Saving Seafood

USDA to Purchase $159.4 Million in Nutritious Consumer-Ready Seafood and More for Food Assistance Programs

May 14, 2021 — The following was released by the United States Department of Agriculture:

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) today announced it will purchase up to $159.4 million in domestically produced seafood, fruits, legumes, and nuts for distribution to a variety of domestic food assistance programs, including charitable institutions. These purchases are being made utilizing funds under the authority of Section 32 of the Agricultural Adjustment Act (Pub. L. 74-320), as amended (Section 32). This is one of many actions USDA is taking to address the disruptions in the food system supply chain and worsened food insecurity resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The impacts of COVID-19 reverberated from our farms to our oceans,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. “U.S. fisheries and the American seafood industry were dealt a heavy blow. Today, USDA is pleased to make the largest single seafood purchase in the Department’s history. These healthy, nutritious food purchases will benefit food banks and non-profits helping those struggling with food hardship as the Biden Administration works to get the economy back on track for American families.”

Selected commodities include: Alaska pollock, apricots (canned, dried, and frozen), chickpeas, dry peas, Gulf of Mexico and South Atlantic wild-caught shrimp, lentils, navy beans, Pacific pink shrimp, Pacific rockfish fillets, Pacific whiting fillets, pistachios, prepared peaches, and sockeye (red) salmon. The inventories of these commodities are in high oversupply due to a decrease in demand because of the COVID-19 pandemic and disruption in the supply chain, as restaurants and other outlets closed during the pandemic. This is the largest purchase of U.S. raised seafood by the USDA to date.

Within a few days of approval, USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service will offer these commodities to their networks. Orders should be received during the first week of June with solicitations being issued mid-June and awards occurring near the end of the month. Deliveries should start to occur by mid-August.

Solicitations will be available electronically through the Web-Based Supply Chain Management (WBSCM) system and on the Agricultural Marketing Service’s website at www.ams.usda.gov/selling-food. To be eligible to submit offers, potential contractors must meet the AMS vendor qualification requirements and be domestic operations.

Read the full release here

Alaska’s Fisheries Committee Gets Seafood Market Report from ASMI in Last Days of Session

May 13, 2021 — Alaska’s House Fisheries Committee had the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute (ASMI) slated for a marketing update last Tuesday, but the meeting — and the presentation — were cancelled. As it was, committee members got a copy of the presentation, which brings the state up to date on Alaska’s seafood marketing activities and impacts of COVID-19 on the seafood sector.

The full presentation is still available on the House Fisheries Committee website. It gives a snapshot of ASMI’s structure, mission, funding sources, recent consumer research results, and the challenges and opportunities ahead.

Read the full story at Seafood News

Pacific Seafood launching value-added products for Amazon Go

May 11, 2021 — Now that COVID-19 outbreaks are under control at Pacific Seafood, the supplier is turning its attention to launching unique value-added seafood items with partners such as Amazon and Pac-12 university football and basketball.

In March, the Clackamas, Oregon-based company’s processing plant in Warrenton, Oregon, U.S.A had its third outbreak of COVID-19 in the past year. Last September, nearly 100 of Pacific’s employees at its Warrenton facility tested positive for COVID-19, four months after more than 130 employees tested positive for the coronavirus among its five plants in the area.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Restaurants struggling in the US despite government aid

May 10, 2021 — Increased funding by the United States government for the struggling restaurant industry has begun to help, but many restaurants are continuing to struggle both financially and with labor shortages.

The latest seafood restaurant bankruptcy filings include The Lost Cajun Enterprises, the franchising arm of The Lost Cajun; The Crabcake Factory in Ocean City, Maryland; and Casa Bonita in Denver, Colorado.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

NEW JERSEY: Bill Excusing Commercial Fishermen from State Unemployment Tax Advances

May 7, 2021 — Current unemployment law has New Jersey’s commercial fishermen on the hook, and Sen. Michael Testa’s (R-1st) legislation advanced May 6 by the Senate Labor Committee would cut them loose. 

According to a release, the bill, S-3501, would exempt commercial fishermen who are paid on the percentage of fish caught or a percentage of the selling price of those fish from the state unemployment law and its costly tax on earnings. 

“This bill will be a big help for New Jersey fisheries, an industry that has been hit hard by the pandemic, and one that the state’s economy depends on,” stated Testa. “It will allow hard-working, skilled fisherman to keep more of their hard-earned income, a change that suits the independent nature of the proud individuals who make their living at sea.” 

Read the full story at the Cape May County Herald

Santa Monica Seafood to make acquisitions this year after sales uptick

May 7, 2021 — Santa Monica Seafood suffered tremendous losses at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic – similar to other distributors and processors that primarily relied on the foodservice channel. But the tide has turned in the past year, according to Santa Monica Seafood President and CEO Roger O’Brien.

Due to restaurant closures beginning last March, the Rancho Dominguez, California, U.S.A.-based company saw some of its foodservice customers unable to pay its bills. Others shifted  from 30-day payments to paying 60 days out from delivery. Santa Monica was forced to lay off around 25 workers, but kept on more than 750 employees, according to O’Brien.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

ALASKA: Kwik’pak Fisheries To Require Employees To Be Vaccinated Against COVID-19

May 6, 2021 — Kwik’pak Fisheries in Emmonak, the only fish buyer on the Yukon River mouth, is requiring its employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19.

General Manager Jack Schultheis said that Kwik’pak Fisheries employs up to 400 workers each day, all of whom will have to show their COVID-19 vaccination cards before beginning work this season.

“Customers are extremely concerned over who is manufacturing the food they’re buying from us,” Schultheis said. “So we’re trying to protect our workers, the community, and the people who eat the food we produce.”

Read the full story at KYUK

NORTH CAROLINA: $5.2M in Relief Awarded to Fishing Industry

May 4, 2021 — More than $5.2 million in financial assistance is on its way to those eligible in fishing industries who sustained income losses because of COVID-19 in the spring of 2020.

The North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries issued funds last week to 197 commercial fishermen and marine aquaculture operations, for-hire fishing operations, and seafood dealers and processors, deemed eligible for assistance from the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security, or CARES, Act Fisheries Relief Program, the division said Friday.

The following payments were made:

Stakeholder Category

Number of
Applications

Number
Approved

Assistance Awarded

Percent of  Total Award
Commercial Fishermen and Marine Aquaculture Operations

217

137

$3,374,022

64.2%
Seafood Dealers and Processors

35

26

$1,447,221

27.5%
For-Hire Fishing Operations

39

34

$434,243

8.3%
Total

291

197

$5,255,486

100%

An additional $161,287 went toward Division of Marine Fisheries administrative costs.

The state was allocated about $5.4 million in May 2020 from the federal CARES Act for financial relief through direct payments to fishery-related stakeholder groups affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Read the full story at Coastal Review Online

Pacific swordfish: After big 2020 drop, fleet looks to restaurants and Asian markets

May 4, 2021 — Restaurant openings and Asian market conditions will determine the health of the West Coast swordfish industry in 2021. Last year, supply chains in the early season were disrupted with the onset of covid-19, but as the calendar turned toward July, some markets reopened.

Though the drift gillnet fishery off California operates in the nearshore waters with time and area closures, the commercial fishing season for deep-set buoy gear doesn’t have hard start and stop dates. 

“As for the new deep-set fishery, there are currently no seasonal restrictions,” says Chugey Sepulveda, a laboratory director at the Pfleger Institute of Environmental Research, in Oceanside, Calif. “Because swordfish are highly migratory, and the bulk of fish reside off the West Coast from about July-January, this is when we see most of the fishing activity.”

According to data from PacFIN, the swordfish fleet wound up at 320 metric tons for the year, down substantially from the 432 metric tons landed in 2019. As of April 2021, landings stood at 72 metric tons, and ex-vessel offerings averaged $3.06 per pound.

Read the full story at National Fisherman