April 14, 2020 — A group of more than 60 U.S. senators and representatives have signed a letter calling for China and other countries to shut down so-called “wet markets” where live wild animals are sold for human consumption.
Wet markets are found in many cities in China, and often feature seafood and other animals being sold alive to customers. A wet market in Wuhan is believed to have been the source of the COVID-19 virus that has killed more than 100,000 people globally since December 2019.
April 14, 2020 — The following was released by the Environmental Defense Fund:
The global COVID-19 pandemic gives us all pause about what the future holds. Our focus and attention are on all those hurt by this terrible disease. But for many of us, this is also a time of deep reflection about society and the world we’ll inhabit when this scourge is over. So for me, it’s also a moment to reflect on the prospects for the ocean, one of the planet’s fundamental life-support systems — making it vital to human health and well-being.
A just-released article in Nature, by Professor Carlos Duarte of King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in Saudi Arabia and colleagues, argues that the global ocean can once again return to abundance, rebounding from overfishing and pollution by 2050, if humanity puts its shoulder to the wheel and redoubles efforts across all types of threats. We emphatically agree.
Here, we dive into what such lofty ambitions might require, through one of the key lenses that Duarte and company identify: sustainable fishing.
First, peer-reviewed research shows very clearly that sustainable fisheries management works. That should come as no surprise. Our own work with University of California, Santa Barbara and others (Costello et al., 2016) modelling the world’s fisheries showed that the “upside” of informed and effective management rapidly outweighs the downside of unsustainable fishing (which would otherwise deplete more than 85% of fish populations). Our modelling shows that such management approaches would allow full rebuilding of most stocks (and total global fish abundance) in less than a decade — restoring fish as a valuable asset both for nature and human needs. This exciting finding was recently underscored by a deep and systemic analysis (Hilborn et al., 2020) showing that, in fact, when good management is put in place, fish and fisheries respond impressively.
April 13, 2020 — It didn’t make the nightly news, but Great Falls Aquaculture in western Massachusetts, USA, might have been the first seafood victim of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in the United States.
Most of the fish being raised in the company’s recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) facility in rural Turners Falls, Mass., are sold to live markets in major U.S. and Canadian cities, like New York, Boston, Toronto and Vancouver. The fish are typically raised to about 1 pound in size, perfect for whole-roasted individual servings.
Don’t worry – the fish are all alive and safe. But the fact that they’re all still in the tanks is a problem. Shortly after Chinese New Year celebrations in late January, the market for live barramundi (Lates calcarifer), known as the Asian sea bass, simply up and vanished.
“We were in contact with our Chinese customers on a daily business. Things were slowing down, family members weren’t coming home, they weren’t buying as much. They were nervous,” company owner Keith Wilda told the Advocate in late March. “Then, second week of February, people stopped going to Chinese restaurants in New York City.”
Great Falls was selling 23,000 pounds of barramundi per week before the COVID-19 outbreak. “Next week, I don’t know that I’ll even sell a fish,” he said, with 945,000 hungry barramundi currently swimming in indoor tanks. It’s a living inventory that reminds him of the tens of thousands of dollars it costs each month to operate, in energy and heating costs alone.
April 13, 2020 — Organizers of a government-sponsored shrimp exhibition in Vietnam have decided to reschedule the event for a second time over fears of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Vietshrimp Aquaculture International Fair 2020, sponsored by Vietnam’s General Department of Fisheries and the Can Tho City government, will now take place from 7 to 9 October in Can Tho, in the Mekong Delta area.
April 13, 2020 — Like other Alaska commercial fishing hubs, the Prince William Sound town of Cordova is wrestling with the question of how — or if — it can safely host its summer salmon fishing season in the shadow of the coronavirus pandemic.
But in Cordova, the timeline for decision making is especially tight: The famous Copper River drift gillnet season, known for prized fish that fetch high prices and high demand across America, is the earliest salmon fishery to start in the state, usually kicking off the first or second week of May.
Thousands of fishermen and processing and support workers are expected to enter Cordova, a community with about 2,500 year-round residents and a hospital without any ICU beds. Some residents have called on officials to restrict travel into town, seeing it as the best way to keep the new coronavirus from spreading.
In Cordova, more than 400 people have signed a petition calling on the mayor, Clay Koplin, to restrict all travel into the town except for medical personnel, law enforcement, child protective services and cargo. A website, Keep Cordova Safe, includes a growing vault of open letters by community members making the case for why Cordova should halt an influx of summer workers.
April 13, 2020 — On a normal spring morning, when March has segued to April and legions of snook scurry in shallow water near robust mangroves, Tom Campbell’s boat and schedule would be packed.
His 24-foot Canyon Bay with the half tower and 300-horsepower engine would be hauling corporate types, locals or even the last wave of spring-breakers across flats and beneath bridges. He’d be baiting one hook after another with pilchards, suggesting where customers should cast for optimal chance of pulling in that trophy redfish, or at least that evening’s entrée.
“This time of year, it’s not uncommon to run a dozen (charters) a week,” Campbell said.
Yet on this cloudless, cool morning, Campbell’s boat is empty as he idles toward a vacant ramp at Maximo Park in south St. Petersburg. A blissful day like this normally would be bountiful for him and the customers, who normally pay $400 (per two anglers) for a half day and $700 for eight hours.
April 13, 2020 — The COVID-19 outbreak will impact women to a worse degree than men and deepen existing gender inequalities, according to a new analysis by WSI, The International Organization for Women in the Seafood Industry.
In addition to playing a major role in the global healthcare and care-giving workforce, women are also a key part of the food industry, and are currently working in more difficult circumstances than ever before, to maintain food security during the pandemic, the organization said.
April 13, 2020 — Seafood companies across the United States have stepped up with donations of food, personal protective equipment, soap, and other items in response to the coronavirus crisis that is gripping the nation.
Sealaska, Bumble Bee, Tampa Bay Fisheries, Handy Seafood, Verlasso, and Diversified Communications are just a few companies in the seafood industry that have made efforts to help their communities in the ongoing health crisis that has killed more than 20,400 citizens, sickened half-a-million, and left practically the entire country with limited access to food and other necessities of life.
April 13, 2020 — The final agenda for the New England Fishery Management Council’s webinar-only meeting Tuesday and Wednesday has several items of significant interest to local groundfishermen.
On Tuesday, the council will hear a recommendation from its Executive Committee that it postpone final action on the contentious groundfish Amendment 23 to set at-sea monitoring levels because of the impact of the spread of the novel coronavirus and COVID-19. That council had anticipated taking final action at its June meeting.
“While it is possible that restrictions on public gatherings may be lifted and in-person meetings may be allowed by late May, it is not unreasonable to expect interested parties can devote their attention to commenting on this amendment over the next two-three months,” Council Chairman John Quinn wrote in a memo to council members.
April 13, 2020 — In “The Godfather,” they go to the mattresses. In the age of COVID-19, we go to the webinar.
The New England Fishery Management Council will sail into uncharted waters Tuesday and Wednesday when it conducts its first-ever, full council meeting solely by webinar. All hands — council members, staff, stakeholders, media, and the public — only will be able to participate remotely.
The council was set to meet in Mystic, Connecticut, on April 14 to 16, but travel restrictions and other health precautions associated with the novel coronavirus and the spread of COVID-19 precluded using the usual on-site format. It also postponed less-pressing agenda items to condense the meeting into two days.
“It’s been hectic,” said Janice Plante, spokeswoman for the council. “We’ve been developing more ways for more people to participate in the webinar. We know that many fishermen probably aren’t used to attending meetings by webinar, as we’ve added extra instruction and help.”