Saving Seafood

US restaurant industry fears rescue package falling short

July 27, 2021 — Through the past year-and-a-half, the U.S. government issued hundreds of billions of dollars in rescue funding for companies facing difficulties due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But its efforts have come under criticism from those who feel their businesses were unfairly excluded from the rescue programs and from entities that received less funding than their competitors.

In the latest round of the Restaurant Revitalization Fund passed by U.S. Congress and administered by the Small Business Administration, many large U.S. restaurant groups received grants of more than USD 1 million (EUR 845,000). New York City’s Momofuku Restaurant Group received USD 6.8 million (EUR 5.7 million) and Peter Luger Steakhouse took in USD 5 million (EUR 4.2 million). An analysis by The Counter, an independent and nonprofit news outlet, found 5 percent of RRF awardees received 40 percent of the program’s funding total.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Demand for seafood outstripping supply in China

July 27, 2021 — There are signs that China’s economy is cooling, as economic data for the second quarter of 2021 showed China’s GDP growth slowed due to slower state-led investment and weaker consumption growth. China’s exports in Q2 2021 rose 20 percent, but higher prices for oil and other imports are eroding China’s strong trade balance.

Meanwhile, seafood prices are soaring across the country. Wholesale prices for freshwater seafood surged 20 percent year-on-year in the first half of 2021 in China, according to data published by the National Bureau of Statistics. The climb in prices is 13.1 percentage points higher than the rise seen in the first half of 2020 and has added 0.12 to China’s overall consumer price index (CPI). The overall seafood price index was up 17.2 percent in the first six months, suggesting tightened supply.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Alaskan Scientists Continue Humpback Research as Whale Watching Industry Aims to Rebound

July 26, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Juneau, Alaska is one of the most popular whale watching tourism destinations in the world. Roughly 1.3 million tourists visited the city in 2019 via cruise ship, and more than 330,000 of those visitors participated in local whale watching trips during their port-of-call.

In 2020, cruise ships did not visit Juneau due to COVID-19, and whale watching companies lost a majority of their business. This provided a rare opportunity for scientists to study humpback whale behavior and health in the absence of vessel traffic and heavy whale watching tourism.

Heidi Pearson of the University of Alaska Southeast partnered with Shannon Atkinson of the University of Alaska Fairbanks and NOAA scientists Suzie Teerlink and John Moran to collect baseline data during this unusual time. Their research will help us understand how changes in vessel activity potentially impact whale behavior and health.

The scientists are currently in the second year of the study. Field crews from the UK’s BBC visited Juneau during last year’s field season to collect footage of the collaborative research project that they have now compiled into a featurette that is being circulated around the globe.

Read the full release here

A Day in the Life of a Maine Lobsterman

July 26, 2021 — The next time you snooze your alarm clock at a very modest 8 am, think of Mike Sargent. Before you pour your first cup of coffee in the morning or maybe even get out of bed, this fourth-generation lobsterman has already traveled at least a dozen miles off the shore of Steuben, Maine and hauled in a few hundred pounds of lobster.

As one of the lobstermen powering the state’s $1 billion lobstering industry, Sargent works sunup to sundown to bring this seafood delicacy to people across the country. The fisherman has 800 traps—the maximum a commercial fisherman can own in the state of Maine—covering the ocean floor where he collects lobster about five or six days a week in the summer months.

Like most Maine fishermen, Sargent says he was “kind of born into it.” He got a student lobstering license at the age of 10 and started fishing with his dad, and ever since, Sargent has spent summers on the water while others were feasting on lobster dressed up on rolls and boiled at backyard parties. He does manage to sneak in a few lobster feasts here and there. “We’’ll have big family clambakes and I probably eat it three or four times throughout the summer,” Sargent says, but adds that some of his fellow fisherman refuse to eat lobster because they’re surrounded by it day in and day out.

The days are long and the work is taxing, but after a year rocked by COVID-19 and uncertainty about the demand for lobster and the ability to go fishing, lobstermen like Sargent are grateful for a busy summer. “[Last year] was gnarly,” Sargent says. “A lot of people don’t realize, for all of us in these Northern communities, fishing is the lifeblood of this town. If I’m successful, the entire town is successful.”

Read the full story at Thrillist

Massachusetts Makes Millions More Available in Aid for Fishing Industry

July 26, 2021 — As the hard-hit Massachusetts fishing industry work to get back on its feet from the pandemic, the state Division of Marine Fisheries announced last week the release of another $23.8 million in CARES act money to assist with recovery efforts.

Grant applications have gone out to seafood processors, commercial fishermen, shellfish farmers, and for-hire recreational vessel owners, Gov. Charlie Baker said in announcing the second round of funding.

“The fishing and seafood industries are integral parts of the economy, history, and culture of Massachusetts, and have suffered significant losses during the Covid-19 pandemic,” the governor said. “We were pleased to coordinate the distribution of $28 million through the CARES Act last year and our administration remains dedicated to supporting these industries with this second round of federal relief funding.”

Four months ago the U.S. Secretary of Commerce announced an additional $255 million in fisheries assistance funding for states with coastal and marine fisheries negatively affected by Covid-19. Massachusetts received the third-highest allocation, after Alaska and Washington state.

Speaking to the Gazette by phone last week, Dan McKiernan, director of DMF, said Island seafood markets, charter and party boat operators, commercial oyster farmers, shellfishermen and commercial fishermen are all potential grant recipients. All were hit hard in the pandemic’s earliest months.

Read the full story at the Vineyard Gazette

North Carolina commercial fishermen landed less seafood in 2020

July 23, 2021 — Commercial fishermen sold nearly 20% less fish and shellfish to North Carolina seafood dealers in 2020, a decline from the previous year that’s being blamed on the state’s stay-at-home order brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, a state agency said Friday.

A news release from the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries says commercial fishermen sold 42.9 million pounds of fish and shellfish last year, a 19% decline from 2019 and about a 23% decrease from the previous five-year average.

The decline was linked to a 41.3% decrease in hard blue crab landings from 2019 that may have been partly due to impacts from COVID-19. The division said it heard from several fishermen who said they found it difficult to move blue crabs at the beginning of the state’s stay-at-home order when many restaurants were closed.

Read the full story at the Associated Press

Massachusetts Begins Sending Out Applications For Round 2 of Cares Act Fisheries Relief Funding

July 22, 2021 — Almost four months after the U.S. Secretary of Commerce announced the additional allocation of $255 million in fisheries assistance funding through the CARES Act, the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries is just starting the process of distributing the funds.

Massachusetts received the third largest amount in funding, having been allocated $23,632,530 for fisheries assistance.

Read the full story at Seafood News

California Current Fish Surveys Resume with 3-Month Assessment of Sardine, Anchovy, and Mackerel

July 22, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA Fisheries has begun an ambitious assessment of small pelagic fish reaching from the Canadian border to the southern tip of the Baja Peninsula, in cooperation with Mexico, which will help determine how many fish can be caught off the West Coast.

The COVID-19 pandemic had idled surveys for sardine, anchovy, and other species of small coastal pelagic species (CPS) off the West Coast since 2019. Small pelagic species are important ecologically and provide food for larger fish, such as tunas. The new assessment resumes regular CPS  surveys by collecting data from NOAA Ship Reuben Lasker, commercial fishing vessels equipped with acoustic technology, and autonomous Saildrones.

The Lasker left San Diego on July 6, becoming the centerpiece of the 3-month survey. It will cover thousands of miles in U.S., and Mexican waters. NOAA Fisheries scientists are coordinating efforts with federal fisheries agencies in Mexico and Canada, providing a science foundation for future decisions on fishing levels and seasons.

“Organizing and coordinating this survey was a tremendous feat of collaboration,” said Kristen Koch, Director of the Southwest Fisheries Science Center in La Jolla, which is leading the survey. “Collecting data across all three countries will provide a valuable foundation for management of these important transboundary species.”

The Lasker will survey coastal pelagic fish along transects in the California Current, quantifying the fish with echosounders. These instruments include an advanced new model that can for the first time also measure the velocities of fish as they swim relative to the ship. The measurements will help to understand whether and how fish respond to survey vessels and if those reactions affect the quality of data on the numbers and distributions of fish.

Read the full release here

Northeast US fisheries observer waiver fully ends

July 22, 2021 — An ongoing waiver of observer coverage for vessels in the U.S. Northeast has been terminated as COVID-19-related restrictions abate.

NOAA Fisheries initially released the observer waiver in June for vessels if an observer or monitor that is either fully vaccinated or has quarantined for the requisite amount of time is available. That waiver was put into place in March 2020 as COVID-19 became an increasing concern.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Seafood Expo Global set to revive global in-person industry events

July 22, 2021 — Seafood Expo Global/Seafood Processing Global is set to take place on 26 to 28 April, 2022, in Barcelona, Spain – the first time the event will be held in Spain and the first event since COVID-19 forced event closures in 2020.

According to even organizer Diversified Communications, participants that have already signed up for the event are looking forward to resuming shows as a means of strengthening business relations with partners. [Editor’s note: Diversified Communications also owns and operates SeafoodSource].

Read the full story at Seafood Source