Saving Seafood

Some in seafood industry see Trump as fishermen’s friend, but tariffs could make for pricier fish

December 13, 2024 — The incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump is likely to bring big changes for one of the oldest sectors of the U.S. economy — seafood — and some in the industry believe the returning president will be more responsive to its needs.

Economic analysts paint a more complicated picture, as they fear Trump’s pending trade hostilities with major trading partners Canada and China could make an already pricy kind of protein more expensive to consumers. Conservationists also fear Trump’s emphasis on government deregulation could jeopardize fish stocks that are already in peril.

Read the full article at WNKY

Trump’s tariff proposal on goods from Canada, Mexico, and China would affect over USD 5.6 billion in seafood

November 27, 2024 — U.S. President-elect Donald Trump proposed big hikes in tariffs on all goods from Canada, Mexico, and China on 25 November in a move that would affect one-fifth of all U.S. seafood imports by value.

Trump, posting on his Truth Social platform, said he would charge tariffs of 25 percent on all products from Mexico and Canada and 10 percent tariffs on goods from China – above any existing tariffs.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Lack of fishing prohibitions in ‘grey zone’ could pose risk for right whales, expert says

November 19, 2024 — One marine conservation expert has questions about the efforts on the part of Fisheries and Oceans after North Atlantic right whales were detected in the Bay of Fundy in recent weeks, including in an area where both Canadian and American fishermen catch lobster.

In October, Fisheries and Oceans announced several temporary prohibited fishing areas as the whales were detected in multiple fishing spots across the Maritimes, including in the bay.

When a North Atlantic right whale is detected in areas subject to management measures, fishing using non-tended fixed gear, traps and pots are prohibited around the area for 15 days. In the Bay of Fundy, if a right whale is detected again during days nine to 15 of a prohibited fishing period, the prohibition is extended.

Some fishing prohibitions for parts of the Bay of Fundy started on Oct. 25 and included the fisheries for crab, herring, mackerel, groundfish, hagfish and lobster.

Read the full article at CBC News

Canadian research finds China’s rural areas and smaller cities will drive future growth in seafood demand

November 12, 2024 — Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, a Canadian government agency tasked with promoting food exports, is projecting long-term growth in seafood demand from China driven by improved logistics and the build out of e-commerce capabilities that will make it easier to achieve market penetration in China’s smaller cities and rural areas.

A recent report published by the agency points to the fact that annual per-capita seafood consumption is as low as 10 kilograms per year in some inland regions of China, while as high as 65 kilograms in coastal regions like Fujian and Guangdong.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Ottawa shirked own guidelines when it reopened commercial cod fishery, say scientists

September 23, 2024 — Fisheries scientists say the federal government ignored its own guidelines when it hiked cod quotas off the northern and eastern coasts of Newfoundland and Labrador last June.

The scientists, some of whom worked for Fisheries and Oceans Canada for decades, say they’re struggling to understand the decision to reopen the commercial Northern cod fishery.

“I was baffled when I heard the news”, said Noel Cadigan, a long-time DFO scientist who now works at Memorial University’s Marine Institute. “And that hasn’t changed.”

A May 6 briefing note obtained by CBC/Radio-Canada shows DFO recommended against reopening the fishery to offshore vessels and increasing quotas.

But it also assured Federal Fisheries Minister Diane Lebouthillier that lifting the moratorium and hiking the total allowable catch – as all six Liberal MPs from Newfoundland and Labrador were pushing her to do – would nevertheless align with the Fisheries Act and its rules on stock management.

Read the full article at CBC

Lobstermen clash with poachers during federal enforcement crisis

September 18, 2024 — Canada’s commercial lobstermen continue to express frustrations following a legal suit and further illegal fishing in southern New Brunswick. With the lack of federal fisheries officers patrolling areas, lobster poaching will not slow in the near future. Commercial fishermen fear that without more officers enforcing the Fisheries Act, which manages Canadian fisheries’ resources and regulates them, come the November lobster season, there will be nothing left to catch.

Local lobster harvesters are preparing to take matters into their own hands, patrolling the waters and removing illegal gear, a move that could potentially lead to confrontations with poachers, Amanda Johnson, executive director of the Fundy North Fishermen’s Association, told Telegraph Journal. This organization represents 150 lobster fishermen stretching from St. Stephen to Alma.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

Fishers want ‘incredibly important’ Georges Bank protected against offshore wind development

September 17, 2024 — As Nova Scotia rushes to establish an offshore wind industry, some fishers are calling for explicit protection for the rich fishing ground on Georges Bank.

The cabinet minister in charge of developing renewable energy projects says he will keep turbines off the bank, but not by changing a piece of legislation that is now moving through Province House.

Ian McIsaac, president of the Seafood Producers Association of Nova Scotia, brought his concerns to a legislature committee Monday as it reviews a new bill that, if passed into law, would enable offshore wind development.

McIsaac said Bill 471 doesn’t update the Georges Bank moratorium that’s been in place against offshore petroleum development since the 1980s.

“We feel this is a technical error,” he said.

“In the past, whenever the moratorium has come up for consideration, it has been subject to intense study of the environmental and socio-economic impacts of change, to determine if, in fact, such changes are appropriate.”

Read the full article at CBC News

Knives out on Maine-Canada border as lobster fishery gray zone dispute gets pointed over poaching accusations

September 16, 2024 — A long-running dispute over lobster fishing rights on the disputed border between the Canadian province of New Brunswick and the U.S. state of Maine is heating up.

After being “harassed, threatened, and attacked” with shotguns, knives, and bear spray, Canadian fisheries enforcement officers appear to be pulling back on enforcement efforts, with as many as many as 35 percent of agents assigned to marine patrols in the area refusing to report for duty, according to Union of Health and Environment Workers President Shimen Fayad. Fayad’s union represents fishery enforcement officers across Canada, including around 100 conservation and protection supervisors and fishery officers in Nova Scotia and southwestern New Brunswick.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Canada’s cod fishery reopens, yet quickly paused

September 11, 2024 — Canada’s Federal Fisheries Minister Diane Lebouthillier made the decision to reopen the commercial cod fishery off Newfoundland and Labrador in June after a 32-year moratorium on cod fishing that put thousands of locals out of work. The newly restored fishery was opened in late July and, a little over a month later was paused due to landings approaching the seasonal limit.

According to sources, northern cod used to be vital to the province’s 400-year-old fishing industry; however, this has changed due to overfishing, poor fisheries management, and environmental changes, causing the population to crash in the early 1990s.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman