Saving Seafood

The deadly secret of China’s invisible armada

August 26, 2020 — The battered wooden “ghost boats” drift through the Sea of Japan for months, their only cargo the corpses of starved North Korean fishermen whose bodies have been reduced to skeletons. Last year more than 150 of these macabre vessels washed ashore in Japan, and there have been more than 500 in the past five years.

For years the grisly phenomenon mystified Japanese police, whose best guess was that climate change pushed the squid population farther from North Korea, driving the country’s desperate fishermen dangerous distances from shore, where they become stranded and die from exposure.

But an NBC News investigation, based on new satellite data, has revealed what marine researchers now say is a more likely explanation: China is sending a previously invisible armada of industrial boats to illegally fish in North Korean waters, violently displacing smaller North Korean boats and spearheading a decline in once-abundant squid stocks of more than 70 percent.

Read the full story at NBC News

Pacific Squid: Trade hurdles to China remain, but prices are steady

August 21, 2020 — The California squid fleet faced stiff tariffs, covid-crimped markets and a slow start to the season. Oceanic conditions, on the plus side, appear to have improved for the 2020 season.

“It’s been going OK,” says Diane Pleschner-Steele , executive director of the California Wetfish Producers Association, in Buellton. “I don’t think they’re setting the world on fire, but they’re catching.”

According to PacFIN, the 2020 harvest of squid for California, Oregon and Washington stood at around 42,000 short tons as of early July. Based on data from previous years, Pleschner-Steele adds that this year’s preliminary catch of 10,107 short tons for California (according to California Department of Fish and Wildlife as of June 26) and other oceanographic data suggests that the fishing grounds indeed felt the effects of El Niño conditions in 2018 and 2019. 

Read the full story at National Fisherman

LARRY BARKER: Lobstering restrictions will hurt much more than Maine’s fishermen

August 11, 2020 — Maine’s lobster industry is threatened by “a perfect storm” as it faces a crippling lack of demand because of both the pandemic and the China trade war, and a cascade of impacts from the development of government-mandated restrictions seeking to protect the endangered right whale. All Mainers should be aware of how political pressure to reverse the decline of right whales is affecting our fishermen, bringing with it disastrous ripple effects that will affect tens of thousands of livelihoods across our treasured state. Despite Maine’s stellar track record in protecting right whales, this battleground recently resulted in the loss of a sustainability certification, which means loss of even more markets for Maine lobster.

The Maine lobster industry is the backbone of our coastal communities from Portland to Eastport. Machias Savings Bank has been one of Maine’s leading sources of financing for this industry for decades and we understand that as the industry ebbs and flows, so do the economies of Maine’s coastal communities.

Since the 1990s, Maine lobstermen have demonstrated an ongoing commitment to the protection of whales by making significant changes to how they fish, consistently adhering to whale-protection standards, participating in discussions of best practices to ensure whale safety and being actively involved in the development of new materials and techniques that are safer for whales. According to data collected by the National Marine Fisheries Service, no right whale deaths or serious injuries have ever been documented in Maine lobster gear. I have many good friends who are lobster fishermen. My son is a lobster fisherman. I have asked many of them about this issue and not only have they never had a right whale tangled in their gear, they have never seen a right whale while tending their gear in Maine!

Read the full opinion piece at the Portland Press Herald

USTR extends tariff exclusions for some seafood products, others will face tariffs again

August 10, 2020 — The United States Trade Representative has released a list of products shipped from China that will receive an extension of tariff exclusions, with several seafood items on the list.

The exclusion extensions apply to several seafood products shipped from China, and allows those products to continue avoiding a 25 percent tariff. The product exclusions will continue to retroactively apply as of 24 September, 2018, and were set to expire on 7 August before the extension which came on the last day before those products would be back under the tariff program.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

2020 China International Fisheries Expo canceled

July 28, 2020 — The China International Fisheries and Seafood Expo, scheduled for 28 to 30 October, 2020, in Qingdao, has been canceled for this year.

Blaming “the global epidemic situation and the impact of force majeure factors in epidemic management and control,” the organizers said the event is being moved to 27 to 29 October, 2021.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Satellites uncover widespread illegal fishing in Pacific Ocean

July 23, 2020 — Orbital observations have revealed extensive illegal fishing of Pacific flying squid (Todarodes pacificus) in the Pacific Ocean around Russia, Japan and North and South Korea in 2017 and 2018, a new study reports.

In fact, “extensive” may not be a strong enough word. More than 900 vessels of Chinese origin probably violated United Nations sanctions by fishing in North Korean waters in 2017, and another 700 did the same in 2018, the study found.

These scofflaw ships likely hauled in more than 176,000 tons (160,000 metric tons) of Pacific flying squid over those two years, a catch worth about US $440 million, study team members said. That’s nearly equivalent to the combined T. pacificus catch of Japan and South Korea over the same span.

“The scale of the fleet involved in this illegal fishing is about one-third the size of China’s entire distant-water fishing fleet,” said study co-lead author Jaeyoon Park, a senior data scientist at Global Fishing Watch, an international nonprofit organization dedicated to increasing ocean sustainability via greater transparency.

Read the full story at MSN

Study: Chinese ‘dark fleets’ illegally defying sanctions by fishing in North Korean waters

July 23, 2020 — Chinese “dark fleets” illegally fished a $440 million haul of the squid species Todarodes pacificus in North Korean waters during 2017 and 2018, according to a study published today in the journal Science Advances.

The study used a novel set of satellite images to track fishing vessels operating off the northeast coast of the Korean peninsula, including satellite synthetic aperture radar (SAR), visible infrared imaging radiometer suite sensors (VIIRS), high-resolution optical imagery, and identification beacon data from some of the vessels themselves. Its authors say that this is one of the first times those technologies have been combined to map illicit fishing at such a large scale over a years-long period.

“We believe that this study marks the beginning of a new era in fisheries management, transparency, and monitoring,” said Jaeyoon Park, senior data scientist at Global Fishing Watch and a co-lead author of the paper.

Park and his colleagues used data collected from Planet Labs, an Earth-imaging company that has also been instrumental in tracking deforestation caused by hard-to-track illegal gold mining, to map the movement of fishing boats in contested waters around the Korean peninsula. They found that in 2017, more than 900 Chinese fishing boats traveled to an area in North Korea’s exclusive economic zone, followed by another 700 in 2018.

Read the full story at Mongabay

Rubio Leads Colleagues in Urging Secretary Perdue to Include Florida Fishermen in Administration’s Lobster Relief Program

July 23, 2020 — The following was released by The Office of Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL):

U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) led members of the Florida congressional delegation in urging U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue to include Florida’s commercial fishermen in the lobster relief program announced by President Trump on June 24, 2020. The program addresses harm to the United States lobster industry caused by steep tariffs imposed by the Chinese government. More information can be found here.

“This belligerent economic behavior by the Chinese government has the potential to significantly reduce the market share of Florida’s spiny lobster in the Asian marketplace, and could have a ripple affect across our state’s economy,” the lawmakers wrote. “We are concerned about the long-term future of Florida’s spiny lobster fishery and the ability of our fishermen to earn a living.”

Rubio was joined by Senator Rick Scott (R-FL) and Representatives Stephanie Murphy (D-FL), Donna Shalala (D-FL), Brian Mast (R-FL), Daniel Webster (R-FL), Francis Rooney (R-FL), Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL), Neal Dunn (R-FL), Alcee L. Hastings (D-FL), Debbie Mucarsel-Powell (D-FL), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), Bill Posey (R-FL), Darren Soto (D-FL), Ross Spano (R-FL), and Al Lawson, Jr. (D-FL).

The full text of the letter is below.

Dear Secretary Perdue:

We write to request the inclusion of Florida commercial fishermen in the lobster relief program announced by President Trump on June 24, 2020, in response to the difficulties facing the United States lobster industry due to tariff action by the Chinese government.

Florida’s vibrant lobster fishery has suffered harm by the tariffs imposed by the Chinese government. Spiny lobster is the state’s second largest commercial fishery with an average annual catch of seven million pounds and a total value of more than $45 million. Spiny lobster is renowned for its quality and freshness and is immensely popular in China during holidays and other special events. An estimated 80 percent of all spiny lobster harvested in Florida is exported to China and other Asian ports as a live product. Tariffs placed on spiny lobster by the Chinese government have greatly increased the price of Florida’s spiny lobster exports. Meanwhile, the Chinese government is reducing or eliminating tariffs on competing products from other countries and have begun importing greater numbers of spiny lobster from Australia, Brazil, and the Caribbean.

This belligerent economic behavior by the Chinese government has the potential to significantly reduce the market share of Florida’s spiny lobster in the Asian marketplace, and could have a ripple affect across our state’s economy. We are concerned about the long-term future of Florida’s spiny lobster fishery and the ability of our fishermen to earn a living.

Florida’s fishermen have been harmed by the tariffs imposed on lobster from the United States. As such, we respectfully request their inclusion in the relief program.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

China’s demand for special status a sticking point in WTO fishing subsidies negotiations

July 23, 2020 — World Trade Organization (WTO) talks on ending harmful fishing subsidies resumed this week, and a return to intensive negotiations has been set for September. The timeline, however, creates a tight squeeze to reach the 31 December deadline for a deal.

Santiago Wills, the chairman of the talks, brought the heads of delegations together on 21 July for a plenary session, the first such in-person session in a month. But while there had been hopes recently of a pathway to a deal, there appears to be new friction between Beijing and Washington over China’s claims to developing nation status.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Huge Chinese illegal fishing operation in North Korean waters uncovered

July 22, 2020 — A new study has uncovered a massive illegal fishing operation conducted by Chinese fishing vessels in North Korean waters.

The study, Illuminating Dark Fishing Fleets in North Korea, found at least 700 vessels of Chinese origin had fished illegally in North Korean waters in 2018, and that more than 900 had done so in 2017 – in violation of United Nations sanctions. It estimated the illegal take of Pacific flying squid from the participating vessels is more than 160,000 metric tons, worth over USD 440 million (EUR 380.2 million) in 2017-2018. The total take is greater than the entire catch of the fishing fleets of Japan and South Korea combined. The study found that such large, unregulated catches are depleting squid stocks in the region, with squid populations plummeting by 80 percent and 82 percent in South Korean and Japanese waters, respectively, since 2003.

Read the full story at Seafood Source