Saving Seafood

Science on your side: The trappings of fish fraud

April 18, 2019 — Seafood fraud and mislabeled seafood is a permanent topic in the sustainable fisheries space and has been driving the demands for product traceability. Since 2011, Oceana has led the discourse on fish fraud by publishing sixteen reports on the subject.

Oceana Canada’s 2018 report exposed some important shortcomings in the Canadian seafood system and offered constructive, achievable mandates for reducing seafood fraud domestically, but the study collected data from a biased sample and only presented results that supported a narrative of rampant fraudulence.

Oceana collects seafood samples at restaurants and retail outlets, DNA tests them, then matches the DNA results to government labeling guidelines. The sampling focused specifically on cod, halibut, snapper, tuna, salmon and sole because these species historically, “have the highest rates of species substitution.” This nonrandom sampling is consistent with previous seafood fraud studies from Oceana.

Of the 382 seafood samples tested in Canada, 168 (44 percent) were found to be mislabeled.

None of the red snapper (Lutjanus campechanus), yellowtail or butterfish tested was appropriately labeled. Tuna was mislabeled 41 percent of the time, halibut 34 percent, cod 32 percent and salmon 18 percent.

Fundamental to the interpretation of the Oceana Canada 2018 study’s results is the understanding that the samples were selected to find fraud, not to measure the actual extent of fraud across the entire seafood supply chain. Oceana disclosed this in the report. However the press release it issued for this report, and subsequent headlines from other news sources, such as “At least one quarter of the seafood you buy is a lie” from the site IFL Science, created a different narrative.

Aside from the sampling criticisms, the analysis of specific species was especially flawed.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

Canadian-U.S. Lobstermen’s Town Meeting: U.S. and Canadian lobstermen have a whale of a problem

April 17, 2019 — Department of Marine Resources Commissioner Patrick Keliher sure knows how to quiet a room.

On April 5, about 100 members of the U.S. and Maine lobster industry — fishermen, dealers, scientists, and regulators — gathered for the 15th Canadian-U.S. Lobstermen’s Town Meeting at the Westin Portland Harborview Hotel in Portland. There they heard Keliher announce that he’d just received an email from NOAA Fisheries announcing that, in order to protect endangered right whales, “the U.S. fishery will likely have to be reduced 60 to 80 percent.”

It’s a testament to the cardiac health of Maine and Canadian lobstermen that the statement didn’t produce a mass heart attack, especially since it came during a discussion of what fishing restrictions might be imposed by NOAA Fisheries this spring to meet the demands of the federal Endangered Species and Marine Mammal Protection acts.

What almost everyone in the room heard, though, wasn’t all that Keliher said. Thanks to a snafu with the microphone, the audience missed the beginning of the NOAA statement that said “whale mortalities” from U.S. fisheries would have to be reduced by “60 to 80 percent,” not the fisheries themselves.

Read the full story at the Mount Desert Islander

Sen. Susan Collins questions lobster tariffs and Grey Zone dispute

April 10, 2019 — Disputes between U.S. and Canadian fishermen in the so-called Gray Zone of the waters around Machias Seal Island as well as lobster tariff disputes with China were the subject of questioning by Sen. Susan Collins (R – ME) during a recent Commerce Appropriations Subcommittee hearing.

Lobstermen who work in the Gray Zone are increasingly frustrated that their Canadian counterparts who fish in the same areas are not required to follow the same regulations (such as v-notching egg-bearing females and a maximum size limit), according to a statement, and thus are undermining American protections and threatening the sustainability of the stock.

Because Canada does not impose such conservation measures on its fisheries, a v-notched or oversized lobster tossed back by a Maine lobsterman can be caught by a Canadian lobstermen yards away and brought to market.

Read the full story at the Mount Desert Islander

Senator Collins Urges Senior Administration to Develop Gray Zone Fishing Agreement with Canada

April 9, 2019 — SEAFOOD NEWS — Senator Susan Collins of Maine, a senior member of the Appropriations Committee, took issues affecting Maine’s lobster industry to the Commerce Appropriations Subcommittee hearing this week – specifically the “Gray Zone” and the ongoing trade war with China.

The Gray Zone sits approximately 10 miles off the coast of Maine, around Machias Island. Canadian and Maine lobstermen both work in the area, but do not follow the same regulations, which has caused disputees. Maine Lobstermen mark the tails of egg-bearing females and return them to water in an effort to allow them to lay eggs and continue reproducing. Maine lobstermen also abide by size limits, and toss back oversized lobsters to keep the stock strong. Canada lobstermen do not have to follow the same conservation measures, so those notched and oversized lobsters are able to be caught by Canadian lobstermen just yards away.

“Each country manages their lobster and other fisheries in that area through separate and often conflicting regulations,” Senator Collins explained. “The implications of these regulatory discrepancies are very concerning and very unfair to Maine’s lobstermen.”

Dr. Neil Jacobs, Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere, committed to working with Senator Collins to “explore the possibility of developing a fisheries management agreement between the U.S. and Canada that would provide for cooperative management of the Gray Zone.”

Besides the issue with the Gray Zone, Senator Collins also spoke out on the ongoing trade war with China, urging the Senior Administration to make some progress with the dispute.

“The retaliatory tariff of 25% that China has levied on U.S. lobster has been very detrimental to the industry,” explained Senator Collins. “What is the status of the trade talks with China, and what hope can you provide to my lobster exporters who are struggling day in and day out, having lost that very lucrative market to our Canadian neighbors?”

While no guarantees were made, Gil Kaplan, Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade said that they have been “making progress” and are “optimistic about an agreement.”

This story was originally published on SeafoodNews.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission.

Strict right whale protection goal raises concerns among lobstermen

April 8, 2019 — A federal agency is seeking a 60 percent to 80 percent reduction in the number of right whales killed or seriously injured by fishing line entanglement – a mandate that could have serious implications for the future of Maine’s $485 million lobster industry.

The National Marine Fisheries Service estimates that fishing rope entanglement kills or seriously injures five to nine right whales a year. Federal scientists believe that even a single death a year would prove too much for the endangered species to make a recovery.

If those deaths are split evenly between the U.S. and Canada, a fisheries service assumption that Maine fishermen and regulators question, then Maine and Massachusetts lobstermen would have to find a way to cut their share of the whale entanglement deaths by 6o percent to 80 percent to achieve that goal.

“We know this target is daunting, but it is necessary to ensure the recovery of the North Atlantic right whale population,” said Colleen Coogan, coordinator of the agency-led team created to protect the right whale, in a letter emailed Friday to team members, including Maine fisheries regulators.

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald

U.S.-Canada ‘Lobster War’ film to be screened in Waterville

April 1, 2019 — The waters off Machias Seal Island along the Maine coast are beautiful, but the war between U.S. and Canadian fishermen fighting over territory where climate change has caused the lobster population to explode is decidedly ugly.

That conflict is portrayed in vivid detail in “Lobster War: The Fight Over the World’s Richest Fishing Grounds,” an award-winning documentary film co-directed and produced by David Abel, a Boston Globe reporter, and Andrew Laub, a writer, editor, filmmaker, cinematographer, visual effects artist and soundtrack composer.

The film will be shown at 7:15 p.m. Sunday at Railroad Square Cinema in Waterville. Abel will engage in a question-and-answer session with the audience via Skype after the showing.

The 2018 film focuses on the clash between the U.S. and Canada over 277 square miles of ocean off the 20-acre Machias Seal Island that both countries have claimed since the end of the Revolutionary War, according to Abel. U.S. lobster fishermen traditionally fished the so-called Gray Zone, but as the Gulf of Maine has warmed faster than nearly any other water body on Earth, the lobster population there has grown significantly, prompting Canadian fishermen to assert their sovereignty there, he said. Fighting between Canadian and American fishermen over the territory has been ongoing, with threats of violence and sabotage.

Abel, an environmental reporter who has long covered fisheries issues, said in a telephone interview Wednesday that “Lobster War” shows how the warming waters of the Gulf of Maine are affecting lobster, Maine’s iconic species, whose population for the last 15-plus years has boomed, partly as a result of climate change.

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald

Extended: Voluntary Vessel Speed Restriction Zone South of Nantucket to Protect Right Whales

March 29, 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 6 right whales sighted in this area on March 28.

This DMA is in effect through April 13, 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 March 29

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.

Read the full release here

Lobsters unharmed by Atlantic Canada salmon farm, 8-year study finds

March 22, 2019 — SEAFOOD NEWS — An eight-year study of lobsters living below a salmon farm off New Brunswick’s Grand Manan Island found the aquaculture operation had no impact on the crustaceans’ abundance, size or growth.

The peer-reviewed, industry-funded study was published this month in the Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences.

Its authors say it’s the most in-depth examination of its kind in Atlantic Canada.

“There isn’t anything like this. Any surveys that have been done have been sort of cursory,” said Jon Grant, the study’s lead author and a Dalhousie University oceanographer.

How the study worked

The study involved divers visiting a sample area under the Benson Aquaculture salmon farm at Cheney Head off Grand Manan in 2008, and returning every August and September.

To establish a baseline, surveying started before the fish farm opened. The study covered two production cycles at the farm, which uses pesticides to control sea lice and has been opposed by lobster fishermen.

It also included a fallow period and a farm expansion to 336,000 fish from 10,000 during the second production cycle.

An identical survey was conducted about a kilometre outside the farm.

By the time the project ended in 2015, divers had counted 1,255 lobsters inside the farm and 1,171 outside.

What the study found

“In both cases, whether it was on the farm or off the farm, over those eight years the abundance of lobsters went up. A lot. By 100 per cent or more. And there was no difference in those lobsters in any way — in their size, in their sex or their abundance, whether on or off the fish farm,” Grant told CBC News.

“We don’t detect any evidence that the fish farm affected behaviour, growth or abundance of those lobsters.”

He said the study proved one hypothesis: the population inside or adjacent to the farm matched growth seen elsewhere in lobster fishing areas.

“It reflects the fact that the fishery is ongoing and it’s thriving and that fish farming does not seem to have impacted it, at least in eastern New Brunswick,” said Grant, who is funded by New Brunswick-based Cooke Seafoods and holds the NSERC-Cooke industrial research chair in sustainable aquaculture.

Surveys ordered by government regulators

The surveys were a requirement of the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans and the New Brunswick government. The Atlantic Canada Fish Farmers Association funded the study.

The field work was carried out by SIMCorp, a New Brunswick-based marine environmental consulting firm that works for the aquaculture industry in Atlantic Canada and Maine.

SIMCorp is recognized as the standard for aquaculture, said Grant.

Tara Daggett, a SIMCorp biologist and co-author of the study, said the results are encouraging news for the aquaculture industry.

“We can fairly say aquaculture can coexist with fisheries and other species. It has a place,” she told CBC News.

However, Daggett cautioned the results only reflect what happened at one fish farm.

“The fish farm is typical of Grand Manan with sandy and cobbled bottom, but in science we don’t extrapolate. We need to test at other sites.”

This story was originally published on SeafoodNews.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission.

MASSACHUSETTS: Spaniards visit Gloucester to talk fishing

March 21, 2019 — Antonio Basanta Fernandez and Mercedes Rodriguez Moreda had completed their tasks at the Seafood Expo North America in Boston and were scheduled to first fly to New York and Ottawa for meetings before returning home to the Spanish region of Galicia.

But before they boarded the flight to New York on Tuesday night, the two executives of the Department of the Sea within the regional government of Galicia had an important stop:

They wanted to come to Gloucester and talk fishing.

“We know that Gloucester is one of the most important ports in northeast America,” Basanta Fernandez said Tuesday during an afternoon meeting at Gloucester City Hall with Fisheries Commission Chairman Mark Ring and commission director Al Cottone. “We think we share a lot of interests and there are a lot of similarities between our regions.”

Read the full story at The Gloucester Daily Times

Cooke buys another Latin American shrimp farmer

March 18, 2019 — Canada-based diversified seafood group Cooke has bought another Latin American shrimp farmer, having closed a deal for Seajoy Group earlier in the year.

On Saturday, Cooke confirmed to Undercurrent News the acquisition of Farallon Aquaculture de Nicaragua, a vertically integrated farmer and a supplier of branded fresh-frozen shrimp to major markets in Asia, Europe, and the US.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         Farallon Nicaragua is headquartered in Leon, Nicaragua, employs 384 people, and operates a hatchery, three farms and an onsite processing plant from four locations.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           Read the full story at Undercurrent News