Saving Seafood

Aquaculture industry under pressure on both coasts

October 31, 2019 — Maquoit Bay in Brunswick and Puget Sound in Washington state are separated by thousands of miles, but shellfish farmers in both places are feeling some heat.

Earlier this month, a federal judge in Seattle ruled that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers permit that authorizes virtually all shellfish aquaculture in Washington state was void because “the Corps has failed to adequately consider the impacts of commercial shellfish aquaculture activities” as required by the federal Clean Water Act and the National Environmental Policy Act.

The court’s order could force Washington’s shellfish farmers to cease activities other than the harvest of animals already in the water until the Corps issues individual permits for each shellfish farming site.

For the moment, the court’s decision applies only to the Washington state aquaculture industry but, even if the court expands its reach, Maine’s aquaculture industry won’t be affected.

“It has no bearing in the rest of the country,” Jay Clement, chief of the Maine Project Office in the Corps of Engineers’ New England District Regulatory Division, said last week.

The permit the court considered was a “nationwide permit” authorizing discharges, structures and work related to commercial shellfish aquaculture activities.

“There have been no nationwide permits in New England since 1995,” Clement said. “It really doesn’t apply to how we do business in Maine.”

Read the full story at The Ellsworth American

Calls mount for salmon producers to step up to meet China’s growing appetite

October 29, 2019 — China’s exponentially increasing demand for salmon is likely to put a pinch on global supplies if the salmon-farming sector doesn’t find a way to increase production, according to Miguel Ugarte, the Asia sales director for Multiexport Foods Company, a leading supplier of Chilean salmon in China.

China has become the fastest-growing market for salmon in the world, with numbers indicating it has grown a whopping 166 percent in the last eight years, Urgarte said during the Global Aquaculture Alliance’s annual marketplace forum in Qingdao, China on Monday, 28 October.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

In wake of Canada election, report of BC net pen industry demise may be exaggerated

October 23, 2019 — Following the Justin Trudeau-led Liberal Party’s victory in Canada’s election Monday night, the Atlantic salmon aquaculture industry in the province of British Columbia (BC) might like to quote the celebrated American author Mark Twain.

“The report of my death was an exaggeration,” Twain quipped in 1879, at age 44, when cabled about rumors that persisted while he was traveling in London. He lived another 31 years.

The results are still being tallied but the Liberal Party seems poised to make several big changes to the Canadian seafood industry after taking a projected 157 of the legislature’s 338 seats, compared to the Progressive Conservative Party’s 121 seats, Bloc Quebecois’ 32 seats, National Democratic Party’s 24 seats and Green Party’s seven seats.

To pass any legislation in the House, the Liberals will need a full 170 votes, but many of the seafood-related pledges they made in their 85-page platform announced on Sept. 29 are a match with those made by the NDPs.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

GSSI Public Consultation on the ASC Shrimp Standard Scope Extension

October 23, 2019 — The following was released by the Global Sustainable Seafood Initiative:

On 23 October 2019, GSSI launched a 30-day public consultation on the Interim GSSI Benchmark Report for the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) Shrimp Standard Scope Extension.

In early 2019, the ASC applied to extend the scope of its GSSI recognition to include its Shrimp Standard, having already obtained recognition for the scope of its Salmon Standard in August 2018.

The Independent Experts and the Benchmark Committee found the ASC Shrimp Standard V1.0 – March 2014 to be in alignment with all the GSSI Essential Components for Section C (Aquaculture). The Independent Experts and the Benchmark Committee also confirmed the Governance (Section A) and Operational Procedures (Section B) have been appropriately applied to the ASC Shrimp Standard V1.0 – March 2014.

GSSI now invites comments from all stakeholders on the recommendation of the Benchmark Committee to include the ASC Shrimp Standard in the GSSI scope of recognition for the ASC.

Following the public consultation, the Benchmark Committee, Independent Experts and ASC will process the feedback received. GSSI’s Benchmark Committee will then provide the GSSI Steering Board with a final recommendation on extending the scope of recognition. The Public Consultation feedback will be made publicly available after the GSSI Steering Board’s decision.

Read the full release here

Farming Seaweed And Shellfish Can Help Water Quality And Wild Fish Stocks, Report Finds

October 23, 2019 — Aquaculture is currently the third-most lucrative fishery in New England, after lobster and scallops. Oysters, and increasingly, kelp, are two of the most commonly grown foods.

Now, a new study says aquaculture could also be an important way to address issues like nutrient pollution and habitat loss. The study found that New England’s waters are among the top 20 locations in the world with the greatest opportunities for restorative aquaculture.

Aquaculture hasn’t been associated with environmental benefits, historically — in fact, it’s much more commonly known for pollution, when too many fish are crowded into coastal waters.

But it turns out that shellfish and seaweed, farmed properly, can dramatically improve water quality.

“Shellfish and seaweeds are at the bottom of the food web and they’re able to actually take up nutrients from the water column,” said Seth Theuerkauf, aquaculture scientist with The Nature Conservancy and lead author of that global assessment.

Read the full story at WGBH

Trudeau, Liberals returning to power, with uncertain consequences for Canadian aquaculture, fisheries

October 22, 2019 — Canada’s Liberal Party and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau have won national elections that saw them lose their majority, but retain enough support to return to power with a minority government.

The outcome may have significant repercussions for Canada’s fishing and aquaculture sectors, as the Liberal Party platform called for both more marine protected areas and a shift away from net-pen farming to land-based systems.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Latest SOLI workshop offers a sneak peak into the program’s future

October 22, 2019 — Climate change represents one of the biggest threats to the success of the seafood industry, but the complexity of its impact on fisheries is a difficult concept to grasp without a formal education on the subject. The Sustainable Oceans Leadership Institute (SOLI) hopes to change that.

Kicking off in 2020, the SOLI program aims to give attendees access to scientists and local stakeholders across the globe to learn more about what affects climate change is having on their communities and way of life.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Scientists emphasize disease control in booming aquaculture sector

October 21, 2019 — At its last global conference, held in April in Santiago, Chile, the World Organization for Animal Health (known as OIE) focused on aquatic animals. The reason? Experts estimate that if the planet’s human population continues to increase as projected, the world will need to double its food production by 2050. The oceans, and aquaculture in particular, are seen as a main source for meeting this need.

“For the past decade, fishing of native animals has stabilized while aquaculture has increased enormously,” Monique Eloit, the OIE’s director-general, told Mongabay Latam. However, information about the health of aquatic animals is poor compared with that of land animals. According to Eloit, this gap must be addressed to secure the food supply for the coming decades.

Around 60 percent of human pathogens and three-quarters of first-emerging infectious diseases are of animal origin. Among these are bird flu strain H5N1, rabies, tuberculosis, the Ebola virus, and foot-and-mouth disease.

Since aquaculture is the fastest-growing food source, “it is likely that we will face greater health risks and challenges,” Eloit said. She recommended taking steps to improve disease management, biosecurity and the responsible use of antimicrobials.

Read the full story at Mongabay

Wicker aims to bolster U.S. seafood production

October 21, 2019 — U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS), chairman of the U.S. Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, said he intends to reintroduce a bill that would improve domestic seafood production.

“America imports over 90 percent of the seafood we consume. Simply put, there is not enough fresh, healthy, and local seafood produced in the United States to meet consumer demand,” Sen. Wicker said in his opening statement to the committee during an Oct. 16 hearing on the state of the nation’s offshore aquaculture industry.

Sen. Wicker said he will reintroduce the bipartisan, bicameral Advancing the Quality and Understanding of American Aquaculture (AQUAA) Act, which would direct the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to streamline the federal permitting process for aquaculture.

During the 115th Congress, Sen. Wicker sponsored S. 3138 to direct the U.S. Commerce Department to establish an Office of Marine Aquaculture within the NOAA to coordinate regulatory, scientific, outreach, and international issues related to aquaculture.

Read the full story at The Ripon Advance

NMFS Seeks to Streamline Aquaculture Permitting While a Washington Federal Court Interjects Caution

October 21, 2019 — In October 2019, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) published its Draft Outline for a Work Plan for a Federal Aquaculture Regulatory Task Force (Draft Outline) in the Federal Register Notice. The Draft Outline identifies three goals that NMFS intends to use to improve regulatory efficiency for freshwater and marine aquaculture, as well as streamline regulations and management decisions.

  1. “Improve the efficiency and predictability of aquaculture permitting in state and federal waters.” Some of the objectives identified to achieve this goal include expanding the categories of use for the Army Corps of Engineers (Army Corps) Nationwide Permit 48 (NWP 48), and NPDES general permits or developing new general permits, creating regional interagency groups and regional permit processes, and establishing federal processes for testing and certifying the human health requirements of aquaculture in federal waters.
  2. “Implement a national approach to aquatic animal health management of aquaculture.” Identified objectives for attaining this goal include collaboration among partners and stakeholders to establish standards or guidelines for aquatic animal and aquaculture health, as well as further clarifying and defining federal agency roles in the import and export of aquatic animals

Read the full story at The National Law Review