Saving Seafood

$12.3 million available for Louisiana fisheries assistance

March 31, 2021 — Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, announced Tuesday $12,339,916 in funding from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries to assist fisheries across Louisiana. The funding is provided by the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 and will support activities that have been authorized by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act.

“Commercial fisheries support one of 70 jobs in Louisiana, and the pandemic hit them hard. Louisiana fishermen are resilient, and these funds will help get our fisheries back on their feet,” said Kennedy.

The funding will directly support coastal states and territories, including Louisiana, whose fisheries have suffered under the pandemic.

Read the full story from WVUE at FOX 8

WHO, USDA reports refute Chinese concerns over COVID-19 traveling via cold chain

March 30, 2021 — A World Health Organization (WHO) team studying the origins of the COVID-19 outbreak has released a report saying its spread to humans from the packaging of “cold-chain” food products is possible, but not likely.

According to the Associated Press, which obtained an advanced copy of the report, the WHO team – working in conjunction with Chinese researchers – determined COVID-19 can travel through the cold chain, but that the risk of transmission is much lower than through human-to-human transfer.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Tackling Tuna Conservation and Management Measures During the Global Pandemic

March 30, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

The past year posed significant logistical challenges for multilateral organizations charged with the management and conservation of tunas and other highly migratory fish stocks. They had to adapt to new formats to make critical decisions on the sustainable management of these stocks. The shift to virtual meetings and email-based decision processes caused these organizations to streamline the number of issues they worked on. This allowed decisions to be made that ensured the continuity of management for key fish stocks, by extending many management measures set to expire in 2020.

The United States is a member of several regional fisheries management organizations. Three of them are responsible for the conservation and management of tuna and tuna-like stocks. These organizations are often where dozens of countries and fishing entities come together to discuss and develop international fisheries management measures. They set the rules for how, and how much, fish can be caught, frequently through challenging—and previously in-person–multilateral negotiations.

Through these organizations, the United States promotes the long-term sustainability of fish stocks through science-based management. We work to ensure that new measures are fair and equitable to U.S. stakeholders.

Read the full release here

Riding strong sales, US grocery chains make expansion plans

March 30, 2021 — With the pandemic-related boom in retail seafood sales continuing in 2021, several U.S. supermarket chains are leaning on the category more as they unleash a wave of expansion.

ALDI, Lidl, Amazon Fresh, Giant, and others have all announced plans to open new stores in the U.S., riding a wave of sector growth, and more is on the way, according to the latest forecast available from the National Retail Federation. ALDI plans to open 100 new stores this year, and Lidl plans to open 50 outlets by the end of 2021. Amazon has opened 11 Amazon Fresh stores in various U.S. locations during the pandemic and plans to open 28 additional stores, Bloomberg recently reported.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

ISSF Status of the Stocks: 87.6% of Global Tuna Catch Continues to Come from Stocks at Healthy Levels, While 9.6% Require Stronger Management

March 30, 2021 — The following was released by the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation:

Of the total commercial tuna catch worldwide, 87.6% of the global catch continues to be sourced from stocks at “healthy” levels of abundance, according to the newest International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF) Status of the Stocks report. In addition, 9.6% of the total tuna catch came from overfished stocks, and 2.8% came from stocks at an intermediate level of abundance. This is the second update to this report since March 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic started to impact the work of regional fisheries management organizations (RFMOs).

Several tuna stocks worldwide are considered overfished and/or subject to overfishing:

  • The Atlantic Ocean bigeye, Indian Ocean yellowfin and Pacific bluefin tuna stocks continue to be overfished and subject to overfishing.
  • Indian Ocean albacore and bigeye continue to be subject to overfishing.
  • All skipjack and most albacore stocks remain healthy.

ISSF publishes its signature Status of the Stocks report twice each year using the most current scientific data on 23 major commercial tuna stocks.

Key Statistics in the Report

  • Abundance or “spawning biomass” levels: Globally, 65% of the 23 stocks are at healthy levels of abundance, 22% are at an intermediate level and 13% are overfished.
  • Fishing mortality levels: 74% of the 23 stocks are experiencing a well-managed fishing mortality rate, and 22% are experiencing overfishing.
  • Total catch: The catch of major commercial tuna stocks was 5.3 million tonnes in 2019, a 2% increase from 2018. 60% was skipjack tuna, followed by yellowfin (28%), bigeye (7%) and albacore (4%). Bluefin tuna accounted for 1% of the global catch.
  • Largest tuna catches by stock: The five largest catches in tonnes, unchanged since the previous report, are Western Pacific Ocean skipjack, Western Pacific Ocean yellowfin, Indian Ocean skipjack, Indian Ocean yellowfin and Eastern Pacific Ocean skipjack.
  • Tuna production by fishing gear: 65.7% of the catch is made by purse seining, followed by longline (10.0%), pole-and-line (7.8%), gillnets (3.7%) and miscellaneous gears (12.8%).  These percentages changed minimally since the previous report.

The Status of the Stocks report is reviewed by the ISSF Scientific Advisory Committee, which provides advice on its content. The report does not advocate any particular seafood purchase decisions.

The Pandemic’s Impact on the Status of the Stocks  

This is the second update to this report since March 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic began to impact the work of the RFMOs. In particular, meetings of the scientific committees and commissions have been scheduled on different dates than usual, which delayed the November 2020  update of the report and made capturing the outcome of the latest RFMO commission meetings the main focus of this update.

RFMOs have issued exemptions to certain monitoring requirements such as observer coverage. As such, the summaries of management measures provided for the stocks, particularly in relation to observer coverage, may not be completely accurate in reflecting the monitoring that is ongoing during this exceptional period. The report includes changes to management in the Eastern Pacific, Western and Central Pacific, Atlantic Ocean and Indian Ocean to incorporate all new or extended conservation measures adopted in late 2020 or early 2021.

About the Report

There are 23 stocks of major commercial tuna species worldwide — 6 albacore, 4 bigeye, 4 bluefin, 5 skipjack, and 4 yellowfin stocks. The Status of the Stocks summarizes the results of the most recent scientific assessments of these stocks, as well as the current management measures adopted by the RFMOs. Updated twice per year, Status of the Stocks assigns color ratings (green, yellow or orange) using a consistent methodology based on three factors: Abundance, Exploitation/Management (fishing mortality) and Environmental Impact (bycatch).

ISSF produces two Status of the Stocks reports annually to provide clarity about where we stand — and how much more needs to be done — to ensure the long-term sustainability of tuna stocks. The Status of the Stocks presents a comprehensive analysis of tuna stocks by species, and the Evaluation of the Sustainability of Global Tuna Stocks Relative to Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) Criteria provides scores for the stocks and RFMOs based on MSC assessment criteria. The MSC-certified fisheries list (Appendix 2) in Status of the Stocks complements the Evaluation report. Together, these tools help to define the continuous improvement achieved, as well as the areas and issues that require more attention.

In addition, ISSF maintains a data-visualization tool based on its Status of the Stocks report. The “Interactive Stock Status Tool” is located on the ISSF website and accessible through the Status of the Stocks overview page; users can easily toggle through tuna abundance and exploitation health indicators by catch or stock and filter by location and species as well as be informed about the share of total catch by species/stocks and gear types.

About the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF)

The International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF) — a global coalition of seafood companies, fisheries experts, scientific and environmental organizations, and the vessel community — promotes science-based initiatives for long-term tuna conservation, FAD management, bycatch mitigation, marine ecosystem health, capacity management, and illegal fishing prevention. Helping global tuna fisheries meet sustainability criteria to achieve the Marine Stewardship Council certification standard — without conditions — is ISSF’s ultimate objective. To learn more, visit iss-foundation.org, and follow ISSF on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and LinkedIn.

By plane, boat and man basket, COVID-19 vaccines flow to Alaska’s Aleutian seafood workers

March 30, 2021 — Thousands of Alaska seafood workers are getting vaccinated for COVID-19 three months after outbreaks swept through Aleutian plants, shuttering some just as the lucrative Bering Sea fishing season began.

The effort is taking different forms, ranging from clinics in Sand Point to a one-day mass event in the Unalaska gym and aboard Dutch Harbor boats that vaccinated about 1,500 plant workers and deep-sea fishermen.

Probably the most only-in-Alaska method involved Eastern Aleutian Tribes community health aide Joe McMillan, who on Thursday clambered into a small man basket suspended in the air to swing aboard two large processing vessels and vaccinate more than a hundred people on each.

The doses now going into seafood worker arms are coming from a federal allocation provided to Eastern Aleutian Tribes rather than from state supplies of vaccine.

They came via a Biden administration plan to expand vaccine availability to community health centers in underserved communities. The Eastern Aleutian Tribes is one of just two tribal entities in Alaska participating in that program as of March 22.

The tribal health organization has probably given out 2,500 shots in the past week and 4,000 since January, according to CEO Paul Mueller, who described one chartered flight Wednesday to deliver food and vaccine that skipped from Nelson Lagoon to Cold Bay, False Pass, Sand Point, Dutch Harbor and King Cove.

Read the full story at the Anchorage Daily News

Secretary of Commerce Announces Allocation of an Additional $255 Million in CARES Act Funding to States and Territories

March 30, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA Fisheries announced the allocation of an additional $255 million in fisheries assistance funding provided by the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021. The funding will support activities previously authorized under Sec. 12005 of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act). It will be allocated to states and territories with coastal and marine fishery participants who have been negatively affected by COVID-19.

“Our priority is to award these funds as quickly as possible using existing processes established under the CARES Act,” said Paul Doremus, Acting Assistant Administrator for NOAA Fisheries. “As a next step, we will use these allocations to provide additional funds to our partners—the interstate marine fisheries commissions, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands—to disburse funds to address direct or indirect fishery-related losses as well as subsistence, cultural, or ceremonial impacts related to COVID-19.”

The commissions then will work with each state and territory to revise their prior spend plans to be consistent with the Consolidated Appropriations Act, the CARES Act, and NOAA’s guidance. Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands will submit spend plans to the agency directly. All spend plans must describe the main categories for funding, including direct payments, fishery-related infrastructure, and fishery-related education. The funding will address direct and indirect COVID-19 impacts to eligible fishery participants, including:

  • Commercial fishermen
  • Charter businesses
  • Qualified aquaculture operations
  • Subsistence, cultural, and ceremonial users
  • Processors
  • Other fishery-related businesses

Congress also designated $30 million for all federally recognized Tribes in coastal states and the Great Lakes and $15 million for Great Lakes states. We will work with our state partners and Tribes to determine the approach we will use to allocate this funding to eligible fishery participants as quickly as possible.

Read the full release here

Additional $255 MIllion in Fisheries Assistance Funding Being Allocated Through CARES Act

March 29, 2021 — Even more funding for fisheries assistance is being made available. NOAA Fisheries announced on Monday that an additional $255 million will be allocated to states and territories with coastal and marine fishery participants who have been negatively affected by COVID-19. The new funding will be provided by the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 and will support activities previously authorized under Sec. 12005 of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (CARES Act).

It’s been a year now since a $2 trillion coronavirus relief package, known as the CARES Act, was passed. For the seafood industry, Section 12005 gave the Department of Commerce the right to provide assistance to fishery participants who had been affected by COVID-19. A total of $300 million was set aside for the fisheries sector, with funds ultimately broken down by state, tribe and territory. NOAA turned to their partners – the Atlantic Marine Fisheries Commission, Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission, and the Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission – to disburse the funds. Alaska and Washington came out on top with $50 million each in funding being allocated to them, while Massachusetts landed a little over $28 million and Florida over $23.6 million.

Read the full story at Seafood News

In historically tough year, Maine fishermen brought in history’s 9th-most valuable catch

March 26, 2021 — Despite unprecedented market losses, Maine fishermen brought in over a half-billion dollars for their catch in 2020.

Valued at $516.8 million, the ex-vessel value, or price paid at the dock, of Maine’s commercially harvested marine species was the ninth-highest on record.

Maine’s lobster fishery once again accounted for most of the state’s overall landed value, with the lobster catch totaling $405.98 million.

While the landed value was down from $491.2 million in 2019 and the 2016 peak of $540.7 million, it was the seventh straight year that the lobster fishery exceeded $400 million.

“Maine’s lobster industry faced tremendous uncertainty in 2020,” Maine Department of Marine Resources Commissioner Patrick Keliher said in a news release. “At this time last year, the industry was facing a pending market collapse due to COVID-19, but industry’s response was remarkable.

Read the full story at MaineBiz