Saving Seafood

National Fisheries Institute Statement on Planned Allocation of COVID-19 Vaccine

December 2, 2020 — The following was released by the National Fisheries Institute:

Today the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices announced their recommendations for the prioritized allocation of initial supplies of the COVID-19 vaccine.

The National Fisheries Institute recognizes the hard work being done by these public health professionals and commends them on their decision to provide the vital vaccine initially to healthcare workers.

Further, we applaud the Committee’s recognition that those harvesting our fish and processing and distributing our seafood are essential and will be considered in the next phase of vaccine distribution.

Frontline seafood workers should rightfully be near the front of the line for vaccines. All Americans depend on these women and men to harvest and process healthy foods. As the federal agencies and state Governors develop their vaccine plans, they should protect those who labor to feed America’s families during this pandemic. Governments need to move from calling these folks heroes to protecting them with vaccines.

$980K aid available to fishermen

December 1, 2020 — Gov. Ralph DLG Torres announced yesterday the allocation of $980,000 in CARES Act funds to assist commercial and subsistence fishermen in the CNMI—estimated to be in the thousands—who’ve been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Torres said at a press conference that the money is available after the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration approved the CNMI’s “spending plan” for the money it got from the Coronavirus Aid, Recovery, and Economic Security Act.

Torres said all resident fishermen and qualified fishing businesses who sustained losses are eligible.

Qualifying businesses refer to commercial fishing businesses, charter-for-hire fishing businesses, qualified aquaculture businesses, fish processors, and dealers.

All eligible applicants will receive assistance based on an approved formula that will determine the amounts of help for businesses and individual fishermen.

Application distribution will begin tomorrow, Wednesday, and the deadline to submit applications is March 1, 2021.

The distribution of assistance checks will be made directly via mail from the NOAA Hawaii Office to approved businesses and fishermen between May 3 and June 16, 2021.

Read the full story at the Saipan Tribune

COVID-19 Took A Bite Out of US Seafood Industry

December 1, 2020 — The US seafood industry faced massive declines in the months following the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, and will need targeted federal assistance to recover, a new study shows.

“Seafood is part of the narrative that I would say doesn’t get as much attention as something like agriculture,” says Halley Froehlich, aquaculture and fisheries professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara and an author of the study in the journal Fish and Fisheries.

“And that certainly appears to be the case when we’re looking at something like the CARES Act, the federal funding source specifically passed to provide economic relief in the US,” she says.

That is, in large part, due to the fact that policymakers lack sufficient real-time data to see how the seafood industry has fared in the time of lockdowns and social distancing, says lead author Easton White, an ecologist at the University of Vermont.

“One difficulty is that a lot of this data isn’t released until months and years later,” White says. From the boat to the table, data is generated that must be gathered and processed before it gets released, he says.

The pandemic is a rapidly evolving situation and the seafood industry can’t afford to wait. So, to get a big-picture look at the early effects of COVID-19 on US fisheries and seafood consumption, the researchers synthesized multiple sources from across the seafood supply chain, including some unconventional real-time data sets.

Read the full story at Futurity

NEW YORK: $6.7 million relief program will assist NYS fishing industry

December 1, 2020 — New York State announced that $6.7 million in federal funding is available from the Marine Fisheries Relief Program established by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act to assist New York’s marine fishing industry following economic losses due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Eligible seafood, commercial marine fishing, and marine recreational for-hire fishing businesses will be able to apply for the funding beginning December 1.

New York’s marine resources support nearly 350,000 jobs and generate billions of dollars through tourism, fishing, and other industries. The Marine Fisheries Relief Program allocation was determined by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries based on the total average annual revenues from New York’s fishery-related businesses prior to COVID-19.

“As the economic pain of the COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact industries across the globe, New York’s marine fishing industry is no exception,” Governor Cuomo said. “Whether it’s recreational or commercial fishing, the business which comprise this industry have been vital to New York’s economic success and cultural heritage since our state’s inception and its critical we ensure they have the resources and support they need to keep operating during these difficult times.”

Read the full story at ABC NEWS 10

Foley Fish navigating the pandemic with retail, direct-to-consumer sales

December 1, 2020 — Like most other seafood processors and distributors, New Bedford, Massachusetts, U.S.A.-based Foley Fish had to quickly pivot when the COVID-19 pandemic struck the United States in early March.

The 114-year-old company supplies retail, foodservice, and consumer accounts across the country, but the coronavirus proved an existential threat to the company’s existence.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Online grocery sales surge for Black Friday

November 30, 2020 — U.S. consumers spent a record USD 9 billion (EUR 7.5 billion) online for Black Friday this year, pushed higher by grocery e-commerce sales.

Many grocers encouraged shoppers to order online for the Thanksgiving holiday week to manage the high influx of shoppers stores typically see during the holiday, according to 210 Analytics Principal Anne-Marie Roerink.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

CALIFORNIA: North Bay crab season delayed again

November 27, 2020 — Commercial crab fishing is becoming a turkey of a profession this year, as the season in the zone stretching from Gualala Point south to the Mexico border is delayed again to Dec. 16.

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife decided Tuesday to put a hold on the season because the whales have failed to migrate south to their nesting grounds in sufficient numbers. The mammals, which wildlife officials contend risk entanglement with the crab fishing gear, have hung out along the California coast longer than usual.

This is the second time the season has been delayed. It was supposed to start Nov. 15, but those plans were squashed about three weeks ago when the launch moved to Dec. 1.

But the state agency conducted a survey on Nov. 21 and found many whales off shore in the zone from Point Arena south through the San Francisco Bay Area.

“The whales haven’t left the vicinity. If this extends, there’s going to be serious financial consequences to the fleet — and this is on the heels of COVID,” Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations Executive Director Mike Conroy told the Business Journal. He predicted many crab fishermen, who take part in an industry valued at $51 million in California in 2019, would lose their boats and homes.

Read the full story at The North Bay Business Journal

Northwest US maritime industry looks to a better 2021

November 27, 2020 — Battered by trade wars and COVID-19, the U.S. Northwest maritime industry is applying lessons learned from both crises, according to leaders who spoke at Pacific Marine Expo’s virtual Maritime Economic Forecast.

With China as its number-one trading partner, the Northwest Seaport Alliance of Seattle and Tacoma saw immense change as a result of U.S.-China trade disputes, followed by a steep falloff in vessel traffic as COVID-19 reverberated in the world economy.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

NFI moves GSMC 2021 virtual, with in-person event still planned in May

November 24, 2020 — The National Fisheries Institute (NFI), the U.S. seafood industry’s foremost trade group, has announced its 2021 Global Seafood Market Conference (GSMC) will take place online from 1 to 5 February.

The conference, which offers seafood marketplace data to NFI members and doubles as the NFI’s annual meeting, which was originally scheduled to take place in Coronado, California, U.S.A. in January. In July 2020, NFI announced it would be moving the conference to 23 to 28 May, 2021, as a result of the global COVID-19 pandemic.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Pandemic has taken a bite out of seafood trade, consumption

November 24, 2020 — The coronavirus pandemic has hurt the U.S. seafood industry due to a precipitous fall in imports and exports and a drop in catch of some species.

Those are the findings of a group of scientists who sought to quantify the damage of the pandemic on America’s seafood business, which has also suffered in part because of its reliance on restaurant sales. Consumer demand for seafood at restaurants dropped by more than 70% during the early months of the pandemic, according to the scientists, who published their findings recently in the scientific journal Fish and Fisheries.

Imports fell about 37% and exports about 43% over the first nine months of the year compared to 2019, the study said. The economic impact has been felt most severely in states that rely heavily on the seafood sector, such as Maine, Alaska and Louisiana, said Easton White, a University of Vermont biologist and the study’s lead author.

It hasn’t all been doom and gloom for the industry, as seafood delivery and home cooking have helped businesses weather the pandemic, White said. The industry will be in a better position to rebound after the pandemic if domestic consumers take more of an interest in fresh seafood, he said.

Read the full story at the Associated Press