Saving Seafood

Pacific Fishery Management Council sets 2020 salmon seasons

April 13, 2020 — The following was released by the Pacific Fishery Management Council:

The Pacific Fishery Management Council has adopted ocean salmon season recommendations that provide recreational and commercial opportunities for most of the Pacific coast and achieve conservation goals for the numerous individual salmon stocks on the West Coast. Due to the COVID-19 social distancing requirements, all meetings associated with the decision were held via webinar for the first time in the Council’s history.

The recommendations will be forwarded to the National Marine Fisheries Service for approval by May 6, 2020.

“This year’s package includes some very restrictive seasons in both commercial and recreational fisheries along much of the coast. Uncertainties associated with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on markets, angler effort, and critical catch sampling, coupled with low Chinook and coho forecasts, made structuring the fisheries even more challenging this year,” said Council Chair Phil Anderson.

The Council heard reports from commercial, recreational, and tribal representatives about the challenges created by the pandemic, including difficulties in selling seafood to reduced markets, recreational fishery closures to protect public health, needed access to traditional food sources for tribal communities, and the inability to plan for the near future.

Read the full release here

Seafood industry looks to retail for a lifeline as sales plummet

April 10, 2020 — Dive Brief:

  • As statewide mandates force many restaurants and foodservice operations to temporarily shut down​, the seafood industry is severely hurting. Fishermen and dealers are working on looking for new markets to sell in and have asked the federal government for assistance.
  • Bert Jongerden, general manager of a Maine auction house​ Portland Fish Exchange, told the Associated Press that the market for higher-end products like scallops and lobster is “pretty much nonexistent.” ​The Exchange typically moves up to 60,000 pounds of fish per week but has plummeted to less than a third of that.
  • To get more consumers to eat seafood, a new group of 19 organizations called the The Seafood4Health Action Coalition ​launched a consumer-facing campaign called “Eat Seafood, America!” this week to push consumers to stay healthy by eating more seafood and therefore boosting the U.S. seafood economy​, according to an email sent to Food Dive.

Dive Insight:

Despite the rise in shoppers stockpiling food across the U.S., the seafood industry is in turmoil. Distribution, processing and fishing has slowed as prices are dropping and customers are dwindling. ​With restaurants closed, where seafood usually retains high prices, many of the country’s fisheries have reported sales dropping as much as 95% and thousands of commercial fishers are at risk of bankruptcy, The Washington Post reported.

About 68% of the $102.2 billion that consumers paid for U.S. fishery products in 2017 was spent in foodservice​. The lack in demand has sent prices free falling for a variety of products and has even caused some to stop fishing until the outbreak subsides. ​In March, the wholesale price for 1.25-pound lobsters was 33% lower than it was in 2018, according to Urner Barry data cited by the Associated Press.

Read the full story at Grocery Dive

Alaska Seafood Industry Launches Massive Effort to Fish the Bay Without Spreading the Virus

April 10, 2020 — Bristol Bay’s processors and fishermen have been working non-stop for the past several weeks to establish protocols that will allow this summer’s sockeye season to happen. Eleven major companies have announced they will process this year and as of today, seven have submitted detailed plans to avoid the spread of COVID-19.

The conditions the processors and fishermen are facing are anathema to any business — no one knows how bad the COVID-19 spread will be in June when the fishery opens, or in July when harvesting is at its peak. No one knows how lethal it will be during the summer in Bristol Bay, which in recent years has been significantly warmer for both humans and salmon.

Read the full story at Seafood News

FAO’s guidelines for human rights in fishing delayed after pushback

April 10, 2020 — Baseline international standards for human rights, labor conditions, and social responsibility in the seafood industry will have to wait.

Countries pushed back against draft guidance on social responsibility in fish value chains developed by the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) when it was first officially presented in November in Vigo, Spain. As a result, FAO is spending the next year-plus creating a scoping paper that will more explicitly spell out what should be included in the guidance.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

NEFMC April 14-15, 2020 – By Webinar – Listen Live, View Documents

April 10, 2020 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:

The New England Fishery Management Council will hold a two-day meeting by webinar on Tuesday, April 14 and Wednesday, April 15, 2020. The public is invited to listen live and provide input during designated opportunities for public comment.

IMPORTANT:  This notice contains more information than usual.  Please read carefully and especially take note of:

WHY IS THE MEETING TAKING PLACE BY WEBINAR:  The Council cannot hold an in-person meeting due to travel restrictions and public safety guidelines associated with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

START TIME:  The webinar will be activated at 8:00 a.m. each day.  However, please note that the meeting will begin at 9:00 a.m. on Tuesday and 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday.  The webinar will end shortly after the Council adjourns on Tuesday and after the groundfish public hearing is concluded on Wednesday.

WEBINAR REGISTRATION:  Online access to the meeting is available at  Listen Live.  There is no charge to access the meeting through this webinar.

CALL-IN OPTION:  To listen by telephone, dial +1 (213) 929-4232.  The access code is 771-577-358.  Please be aware that if you dial in, your regular phone charges will apply.

HELPFUL INSTRUCTIONS:  Here’s what you need to know to successfully join the webinar and provide public comment.

  • 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.
  • Here is the updated “Remote Participation Guide” with instructions for how to provide oral comments during the webinar meeting.
  • Having trouble with the webinar?  We have a Help Line!  Our staff is only a phone call or email away.  Click HERE for assistance once the Council meeting is underway.

PUBLIC TRAINING WEBINAR:  The Council will conduct a Public Training Webinar on Monday, April 13 at 10:30 a.m. in order to: (1) walk through the steps for how the full Council meeting will be conducted; and (2) show participants how to speak and be heard on the webinar during designated public comment opportunities.  Join us for this practice run!

AGENDA:  The detailed agenda and meeting materials are available on the Council’s website atNEFMC April 14-15, 2020 Webinar.  Additional documents will be posted as they become available.
 
EMERGENCY ACTION:  In light of the unforeseen COVID-19 pandemic and the economic, social, and public health consequences that are rapidly unfolding, the Council will be discussing several requests for emergency action during the meeting.  Section 305(c) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA) authorizes the Secretary of Commerce to implement emergency regulations to address fishery emergencies.
  • Scallops – The Council will consider requests for secretarial emergency action that involve potential carryover of certain fishing year 2019 allocations into fishing year 2020.
  • Groundfish – The Council will consider requesting secretarial emergency action to allow an increase in carryover of unused 2019 groundfish annual catch limits into the 2020 fishing year.
COMMENTS:  The deadline for submitting written comments for consideration at this meeting was8:00 a.m. on Thursday, April 9, 2020.
 
GROUNDFISH AMENDMENT 23 PUBLIC HEARING:  The Council will hold a public hearing on Amendment 23 to the Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management Plan on Wednesday, April 15, 2020 at 4:00 p.m.  This amendment will adjust the groundfish monitoring program to improve the accuracy and accountability of catch reporting in the commercial groundfish fishery.  The Council will adjourn its regular meeting for the day on April 15 and use the same webinar information to conduct the groundfish public hearing.
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.

Fishing fleets say NOAA observers are too risky amid pandemic

April 10, 2020 — Fishing fleets in the U.S. are taking a gamble during this public health crisis by pursuing their catch despite swooning customer demand, a hazy future and the risk crew members could contract the coronavirus.

While commercial fishermen are checking temperatures, wearing gloves and self-isolating, they are looking to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to step in and waive a federal requirement to carry independent observers on trips to sea. They say the agency has been slow to react, instead issuing a patchwork of waivers.

To gather scientific data, track species and keep watch on the industry, NOAA manages an observer program — a network of specialists who climb aboard ships and document what they see and hear.

But as the virus and COVID-19, the disease it causes, upend daily life in the U.S. and abroad, people in the industry say they are worried about continuing to place potentially infected observers on ships in close proximity with crew members, who already operate in tight quarters.

“It’s virtually impossible to maintain six-foot separation,” said Mike Conroy, executive director of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations, headquartered in San Francisco. Deckhands often work shoulder-to-shoulder to haul in their catch, eat in tight galleys and rest bunked a few feet apart. “You can’t really sleep in different spots.”

Read the full story at Roll Call

Saving Seafood Launches COVID-19 Response and Aid Information Portal

April 9, 2020 — We are pleased to announce Saving Seafood’s COVID-19 Response and Aid Information portal, available on the Saving Seafood website at coronavirus.savingseafood.org.

The two-way portal will provide curated and up-to-date information to the domestic seafood harvesting and processing community, as well as serve as a way for us to collect concerns from industry members, and get those concerns to appropriate entities at the Federal level.

As we have been doing since the declaration of a national emergency using our existing Saving Seafood member email lists, we will send out updates as we receive them from the White House, Congress, the Department of Commerce, Department of the Treasury, FEMA, DHS and other agencies. And we will add, modify, or update the information on this page.

If you would like to receive these updates by email, you may add you email address via the form at the top of the portal page.

We have heard from White House, Administration, Congressional offices and others who have asked that we keep them informed about any questions or concerns from the industry. This page will collect information received from members of the fishing industry, so we can provide that data to staff at relevant agencies and offices.

We will ensure that information sent out and posted here is reviewed and edited daily so that it is applicable to all types of businesses involved in seafood harvesting and processing in all regions of the U.S.

We will also include information that is relevant on a more local level, as we certainly are aware that the seafood industry and fisheries across the country are diverse. We want to work with appropriate state and local agencies to ensure that we have their updates as well.

Our friends at Massport — the Massachusetts Port Authority — and the New Bedford Port Authority were the first to agree to be partners in the effort, but since then numerous local agencies, companies and organizations have joined the effort. If your locale is not yet listed in the state area of the page, please reach out to your local/state agency that you feel would be our best partner in this effort and [1] introduce us or re-aquatint them with us, and [2] ask them if they’d partner with us (and you) on this project, and [3] let us know who you think we should work with in your region.

If your company or organization or agency is willing to be a partner in this effort, please contact derek@stoveboat.com to let us know and send a logo.

We would like to thank Pamela Lafreniere and Ed Anthes-Washburn at the Port of New Bedford, and Gordon Carr at Massport for helping us get this off the ground.

One month into coronavirus shutdowns, New Jersey fishermen search for new customers

April 9, 2020 — Weeks after the New York region’s fresh seafood market suddenly froze with government-mandated restaurant closings to control coronavirus, fishermen, docks and dealers are slowly finding new ways to get fresh fish to consumers.

“It’s a sustainable, natural, healthy resource,” said Richard Brecka, who owns the Shore Fresh Seafood Market at the Fishermen’s Dock Cooperative in Point Pleasant Beach, N.J. “We’ve got 13,000 pounds for tomorrow.”

Brecka’s crew was busily cutting black sea bass Wednesday afternoon, preparing for another open-air seafood sale near the dock, which was hit hard by the late March collapse of New York market prices. The first event April 4 attracted enough of a crowd – maintaining the required 6-foot social distancing among customers – to sell out 300 pounds of scallops in an hour.

“It’s coming back up” as retail customers seek out sources for local seafood, said Brecka. But the retail shop can handle only a portion of what the Point Pleasant fishermen can land during good weather, he added.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

A Direct To Consumer Seafood Business Called Kitchen Catch Is Supporting Fishermen As Restaurants Remain Closed

April 9, 2020 — Ren Ostry has been in the seafood world her entire adult life, and over the years she’s noticed a need for fundamental change in the supply chain. She started her business, Kitchen Catch, to see if a different seafood distribution model could catch on. “I felt like the system we were working in wasn’t set up to do anything sustainable,” said Ostry, “so we are really about deconstructing one of the oldest industries in the modern world and rebuilding it with the true values that can be found in the food justice movement.”

Kitchen Catch is a sustainable seafood subscription service based in Los Angeles. “We operate like a CSF, a community supported fishery, where all of our customers come together to support one fisherman a week,” Ostry said. Kitchen Catch is based on supply, not demand, so whatever comes in your Kitchen Catch box is what a fisherman caught that day, even if it’s not a popular species. “We source fish that people maybe have never heard of or tried before in an attempt to better support our local fishermen,” said Ostry

Change can be hard for people when it comes to food purchasing and preparation, but Kitchen Catch been successful in getting consumers to think outside the box and try new species. “We like to think of opening your Kitchen Catch box as not a replacement for opening a can of tuna but as a commitment to really challenging the way we look at proteins,” Ostry said. They also have a kosher fish only option for those looking to avoid products like shellfish, squid and shark. Recipes come in a weekly newsletter to provide guidance for those who aren’t familiar with the species in their box.

Read the full story at Forbes

Crab pickers. Landscapers. Seasonal migrant workers who come to the US could be extremely vulnerable to coronavirus

April 9, 2020 — Thousands of people are recruited to Maryland each year to become the crab pickers, landscapers, caregivers and others whose work is essential for maintenance of the state’s seasonal economy.

While some H-2B visa holders will be out of work due to not being designated essential in the fight against COVID-19, others are part of essential supply chains that must continue to function. But at a time when the U.S. government is warning against all international travel, these frontline workers are risking their health and finances without the same protections Americans are afforded, migrant workers’ rights experts say.

“It’s an illness attacking everyone and anyone,” said Sulma Guzmán, policy director for Centro de los Derechos del Migrante Inc., a Maryland migrant rights advocacy organization. “To be a migrant worker that is leaving their home communities, their family, and coming to the U.S. to work, medical catastrophe would be very, very bad.”

About 450 visa-holding workers are needed by Maryland seafood processors this year, but employers have worried federal visa caps would keep them from getting enough workers. Those who still chose to come to the U.S. started their six-month work contracts April 1.

Read the full story at the Asbury Park Press