March 19, 2020 — Consumers bracing against Covid-19 have raised demands not only for health and safety products but also for many food staples, including tuna. According to a recent National Public Radio report, tuna sales were up more than 31 percent last week compared to the same time last year.
StarKist Samoa, located in the U.S. Territory of American Samoa, supplies tuna for the U.S. market.
March 19, 2020 — US tuna canner StarKist & Co and the fleet that catches its tuna are lamenting fishing restrictions in the American Samoa region they say will make it difficult to continue to supply tuna at a time when shelf-stable product sales are up sharply due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
StarKist, according to a press release published by the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council, is seeing higher demand for its products, which is creating more work for its StarKist Samoa plant in American Samoa.
“The StarKist Samoa operation relies on the US tuna fishermen, and direct fish deliveries to the cannery are a major component of our business model,” the company said. “We have seen an increase in sales that has been attributed to the Covid-19 impact, and we are doing our best to keep up with the demand. It’s important to note that the global impact of Covid-19 highlights the importance of keeping US suppliers and producers in business to ensure we can sustain the tuna supply for US consumers.”
March 19, 2020 — Canada’s decision to close the border to some foreign visitors threatens to upend the Atlantic lobster and snow crab processing industry.
The processing plants rely on thousands of mostly Mexican temporary foreign workers who are no longer allowed into the country. The restriction applies to travellers who are not Canadian citizens, permanent residents or Americans.
March 19, 2020 — Seafood producers and foodservice distributors alike have formed partnerships amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic to ensure that U.S. residents continue to have a supply of food.
On 19 March, the International Foodservice Distributors Association (IFDA) and the FMI-Food Industry Association announced an ad-hoc partnership to help cope with the supply-chain disruptions caused by the ongoing epidemic. The new partnership consists of a matching program, connecting foodservice/broadline distributors with excess capacity – either products, transport services, or warehousing services – to food retailers and wholesalers that need additional resources to meet the rapidly increased demand seen in the retail and grocery industry.
March 19, 2020 — Sales of shelf-stable, fresh, and frozen seafood are all soaring in United States supermarket chains in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
While the U.S. restaurant industry suffers unprecedented losses due to closures and reduced traffic at eateries across the country, retailers have benefited from consumers making panicked purchases over concerns that their access to groceries may be limited by travel limitations imposed to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
March 19, 2020 — NOAA Fisheries is restricting access to its Gloucester office and the New England Fishery Management Council is converting many of its meetings to webinars as precautions against further spread of the novel coronavirus.
NOAA Fisheries said its Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office in the Blackburn Industrial Park continues to operate, but it is limiting access to the building to employees, as well as to visitors and deliveries deemed essential to its mission.
“This measure is taken out of an abundance of caution and our commitment to protecting the health and safety of our employees and constituents during the COVID-19 virus pandemic,” NOAA Fisheries said in a statement. “The majority of our staff are teleworking to the maximum extent possible, and we also have a few staff working in the buildings to keep critical functions and operations moving. Feel free to call or email GARFO staff as you normally would, but please be patient if their response time is delayed.”
NOAA Fisheries said all meetings and events scheduled for March — and several for April — have been canceled or postponed. It said it will continue to provide updates via email, as well as on the events portion of its website.
March 19, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:
Under guidance from the Department of Commerce, NOAA, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office (GARFO) has adjusted its facilities and operating procedures. This is a rapidly evolving situation that we are monitoring closely.
Effective immediately and until further notice, access to all GARFO buildings is restricted to employees, and to visitors and deliveries that are deemed essential to our mission. This measure is taken out of an abundance of caution and our commitment to protecting the health and safety of our employees and constituents during the COVID-19 virus pandemic.
Despite restrictions on building access, we are continuing to operate. The majority of our staff are teleworking to the maximum extent possible, and we also have a few staff working in the buildings to keep critical functions and operations moving. Feel free to call or email GARFO staff as you normally would, but please be patient if their response time is delayed.
All meetings and events for March and several in April have been canceled or postponed. We will continue to provide updates through email and on the Events page on our website.
Permit Questions?
If you need a permit, we encourage you to use our new online portal. Permit Office staff are available to assist you over the phone at (978) 282-8438 or by email at NMFS.GAR.Permits@noaa.gov.
Other Inquiries
Please call 978-281-9300 or email nmfs.gar.garfo@noaa.gov if you have any questions or need further information.
March 19, 2020 — With restaurants in North Carolina closed to dining in and fishing charters losing reservations, commercial fishing is feeling the effects of the coronavirus outbreak.
N.C. Gov. Roy Cooper issued an executive order Tuesday closing restaurants and bars to dine-in service. Additionally, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued guidance recommending people avoid large gatherings and to practice social distancing to prevent the spread of COVID-19. As a result, commercial fishermen, including for-hire and charter fishermen, have been “significantly impacted,” according to N.C. Fisheries Association President Glenn Skinner.
The NCFA is a nonprofit dedicated to promoting the state seafood industry. Mr. Skinner, who is also a commercial fisherman, said in an email to the News-Times Wednesday the association hopes “that representatives in Raleigh and (Washington) D.C. keep the fishermen in mind as they assess the impacts of this unprecedented event.
“Restaurant closures across the country have eliminated many of the markets for N.C. seafood,” Mr. Skinner said. “While it’s too early to predict the long-term impacts, it appears they will be devastating if the current situation continues for any length of time.”
Mr. Skinner said for-hire and charter fishermen are also “feeling the pinch” from the outbreak. He said clients have been canceling fishing trips booked in advance.
March 18, 2020 — The following was released by the Pacific Fishery Management Council:
The Pacific Fishery Management Council (PFMC or Council) and its advisory bodies will meet April 4‐10, 2020 by webinar only, to address issues related to groundfish, salmon, Pacific halibut, coastal pelagic species, and administrative matters.
Please see the April 4-10, 2020 Council meeting notice on the Council’s website for further updates and details regarding webinar participation; schedule of advisory body meetings, our E-Portal for submitting public comments, and public comment deadlines.
Key agenda items for the meeting include Council considerations to:
Meetings of advisory bodies will also be conducted by webinar based on the schedules in the agenda. There will be one opportunity for public comment daily in each of the webinars.
Instructions for how to connect to those webinars will be posted on the Council’s April 2020 Meeting webpage prior to the first day of the meeting.
Please note that the evolving public health situation regarding COVID‐19 may further affect the conduct of the April Council and advisory body meetings. Pacific Council staff will monitor COVID‐19 developments and will determine if there is a need for additional measures. If such measures are deemed necessary, Council staff will post notice of them prominently on our website (www.pcouncil.org). Potential meeting participants are encouraged to check the Pacific Council’s website frequently for such information and updates.
For further information:
March 18, 2020 — Important meetings that could help shape future stock assessments, quotas and other regulatory conditions in the waters off the US New England coast will continue in the next few months via the internet due to concerns over the coronavirus, the New England Fishery Management Council (NEFMC) announced this week.
“Due to federal and state travel restrictions and updated guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention regarding the new coronavirus, COVID-19, the April council meeting will be conducted by webinar,” NEFMC has now declared on its website.
The event, which was scheduled to take place in Mystic, Connecticut, April 14-16, will be held online, April 14-15.