and federal agencies should consider nine strategies aimed at advancing ecosystem restoration, maximizing use of fine and settlement money stemming from the spill, and ensuring that local communities are involved in decisions affecting their future, according to a report released by a coalition of environmental groups Wednesday.

The report, “A Decade After Disaster,” was developed by the Restore the Mississippi River Delta coalition, which was created in 2008 to support coastal restoration efforts in Louisiana. It includes the Environmental Defense Fund, the National Wildlife Federation, the National Audubon Society, and two Louisiana-based groups, the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana and the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation.

While the BP spill was an unprecedented catastrophe, it provided an equally unprecedented opportunity to Louisiana and other coastal states in the form of more than $16 billion in settlement money for coastal restoration efforts, said Steve Cochran, campaign director for the Restore the Mississippi River Delta coalition and a vice president with the Environmental Defense Fund.

“Louisiana has made significant progress since the Gulf oil disaster, and we can honor these losses by continuing to act with urgency on ongoing recovery and in the face of land loss and climate change,” Cochran said.

Read the full story at NOLA.com

Feds: Gulf states to keep managing recreational red snapper

February 6, 2020 — States on the Gulf of Mexico can keep setting seasons and bag limits for anglers going after red snapper in federal waters when a two-year experiment becomes permanent Thursday.

The rule will take effect with publication in the Federal Register, the U.S. Commerce Department said.

The Environmental Defense Fund, an environmental group, said Wednesday that it was cautiously optimistic about the rule for the popular sport and table fish, which is recovering from nearly disastrous overfishing.

“There’s still some kinks to be worked out with the data collection” in some states, said Sepp Haukebo, the group’s manager for private angler management reform. For instance, he said, in some years before the experimental program started, Alabama’s estimates of the amount taken were as low as 30% of the federal estimates for that state.

“They’ve gotten a lot closer in the last couple of years,” he said, adding that Alabama has announced improvements that should make its tallies more accurate.

Read the full story at the Associated Press

Rep. Huffman Completes First Stop of 2020 on Fisheries Listening Tour, Announces Miami Session

February 6, 2020 — The following was released by The Office of Congressman Jared Huffman (D-CA):

On Thursday, January 30, Representative Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael), Chair of the Water, Oceans, and Wildlife Subcommittee, traveled to the Gulf Coast region as part of his nationwide listening tour on federal fisheries policy. This was the first listening session of 2020 and the fifth session overall. The Gulf of Mexico fishery management region includes the federal waters off of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Texas, and the west coast of Florida.

Rep. Huffman also announced today that he will be hosting the next stop on his listening tour on Friday, February 14, 2020, in Miami, Florida, to discuss federal fisheries policy in the context of the South Atlantic fishery management region, which includes the federal waters off of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and east Florida to Key West.
 
These events are designed to engage diverse perspectives, interests, and needs of individuals who have a stake in the management of ocean and fisheries resources. During the listening session in New Orleans, Chairman Huffman heard from industry stakeholders, advocates, scientists, and members of the public, who gave feedback on the current state of fisheries management under the Magnuson-Stevens Act and what they hope to see in future federal fisheries policy. 
 
“Like the other places I’ve visited on this listening tour, fish and fishing are a way of life throughout the Gulf,” said Rep. Huffman. “The commercial and recreational fishing industries support tens of thousands of jobs and billions in sales annually. Communities all around the Gulf are deeply connected to healthy oceans and coasts, and it was extremely valuable to continue the conversation on fisheries management with these passionate local experts and stakeholders, including my colleague Rep. Garret Graves, who is an active and spirited participant in our debates on these issues in Washington, D.C. I heard a lot about the significant impacts of fishery disasters, data needs and successes, and how climate change is impacting the region in a very unique way.”
 
Miami Listening Session
WHO:             Congressman Jared Huffman, fisheries and oceans experts
WHAT:          Discussion on federal fisheries management focused on the South Atlantic region
WHEN:          Friday, February 14, 2020 @ 8:30-10:30 a.m. EST
WHERE:       Southeast Fisheries Science Center*
                        Seminar Room
                        75 Virginia Beach Drive, Miami, Florida, 33149
RSVP:            Please click here to RSVP
 
Rep. Huffman’s goal for this listening tour is to assess whether improvements to the Magnuson-Stevens Act are needed and if so, what they should be. More information, a public comment page, and the full press release for this tour can be found here.
 
The Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (also referred to as the Magnuson-Stevens Act or MSA) is the primary law governing the management and conservation of commercial fisheries in federal waters. 
 
The MSA was last reauthorized and extensively amended in 2006 (P.L. 109-479). Although the authorization of appropriations expired at the end of Fiscal Year 2013, the law’s requirements remain in effect and Congress has continued to appropriate funds to administer the act.
 
Videos from the listening sessions can be accessed through Representative Huffman’s Facebook page here. Didn’t have a chance to provide feedback during the session? You can visit his website to submit a comment at any time.
 
*The Fisheries Science Center is a federal building. Foreign nationals must RSVP in advance to obtain clearance.

New Bedford scallop boat launches in Alabama with a “positive energy bow”

January 17, 2020 — Lars Vinjerud II can’t stop growing his fisheries and seafood business.

“I’m lucky,” he said. “I’ve got a lot of good people working for me.”

Vinjerud’s company, Fleet Fisheries in New Bedford, Massachusetts, U.S.A., has 14 boats in the scallop, lobster, and longline fisheries, and branches in seafood marketing, a machine shop, and more boats scheduled for construction.

Read the full story from National Fisherman at Seafood Source