Saving Seafood

ANALYSIS: 2022 Scallop Season Expectations

April 5, 2022 — April 1, 2022  marks the opening of the 2022/2023 Atlantic sea scallop fishery that operates along the Atlantic coast from the Mid-Atlantic region, up to the U.S.-Canadian border. Framework Adjustment 34, which namely projects 34 million pounds of Atlantic sea scallops to be landed this season, was approved by New England Fishery Management Council back in December, and passed along to NOAA for final approval and implementation.

Harvest projections of 34 million pounds is a 15% reduction to the 40 million pounds projected last year, almost half of the 62.5 million pounds projected just three years ago in 2019, and the lowest level since 2014.

Read the full story at Seafood News

 

Glaciers’ retreat could open new Alaska salmon habitat

February 22, 2022 — Melting glaciers in the U.S. state of Alaska and the Canadian province of British Columbia could open up new habitat for Pacific salmon – conceivably almost equal to the length of the Mississippi River – by 2100, under one scenario of “moderate” climate change.

But, on balance, a warming climate will continue to take a negative toll on salmon populations on the U.S. Pacific coast.

Read the full story at SeafoodSource

 

Major border crossing blocked over Canadian trucker protests

February 8, 2022 — Canadian truck driver protesters have impeded access to the busiest international crossing in North America.

The demonstrations began January 29 as an objection to a vaccine mandate requiring truckers entering Canada to be fully vaccinated for COVID-19 or face testing and quarantine requirements. Beginning 7 February, the Ambassador Bridge that links Windsor, Ontario, Canada, and Detroit, Michigan, U.S.A., was partially blocked by those participating in the collective action, according to CNN. Canadian-bound traffic was still shut down as of the morning of Tuesday, 8 February, while U.S.-bound traffic was flowing with limited bridge access.

Read the full story at SeafoodSource

 

With $250 million in monthly seafood shipments on the line, fallout from US-Canada trucker vaccine mandates could be costly

January 24, 2022 — Recently introduced COVID-19 vaccine mandates for truck drivers moving goods across the US and Canadian borders has sparked an outcry from truckers in both countries, threatening to impact already strained supply chains for fresh products, including seafood.

Canadian border authorities began refusing entry to unvaccinated American truckers after an order came into force on Jan. 15.

At the US border crossing, vaccine mandates for south-bound truckers are expected to come into force Jan. 22.

Drivers arriving at the US border not in compliance with the mandate could face the refusal of entry into the US, including having their trucks returned to Canada.

It is estimated that as many as 22,000 Canadian truck drivers and 16,000 US truck drivers may be prevented from crossing by mandates imposed in both countries.

Read the full story at Intrafish

 

Waters off New England hit record fall temperature in ’21

January 19, 2022 — A body of water off New England and Canada had its warmest fall surface temperatures on record last year, a Maine science center reported.

The Gulf of Maine has long been a focus of climate scientists because it is warming faster than most of the world’s oceans. The Gulf of Maine Research Institute said last week that average sea surface temperatures in the gulf reached 59.9 degrees Fahrenheit (15.5 degrees Celsius).

Read the full story from the Associated Press

Op-ed: Focus on blue economy needed in 2022 for COVID-19 recovery

January 13, 2022 — We’ve come to the end of another year filled with uncertainty, with no sign of predictability on the horizon. No one is really sure what the new year will bring. Stability has been hard for Canadians to come by, and it’s something that decision-makers and leaders in both government and industry need to prioritize immediately to incite recovery.

In 2022, Canadian decision-makers are going to have to start implementing serious COVID-19 recovery measures as the pandemic continues to stretch on. The Blue Economy Strategy is an initiative that offers significant recovery opportunities to grow the Canadian economy. While the Blue Economy mandate was put forth by the federal government prior to the pandemic, it has been reinforced in the new mandate letter given to new Fisheries and Oceans Canada Minister Joyce Murray.

Read the full story at SeafoodSource

 

Gulf of Maine waters warmed to highest fall temperatures on record

January 13, 2022 — The Gulf of Maine – which has been warming faster than 96 percent of the world’s ocean areas – experienced its warmest fall surface water temperatures on record last year in what scientists tracking it call a “distinct regime shift” for the ecosystem.

The Gulf of Maine Research Institute in Portland announced its findings Wednesday in its seasonal warming report, which showed average sea surface temperatures in the gulf hit 59.9 degrees, or more than 4 degrees above the long-term average.

Last fall’s figures exceeded even those in the infamous “Northwest Atlantic Ocean heat wave” of 2012, which triggered a two-year explosion in green crabs that devoured clams and eelgrass meadows and led to the starvation of puffin chicks. That warming cycle also triggered the early shedding of Maine lobsters, which fueled armed confrontations between Canadian lobstermen and truckers trying to carry the soft-shell boon to New Brunswick processing plants at the height of Canada’s own lobstering season.

Read the full story and listen to the audio at the Portland Press Herald

 

USCG, Canadian Coast Guard Target IUU Fishing in North Pacific

November 5, 2021 — The U.S. Coast Guard has wrapped up a joint patrol with Canadian, South Korean and Japanese fisheries officials to target illegal fishing operations in the North Pacific. The operation was hosted by the US Coast Guard Cutter Bertholf, and it included the deployment of a Fisheries and Oceans Canada aircraft patrol based in Japan.

The boarding and inspections teams found prohibited fishing gear; failure to maintain records of catch; improper vessel markings; and illegal retention of salmon. Overall, the operation detected 42 violations of regional fisheries management organization rules, including 25 serious violations. These will be reported to the vessels’ flag states, which could potentially choose to exercise the option to take enforcement action.

Read the full story at The Maritime Executive

 

Fishery Closures and the Ghosts of Past Mistakes

October 22, 2021 — David Christian, a 63-year-old gill-netter, first heard about the Pacific salmon fishery closures via cellphone while he was getting his 11-meter Grizzly King gill-netter ready to fish for salmon. The news spread quickly across the calm June waters off the west coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, as fishers jumped on the radio to figure out what had just happened.

The radio chatter was incessant as fishers wondered aloud where they’d be allowed to fish, if they would be out of business, and what the future would hold. “Everyone was freaking out because all of those questions were unanswered,” Christian says, adding this policy will likely end British Columbia’s commercial salmon industry.

Announced on June 29, the closures are part of the latest plan by Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) to overhaul the Pacific salmon commercial industry in an attempt to save crashing salmon stocks. Pacific salmon harvests are down to just eight percent of their historical averages. The fishers were reacting to the Pacific Salmon Strategy Initiative (PSSI), a CAN $647.1-million plan covering everything from habitat restoration to financial aid for fishers. Its goal: save the salmon and shrink the size of the commercial industry built around them.

Under the PSSI, DFO plans to close 57 percent of the 138 Pacific salmon fisheries along the west coast of British Columbia and Yukon. Closures will help protect at-risk salmon stocks from ending up as by-catch, says Neil Davis, DFO acting regional director of fisheries management. Fishing for salmon in the ocean—unlike traditional practices where Indigenous communities fish in rivers—makes it practically impossible to separate at-risk stocks from healthy stocks.

Davis says closures will protect more than 50 salmon stocks, such as the interior Fraser River coho and Okanagan River chinook, which are being evaluated by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada for listing under the Species at Risk Act.

Read the full story at Hakai Magazine

 

Resources Available to Assist Fishermen with Transition to Electronic Reporting

October 7, 2021 — The following was released  by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA Fisheries is moving away from paper vessel trip reporting requirements in the Greater Atlantic Region. Beginning on November 10, 2021, most fishermen permitted to fish federal marine waters from Cape Hatteras, North Carolina to the Canadian border will be required to submit their vessel trip reports electronically. They must be submitted to NOAA Fisheries within 48 hours of the conclusion of a fishing trip. The new reporting requirement applies to all federally permitted vessels except those holding only a permit for American lobster.

There is a wealth of information for fishermen making the transition from paper to electronic reporting, including a number of detailed tutorials and recordings of previously held training webinars. Learn more and watch a new short video on how to use the new eVTR app on our website.

If you have additional questions about electronic reporting requirements in the Greater Atlantic region:

•Contact the Industry Support Line at (978) 281-9188.

•Contact your local Port Agent.

Read the full release from the NOAA Fisheries