Saving Seafood

Lobstermen question the need for camera surveillance aboard vessels in Nova Scotia

June 26, 2017 — Several Nova Scotia lobster fishermen voiced doubt over their support of the possible implementation of vessel video surveillance during a workshop held last week in Lockport, Nova Scotia.

Camera surveillance aboard fishing boats was the primary topic of discussion during the 22 June information session hosted by Canada’s Department of Fisheries and Oceans and organized by the Ecology Action Center. The session was attended by more than a hundred southwest Nova Scotia fishermen, many of whom were concerned that the technology posed a threat to their privacy, CBC News reported.

Speakers including a fisherman from British Columbia and a program manager from the Gulf of Maine Research Institute. Discussion focused on the use of camera surveillance as a means to monitor catch and to cut down on bycatch, in particular regional endangered species such as Atlantic cod and cusk. However, many fishermen claimed practices are already in place that do enough to provide proper catch assurances.

Port La Tour fisherman Wilford Smith noted that the industry is already self-reporting its bycatch in logbooks, and throwing at-risk species back.

Regarding the prospect of camera surveillance on boats, Smith said: “What for? We’ve got nothing to hide…We’re not keeping nothing secret,” according to CBC News.

Spurred by insistence from main lobster-buying markets – including the United States, Europe and Asia – requiring evidence of the sustainability of imported seafood, the Nova Scotia lobster fishery obtained certification from the Marine Stewardship Council in 2015. As standards continue to evolve, though, the elements needed to prove the sustainability of catch is changing as well, and there aren’t a lot of options beyond camera surveillance that are cost-effective, according to Susanna Fuller, senior marine co-ordinator at the Ecology Action Center. While video surveillance isn’t being imposed upon Nova Scotia lobster fishermen, alternatives including at-sea observers will cost more, Fuller told CBC News.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Ten million tonnes of fish wasted every year despite declining fish stocks

June 26, 2017 — Industrial fishing fleets dump nearly 10 million tonnes of good fish back into the ocean every year, according to new research.

The study by researchers with Sea Around Us, an initiative at the University of British Columbia’s Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries and the University of Western Australia, reveals that almost 10 per cent of the world’s total catch in the last decade was discarded due to poor fishing practices and inadequate management.  This is equivalent to throwing back enough fish to fill about 4,500 Olympic sized swimming pools every year.

“In the current era of increasing food insecurity and human nutritional health concerns, these findings are important,” said Dirk Zeller, lead author for the study who is now a professor at the University of Western Australia and senior research partner with the Sea Around Us. “The discarded fish could have been put to better use.”

Fishers discard a portion of their catch because fishing practices damage the fish and make them unmarketable, the fish are too small, the species is out of season, only part of the fish needs to be harvested—as with the Alaska pollock roe—or the fishers caught species that they were not targeting, something known as bycatch.

“Discards also happen because of a nasty practice known as high-grading where fishers continue fishing even after they’ve caught fish that they can sell,” said Zeller. “If they catch bigger fish, they throw away the smaller ones; they usually can’t keep both loads because they run out of freezer space or go over their quota.”

The study examined the amount of discarded fish over time. In the 1950s, about five million tonnes of fish were discarded every year, in the 1980s that figure grew to 18 million tonnes. It decreased to the current levels of nearly 10 million tonnes per year over the past decade.

The decline in discards in recent years could be attributed to improved fisheries management and new technology, but Zeller and his colleagues say it’s likely also an indicator of depleted fish stocks. A 2016 reconstruction of catch data from 1950 to 2010 by researchers with the Sea Around Us revealed that catches have been declining at a rate of 1.2 million tonnes of fish every year since the mid-1990s.

“Discards are now declining because we have already fished these species down so much that fishing operations are catching less and less each year, and therefore there’s less for them to throw away,” he said.

Read the full story at the University of British Columbia

NFI urges cut in U.S. tariffs to boost exports

May 23, 2017 — The National Fisheries Institute (NFI) encouraged the reduction of tariffs on United States seafood exports at public hearing before regulators in Washington, D.C., on 18 May.

Meanwhile, the American Shrimp Processors Association urged more restrictions on seafood imports from other countries in order to cut the United States’ significant overall trade deficit.

The U.S. Department of Commerce and the U.S. Trade Representative asked for public comments on an executive order, “Omnibus Report on Significant Trade Deficits,” which impacts U.S. trade deficits with 13 countries: Canada, China, the European Union, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam.

“Addressing the U.S. goods trade deficit with any one of the 13 nations/blocs of nations identified by the department should focus on opening markets for American seafood, reducing overseas tariffs, and eliminating non-tariff barriers,” NFI President John Connelly said at the hearing. “Fully 95 percent of world’s consumers and nearly 80 percent of consumer purchasing power lie outside of the United States, and both numbers are likely to rise in the future.”

For example, per capita seafood consumption in Japan is 300 percent higher than in the U.S., and U.S. seafood exports to Japan were USD 681 million (EUR 608 million) in 2016, Connelly said.

“The Trans-Pacific Partnership would have immediately eliminated and phased out Japan duties on U.S. roe, surimi, and cod,” Connelly said. “This would have allowed domestic fishermen, and particularly fishermen on the Pacific coast, to exploit opportunities in a country that already has a high opinion of the U.S. harvest, and in the process would help narrow the U.S. trade deficit with the nation’s closest Pacific Rim ally.”

In addition, implementation of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, a recently signed trade deal between Canada and the European Union, has placed U.S. exporters at a competitive disadvantage, according to Connelly.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Canada’s first redfish fishery achieves MSC certification as sustainable

May 23, 2017 — The following was released by the Marine Stewardship Council:

The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) and the Groundfish Enterprise Allocation Council (GEAC) are proud to announce Canada’s first redfish fishery to meet the globally recognized MSC Fishery Standard.  With this achievement, Acadian redfish (Sebastes fasciatus), also known as Atlantic redfish or ocean perch, caught in Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization (NAFO) Division 3LN, can now be sold as MSC certified by companies with MSC Chain of Custody certificates.

International collaboration toward successful rebuilding

Straddling Canadian and international waters, 3LN redfish has a colourful history dotted by interaction with Soviet, Cuban, South Korean, Portuguese and Spanish fleets. Overfishing in the late 1980s caused depletion that led to a moratorium being declared on directed fishing in 1998. After years of careful management, the stock recovered and the fishery was re-opened in 2010.

Managed by the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization (NAFO), a cautious Total Allowable Catch (TAC) is established through a well tested harvest control rule that has been peer-reviewed by scientists from NAFO-member countries.  This management approach has proven effective at continuing stock growth and is expected to continue to guide this fishery through long-term sustainability.

Canada holds 42.6% share of the TAC, the majority of which is caught by Ocean Choice International vessels fishing on the Grand Banks of Newfoundland.

“This certificate is a demonstration of the rigour applied to the management of the Canadian redfish fishery in 3LN.”says Bruce Chapman, President of GEAC, the industry association representing the fishery client group. “We continue to work towards all of our fisheries being able to bear the MSC label.” 

Meeting the world’s most recognized standard for sustainability

Redfish are long-lived species with unique reproductive characteristics that demand strong management measures to ensure protection of the stocks. To achieve MSC certification, the 3LN redfish fishery demonstrated it meets all three MSC Principles through a healthy target stock, very low by-catch and high unlikelihood of disrupting ecosystem structure and function, and effective management.

Beyond TAC and individual country quotas, other conservation measures for redfish include gear specifications, restrictions on areas and times of fishing and protection of sensitive areas.

Jay Lugar, Program Director for MSC in Canada added: “The combined efforts of all actors to follow globally accepted best fishery management practices for 3LN redfish is a clear signal to world markets of a long-term commitment to maintaining the stock at sustainable levels. It is also proof that fish stocks can recover and robust fisheries management works. The MSC is proud be a vehicle that the Canadian fishing industry employs to demonstrate this.”

The rigorous 24-month assessment against the MSC standard was undertaken by independent certifier SAI Global Services.

The story behind an alleged fraud worth millions in Nova Scotia’s lobster industry

May 23, 2017 — In June of 2015, three men stepped out of a summer day thick with flies and into the Beaverdam Lake, N.S., cottage of lobster dealer Wayne Banks.

It wasn’t a casual visit.

They had arrived unannounced at his doorstep, claiming that in the space of about 10 days, someone had ripped them off to the tune of $1.6 million.

“Have a seat, you fellas,” said Banks. “I think I know why you’re here. But there ain’t nothing I can tell you.”

The secret recording of that conversation, later provided to CBC News by one of the men, offers a glimpse into a large alleged fraud case, one that reveals the money and high stakes at play in Canada’s most lucrative lobster industry.

Only later would local RCMP team up with the federal Serious and Organized Crime unit to launch a joint investigation into what they called a complex criminal operation, one some feared could have broader ramifications on the industry.

But on that June day two years ago, one name threaded its way through the conversation — Wayne Banks’s younger brother, convicted fraudster Terry Banks.

“How many families get destroyed because of Terry f–king Banks again?” said one of the visiting men in exasperation.

“I don’t understand why Terry’s still alive. I don’t.”

Last week, RCMP charged Terry Banks, 51, with four counts of fraud over $5,000 and three counts of theft over $5,000 involving allegations he was part of a scheme that stole about $3 million from four different seafood companies.

His 69-year-old brother, Wayne, faces six fraud and theft charges. A third man — Chris Malone, 52 — is charged with one count of theft and one count of fraud. All three men return to court Aug. 24.

None of the allegations has been proven in court.

RCMP Supt. Martin Marin said Tuesday that those charged had a “substantial reach and influence on the local, national and international seafood market.”

“Had this fraudulent activity continued, Nova Scotia’s economy and seafood industry could have been negatively impacted,” he said in a news release.

Read the full story at CBC News

Maine fishermen could feel impact of proposed undersea cable

April 25, 2017 — A Canadian company is proposing a 350-mile, sub-sea power transmission cable that could interfere with commercial fishing along the coast of Maine.

If the project is approved, the Atlantic Link cable would be buried about 25 miles offshore of Harpswell, running between New Brunswick, Canada, and Plymouth, Massachusetts. It would affect about 400 lobstermen from Cape Elizabeth to Phippsburg, according to spokesman Gerald Weseen of the Nova Scotia-based energy services company Emera.

Weseen and other project representatives, and staff from the Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association, conducted a meeting about the project April 21 that drew only two area lobstermen.

“Most of the (interference) is pretty workable,” Glenn Rogers, a Mackerel Cove fisherman from Orr’s Island, said Friday.

Late last month, a collection of Massachusetts utility companies sent out a request for proposals targeting clean energy services in response to a clean energy procurement mandate from that state’s Legislature, Weseen explained.

He said Emera’s plan to channel 900 megawatts of hydro and wind power is the only sub-sea option competing against about a half dozen other proposals.

Read the full story at The Forecaster

SEAN HORGAN: Fisherman on hunger strike to protest rules

April 17, 2017 — Stop us if this sounds familiar.

Last Thursday, Canadian fisherman Richard Gillett, a vice president of the Federation of Independent Sea Harvesters of Newfoundland and Labrador, decided enough was enough.

Gillett had had enough of the regulations and enough of scientists telling him that six critical fishing stocks in the Newfoundland and Labrador fisheries were in dire shape despite what he and other fishermen were witnessing on the water.

“There’s fish there,” Gillett told The Telegram newspaper. “We’ve never seen fish like it before. The fish are overrunning our crab grounds, eating our shrimp, eating our crab and we’re still at one-third of the level (regulators) would like to see.”

So Gillett went rogue. He camped out in a tent and began a hunger strike he said will continue until representatives from the Fish-NL organization get to meet with the federal minister of Fisheries and Oceans and receive an independent review of the science and management of the region’s fisheries.

Read the full opinion piece at the Gloucester Times

Lobster industry fears lost sales from ramped-up Canadian exports

March 20, 2017 — A new trade deal looming between Canada and the European Union is setting off alarm bells in the Maine lobster industry.

The deal between Canada and the EU – the largest seafood consumer market in the world – would eliminate tariffs on Canadian lobster exports into Europe and give the Maritimes a competitive advantage over their American counterparts, who would be stuck selling lobsters with tariffs ranging from 8 percent for a live lobster to 20 percent on processed or cooked lobster.

A weak Canadian dollar, which is now valued at about 75 percent of a U.S. dollar, will only make Canadian lobster that much more attractive to importers in the 28 member nations of the European Union, which is the second biggest importer of American lobsters, second only to Canada, according to trade data. In 2016, the EU imported $152 million worth of lobsters from the U.S., most of it from Maine.

“This is a big deal,” said Annie Tselikis, director of the Maine Lobster Dealers’ Association. “Canada recognizes that it is an export nation. They are putting their money where their mouth is and adopting a very aggressive trade policy. They are also developing a very aggressive, smart marketing campaign abroad. It is going to be very difficult to compete with that because we sell the same product.”

The Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, or CETA, has been under negotiation for years. The United States was negotiating one, too, called the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, or TTIP, but it has stalled. The Canadian-EU deal appears likely to get its final OK in May, and the first phase of the deal, including the trade tariffs, would go into effect in June.

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald

Fishing fatality prompts call for safer vessels

March 13, 2017 — The brother of the 51-year-old fisherman from Alert Bay who died when the Miss Cory capsized is calling for safety improvements to the industry.

Mel Rocchio was in the engine room when the vessel took less than two minutes to capsize Monday afternoon after listing in calm waters near Comox, off Cape Lazo. It was the first day of the commercial seine roe-herring fishery in the Strait of Georgia.

Four other crew members survived.

Rocchio’s brother, Jim, also a veteran of the commercial fishing industry, said a 19.5-metre-long boat doesn’t sink that fast unless there are “catastrophic failures.”

He said he wants to see a full investigation into his brother’s death.

“If anything, we need to learn from this,” he said. “I really feel in my heart that no one else should have to go through this. Identify the problem and correct it so other people don’t lose a brother, or uncle or grandfather.”

Glenn Budden, a marine investigator with the Transportation Safety Board, said witnesses reported the boat was alongside another boat and hauling up the catch when the accident happened.

Read the full story at the Times Colonist

Family identifies missing fisherman as Mel Rocchio of Alert Bay

March 10, 2017 — Mel Rocchio of Alert Bay has been identified by family as the fisherman who is missing and presumed drowned after a fishing boat capsized Monday off Comox.

WorkSafe B.C., Transport Canada and the RCMP are investigating what caused the Miss Cory, a 19.5-metre wooden vessel, to capsize on opening day of the commercial seine roe-herring fishery in the Strait of Georgia.

The four others on the boat were rescued by vessels fishing in the waters off Cape Lazo.

Rocchio had been fishing out of the Campbell River Fisherman’s Wharf for about 15 years, according to Phyllis Titus, manager of the Campbell River Harbour Authority.

Titus, who met Rocchio about seven years ago, said he was the type of person who became instant friends with anyone who crossed his path.

“He always made you laugh while being as quiet as a mouse or as loud as an ox,” Titus said. He was the type of friend “who’s willing to help anyone, any time.”

Rocchio was married, and while the couple did not have children, he treated his nieces and nephews like his own children.

Read the full story at the Times Colonist