Saving Seafood

NORTH CAROLINA: Fisheries-related coronavirus relief funding available

August 17, 2021 — The state Division of Marine Fisheries is accepting applications for the second round of federal coronavirus pandemic relief for seafood-related operations.

Commercial fishers, marine aquaculture operators, seafood dealers and processors and for-hire fishing operators who can document a revenue loss of more than 35% last year compared to the previous five-year average due to COVID-19 are eligible to apply for the 2021 Consolidated Appropriations Act, or CARES Act II, Fisheries Relief Program, the agency announced. The deadline is Oct. 1.

Application packets are on the division’s Economic Relief Programs webpage or at division offices for eligible stakeholders who are not licensed by the division.

The state is to receive $4.5 million in federal relief to be distributed through direct payments to fisheries-related groups affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. This funding is in addition to the $5.4 million in federal fisheries coronavirus relief distributed in the state earlier this year.

Read the full story at Coastal Review Online

West Coast CARES Act Funding, Spend Plans in Various Stages of Completion

August 13, 2021 — As fishermen and processors in Washington are receiving checks from the first round of COVID-19 relief, managers in California and Oregon are moving ahead with proposed spend plans for Round Two.

Round One funding, announced in May 2020, included $300 million provided by Sec. 12005 of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, also called the CARES Act, to states, tribes, and territories with coastal and marine fishery participants that were negatively affected by COVID–19.

Read the full story at Seafood News

$9.5M In Federal Aid Approved To Help NJ Fishing Industry

August 11, 2021 — The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency has approved $9.5 million in federal aid for New Jersey’s commercial and charter fishing industry.

Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr., announced the approval Wednesday. Pallone secured the funding as part of the omnibus and coronavirus relief bill passed by Congress. This is the second round of federal funding Congress has allotted to help fishing communities during the pandemic.

“I am pleased that another round of federal funding will be delivered to New Jersey’s fishing industry,” Pallone said in a prepared statement. “This is another step in the right direction to ensure our region’s fishing businesses and their families get the assistance they need to withstand the effects of the coronavirus pandemic and subsequent economic storm.”

Read the full story at Patch.com

CARES Act draft spend plan for Oregon available for review

August 11, 2021 — The following was released by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife:

ODFW has posted a draft of the proposed spend plan for the second round of Oregon distribution of federal CARES Act fisheries relief funding at https://www.dfw.state.or.us/fish/CARES/index.asp.

Marine and coastal fishery businesses who have experienced economic impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic are encouraged to review the draft and provide input.

About $13 million is available for Oregon’s marine and coastal fishery sectors experiencing significant economic impacts from the global COVID-19 pandemic. The relief aid slated for Oregon is part of $255 million in fisheries assistance funding from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act). ODFW is the lead State agency working with fishery participants to coordinate aid.

The spend plan details how the distribution of these relief funds will be conducted in Oregon.  The plan builds upon successful aspects of round one funding completed in January 2021, with adjustments to address identified gaps.

The plan must be approved by the National Marine Fisheries Service. Once approved, the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission will manage the application process and distribute funds.

Comments on the plan should be sent to ODFW.CARESACT@odfw.oregon.gov. Comments received by Sunday, Aug. 22 will be reviewed and considered during finalization of the spend plan.

“We want to provide one more opportunity for Oregon businesses to comment on the draft plan before we submit a final version, and also realize that some may have missed our June public meeting,” said Chris Kern, ODFW Deputy Fish Division Administrator.

A recording and materials from the June 2021 online meeting are available one the ODFW CARES Act web page.

Louisiana fishermen, others in industry can apply for pandemic relief through LDWF

August 10, 2021 — The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) is now accepting applications for $12.4 million in financial assistance available to Louisiana fishermen and others in the industry who have been financially affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Applications opened Monday, August 9. Applications can only be submitted online. To access the application, visit www.wlf.louisiana.gov/page/cares-act-assistance.

The application process will be open for a three-week period, according to LDWF. The deadline to submit applications is 11:59 p.m. August 29.

Funding allocation has been structured so that all applications submitted before the deadline will be considered. The funds, part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 (CARES 2.0), will be distributed as direct aid payments by the Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission to those applicants who qualify.

Read the full story at KATC

Alaska groundfish: Covid’s hangover and bycatch caps slow the season

August 10, 2021 — King salmon caps, covid and stiff tariffs on the China end of business have stymied the Gulf of Alaska groundfish industry so far this year. As of March 26, trawlers targeting Pacific cod in the western gulf harvest area hit the hard cap of 3,060 kings.

Cod that have been scattered in their concentrations during winter form into tight schools as the calendar rolls toward March, but king salmon inhabit the same waters. Though the fleet can roll over unused caps from other fisheries, it wasn’t enough to warrant the continuation of the fishery. Trawlers will be able to fish on a new cap beginning Sept. 1.

Even if the fleet of about 40 shoreside-delivering vessels hadn’t hit the king salmon caps and had been allowed to fish later, covid conundrums and tariffs put the kibosh on moving product through processing plants and toward end markets.

“We don’t even have a flatfish market this year,” says Julie Bonney, executive director of the Alaska Groundfish Data Bank, in Kodiak. “The plants can’t sell it and make any money,” she adds. As of July 9, landings to plants in Kodiak totaled 4,060 tons. “We’ve caught 17,500 fewer tons than last year at this time,” she says. 

Read the full story at National Fisherman

Here’s why seafood prices are soaring this summer

August 6, 2021 — After experiencing broad declines last year amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, the fishing and seafood sectors are still floundering due to the effects of supply chain issues, worker shortages and renewed consumer demand.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Fisheries wrote at the beginning of the year that coronavirus contributed to an “almost immediate” impact on seafood sector sales including lost sales at most aquaculture, aquaponics, and allied businesses and charter fishing operations.

Now, chefs and restaurant owners are speaking out on why pandemic woes have led to higher prices for their customers.

According to SeafoodSource, premium items are being taken off menus across the country because the delicacies are too hard or expensive to source.

Read the full story at Fox News

Scottish fisheries leaders ask Boris Johnson for help with Brexit woes

August 6, 2021 — At an in-person meeting in Fraserburgh, Scotland, on 5 August, Scottish fisheries leaders urged United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson to help them build back the industry after the Brexit deal.

Scottish Seafood Association Chief Executive Jimmy Buchan told Johnson Brexit and COVID-19 have combined to create a “perilous situation” for companies, with production and export capacity severely reduced, especially due to a related labor shortage.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Labor shortage, masking and vaccine mandates imperiling US restaurant recovery

August 5, 2021 — New COVID-19-related vaccination and masking requirements at restaurants in some U.S. cities are raising concerns among restaurant groups and in the seafood industry.

New York City and San Francisco are now requiring citizens to wear masks indoors – including at restaurants – due to a rapid increase in COVID-19 cases, primarily sourced to the more virulent delta variant of the coronavirus. Customers at New York City restaurants and bars will also be required to show proof of vaccination before dining indoors.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Seafood Prices Soar Amid Supply Chain Issues and Worker Shortage

August 5, 2021 — A post-Covid-19 economic inflationary surge has seafood places rewriting their menus—sans lobsters, scallops, crab and many fish dishes.

Prices have risen by as much as 50 percent in the last quarter due to a lack of fishers and truck drivers combined with climbing consumer demand, reports Christine Blank of SeafoodSource.com.

“The price we had to charge to be profitable was almost insulting,” Josue Pena, chef at The Iberian Pig in Atlanta, tells SeafoodSource.com. He was forced to remove the restaurant’s signature crab coquettes after crab prices nearly doubled.

Overall, the wholesale price of finfish and shellfish rose 18.8 percent from June 2020, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, reports Will Feuer of the New York Post. Halibut soared from $16 a pound to $28, while blue crab skyrocketed from $18 to $44—an increase of more than 140 percent.

Per Bloomberg’s Adam Jackson and Kate Krader, the jump in seafood prices is part of broader inflationary increase working its way through the economy as the United States continues to emerge from the pandemic. However, the seafood surge is also related to an employment shortage, port congestion, lack of product, rising prices and transportation issues.

“Distributors used to hustle and bustle to get your business,” Jay Herrington of Fish On Fire in Orlando tells Bloomberg. “You don’t get a delivery, or it’s a late delivery. Sometimes we have to go and pick it up.”

Read the full story at Smithsonian Magazine