Coronavirus Archives - Page 28 of 151

REMINDER: NOAA Fisheries Phone Survey Ongoing

February 18, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA Fisheries and the University of Florida launched a phone survey in January to continue assessing the impact of COVID-19 on commercial/for-hire fishing operations, and on seafood dealers and processors. Thank you to those of you that have already responded. A second round of phone calls began on February 12th.

This survey will assist us in assessing economic impacts on individual businesses over the entire 2020 calendar year. It is a follow-up to a survey conducted during July/August 2020 on impacts for the first half of the year. The first reports using results from last summer’s survey as well as other data can be found here.

We are using this multi-region survey to inform NOAA Fisheries, the Department of Commerce, Congress, fishery management councils, state fishery managers, and stakeholders about the economic and social impacts of Covid-19 on the fishing industry.

If You Get a Call

Phone survey participants were randomly selected to participate. If you were selected, you will receive a phone call from the University of Florida with a 352 area code. Your response is very important to the success of this survey. It will take less than 10 minutes, and the information you provide is strictly confidential.

For more information on the phone survey, see this bulletin from NOAA Fisheries’ Southeast Region.

Read the full release here

CDC requires commercial fishing crews to be masked at all times in U.S. waters

February 17, 2021 — Fishermen must wear masks while they are underway, even while sleeping, and the Coast Guard intends to enforce it.

That’s an edict issued as a public health emergency by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in a Marine Safety Bulletin issued on Feb. 1. It requires the wearing of masks at all times in U.S. waters on all commercial vessels “when boarding, disembarking, and for the duration of travel” to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus. The action states that “conveyance operators traveling into or within the U.S. may transport only persons wearing masks and must use best efforts to ensure that masks are worn.”

Best efforts include allowing entry to a vessel only to those who wear masks, instructing persons that failure to comply constitutes a violation of federal law, and removing any person who refuses to comply. Exemptions apply to children under 2 years old, a person with a disability who cannot safely wear a mask or a person for whom wearing a mask would create a risk to workplace health, safety or job duty, or if an operator is “the sole occupant of the vehicle.”

Read the full story at the Anchorage Daily News

REMINDER: NOAA Fisheries reaches out to fishermen by phone; conducting surveys for scientists to assess impacts on commercial/for-hire fishing operations and seafood dealers/processors related to COVID-19

February 17, 2021 — The following was released by the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council:

KEY MESSAGE:

NOAA Fisheries and our partner, the University of Florida, are teaming up on a phone survey to assess the impact of COVID-19 on commercial/for-hire fishing operations and on seafood dealers and processors. The phone survey is a follow-up to an earlier on-line survey conducted in July and August on economic impacts for the first half of 2020. The upcoming survey will assist us in assessing economic impacts over the entire calendar year.

Survey participants were randomly selected to participate. If you receive a phone call from the University of Florida with a 352 area code, your response is very important to the success of this survey. It will take less than 10 minutes, and the information you provide is strictly confidential.

PURPOSE OF THE SURVEY:

NOAA Fisheries will draft reports for the public detailing the revenue losses and recovery of fishing-dependent businesses over the past year. Here is a look at what we have already been able to capture and release in a series of snapshot reports. You helped make this information available to us. Thank you!

MORE INFORMATION:

If you have further questions regarding the survey please contact:

Mike Jepson in the Gulf of Mexico Region, Michael.Jepson@noaa.gov

Matt McPherson in the South Atlantic Region, Matthew.McPherson@noaa.gov

MASSACHUSETTS: South Shore fisheries received $2.9 million in federal relief

February 17, 2021 — South Shore fisheries hauled in $2.9 million in federal money designated for the industry last year, about 10 percent of the total received for Massachusetts.

That money went to 126 commercial fishermen, charter boat owners, aquaculture farmers and seafood processors.

The 2020 Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, known more commonly as the CARES Act, authorized over $2 trillion in relief to individuals, businesses, hospitals, loan programs and other recipients to help ease the economic impacts of COVID-19.

The Paycheck Protection Program loans, known as PPP loans, were also part of that package, which injected $1.3 billion into the South Shore economy, with forgivable loans to 10,974 companies.

Read the full story at The Patriot Ledger

ALASKA: Plunging fish tax payments raise concerns for coming years, Southeast officials say

February 16, 2021 — Wrangell will receive considerably less in its shared fish tax payments this year than the city expected, city manager Lisa Von Bargen explained at an assembly meeting on Tuesday.

“That speaks to the abysmal situation related to the fishing issues in our region,” Von Bargen said.

The payment she referred to is a fisheries business tax collected outside of municipal boundaries. The state disperses the tax money to communities in the region. Wrangell planned to receive $10,000 dollars this year from the shared fish tax. In reality, the city will receive just over $1,600.

Municipalities also receive another fisheries business tax for fishing business within municipal boundaries. Wrangell’s payment from that tax is lower than expected as well: about $203,000 for the last fiscal year.

Read the full story at KTOO

REMINDER: NOAA Fisheries reaches out to fishermen by phone; conducting surveys for scientists to assess impacts on commercial/for-hire fishing operations and seafood dealers/processors related to COVID-19

February 16, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

KEY MESSAGE:

URPOSE OF THE SURVEY:

Read the full release here

FAO: COVID-19 likely to bring further disruptions to seafood in 2021

February 16, 2021 — Fisheries and aquaculture sectors globally have been hit hard by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and could face further disruption in this year as lockdowns affect supply and demand, according to a report by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

The information paper, “The impact of COVID-19 on fisheries and aquaculture food systems” – which was featured at the 34^th session of the FAO’s Committee on Fisheries (COFI) earlier this month – reports fish supply, consumption, and trade revenues are all expected to have declined in 2020 due to containment restrictions, while global aquaculture production is expected to fall by some 1.3 percent; the first drop recorded by the sector in several years.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Rep. Pappas Leads Bipartisan Call For Additional Support for New Hampshire’s Seacoast in Upcoming COVID Relief Package

February 12, 2021 — The following was released by The Office of Congressman Chris Pappas (D-NH):

Congressman Chris Pappas (NH-01) led a group of ten lawmakers in a bipartisan call requesting the inclusion of $100 million in funding for the National Sea Grant College Program in the next COVID relief package.

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, our coastal communities, and in particular, the marine and aquaculture industries, have experienced severe negative economic impacts due to decreases in exports and sales to restaurants.

Local Sea grant programs have been instrumental in supporting these communities. NH Sea Grant has been able to leverage their funding and expertise to provide fisheries with additional information to help sustain their businesses, assist business owners in tourism and other coastal-dependent industries, and collaborate with local leaders to make better informed decisions for struggling communities.

“Across the country, Sea Grant programs have played an instrumental role in supporting our coastal communities and fisheries who have been disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Congressman Pappas. “Here in New Hampshire, Sea Grant’s efforts allowed many growers to stay afloat by utilizing their oysters for research and habitat restoration while infusing more than $75,000 in relief funds to local growers who were unable to sell their goods at the markers. Our coastal communities have a long road ahead of them to full economic recovery, and I am proud to lead this bipartisan call to increase funding for National Sea Grant programs across our country.”

Read the full release here

Hawaii longliners seek temporary visas for foreign crew

February 12, 2021 — After two decades it’s far past time to make it easier for foreign fishermen who work in the Hawaii longline fleet, industry advocates say.

The lockdown after the September 2001 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, D.C., still reverberates in the U.S. Pacific pelagic fishery, with complicated entry rules and procedures for crew from Indonesia and the Philippines who make up the bulk of the fleet’s workforce.

“Prior to 9/11 our crewmen were allowed to fly into” Honolulu to board the fleet of some 140 longline vessels, said Eric Kingma, executive director of the Hawaii Longline Association.

“So it has been about 20 years now for our fleet not being able to fly our crew in,” he said. “This issue has been around for a while and we need to resolve it.”

During the covid-19 pandemic, the Hawaii fleet has been a vital lifeline for protein to the state’s population even while taking a huge hit in lost revenue. The state’s tourism economy is a scant 25 percent of its usual volume, and between March and July 2020 the longline fleet’s revenue was down 45 percent with the pandemic collapse in restaurant business, said Kingma.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

With abundant biomass, US fishermen look to expand post-pandemic market for scup

February 12, 2021 — U.S. commercial scup, or porgy, landings peaked in 1981 at 21.73 million pounds, but dipped to 2.66 million pounds by 2000. In recent years, commercial fishermen have not landed the commercial quota, but there have been industry-wide efforts focused on closing the gap.

The commercial fishery runs year-round, and mostly in U.S. federal waters during the winter and state waters during the summer. A coastwide commercial quota is allocated between three quota periods: winter I, summer, and winter II. Total ex-vessel value in 2018 was USD 9.7 million (EUR 8 million), resulting in an average price per pound of USD 0.73 (EUR 0.60). NOAA data shows landings from October to the end of December 2020 are below last year’s landings.

Read the full story at Seafood Source