Saving Seafood

Pacific reopens some plants after COVID-19 outbreak; Icicle reports new cases in Alaska

June 12, 2020 — Pacific Seafood has reopened some of its five facilities in Newport, Oregon, U.S.A., that were hit by a coronavirus outbreak last week, with 132 of its workers testing positive for COVID-19.

The Pacific Surimi and Pacific Bio plants reopened in a limited capacity on Wednesday, 10 June, according to Pacific Seafood General Counsel Tony Dal Ponte. Pacific Fillet restarted some operations on Thursday, 11 June, and the Pacific Whiting and Pacific Shrimp facility remain closed, Dal Ponte said.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Frozen category offers “unprecedented opportunity” to boost US seafood consumption

June 12, 2020 — Frozen seafood sales have skyrocketed in the United States due to changing public consumption patterns caused by the coronavirus outbreak, and category analysts are suggesting seafood suppliers double down on that trend.

Sales of frozen seafood products increased faster than all other frozen food categories for the week ending on 24 May, 2020, compared to a year ago, according to Information Resources Inc. (IRI) data presented by 210 Analytics Principal Anne-Marie Roerinkin a webinar hosted by the National Fisheries Institute.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Federal Fishery Managers Address Broad Range of Issues During Meeting This Week

June 12, 2020 — The following was released by the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council:

Members of the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council held their quarterly June meeting this week via webinar due to COVID-19 and public health concerns. The meeting, originally scheduled to take place in Key West, Florida, began with a discussion of best fishing practices, emphasizing the Council’s outreach campaign and new resources for fishermen now available from the Council’s website. Information includes proper handling techniques, identifying signs of barotrauma, how-to videos demonstrating effectiveness of descending devices, and an online tutorial. Links to state-level resources for the region are also available through the new webpage. Council members have consistently supported the use of best practices to help improve survival of released fish. In September 2019, the Council approved Snapper Grouper Regulatory Amendment 29 requiring descending devices be onboard and readily available when fishing for snapper grouper species and other measures promoting best practices. NOAA Fisheries announced the Final Rule for Regulatory Amendment 29 earlier today, implementing the best fishing practice measures effective July 15, 2020.

NOAA Fisheries recently announced the opening of the Red Snapper season for both recreational and commercial fishermen, with a recreational season scheduled for the weekend of July 10, 11, 12, and the following Friday, July 17, 2020. “We encourage fishermen to take advantage of instructional videos and other best fishing practices information available online prior to the opening of this year’s Red Snapper season,” explained Council Chair, Jessica McCawley. During the Council meeting state agency representatives provided updates on sampling efforts planned for the recreational opening, including carcass collections and dockside sampling, dependent upon restrictions in place for COVID-19.

COVID-19 Impacts

The Council discussed the impacts of COVID-19 on fisheries and fishing communities after receiving input from its advisory panels, updates from state agencies, and public comment, most noting the detrimental effects on fishing-related businesses including for-hire and commercial fishermen. There was much discussion about the economic importance of the Red Snapper fishery and the benefit of additional fishing days. However, under the mandates of Magnuson-Stevens Act, the Council must adhere to the current annual catch limit and cannot simply add additional fishing days. The Council agreed to send a letter to the Secretary of Commerce addressing Red Snapper concerns and the effects of the pandemic, as well as expressing their willingness to work with NOAA Fisheries to expand access to the fishery.

In an effort to help mitigate some of the negative impacts of COVID-19, the Council will request that NOAA Fisheries take emergency action to increase the federal recreational bag limit for Atlantic King Mackerel to 4 fish per person/day off east Florida through the Mid-Atlantic and request emergency action to increase the federal commercial trip limit for Vermilion Snapper to 1,500 pounds gutted weight. If approved, the emergency actions would be effective for 180 days and could be extended for an additional 185 days. It is anticipated the new regulations could be implemented within the next three months. The Council will consider requesting emergency action during its September meeting to allow the carry-over of unused annual catch limits from 2020 into 2021 after reviewing additional analyses.

Stock Assessments

There was good news regarding Atlantic King Mackerel and Greater Amberjack stocks following recent assessments that found neither stock overfished nor undergoing overfishing. Council members received the results of recent stock assessments from NOAA Fisheries Southeast Fisheries Science Center and recommendations from its Scientific and Statistical Committee during this week’s meeting. Harvest has remained relatively consistent and both the King Mackerel and Greater Amberjack stocks have benefited from strong recruitment years (lots of fish born within the year). The Council will develop amendments to adjust catch levels and allocations as needed based on the recent assessments and recommendations.

The Red Porgy stock continues to face challenges. Despite a rebuilding plan being in place for almost 3 decades, the stock assessment finds Red Porgy remains overfished and is undergoing overfishing, with chronically low recruitment. The Council will begin work on an amendment to end overfishing and address rebuilding the stock.

Special Management Zones

The Council approved the designation of specified artificial reefs in federal waters off the North Carolina and South Carolina coasts as Special Management Zones, addressing concerns from members of the Council’s Law Enforcement Advisory Panel regarding how the circular shape of areas complicates enforcement. At the states’ request, the Council approved Snapper Grouper Regulatory Amendment 34 that would designate 30 artificial reef sites off of North Carolina and 4 sites off of South Carolina as Special Management Zones. The designations would limit fishing gear types when targeting snapper grouper species and restrict harvest by spear to recreational bag limits for the SMZs in North Carolina. In South Carolina, the harvest of snapper grouper species in the designated SMZs would be limited to recreational bag limits. The amendment must be approved by the Secretary of Commerce before implementation.

Other Business

Council members continued to develop management actions for Dolphin and Wahoo through draft Amendment 10 to the Dolphin Wahoo Fishery Management Plan. The Council received fishing level recommendations for both species from its Scientific and Statistical Committee using recalibrated recreational fishing effort estimates from NOAA Fisheries’ Marine Recreational Information Program. The new catch levels will be included in the amendment as the Council considers management actions that include modifications to accountability measures, allocations, and current vessel limits for Dolphin. The Council received numerous public comments from recreational fishermen and for-hire captains in South Florida and the Florida Keys expressing concerns about the decline of the Dolphin fishery in their area.

Additional information about this week’s meeting, including a Story Map highlighting actions, Committee Reports, and Summary Motions are available from the Council’s website at: https://safmc.net/june-2020-council-meeting-details/. The next meeting of the Council is scheduled for September 14-18, 2020 in Charleston, South Carolina.

Alaska halibut surveys reduced 30% due to COVID

June 11, 2020 — The annual three month survey of Pacific halibut will be about 30% lighter this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, Alaska Fish Radio’s Laine Welch reports.

A total of 898 stations will be surveyed by longline gear, roughly 30% fewer than the usual 1,283 stations.

“We’re going to maintain sampling in the core regions where the vast majority of the stock resides,” David Wilson, director of the International Pacific Halibut Commission (IPHC), told Welch. “So while it’s important to still sample those peripheries, we still are going to be sampling about 74% of the known distribution and biomass of the stock so it’s going to be a particularly robust survey.”

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

Federal fishing aid may not arrive until late July, August

June 11, 2020 — Eligible Massachusetts commercial fishermen and other seafood businesses could begin receiving funds in late July or early August from the $28 million in federal fishery assistance designated for the Massachusetts seafood industry, according to the state’s top fishery regulator.

But Dan McKiernan, the newly appointed director of the state Division of Marine Fisheries, also joined the growing chorus of public officials and seafood stakeholders who say the funds won’t come close to covering the more than $500 million in losses projected for the state’s four major seafood components: commercial fishing, seafood processing, for-hire charter services and aquaculture.

“That’s the unfortunate aspect,” McKiernan said in an interview with the Gloucester Daily Times. “The losses are so great that they can’t be covered by the $28 million. Commercial fishing lost $28 million in March and April alone. That’s just fishing.”

McKiernan said four separate groups began working this week to develop spending plans for each of the four industry components, along with eligibility requirements and the structure of payment methods and systems.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times

Chinese market undergoing drastic change through coronavirus crisis

June 11, 2020 — Market research consultancies have been working hard to assess the actionable lifestyle trends and developments emerging in China in the wake of its coronavirus lockdown.

Even as home-bound Chinese turn to convenience cooking and take-out – which even before the coronavirus had been a popular option in major Chinese cities – market research consultants interviewed by SeafoodSource seem divided on the extent of the opportunity for frozen and processed seafood products in the Chinese marketplace.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

FAO predicts lasting negative effects for seafood from COVID-19

June 11, 2020 — The biannual Food Outlook report from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, released earlier this month, is predicting that seafood will see lasting impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic, including reduced demand and pricing.

The report had a special focus this year in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has disrupted supply chains, forced the cancellation of industry trade events, and lead to widespread restaurant closures. This year’s report contains a special feature, analyzing whether or not the COVID-19 disruptions to supply chains will result in a global food shortage.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Rep. Golden introduces legislation to make disaster relief funds available to fishermen

June 11, 2020 — In a bipartisan effort, Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine) and Rep. Garret Graves (R-Louisiana) on Thursday introduced legislation to make additional disaster relief available to thousands of fishermen whose businesses are harmed by a pandemic.

The legislation would amend the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation Act to allow fisheries disasters to be declared due to pandemic, such as COVID-19.

“For the last few months, many Maine fishermen and lobstermen have had almost nowhere to sell their catch because COVID-19 has nearly shut down demand for fresh seafood all over the world,” Golden said. “Coronavirus is just as much of a disaster for this fishery as it would be if a Category 5 hurricane hit, and our lobstering and fishing communities deserve the same relief fisheries receive for other disasters. My bipartisan bill with Congressman Graves would make pandemics an allowable reason to declare a fisheries disaster, opening up a process to direct federal relief funds to affected fishing communities. Lobstermen and fishermen need this support right now, and the need will only grow if a second outbreak of COVID-19 happens this fall.”

A fisheries disaster declaration uses an established process for appropriating and distributing federal relief funds to fisheries and fishing communities during an unexpected event that causes significant losses.

To make the disaster declaration, a governor must request a fishery’s disaster declaration from the Commerce Secretary, along with a requested amount of relief funds for their fishery. If the Commerce Secretary agrees with the disaster declaration, in most cases the fishery is awarded the amount requested by the governor.

Read the full story at News Center Maine

NOAA Fisheries Continues to Evaluate Observer Situation

June 11, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Providing seafood to the country remains an essential function even in these extraordinary times. Adequately monitoring United States fisheries remains an essential part of that process. However, in recognition of numerous travel or social distancing restrictions or guidance, NOAA Fisheries recently issued an emergency action to provide the authority to waive observer coverage, some training, and other program requirements while meeting conservation needs and providing an ongoing supply of fish to markets. Under this emergency action, NOAA Fisheries regional administrators, office directors, or science center directors have the ability to waive observer requirements in three specific circumstances, after consulting with observer providers.

Over the past several weeks, NOAA Fisheries has continued to monitor and evaluate this situation. Throughout the country, we have actively worked with the observer service providers to understand their local restrictions and implement adjustments to the logistics of deploying observers, ensuring qualified observers or at-sea monitors are available as soon as safely possible. In several regions, providers’ social control guidance has been in place and we now anticipate having sufficient observers/catch monitors to achieve the appropriate level of observer coverage in most fleets and return these employees back to work. Individual waivers for trips and vessels in lower priority fleets may be issued on a case-by-case basis to ensure qualified observers/catch monitors are available for higher priority fleets (i.e., fleets with 100 percent coverage requirements or bycatch of Endangered Species Act-listed species).

Observers and at-sea monitors are an essential component of commercial fishing operations and provide critical information that is necessary to keep fisheries open and to provide sustainable seafood to our nation during this time. We will continue to monitor all local public health notifications, as well as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for updates. We are committed to protecting the public health and ensuring the safety of fishermen, observers, and others, while fulfilling our mission to maintain our nation’s seafood supply and conserving marine life.

Read the full release here

BOEM issues new draft environmental statement on Vineyard Wind

June 11, 2020 — A long-anticipated Bureau of Ocean Energy Management study of the 800-megawatt Vineyard Wind offshore energy project – broadened to examine potential impacts of similar projects from Maine to Georgia – has been released for a 45-day public comment period.

The draft supplemental environmental impact statement acknowledges Vineyard Wind and other planned wind turbine arrays will have major impacts on the commercial fishing industry. That aspect was flagged as a failing of an earlier impact statement, when National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Greater Atlantic regional fisheries office refused to sign off on BOEM’s study.

“Our goal is that all users can successfully coexist,” BOEM Acting Director Walter Cruickshank said Thursday during the International Partnering Forum, an online event held by the Business Network for Offshore Wind.

Cruickshank, whose agency is viewed skeptically by many in the fishing industry, stressed BOEM recognizes fishing as a crucial maritime industry and is reaching out to commercial and recreational sectors.

With the covid-19 pandemic limiting public gatherings, BOEM began planning early on for alternatives to public hearings on the environmental statement. The process now includes five live virtual meetings from June 26 to July 9 for public comments and questions.

Read the full story at National Fisherman