Saving Seafood

Canada budgeting up to CAD 469.4 million in support for struggling fish harvesters

May 14, 2020 — The Canadian government is moving forward with up to CAD 469.4 million (USD 333.4 million, EUR 309.2 million) in new measures aimed at supporting the country’s fishing industry, which has been under tremendous stain due to the economic impacts of the COVID-19 crisis.

In a 14 May announcement, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the investment builds upon the CAD 62.5 million (USD 44.3 million, EUR 41.1 million) put forth in last month’s Canadian Seafood Stabilization Fund, and focuses on supporting Canada’s fish harvesters who are economically impacted by the pandemic, but cannot access existing federal measures.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

How Purchasing Local Fish Can Support Communities and the Economy

May 12, 2020 — The spread of the COVID-19 virus has caused uncertainty for global food supply chains. Poverty and food insecurity are on the rise as a result of the pandemic. Yet, for many, these crises predate the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Overwhelming evidence demonstrates the vulnerability of global food supply chains and long-distance transportation networks embedded in a “just enough, just in time” approach.

This recent instability will affect everyone, but the impact will be far more severe for Indigenous people, precarious and low-wage workers and people living in poverty, struggling to meet their basic needs. While we must develop ways to address the immediate concerns, enhancing the resilience of local food systems has taken on new urgency.

The structures that underpin the modern food system and the resulting food insecurity are evident in northwestern Ontario. Thunder Bay, the region’s largest city, serves as a hub for food, social services and other basic amenities for those living in surrounding communities, including dozens of First Nations.

The city is perched on the shores of Lake Superior, the world’s largest freshwater lake, which has more than 30 native species of fish and a long history of productive commercial and subsistence fisheries. Nevertheless, our research has shown that local fish is almost impossible to find on the shelves of regional grocery stores.

Read the full story at The National Interest

Alaska halibut getting battered by foreign imports

May 12, 2020 — Sales of Alaska’s most popular seafoods are being hit hard by markets upended by the coronavirus, but perhaps none is getting battered worse than halibut. Along with the big losses in the lucrative restaurant trade, Pacific halibut also is facing headwinds from increasing foreign imports.

Starting three years ago, sales of fresh Pacific halibut to established markets on the East Coast were toppled by a flood of less expensive fish flowing in primarily from eastern Canada. Trade data show that for 2019 through February 2020, total Canadian halibut imports to the U.S. topped 15.3 million pounds for which the U.S. paid nearly $107 million.

“It is taking over the eastern seaboard and also is being trucked from Boston to major middle American markets such as Chicago and Denver. It’s very hard to sell Alaska halibut to these traditional markets now. The Canadian product is cheaper and is available nearly year round,” said a marketer with more than 30 years of experience in selling halibut from Southeast Alaska, speaking on condition of anonymity.

“All of a sudden, an important market that paid a good price for fresh halibut has disappeared,” he said. “Rule of thumb is generally, sell fresh make a profit, freeze halibut, lose money.”

Earlier this year, fresh farmed Atlantic halibut was spotted for sale at $9.99 per pound at a Costco near Seattle.

Read the full story at the Alaska Journal of Commerce

Canada allocates $62.5M for fish and seafood processors amid COVID-19

April 28, 2020 — Canada’s fish and seafood industry is getting new funding in an effort to keep grocery shelves stocked amid the COVID-19 crisis.

The Canadian Seafood Stabilization Fund, which was announced by Prime Minister Justine Trudeau on a live broadcast on April 25, is aimed to provide fish and seafood processing plants access to short-term financing to pay for maintenance and inventory costs, and adapt operations to respond to changing requirements and new market demands.

“As we fight COVID-19, people who work in fish and seafood processing plants across the country are playing a crucial role when it comes to getting food to our tables. This fund will help ensure that they can safely continue to their important work,” said Trudeau during his Saturday broadcast.

Read the full story at Aquaculture North America

Canada shoring up fisheries, aquaculture sectors with aid package, essential industry declaration

April 1, 2020 — Canada has moved to support its fisheries and aquaculture sectors with an aid package that will provide both direct and indirect support to the industry and its employees.

Canadian Minister of Fisheries, Oceans, and the Canadian Coast Guard Bernadette Jordan announced aquaculture and seafood processing companies will have access to the CAD 5 billion (USD 3.5 billion, EUR 3.2 billion) Farm Credit Canada loan program. And fishermen, processing workers, and front-line aquaculture workers are entitled to the Canada Emergency Response Benefit, which provides CAD 2,000 (USD 1,400, EUR 1,300) per month for up to four months for workers who lose their income as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, small- and medium-sized businesses will have accesss to CAD 65 billion (USD 45.7 million, EUR 41.8 million) in support via interest-free loans provided through the Canada Emergency Business Account and the Export Development Canada and Business Development Bank.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

No changes to US H-2B plans, Canada puts restrictions on foreign national travel

March 24, 2020 — According to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, there are no changes at this time to the current plan to add 35,000 visas to the country’s H-2B temporary worker program.

That announcement initially came prior to the coronavirus pandemic that’s shut down several sectors of the U.S. economy. Over the weekend, the U.S. enacted bilateral agreements with Canada and Mexico to shut down the borders for non-essential travel, which includes tourism and recreational travel, in an attempt to control the spread of COVID-19. After that move, it was initially in doubt as to whether the H-2B program expansion would continue as planned.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

U.S., Canada close border for non-essential travel, supply chain exempted

March 19, 2020 — Border crossing between Canada and the U.S. will be closed for non-essential travels in an effort by both countries to slow the spread of Covid-19. The movement of goods and supplies between the two countries, as well as Canadians and Americans who cross the border daily for essential work-related matters will still be able to do so.

This new development was announced Wednesday by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

“Our governments recognize that it is critical that we preserve supply chains between both countries. These supply chains ensure that food, fuel and life saving medicines reach people on both sides of the border,” Trudeau said, as he addressed reporters from outside his home in Ottawa where he has been self-isolating after his wife tested positive of Covid-19.

Read the full story at Aquaculture North America

Seafood Plants Scrambling After Border Restrictions Block Many Foreign Workers

March 19, 2020 — Canada’s decision to close the border to some foreign visitors threatens to upend the Atlantic lobster and snow crab processing industry.

The processing plants rely on thousands of mostly Mexican temporary foreign workers who are no longer allowed into the country. The restriction applies to travellers who are not Canadian citizens, permanent residents or Americans.

Read the full story at Seafood News

New right whale protection measures announced by Canadian government

March 6, 2020 — Canada has announced new protection measures for North Atlantic right whales, which face severe threats to their survival due to human activities off the Atlantic Coast of North America.

With just around 400 individuals believed to be left in the world, the North Atlantic right whale is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List. Right whales were once common on both sides of the North Atlantic, but have been effectively wiped out in the eastern North Atlantic. Members of the western population of North Atlantic right whales migrate between calving grounds off the coasts of Florida and Georgia in the United States to their summering grounds in the Gulf of Maine, Bay of Fundy, Scotian Shelf, and Gulf of Saint Lawrence. This migration is proving especially dangerous, as the most serious threat to the whales is death or injury from entanglements in fishing gear and collisions with ships off the east coast of North America, according to the IUCN.

The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) declared an “unusual mortality event” in 2017, a particularly bad year for North Atlantic right whales in North America that saw 17 deaths as the result of entanglement or ship strike. 12 of those deaths occurred in Canadian waters.

Read the full story at Mongabay

Canadian Fisheries Regulators Take New Steps Aimed At Protecting Right Whales

February 28, 2020 — Canadian fisheries regulators are taking new steps aimed at protecting endangered North Atlantic right whales from entanglement in fishing gear and vessel strikes. These steps include temporary closures of certain lobster and crab fishing areas.

Most of the right whales found dead over the past four years have been found off Canada — likely because climate-driven shifts in their prey’s abundance have led them to new feeding grounds in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, where managers were initially unprepared for their arrival.

Bernadette Jordan, Canada’s Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard, announced new protective measures in Ottawa Thursday.

“What we’ve learned throughout this time is that these marine mammals are unpredictable and no longer aggregate or feed in the same areas they once did,” Jordan says. “It’s why each season our measures change and evolve to be more effective than they were the year before.”

Read the full story at Maine Public