Saving Seafood

Help make fisheries, aquaculture, and protected resources more resilient to climate change

March 2, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Agency announces 30-day comment period to collect information in response to Section 216(c) of the Executive Order on tackling the climate crisis.

NOAA is launching an agency-wide effort to gather initial public input on Section 216(c) of the Executive Order on Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad. This section directs NOAA to collect recommendations on how to make fisheries, including aquaculture, and protected resources more resilient to climate change. This includes changes in management and conservation measures and improvements in science, monitoring, and cooperative research. We invite your input on how best to achieve these objectives. Submit your comments by April 2, 2021 to OceanResources.Climate@noaa.gov.

The input will inform NOAA’s implementation of our relevant authorities and our work with federal agencies, state and tribal governments, and relevant stakeholders and constituents to ensure more resilient fisheries and protected resources due to climate change.

Research has shown that fisheries, protected resources, and their habitats and ecosystems are being affected by climate change. Climate-related changes in ocean ecosystems such as warming oceans, increasing acidification, and rising seas can affect the distribution and abundance of marine species. These changes also impact the people and communities that depend on them. At NOAA, we work with partners to understand and respond to changing climate and ocean conditions to help minimize impacts, adapt to changes, and ensure that future generations can enjoy the benefits of healthy marine ecosystems.

Beyond this 30-day public comment period, we will continue to gather input throughout 2021 through meetings, public listening sessions, and other means. Information gathered after the initial deadline for comments will still be collected and considered.

Read the full release here

GAA partnering with Thai Union, Devi Seafoods on traceability data-sharing project

February 26, 2021 — The Global Aquaculture Alliance’s (GAA) Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) certification program is collaborating with seafood companies Thai Union and Devi Seafoods – along with traceability firms Wholechain and Legit Fish – to promote traceability in supply chains.

Their partnership is developing real-time digital solutions that will facilitate direct transfer of data from BAP-certified facilities to BAP’s internal data systems to support tracing of products in companies’ supply chains. This integration program is expected to meet traceability data requirements from seafood companies, the marketplace, regulators, and BAP itself, BAP said in a statement.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

AquaBounty sends GE salmon samples to customers ahead of first commercial harvest

February 24, 2021 — As AquaBounty nears the first harvest of its genetically engineered AquAdvantage salmon, the company has started sending samples to its first customers this week for a final quality check before orders are finalized.

Seafood experts working with about 10 retail and foodservice companies looking to be the first to carry AquAdvantage salmon will be checking the samples for overall quality, flavor, color, and texture, and selecting which available fish size will work well for their market, according to AquaBounty CEO and President Sylvia Wulf.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

UK seafood disruption support extended to shellfish, aquaculture sectors

February 24, 2021 — Seafood and aquaculture businesses previously omitted from the United Kingdom’s Seafood Disruption Support Scheme are now able to apply for some of the GBP 23 (USD 32.4 million, EUR 26.7 million) financial aid after the government extended the scheme.

The country-wide fund, initially announced on 19 January, is intended to provide financial assistance to businesses that suffered a financial loss because of delays related to the export of fresh or live fish and shellfish to the E.U. during January.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Aquaculture becomes a net-positive

February 22, 2021 — The practice of farming finfish, shellfish and aquatic plants — by land and by sea — dates back 3,000 years as first the Chinese and then the Romans sought ways to supplement their food supplies with species such as carp and oysters.

In more modern times, support for aquaculture has ebbed and flowed along with concerns about animal health and welfare, worries over the effluent pollution caused by wastewater discharges, and the unintended impacts of production infrastructure such as pipes and pumps on natural ecosystems.

Now, a wave of technology innovation and funding from an eclectic group of companies ranging from Google’s parent Alphabet, to the Seed2Growth fund linked to Lukas Walton (grandson of Walmart founder Sam Walton), to Cargill and Chevron Ventures (both focused on fish-feed ventures) is changing the tide again.

In 2018, the last year for which figures were available, worldwide aquaculture production reached an all-time high of 114.5 million metric tons in “live weight,” representing a market value of almost $264 billion, according to a 2020 report by U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). That amount accounted for 52 percent of global fish consumption. The annual growth rate will slow over the next decade, but FAO projects aquaculture will supply close to 60 percent of fish consumed globally by 2030.

Read the full story at GreenBiz

Report finds perceived health benefits driving higher tilapia consumption

February 18, 2021 — An increasing global demand for alternative sources of animal protein and a growing appreciation of the nutritional value of seafood are the two key factors likely to drive higher tilapia consumption globally, according to a report by market analyst Fact.MR.

The report “Tilapia Market, Forecast, Trend, Analysis and Competition Tracking – Global Market Insights 2021 to 2031,” claims there is a global shift toward fish an optimal protein option due to its benefits for human health, which include “strengthening heart and bone health, improving brain functions, and keeping weight in check.”

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Report claims salmon farming costing economies, society, and the environment billions

February 17, 2021 — The short-term pursuit of profits by salmon producers is creating significant unaccounted environmental and social costs – such as growing mortality rates, damage to local ecosystems, pressure on wild fish stocks, and poor fish welfare – a new report from research organization Just Economics claims.

Commissioned by the Changing Markets Foundation – an organization that “supports NGOs to drive change” – as part of its Fishing the Feed campaign, the “Dead Loss” report calculates the cumulative costs to economies, society, and the environment resulting from the negative impacts of salmon farming at almost USD 50 billion (EUR 41.2 billion) since 2013.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Court revokes general permit for Washington shellfish growers

February 16, 2021 — A court in the state of Washington ruled in favor of a lawsuit to revoke the Clean Water Act general permit for the state’s shellfish farmers last week, shooting down an appeal by Pacific Coast Shellfish Growers Association (PCSGA).

The Center for Food Safety (CFS) and the Coalition to Protect Puget Sound filed the lawsuit against the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers last year, and in October of 2019 a federal court upheld the lawsuit, ruling the Corps’ Issuance of Nationwide Permit (NMP) 48 for shellfish farming unlawful.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

FAO: COVID-19 likely to bring further disruptions to seafood in 2021

February 16, 2021 — Fisheries and aquaculture sectors globally have been hit hard by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and could face further disruption in this year as lockdowns affect supply and demand, according to a report by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

The information paper, “The impact of COVID-19 on fisheries and aquaculture food systems” – which was featured at the 34th session of the FAO’s Committee on Fisheries (COFI) earlier this month – reports fish supply, consumption, and trade revenues are all expected to have declined in 2020 due to containment restrictions, while global aquaculture production is expected to fall by some 1.3 percent; the first drop recorded by the sector in several years.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

MISSISSIPPI: MSU awarded $1 million NOAA grant to shore up U.S. aquaculture industry

February 12, 2021 — The following was released by Mississippi State University:

Mississippi State University scientists are receiving a three-year, $1 million grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Sea Grant College Program to establish national economic metrics for the U.S. aquaculture industry.

The project’s lead investigator Ganesh Karunakaran, a Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station assistant research professor, is guiding a team of nearly a dozen university researchers from eight institutions. The research will analyze the economic viability, impact and management measures of the U.S. aquaculture industry to help producers and stakeholders now and in the future. The grant, administered through the Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium, is one of 12 awarded across the country and part of a $4.7 million investment aimed to strengthen the economics of U.S. aquaculture.

“Our overall objective is to provide basic and comprehensive information about various sectors in U.S. aquaculture. Aquaculture is different from other agricultural industries such as beef cattle or row crops because it encompasses so many species. Production budgets are available for most commodities with the exception of aquaculture, and we’re hoping to change that,” said Karunakaran, who is based at MSU’s Delta Research and Extension Center.

Read the full release here