Saving Seafood

Senators Markey and Warren, and Reps. Keating and Moulton Commend Inclusion of Additional $300 Million in Fisheries Disaster Assistance in Coronavirus Relief Package

January 4, 2021 — The following was released by The Office of Senator Ed Markey (D-Mass.):

Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), a member of the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), and Representatives William R. Keating (MA-09) and Seth Moulton (MA-08) joined in expressing support for the inclusion of $300 million in national fisheries disaster assistance as part of the $900 billion coronavirus relief legislation that passed at the end of the year. Massachusetts has previously been allocated $28 million in fisheries assistance in Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES) Act funding.

“The Massachusetts fishing and seafood industries aren’t just part of the Bay State’s historic and cultural heritage—they are vital contributors to our working waterfronts and coastal economy,” said the Massachusetts lawmakers.“These industries have been severely impacted by the pandemic and economic crisis and deserve to be included in relief efforts. We will continue to fight for this funding to be distributed swiftly and equitably to Massachusetts businesses and then supplanted with the additional support that the fishing and seafood industries need.”

Massachusetts lawmakers, led by Senators Markey and Warren, have championed the allocation of financial aid to fishery participants. In March 2020, Senators Markey and Warren, and Alaska Senators Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan called on Senate leadership to include support for the fishing industry in coronavirus economic relief packages. and secured a $20 million USDA procurement of Atlantic seafood. Also in March 2020, Reps. Keating, Richard Neal (MA-01), James P. McGovern (MA-02), and Stephen F. Lynch (MA-08) called on House leadership to include fishing disaster assistance in relief packages.  In April 2020, Senators Markey and Warren led a letter urging the Department of Commerce and NOAA to act swiftly, equitably, and transparently in allocating fisheries disaster assistance funding.  Also in April, Senators Markey and Warren led a letter demanding immediate release of federal guidance on how fishery participants could access the $300 million in CARES Act funds, and identifying bureaucratic inefficiencies that were behind the failure to issue this guidance in a timely manner. In June 2020, Senators Markey and Warren called on Senate leadership to include additional fisheries assistance in the next coronavirus relief package.

Second COVID-19 relief bill includes money for fisheries

December 31, 2020 — The COVID-19 relief bill signed into law this week includes hundreds of millions of dollars more for the fishing industry.

That legislation appropriates nearly $900 billion for COVID-19 aid and was part of the consolidated measure passed by Congress this month and signed by the president this week.

It will mean another payment of $300 million for fishery assistance nationwide. That mirrors the amount in the first stimulus bill from earlier in the year. Alaska Republican Dan Sullivan says the money will help Alaskans in the industry.

“Of course the Alaska fishing community in my view needs this very significantly, which is why we put it in the CARES Act originally — and this is just a plus up to that exact program,” Sullivan said in a teleconference with reporters before Christmas.

Alaska permit holders and companies could see a total of $50 million from the CARES Act in March, and this new bill will mean additional payments.

Read the full story at KTOO

Humpback Whale Season in Hawaiʻi is in Full Swing Right Now

December 21, 2020 — November is when the koholā (humpback whales) return to Hawaiʻi to breed, birth and nurse calves. An estimated 8,000 to 12,000 of the protected marine mammals migrate from Alaska to the Islands’ warm, shallow waters through April, when they head back north again.

This year, though, the first North Pacific humpback whale sighting was reported on Oct. 8 off Maui, according to the Pacific Whale Foundation—earlier than normal. Researchers at the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary, a 13,700-square-mile sanctuary created in 1992 to protect whales in their preferred habitat around the Islands, are getting reports of whale sightings from around the state.

They are also hopeful that total numbers of whales that will be counted this season—now through March 2021—will trend upward. In 2016, numbers dropped nearly 50%, likely due to a lack of food. That was the same year the koholā were removed from the endangered species list.

The COVID-19 pandemic may affect the whale count, too, with fewer whale tours running and fewer visitors in the Islands.

“We can say that (in 2019-20), whale abundance and singing activity was the highest in about five years, indicating that whale numbers in Hawaiʻi have been increasing,” said Marc Lammers, research coordinator with the humpback whale sanctuary, in a webinar he presented last month on the sanctuary’s website.

Read the full story at Hawaii Magazine

Second COVID-19 relief bill includes money for fisheries

December 30, 2020 — The COVID-19 relief bill signed into law this week includes hundreds of millions of dollars more for the fishing industry.

That legislation appropriates nearly $900 billion for COVID-19 aid and was part of the consolidated measure passed by Congress this month and signed by the president this week.

It will mean another payment of $300 million for fishery assistance nationwide. That mirrors the amount in the first stimulus bill from earlier in the year. Alaska Republican Dan Sullivan says the money will help Alaskans in the industry.

“Of course the Alaska fishing community in my view needs this very significantly, which is why we put it in the CARES Act originally — and this is just a plus up to that exact program,” Sullivan said in a teleconference with reporters before Christmas.

Alaska permit holders and companies could see a total of $50 million from the CARES Act in March, and this new bill will mean additional payments.

Read the full story at KTOO

MARYLAND: Commercial fishermen affected by the coronavirus pandemic have two months to apply for up to $4,000 in CARES Act funding

December 30, 2020 — Seafood producers who lost more than 35% of their revenue due to COVID-19 have two months left to apply to the Department of Natural Resources for financial assistance.

The federal government has allocated Maryland $4,125,000 in CARES Act funding to assist fisheries during the pandemic. About $3 million will be given in direct payments, and the remainder will pay for seafood marketing and business support, according to The Department of Natural Resources.

Secretary Jeannie Haddaway-Riccio said in a statement Tuesday the payments will hopefully help seafood producers weather tough market conditions.

“We will continue working with industry on long-term strategies to recover and strengthen Maryland’s markets post-pandemic,” she said.

Read the full story at The Baltimore Sun

Due to COVID-19, Drone Survey Powers NOAA’s Bering Cod Assessment

December 30, 2020 — Every other year, NOAA Fisheries conducts an acoustic-trawl survey from crewed research vessels to measure pollock abundance in Alaska’s eastern Bering Sea. As a result of COVID-19, many research surveys were canceled, and we weren’t able to conduct our walleye pollock surveys. Data collected from these surveys are critical to manage pollock, which comprise the nation’s largest commercial fishery.

NOAA Fisheries scientist Alex De Robertis at the Alaska Fisheries Science Center developed a contingency plan: conducting the survey with saildrone wind- and solar-powered ocean-going robots. The hope was to collect some data despite the vessel survey cancellation.

For the past several years, De Robertis and colleagues at the Alaska Fisheries Science Center have been working with partners at NOAA Research’s Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory,  Saildrone and Kongsberg. They use uncrewed surface vehicles equipped with low-power sonar (acoustic) sensors to conduct research in the Bering and Chukchi Seas. The pollock survey contingency plan was an opportunity to apply what they had learned to collect data for resource management.

Read the full story at The Maritime Executive

Survey shows extent of covid-19 impact to East Coast fishermen

December 30, 2020 — Up to 40 percent of fishermen from Maine to North Carolina suspended their operations in spring 2020 as the covid-19 pandemic collapsed the seafood market, according to new findings from a Rutgers University study.

“A lot of what we found was that in the early months of the pandemic a lot of fishermen were not fishing, or waiting it out,” said Sarah Lindley Smith, a post-doctoral research associate in the Department of Human Ecology at Rutgers, a longtime center of research into the social and community effects of changing fisheries.

An online survey in spring 2020 brought responses from 258 Northeast fishermen and the results are published in the science journal PLOS One. Covering the critical early pandemic weeks of March to June 2020, the researchers also looked at landings reports and found that catches for some species like squid and scallops declined compared with the same time period of previous years.

But some other landings, including black sea bass and haddock, were on par or even higher than earlier years. Alongside their survey results, the researchers say that suggests some fishermen kept fishing hard even as they earned less.

“Groundfishermen were more likely to continue fishing” than those in other fisheries, said Smith. Even as the dominant restaurant market – accounting for 70 percent of U.S. seafood sales – vanished in those early months, local retail demand especially in New England helped keep crews working to find cod and haddock.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

New Dietary Guidelines Recommends Moms & Kids Eat More Seafood for Brain Health

December 29, 2020 — The following was released by the Seafood Nutrition Partnership:

The Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2020-2025 was unveiled today. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) provide science-based advice on what to eat and drink to promote health, reduce risk of chronic disease, and meet nutrient needs. This ninth edition is the first time guidance is given for infants and toddlers under age 2, and the recommendations are that seafood is important for children’s brain development.

“Seafood intake during pregnancy is recommended, as it is associated with favorable measures of cognitive development in young children.” Starting at about 6 months of age, the DGA says to introduce iron- and zinc-rich foods, such as fish and shellfish. Seafood is an important source of “iron, zinc, protein, choline, and long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids … needed for the rapid brain development that occurs through the infant’s first 2 years of life,” states the DGA. “Some types of fish such as salmon and trout are also natural sources of vitamin D.”

This follows the findings from the 2020 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee Scientific Report, released in July 2020, that emphasized the need for women before, during and after pregnancy, and children beginning at 6 months of age to eat more seafood.

For the women and the general public, the seafood consumption recommendations remain the same as from the previous DGA 2015-2020 of 8 to 12 ounces per week, now based on daily caloric intake.

Read the full release here

New 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines Reveal Americans of All Ages Need to Eat More Seafood

December 29, 2020 — The following was released by the National Fisheries Institute:

The United States Departments of Agriculture (USDA) and Health and Human Services (HHS) 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) highlight the benefits of eating seafood beginning at around age 6 months and continuing through all stages of life. The latest DGA recommend Americans of all ages—particularly kids and pregnant women—eat seafood at least twiceweekly, a goal that 94% of children and 80% of adults currently do not meet.

Versatile and convenient, seafood provides numerous health benefits throughout the entire life span. The DGA encourage that adults and children eat seafood 2-3 times each week for the following benefits:

  • Seafood consumed regularly during pregnancy can help with brain development in babies.
  • Seafood starting at around age 6 months provides critical nutrients like iron, omega-3s and choline that support brain development and immunity for babies and toddlers.  Additionally, starting seafood early can also help shape lifelong taste preferences, as well as healthful food choices.
  • For adults, seafood provides protein, calcium and vitamin D, which help strengthen bones and maintain muscle mass.

“The biggest takeaway for me from the updated Guidelines is to start serving seafood early,” said Rima Kleiner, MS, RD, registered dietitian with the National Fisheries Institute. “Learning to love seafood as a child is the gift that keeps on giving because of its lifetime of health benefits.  Now, we need to get to work inspiring people with delicious ideas for how to eat more fish.”

USDA recommends families start simple when working toward meeting the new Dietary Guidelines by merely keeping seafood on hand. “Seafood, such as canned salmon, tuna or crab and frozen fish, is quick and easy to prepare,” USDA advises, a point particularly relevant during the pandemic when grocery runs may be fewer and farther between.

Another resource for family-friendly seafood meal ideas is NFI’s award-winning Dish on Fish blog and the newly-launched free e-cookbook, “Everyday Seafood,” which contains 53 original, kid-approved and easy-to-cook seafood recipes. “Because of the pandemic, more Americans are eating at home and trying recipes and dishes they may not have made in the past, including fish,” said Kleiner. “We hope to build on this momentum by offering tips, tricks and recipes designed for all levels of home cooks, types of cooking appliances and taste preferences. There are so many paths by which people can meet the DGA recommendation of 2-3 seafood meals per week.”

Alaska’s commercial fishery managers appear to be spared big budget cuts next year

December 29, 2020 — As Alaska faces its toughest budget squeeze ever, the state’s commercial fisheries are set to get a bit of a breather. But it is due more to fund swapping than lawmakers’ largess.

For the commercial fisheries division, the largest within the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, the preliminary FY2022 budget released by Gov. Mike Dunleavy reflects a slight increase to $72.8 million, compared to nearly $68 million last year.

“I think we did really well this year,” said Sam Rabung, commercial fisheries division director, speaking last week at a United Fishermen of Alaska webinar. “Where we’re at right now, the legislature actually restored many of the cuts that we sustained in FY20 and the governor didn’t veto all of them so we got some funds back in FY21,”

“In a nutshell, we are being reduced $783,500 in general funds but to offset that, we are being granted $855,000 in increased authority for using what we call GFP, our general fund program receipts from commercial crew licenses,” he added. “We’ve been collecting more revenue from crew licenses every year than we have authority to use. It’s kind of like creating a piggy bank and it keeps building and that money rolls forward. We’re going to be able to utilize those funds now in lieu of general funds. So it’s pretty much a wash.”

Read the full story at the Anchorage Daily News