January 26, 2022 — Alaska’s Board of Fisheries is considering moving its Southeast meeting back to Ketchikan, and it’s asking the public to weigh in.
The board — which sets the state’s subsistence, commercial and sport fishing rules — plans to discuss more than 150 proposed changes to Southeast Alaska finfish and shellfish regulations at the meeting, which was originally slated to be held in Ketchikan this month but was postponed due to a rise in COVID-19 cases in the region.
January 26, 2022 — The COVID-19 pandemic has fueled major restaurant menu shifts – some that favor seafood and others that don’t, according to Datassential Director Kelley Fechner.
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A.-based Datassential annually provides updates on menu trends in the restaurant industry at the National Fisheries Institute’s Global Seafood Market Conference (GSMC). At this year’s event in Orlando, Florida, U.S.A., Fechner said 60 percent of restaurants have shrunk their menus since the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis in the U.S., by an average of 10.2 percent.
Read the full story at SeafoodSource
January 24, 2022 — The New England Fishery Management Council will hold a three-day meeting from Tuesday, February 1 through Thursday, February 3, 2022. The public is invited to listen live and provide input during designated opportunities for public comment. Due to ongoing public safety considerations related toCOVID-19, this meeting will be conducted entirely by webinar.
START TIME: 10:00 a.m. on Day 1 and 9:00 a.m. on Day 2 and Day 3. The webinar will end shortly after the Council adjourns each day.
PUBLIC COMMENT OPPORTUNITIES: The Council wants to hear from you. Here’s how you can let the Council know what you think.
•WRITE A LETTER: The deadline for submitting written comments for consideration at this meeting is 8:00 a.m. on Thursday, January 27, 2022.
•TALK TO THE COUNCIL: You’ll be able to address the Council directly through two different avenues:
1.By commenting on motions at the discretion of the Council chair (raise your hand on the webinar and unmute yourself when called upon); and
2.By speaking during the open period for public comment. Here are the Guidelines for Providing Public Comment.
•OPEN PERIOD FOR PUBLIC COMMENT: On Wednesday, February 2, 2022 at 12:00 p.m., the Council will offer the public an opportunity to provide comments on issues relevant to Council business but not listed on this agenda. Given the Council’s busy meeting schedule, we ask that you limit remarks to 3-5 minutes.
◦ SIGN UP NOW: Interested in speaking? Email Janice Plante at jplante@nefmc.org to get on the list.
WEBINAR REGISTRATION: Online access to the meeting is available at Listen Live. There is no charge to access the meeting through this webinar.
•Here are instructions in the Remote Participation Guide for successfully joining and participating in the webinar.
•THIS IS KEY! If you want to speak during opportunities for public comment, you need to: (1) register for the webinar; and (2) actually “join” the webinar. People who call in by telephone without joining the webinar will be in listen-only mode. Those who take both steps – register and then join the webinar – will see the meeting screen and be able to click on a “raise hand” button, which will let the meeting organizer know you want to be unmuted to speak.
•We have a Help Desk in case you get stuck joining the webinar or have trouble along the way. Phone numbers are listed on the Help Desk Poster, or just email helpdesk@nefmc.org and we’ll get right back to you.
CALL-IN OPTION: To listen by telephone without joining the webinar, dial +1 (631) 992-3221. The access code is 248-228-740. Please be aware that if you dial in, your regular phone charges will apply. Remember, you will not be able to speak if you do not first join the webinar as described above. This phone number provides a “listen-only” option without the webinar component.
AGENDA: All meeting materials and the agenda are available on the Council’s website at NEFMC February 1-3, 2022 meeting. Additional documents will be posted as they become available.
EMERGENCY ACTION: Please note that the Council will discuss a request for secretarial emergency action related to the Great South Channel Habitat Management Area under the Habitat Committee report.
GROUNDFISH: The Council will devote Day 3 of this meeting to groundfish issues to allow for extensive discussion of: (1) the final report from the Atlantic Cod Stock Structure Workshops; and (2) important issues related to the 2023 Atlantic Cod Research Track Assessment. The Council also will make recommendations on recreational measures for Gulf of Maine cod and Gulf of Maine haddock for the 2022 fishing year.
THREE MEETING OUTLOOK: A copy of the New England Council’s Three Meeting Outlook is available HERE.
COUNCIL MEETING QUESTIONS: Anyone with questions prior to or during the Council meeting should contact Janice Plante at (607) 592-4817, jplante@nefmc.org.
January 24, 2022 — Recently introduced COVID-19 vaccine mandates for truck drivers moving goods across the US and Canadian borders has sparked an outcry from truckers in both countries, threatening to impact already strained supply chains for fresh products, including seafood.
Canadian border authorities began refusing entry to unvaccinated American truckers after an order came into force on Jan. 15.
At the US border crossing, vaccine mandates for south-bound truckers are expected to come into force Jan. 22.
Drivers arriving at the US border not in compliance with the mandate could face the refusal of entry into the US, including having their trucks returned to Canada.
It is estimated that as many as 22,000 Canadian truck drivers and 16,000 US truck drivers may be prevented from crossing by mandates imposed in both countries.
Read the full story at Intrafish
January 24, 2022 — Robust U.S. demand for goods and ongoing transportation and logistical challenges will result in continued supply-chain challenges through the rest of the year, according to economists from Wells Fargo and Rabobank.
Speaking at the 2022 National Fisheries Institute Global Seafood Market Conference, Wells Fargo Senior Economist Tim Quinlan said strong retail sales in the United States, driven by rising wages and government stimulus, kept demand for goods high through 2021, putting pressure on the import market to keep pace. But delays due to COVID-19-related transportation slowdowns, workforce shortages, and lack of competition in the shipping industry prevented supply chains from catching up with demand, and delays will continue for the foreseeable future, Quinlan said.
Read the full story at SeafoodSource
January 24, 2022 — Things were looking up for Alaska’s seafood industry in many ways in 2021. More people around the world took to buying and cooking seafood at home and seafood prices went up statewide.
But the industry is still struggling with problems brought on and exacerbated by COVID-19, like supply chain issues and mitigation costs. That’s according to a new report from the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute, the state’s seafood marketing arm.
“Our industry is still facing a lot of the challenges it faced both at the start of the pandemic in 2020 and even before that,” said Ashley Heimbigner, communications director for the institute.
She said this year’s report scrutinized numbers from 2019, since 2020 was such an anomaly.
January 21, 2022 — Restaurant operators face significant challenges – especially finding enough employees – but have pent-up dining demand in their favor, according to B. Hudson Riehle, senior vice president of the National Restaurant Association Research and Knowledge Group.
Restaurants’ labor costs are running at the highest rate in more than 40 years, Riehle said at the National Fisheries Institute’s Global Seafood Market Conference (GSMC) in Orlando, Florida, U.S.A., on Wednesday, 19 January.
January 20, 2022 — Historically, conversations around logistics didn’t always reach the top level of the seafood industry’s decision-making hierarchy, but in the past two years, that has changed.
A Global Seafood Market Conference (GSMC) panel on Tuesday, 18 January, examined how logistics became top-of-mind for seafood executives, and how the COVID-19 pandemic has decimated the industry’s ability to use forecasting for business-planning purposes.
Read the full story at SeafoodSource
January 19, 2022 — The following was released by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council:
The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council’s next meeting will be held Tuesday, February 8 – Wednesday, February 9, 2022. Due to concerns about the continued spread of COVID-19, this meeting will be conducted entirely by webinar. A portion of the meeting will be conducted jointly with the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s ISFMP Policy Board
Agenda and Briefing Materials: A detailed agenda is available here. Briefing documents and presentations will be posted on the February 2022 Meeting Page as they become available. Most briefing materials will be posted by January 28, 2022.
Public Comments: Oral public testimony will be accepted on all major agenda items. Written comments must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. on Wednesday, January 26, 2022 to be included in the briefing book or by 5:00 p.m. on Thursday, February 3, 2022 to be posted with the supplemental meeting materials. Written comments may be submitted using the online comment form linked below or via email, mail, or fax (see this page for details). Comments submitted after February 3 may only be submitted using the online form.
•February 2022 Public Comment Form
Webinar: Webinar connection instructions will be posted on the meeting page at least two weeks prior to the meeting.
Questions? Contact Mary Sabo, msabo@mafmc.org, (302) 526-5261.
January 13, 2022 — We’ve come to the end of another year filled with uncertainty, with no sign of predictability on the horizon. No one is really sure what the new year will bring. Stability has been hard for Canadians to come by, and it’s something that decision-makers and leaders in both government and industry need to prioritize immediately to incite recovery.
In 2022, Canadian decision-makers are going to have to start implementing serious COVID-19 recovery measures as the pandemic continues to stretch on. The Blue Economy Strategy is an initiative that offers significant recovery opportunities to grow the Canadian economy. While the Blue Economy mandate was put forth by the federal government prior to the pandemic, it has been reinforced in the new mandate letter given to new Fisheries and Oceans Canada Minister Joyce Murray.
Read the full story at SeafoodSource