Saving Seafood

ALASKA: NOAA closes Bering Sea cod fishery as trawl catchers approach TAC

February 4, 2019 — US fishing regulators have closed the directed fishery for trawl-caught Pacific cod in Alaska’s Bering Sea for trawl catcher vessels after harvesters met their A season allocation quicker than they did last year.

The closure order from the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration, which takes effect at noon today, Feb. 1, brings the season to a close after only 13 days of fishing effort.

During the season, which began Jan. 20, trawl catchers caught 13,507 metric tons of cod in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands as of Feb 1, the latest date for which data is available. Trawl catchers were allocated a total allowable catch (TAC) of 26,388t for the season, including a 5,000t set-aside for delivery to shore-plants in the Aleutian Islands and 388t for halibut protected species catch.

“This action is necessary to prevent exceeding the Pacific cod allocation of the total allowable catch for the Bering Sea Trawl Catcher Vessel A-Season Sector Limitation in the Bering Sea subarea,” NOAA said in a press release.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

Ocean heat waves like the Pacific’s deadly ‘Blob’ could become the new normal

February 1, 2019 — When marine biologist Steve Barbeaux first saw the data in late 2017, he thought it was the result of a computer glitch. How else could more than 100 million Pacific cod suddenly vanish from the waters off of southern Alaska?

Within hours, however, Barbeaux’s colleagues at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in Seattle, Washington, had confirmed the numbers. No glitch. The data, collected by research trawlers, indicated cod numbers had plunged by 70% in 2 years, essentially erasing a fishery worth $100 million annually. There was no evidence that the fish had simply moved elsewhere. And as the vast scale of the disappearance became clear, a prime suspect emerged: “The Blob.”

In late 2013, a huge patch of unusually warm ocean water, roughly one-third the size of the contiguous United States, formed in the Gulf of Alaska and began to spread. A few months later, Nick Bond, a climate scientist at the University of Washington in Seattle, dubbed it The Blob. The name, with its echo of a 1958 horror film about an alien life form that keeps growing as it consumes everything in its path, quickly caught on. By the summer of 2015, The Blob had more than doubled in size, stretching across more than 4 million square kilometers of ocean, from Mexico’s Baja California Peninsula to Alaska’s Aleutian Islands. Water temperatures reached 2.5°C above normal in many places.

Read the full story at Science Magazine

Cod Fishing Still Closed off New England in Wake of Shutdown

February 1, 2019 — Recreational cod fishing will remain off limits in one of New England’s most significant bodies of water for at least the first several months of this year.

Possession of cod in the Gulf of Maine was prohibited during 2018. The New England Fishery Management Council met this week to consider recreational fishing rules for species such as cod and haddock.

The fishery council says the long federal shutdown has left recreational fishermen wondering what will happen on May 1, which is the start of the 2019 fishing year. The council says rules for Gulf of Maine cod and other species will remain in effect unless they are replaced with new measures. That means Gulf of Maine cod are still off limits.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at U.S. News

Maine Fisherman Says ‘Sea-To-Table’ Is Path To Sustainability — For Oceans And His Business

January 22, 2019 — It’s tough to be an independent commercial fisherman, and regulations designed to manage fish populations are part of the reason why.

The government has imposed a quota system: fishermen have to pay to catch certain kinds of fish, like cod. Cod is deemed to be in low supply. So, fishermen are only allowed to catch a limited amount of it. They can pay to lease someone else’s quotas, so they can catch more. But that’s expensive, and makes it harder to turn a profit.

One fisherman in Maine is trying to fish more sustainably — and make a living doing it.

“The average fish that you go and eat at an average seafood restaurant has been around for 10 days and traveled 7,000 miles. We beat that by about 99.9 percent,” says Tim Rider, who’s adopted a sea-to-table method that means consumers get fresh seafood just a few days — or even hours — after it was caught.

Instead of selling fish through wholesalers who control the price, Rider’s company New England Fishmongers sells fish directly to local restaurants and consumers.

Considering the strict regulations and fishing quotas that commercial fishermen face, Rider focuses on quality over quantity in order to compete with larger fishing companies. The fish are bled and gutted on the boat, which Rider says yields a higher quality product. This approach also proves to be less wasteful, he says.

Read the full story at WBUR

NOAA brings back inspectors to get Alaska cod, pollock boats on water

January 21, 2019 — The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) this month brought federal inspectors back from furlough to certify cod and pollock fishing boats in the Bering Sea off the coast of Alaska, but has yet to bring back personnel necessary to free up boats for harvesting in New England, the Washington Post reports.

As the US federal government’s shutdown rolls into its record-setting fourth week, some constituencies have managed to obtain relief, while others remain shut out, according to the newspaper.

Count Alaska’s congressional delegation among those with apparently enough influence or luck.

As an Alaska radio station reported late last month how NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) wasn’t able to do the required inspections of scales for weighing fish on boats or monitoring equipment. Without the inspections, harvesters in their state would not have been able to catch cod starting on Jan. 1 or pollock beginning on Jan. 20.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

‘Three-fold competition’ arises for tighter cod supplies as tariffs could invert haddock price gap

January 18, 2019 — According to figures released at the National Fisheries Institute’s Global Seafood Market Conference, world cod supply is expected to decline to 1.5 million metric tons in 2019, down from 1.59 million metric tons in 2018.

Todd Clark, a founder and partner at Endeavor Seafood, an importer and marketer of frozen seafood based in Newport, Rhode Island, said that there’s a downward supply trend in both Atlantic cod, driven by reductions out of the Barents Sea, and Pacific cod, where US supply has fallen somewhat in the Bering Sea and sharply in the Gulf of Alaska.

“There’s a steady decrease in both of these resources, really,” Clark said.

Looking at Atlantic cod supply in historical perspective, the resource, at 1.3 million metric tons in 2017, has fluctuated between a low of under 1 million metric tons in 2007 and a 2.75 million metric ton high seen in 1974.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

MASSACHUSETTS: Senate Lawmakers Propose Bill to Expand Lobster Processing

January 9, 2019 — The following was released by the Office of State Senator Bruce Tarr:

Without reform, the state’s lobster laws are confounding consumers and the multi-million dollar seafood industry say a bi-partisan coalition of state Senator.  Senate Docket 1, the first bill filed in the new Senate session, authored by Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr (R- Gloucester) will, according to a just released report by the Division of Marine Fisheries, result in economic benefits throughout the state’s seafood supply chain and give consumers greater access to desirable fresh seafood products at local retailers and restaurants without harm to lobster stocks.

Under existing laws, Massachusetts lobstermen and seafood vendors are required to sell or transport lobster out-of-state for processing and then bring them back for sale to consumers in the Bay State – often with a ‘Product of Canada’ label.

“Our state has the second-largest lobster catch in the country yet, without this bill, raw and frozen lobster parts are processed in Canada or Maine only to then be brought back to our local consumers,” said Senator Tarr. “This bill modernizes those lobster laws to bolster the fishing industry and give consumers, including local restaurants and food stores more choices all while sustainably supporting coastal fishing communities.”

While the sale of live, cooked, and canned lobster is legal in the state, the new law is needed to expand the industry market with the inclusion of other lobster products.  Tarr notes that the Marine Fisheries study supports lifting limits on the processing, sale, and transportation of cooked and frozen in-shell lobster parts.

The December 31 study confirms that similar changes in other jurisdictions such as Maine and Canada have resulted in the development of new businesses and the creation of new jobs throughout the seafood processing and distribution industry.  In-state lobster landings account for about 11% of the US lobster harvest and 5% globally.

“This report highlights that there is zero reason to further delay legislation to eliminate archaic restrictions on lobster processing.  I look forward to working with my Senate colleagues to once again pass this bill so that businesses may finally expand and create jobs, especially in New Bedford,” said Senator Montigny, lead co-sponsor of the legislation.

Up to 80% of lobsters landed in the state are sent to out of state processing facilities and industry leaders say the move will facilitate opportunities to create and grow jobs in the state.   The Marine Fisheries report notes that the lobster demand has spiked and has continued to evolve in favor of processed lobster parts.

“The Massachusetts Lobstermen’s Association greatly appreciates Senator Tarr’s efforts over the last several years to modernize the lobster processing laws,” said Beth Casoni, Executive Director of the Massachusetts Lobstermen’s Association.  “This bill will allow our lobstermen to be competitive on a regional and international basis and we will work to ensure the bill’s passage.

The Marine Fisheries reports that the lobster market has continued to evolve to favor processed lobster parts.  In 2016, the state’s lobster fishery landed over 18 million pounds of lobster in 46 ports worth $82 million. Modernizing the law for certified sustainable product would allow Massachusetts seafood businesses to process and sell this highly desirable certified sustainable product to Massachusetts consumers.  Chain retailers, grocery stores, warehouse clubs and online distributors will be a major beneficiary of such a law change the report says.  Many of these retailers currently sell a variety of shell-on lobster parts at their non-Massachusetts locations throughout the United States.

“I am glad to join my colleagues in the Senate in support of our Massachusetts lobster fishermen,” said Senator deMacedo (R-Plymouth). “These advancements in our approach to lobster processing will provide an important benefit to the lobster industry and the fishermen who play such an important role in our communities and economy.”

“This bill works to ensure the sustainability and viability of the state’s lobster industry, which will benefit consumers and lobstermen in coastal communities statewide,” said Senator Michael J. Rodrigues (D-Westport).  “The lobster industry is a vital part of the Commonwealth’s economy and identity.  I look forward to working with my Senate colleagues to support it.”

The lobster industry is a critical part of the Commonwealth’s economy and heritage.  A similar law in Maine has boosted that state’s economy, produced local outlets for product sales, and created jobs.  During the most recent ten years US landings have doubled from 80 million pounds to 159 million pounds annually.

Read the full release here

How Climate Change Is Affecting New England, And What’s Yet To Come

January 7, 2019 — Climate change is expected to hit the Northeast pretty hard, affecting crops, ski resorts and fisheries on the coast. Here are some of our latest New England reports on climate change — from inland floods in New Hampshire, to a Connecticut forest, to a salt marsh north of Boston where there’s an invasive plant that just won’t quit.

The federal government recently released a lengthy climate assessment with a chapter focused on the Northeast. Our friends at WBUR put together a few New England takeaways you should know.

First, climate change is affecting our health, bringing warmer temperatures that are actually rising faster in the Northeast than elsewhere in the continental U.S. That can mean more deaths from extreme heat, plus more troubles with ticks, asthma and allergies.

Warmer seasons will spell some trouble for some businesses — from fruit farmers to ski resorts. On the flip side, the changes could be a boon to some growers, and they’ll see a longer growing season.

And the report says fisheries will be affected by climate change, as Northeast ocean temperatures are rising 3 times faster than the global average. That means there will be fewer of some species, like northern shrimp, surf clams and Atlantic cod. Other species will increase, like black sea bass.

Read the full story at New England Public Radio

DON CUDDY: New England surf clam fishery is headed for disaster

January 7, 2019 — When it comes to fishery management controversy never seems to be too far away. Last month you may have read about the dubious nature of a decision by the New England Fishery Management Council to close a large area of Nantucket Shoals to fishermen who harvest surf clams there, ostensibly to protect fish habitat. Questionable actions such as these undermine industry confidence in fishery regulators and serve only to alienate, and embitter, fishermen and the many others on the waterfront whose livelihoods are threatened by such draconian measures. With respect to protecting fish habitat allow me to quote from NOAA Fisheries’ own web site (fishwatch.gov) which bills itself as ‘U.S. Seafood Facts.’ The salient quote, with respect to the Atlantic surfclam, spissula solidissima, is this: “Fishing gear used to harvest surfclams has minimal impacts on habitat.” In spite of this fact these traditional grounds have now been designated as essential fish habitat and clamming is banned there indefinitely. NOAA also tells us that surfclams support a valuable fishery. Well, come April 9 it will not be nearly as valuable for those who participate in the harvest and that includes fishermen and shore workers in New Bedford, Gloucester and Bristol, Rhode Island where Galilean Seafood employs around 120 people in this fishery.

“There were five areas out there where we harvested our clams and the two areas with the most historical tows are the ones they closed,” Alan Rencurrel told me. Alan knows surf calms. He owns Nantucket Sound Seafood in New Bedford where the clams he catches are hand shucked. “If you steam ’em open they get chewy,” he said. He’s been fishing on the Shoals since 1992. “And there were boats out there before me.”

He also played me some high-resolution video, taken from a dredge-mounted camera, showing the sea bed in the area known as the Rose and Crown, the largest of the areas to be closed. There were no fish, rocks or cobble to be seen, just a solitary skate, on a sandy bottom littered with old mussel shells. “We can’t tow over rocky bottom like a scallop dredge,” he told me. It’s too hard on the gear and anyway clams prefer sand bottom, he said. Conversely, groundfish such as cod and haddock are found on hard bottom.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

US government shutdown threatens Alaska cod, pollock, crab harvests

January 2, 2019 — Should the US federal government shutdown continue, it could put a serious clamp on commercial fishing off the coast of Alaska, KTOO reports.

The government will allow fisheries in the Bering Sea to start as scheduled with an initial opening for Pacific cod on Jan. 1 and a second opening for pollock and other species on Jan. 20, the Alaska public radio station explains. However, due to the shutdown, the National Marine Fisheries Service isn’t doing the required inspections of scales for weighing fish on boats or monitoring equipment. And special permits that some boats need are not being issued.

Nearly all of the large boats that fish for cod starting Jan. 1 have already had their required inspections, said Chad See, executive director of the Freezer Longline Coalition. And the more lucrative pollock season is several weeks from restarting.  But blocking only a single fishing trip by a large factory trawler could cost the industry millions of dollars, the article warned.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News