March 11, 2020 — Diversified Communications, the organizer of Seafood Expo North America/Seafood Processing North America, is conducting a survey to determine its customers’ preferences for when the postponed event should take place.
Originally scheduled to take place from 15 to 17 March, the event was postponed on 3 March due to the outbreak of COVID-19.
March 3, 2020 — Seafood Expo North America/Seafood Processing North America, scheduled to take place 15 to 17 March in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A., has been postponed by the event’s organizer, Diversified Communications.
The decision was made on 3 March in response to growing concerns over the global COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, according to Diversified Communications Group Vice President Liz Plizga.
March 2, 2020 — Organizers for the upcoming Seafood Expo North America in Boston are encouraging attendees to follow a “no-contact, no-handshake policy” because of coronavirus concerns.
The Seafood Expo North America/Seafood Processing North America trade event — at the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center in the Seaport, from March 15 to 17 — will also have significantly fewer visitors from Asia because of the highly contagious disease.
“Due to travel restrictions into the United States, we are expecting to see an impact from Mainland China, which annually represents 5% of the combined visitor and exhibitor attendee base and 9% of the exhibit space,” a spokeswoman for the expo said in a statement. “Despite the situation, we have more than 1,100 companies that are still planning on exhibiting this March.”
About 80% of the expo visitors come from the U.S., Canada and Mexico.
February 28, 2020 — Diversified Communications, the company that organizes Seafood Expo North America/Seafood Processing North America (SENA) each year, said it is prepared for potential impacts to the event caused by COVID-19, commonly known as coronavirus.
The Expo, which will take place from 15 to 17 March, has been the subject of speculation regarding the coronavirus, which originated in Wuhan, China in December 2019. Rumors that the Expo could be cancelled, or that the event has been heavily impacted, are ”simply not true,” according to Mary Larkin, president, Diversified Communications USA.
February 26, 2020 — There will be a lot of waving going on at Seafood Expo North America in Boston next month. Diversified Communications, the organizers of the Boston Seafood Show, released yet another update for attendees and exhibitors who are concerned about the coronavirus and the upcoming event.
The latest recommendation from Diversified? “No-contact, no-handshake policy.”
February 18, 2020 — It’s 5 a.m. and the moon looms high. The cranes flanking the Seaport’s newest high-rise are stilled. At this hour, no buses cruise down the main boulevard, no corporate workers hurry to sleek office buildings, and the flat screens at Tony C’s Sports Bar & Grill are as black as the pre-dawn sky. But outside of Bay 21 on the Boston Fish Pier, the morning catch, jiggling like Jell-O, has already arrived.
Rocky Neck Fish owner Steve Gennodie spots the delivery: four cheesecloth bags full of shelled scallops so fresh they’re still twitching. He bellows “Goodbye, Sunshine!” to the boat captain who hauled them in from Provincetown. Mauricio Jantes, Gennodie’s head fish-cutter, slices open the cloth to reveal a shimmering mountain of fleshy white bivalves and pops one into his mouth.
The workday starts before first light at the Boston Fish Pier, a vestige of a blue-collar Boston now surrounded by acres of gleaming glass towers, hotels, and condo buildings. What once defined the South Boston Waterfront is now an outlier, an oddity in fact. It is fair to ask, why is it still here? But also, would Boston be truly Boston if it were not?
For decades after its 1914 debut, the wharf churned with activity next to an expanse of undeveloped land and railroad tracks. Boats lined up 10 deep to offload their catch and sell it at the auction house, the stately building at the tip of the 1,200-foot pier. But dwindling stocks and heavy regulation buckled the industry in the early 2000s, pushing some occupants out of the pier, threatening those who remained, and ending the auction entirely. Nowadays, the wharf has undergone something of a revival, transformed into a bustling processing hub where trucks deliver more catch than trawlers, and fishmongers rely less on local sales than a global network of imports and exports.
In an effort to preserve the neighborhood’s maritime history, Massport, the agency that has owned the pier since 1972, has thrown a line to the local fishing industry in recent years, keeping rents well below what new development projects in the Seaport typically fetch and funneling money into the maintenance of the 106-year-old wharf. Meanwhile, Rocky Neck and the 18 other seafood tenants that fill the pier’s twin brick row buildings have shifted their business models to meet changing consumer demands.
February 10, 2020 — The following was released by the Southeastern Fisheries Association:
The Southeastern Fisheries Association has been working to defend, protect, and enhance the commercial fishing industry in the southeastern United States since its establishment in 1952.
The issues affecting the industry vary from region to region, based on the geographical areas of the US with commercial fishing groups. We intend to connect with organizations like ours – and yours – to discuss plans and ideas for the future of US commercial fishing as a whole.
SFA invites your organization to join us for a conversation on the current and future state of the US commercial fishing industry at the inaugural Fisheries Forum, for those in your group that are attending the Seafood Expo. We have drafted a few topics to get the conversation started and welcome your suggestions to be considered for discussion at this event in Boston.
Some topics of discussion include:
We hope you will come share your thoughts, ideas and success stories with us on Saturday, March 14 at 3:00pm at the Westin Boston Waterfront. Together, we can pave a way forward for the US Commercial Fishing Industry.
Let us know if you have any questions/comments by sending an email to Laurie@SFAonline.org for the quickest response. If you prefer, we can also set up a phone call.
Thanks so much and we hope you’ll join us in Boston for this free event.
January 31, 2020 — Seafood Expo North America organizer Diversified Communications said on 31 January the novel coronavirus outbreak has not affected its plans to host North America’s largest seafood expo, slated to take place 15 to 17 March at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center (BCEC) in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A.
The coronavirus, which originated in Wuhan, China, in December 2019, has spread rapidly in China and isolated cases have been found in other parts of the world, including eight in North America. “Diversified Communications has been responding to public safety situations for many years and has an effective crisis management protocol in place,” Diversified Communications Seafood Group Vice President Liz Plizga told SeafoodSource. “We have great confidence in our partnerships with the cities and local authorities where our events take place, and we will continue to update our customers on new developments. We look forward to a safe and successful event.”
June 10, 2019 — National Fish & Seafood no longer operates in East Gloucester, having given way — and rise — to Atlantic Fish & Seafood in a recent asset sale.
But that does not mean the federal bankruptcy court or National Fish creditors are done with the former seafood processor.
National Fish, which shut down its operations on May 10 after failing to find a buyer for the financially beleaguered company, stated in May 29 filings in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Boston that it owes more than $80 million to all its creditors — including more than $64 million to secured creditors and $16 million to unsecured creditors.
“The board of directors for the company, having been fully apprised of all of the material facts related to the financial condition of the company, has determined it is in the best interests of the company, its creditors, and other parties in interest, that the company should cease operations and be liquidated under the supervision of the United States Bankruptcy Court,” National Fish’s board of directors stated in a unanimous written consent included in a May 29 filing.
The filings also confirm two other noteworthy items:
National Fish sold its assets to NSD Seafood Inc. — the parent of Atlantic Fish & Seafood — for $3 million and National Fish’s largest creditor is the Dutch multinational bank Cooperative Rabobank, to which it owes “approximately $73 million in principal (plus interest, fees and other charges).”
April 10, 2019 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:
The voluntary vessel speed restriction zone (Dynamic Management Area – DMA) previously established south of Nantucket has been extended to protect an aggregation of 15 right whales sighted in this area on April 7.
This DMA is in effect through April 23, 2019.
Mariners are requested to route around this area or transit through it at 10 knots or less. Whales were spotted in or near shipping lanes so please be especially vigilant when traveling in these areas.
Nantucket DMA coordinates:
41 12 N
40 28 N
070 36 W
069 31 W
ACTIVE SEASONAL MANAGEMENT AREAS (SMAs)
Mandatory speed restrictions of 10 knots or less (50 CFR 224.105) are in effect in the following areas:
Cape Cod Bay SMA — in effect through May 15
Off Race Point SMA– in effect through April 30
Mid-Atlantic U.S. SMAs (includes Block Island) — in effect through April 30
Southeast U.S. SMA — in effect through April 15
More info on Seasonal Management Areas
Right Whales Are Migrating
North Atlantic right whales are on the move along the Atlantic coast of the U.S. With an unprecedented 20 right whale deaths documented in 2017 and 2018, NOAA is cautioning boaters to give these endangered whales plenty of room. We are also asking commercial fishermen to be vigilant when maneuvering to avoid accidental collisions with whales, remove unused gear from the ocean to help avoid entanglements, and use vertical lines with required markings, weak links, and breaking strengths.
Right Whales in Trouble
North Atlantic right whales are protected under the U.S. Endangered Species Act and the Marine Mammal Protection Act. Scientists estimate there are slightly more than 400 remaining, making them one of the rarest marine mammals in the world.
In August 2017, NOAA Fisheries declared the increase in right whale mortalities an “Unusual Mortality Event,” which helps the agency direct additional scientific and financial resources to investigating, understanding, and reducing the mortalities in partnership with the Marine Mammal Stranding Network, Canada’s Department of Fisheries and Oceans, and outside experts from the scientific research community.
More Info
Find out more about our right whale conservation efforts and the researchers behind those efforts.
Download the Whale Alert app for iPad and iPhone
Acoustic detections in Cape Cod Bay and the Boston TSS
Send a blank message to receive a return email listing all current U.S. DMAs and SMAs.
Details and graphics of all ship strike management zones currently in effect.
Reminder: Approaching a right whale closer than 500 yards is a violation of federal and state law.
Questions? Contact Jennifer Goebel, Regional Office, at 978-281-9175