Saving Seafood

MASSACHUSETTS: Open Door, fishing vessel win food security grants

November 2, 2020 — The Open Door and a Gloucester fishing company will share in $5.9 million in state grants to help ensure a secure food supply chain for Massachusetts residents, particularly in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The administration of Gov. Charlie Baker announced the $5.9 million is being distributed to 47 recipients within the Massachusetts local food system, including farms, non-profit emergency food distributors, seafood harvesters, processors and other elements in the state’s food production and delivery system.

The Open Door, which operates food pantries in Gloucester and Ipswich and other food delivery services, received $201,073 to develop and implement an online food ordering and delivery system and enhance its Gloucester facility to provide more safe storage of locally produced food.

“We are reviewing software options now,” said Julie LaFontaine, president and CEO of The Open Door. “We expect to be rolling it out after the first of the new year.

The grant, part of the fourth round of funding from the state’s $36 million Food Infrastructure Security Grant program, also will help the non-profit on Emerson Avenue to expand its Mobile Market program throughout the Cape Ann community.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times

ALASKA: Fishing industry weighs in on state’s $50M COVID-19 relief plan

November 2, 2020 — A statewide commercial fishing industry group is asking the Dunleavy administration to justify its proposal for distributing $50 million dollars in federal pandemic relief for Alaska’s fishing industry.

Federal guidance recommends allocating more than half of the CARES Act funds to seafood processors and just 5% to the charter fleet and lodges.

But a draft released this month by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game recommends dividing the allocation evenly among sectors, which would increase the pot of money for fishing guides and lodges by more than $13 million.

United Fishermen of Alaska, which represents the commercial fleet and processors, asked the agency to explain its rationale for boosting the charter fleet’s allocation at the expense of other sectors.

UFA’s president Matt Alward signed a three-page letter to the commissioner’s office.

Read the full story at KTOO

HAWAII: Application period for federal fishing funds begins today

November 2, 2020 — The CARES (Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security) Act authorizes and provides appropriations to the U.S. Department of Commerce to aid qualified fisheries impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Over $300 million was identified for fisheries and aquaculture, with a total sum of $4,337,445 allocated for eligible Hawai‘i fishery sectors. The application period opens today.

The state Department of Land and Natural Resources Division of Aquatic Resources has developed a spending plan with the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration.

Applications must be submitted to the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission by Monday, Nov. 23. Interested applicants must review the spending plan to determine their eligibility.

Read the full story at The Garden Island

Experts worry coronavirus will cut oyster demand in Maryland

November 2, 2020 — Sitting outside Mama’s on the Half Shell restaurant in Canton, Alisha Gladfelter painted the newly christened Shuck Shack, an outdoor oyster bar complete with a grill fashioned from a keg. The swirl of a mermaid’s tail — part of the restaurant’s logo — flowed from the tip of her paintbrush.

Mama’s Shuck Shack is a sign of the times, as much as homemade face masks and ubiquitous bottles of hand sanitizer, an effort to encourage passersby to try one of the succulent bivalves or a dozen, either roasted or raw.

Maryland’s wild oyster season started in October, yet restaurants, watermen and others worry the coronavirus pandemic will stifle demand for the bay’s briny bounty. With few people dining out at restaurants and colder weather limiting outdoor dining, some in the seafood industry worry customers won’t venture out for oysters on the half shell and po’ boys.

Read the full story at The Washington Post

National Fisheries Institute Statement on Seafood Expo North America 2021

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

For years, the National Fisheries Institute (NFI) and its members have seen Diversified Communications’ dedication to educating, connecting, and growing the seafood industry on display at Seafood Expo North America/Seafood Processing North America and its many events around the globe. This year has shined a spotlight on another Diversified Communications commitment: the health and safety of its employees, vendors, and customers.

Earlier this year Diversified made the difficult decision to reschedule and then cancel the 2020 edition of Seafood Expo North America. The 2021 version was planned for March.

Once again illustrating its commitment to meet the seafood community’s needs while prioritizing the health and safety of all Seafood Expo North America/ Seafood Processing North America attendees, Diversified has announced the 2021 event will be held later in the year.

NFI and our member companies appreciate Diversified’s responsiveness, flexibility and innovation during these unprecedented times. We are all looking forward to gathering and supporting Seafood Expo North America/Seafood Processing North America in 2021 when it is safe to do so.

COVID crisis consolidating seafood distribution channels in China

November 2, 2020 — The current COVID-related fall in demand for seafood in China could lead to a shake-out of the Chinese seafood distribution scene in favor of large, state-owned trading firms, according to Didier Boon, the CEO of Beijing-based trading firm East China Seas.

Boon’s company, which imports Latin American seafood into China and ships product from China to Western markets, cannot compete with large Chinese companies that lean on their size and political connections to obtain advantages in the marketplace, Boon said. And those advantages have been exacerbated during a tightening in Chinese Customs’ actions in inspecting imported seafood.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

ALASKA: Meeting season nears amid COVID-19 complications

October 30, 2020 — Many Alaska fishermen are likely to be involved in regulatory meetings next spring instead of being out on the water. And Alaska legislators will be distracted by hearings for hundreds of unconfirmed appointments as they tackle contentious budgets and other pressing issues.

New dates have been set for state Board of Fisheries meetings that were bumped from later this year due to COVID-19 concerns. During the same time, along with four unconfirmed seats on the fish board, the Alaska legislature also will be tasked with considering nominees for 137 state boards and commissions named by Gov. Mike Dunleavy during the 2020 session. State lawmakers were unable to do the usual in-depth vetting of appointees when the virus forced them to adjourn early.

The upcoming round of board meetings focuses on management of subsistence, commercial, sport and personal use fisheries at Prince William Sound, Southeast and Yakutat, as well as statewide shellfish issues and hatcheries.

The meeting dates of March 4, 2021, for the hatchery committee and March 5-10 for shellfish issues remain the same as originally scheduled. The Prince William Sound meetings, set to be held in Cordova, are now set to occur from March 30-April 5; for Southeast and Yakutat, the dates are April 17-29 with the meetings scheduled to be in Ketchikan.

Read the full story at the Alaska Journal of Commerce

Survey tracks covid-19 impacts on fishermen

October 30, 2020 — As the seafood industry responds and adapts to the effects of covid-19, NOAA is working to fill in some information gaps in its economic impact surveys.

One of those gaps is West Coast and Alaska seafood harvesters — folks on the East Coast have already been surveyed.

Ocean Strategies is aggregating information and delivering it confidentially to NOAA, helping to ensure West Coast harvesters are included in this important work to document impacts to the commercial fishing industry.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

US, Mexico partner on food safety

October 29, 2020 — The United States and Mexico are partnering on new food safety regulations, which include seafood safety enhancements and better disease outbreak mitigation measures

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and Mexico’s Federal Commission for the Protection from Sanitary Risks and the National Service of Agro-Alimentary Health, Safety, and Quality (SENASICA) – have officially expanded a partnership to work together on food safety.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Eligible Guam fishermen can now apply for $1M in COVID relief funding

October 29, 2020 — The Department of Agriculture’s (DOAG) Division of Aquatic and Wildlife Resources (DAWR) will help distribute nearly $1 million to eligible fishers in Guam.  DAWR received approval of their spend plan and a notice to proceed.

Guam is the first territory to be approved.  Out of 31 eligible states and territories, Guam is 1 of the first 17 approved.  With this approval, DAWR is now ready to begin accepting and reviewing application packets to be processed for direct payments to fishers.  Payments will be mailed directly to fishers by the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission.

Fishers who registered with DAWR, and were found to be eligible, may apply for the relief funding.  Registration was a necessary first step in the relief process as it enabled DAWR to calculate payment amounts, which was an integral part of the spend plan.

Read the full story at the Pacific News Center