November 4, 2020 — The 22nd Japan International Seafood & Technology Expo took place from 30 September through 2 October at the Tokyo International Exhibition Center (also called “Tokyo Big Sight”).
Amid COVID-19 travel restrictions, the number of exhibitors fell from 835 to 300, and visitors fell from 34,018 to 12,000. The most notable aspect of the show was the small international presence.
November 3, 2020 — After a five-month ordeal in which he was imprisoned in the British Virgin Islands, Stafford fisherman Michael Foy accepted a plea deal Friday and is free to go, aside from paying a $4,000 fine.
Foy, 60, was arrested June 8 by British Virgin Islands custom officials and charged with illegal entry for violating the islands’ COVID-19 curfew.
He was subsequently charged with unregistered and unlicensed fishing, and failure to arrive at a customs port.
The Magistrates Court dropped the illegal fishing charges on Oct. 9. Foy’s attorney Paul Edwards of the law firm Hunte & Co. on Tortola, the largest of the British Virgin Islands, said Foy accepted a plea deal that would allow him to keep his fishing vessel, Rebel Lady.
November 3, 2020 — The Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) has extended the suspension of total fisheries observer coverage in the region until February 2021, amid the continuing COVID-19 pandemic.
In a circular memo dated 22 October, WCPFCC Chair Jung-re Riley Kim stated that the commission and its members agreed to suspend the requirements for observer coverage on purse-seine vessels until 15 February. The suspension of observer coverage was supposed to expire on 31 October, but the commission decided to extend it due to COVID-19 travel restrictions.
November 3, 2020 — The bay-scallop season on Long Island’s East End started Monday, but Braun Seafood Co., which serves 700 restaurants and a large retail base market, has yet to take in even a pound of the prized shellfish.
“It’s a shame,” said Ken Homan, the company’s president. “Everybody needs that extra buck, particularly with the economy the way it’s been this year. But it’s a bust.”
As reported in Newsday on Sunday, the Peconic Bay scallop fishery appears to have suffered another catastrophic die-off, idling scores of baymen and recreational scallopers and leaving another $1.6 million hole in an economy already reeling from COVID-battered restaurants.
Local fish markets, which saw the bottom fall out of their businesses during spring lockdowns, had been looking to scallops to help shore up a difficult year that saw many bounce back sharply during the summer, mainly on the back of increased retail business and restaurants opening outdoors.
November 2, 2020 — The Open Door and a Gloucester fishing company will share in $5.9 million in state grants to help ensure a secure food supply chain for Massachusetts residents, particularly in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The administration of Gov. Charlie Baker announced the $5.9 million is being distributed to 47 recipients within the Massachusetts local food system, including farms, non-profit emergency food distributors, seafood harvesters, processors and other elements in the state’s food production and delivery system.
The Open Door, which operates food pantries in Gloucester and Ipswich and other food delivery services, received $201,073 to develop and implement an online food ordering and delivery system and enhance its Gloucester facility to provide more safe storage of locally produced food.
“We are reviewing software options now,” said Julie LaFontaine, president and CEO of The Open Door. “We expect to be rolling it out after the first of the new year.
The grant, part of the fourth round of funding from the state’s $36 million Food Infrastructure Security Grant program, also will help the non-profit on Emerson Avenue to expand its Mobile Market program throughout the Cape Ann community.
November 2, 2020 — A statewide commercial fishing industry group is asking the Dunleavy administration to justify its proposal for distributing $50 million dollars in federal pandemic relief for Alaska’s fishing industry.
Federal guidance recommends allocating more than half of the CARES Act funds to seafood processors and just 5% to the charter fleet and lodges.
But a draft released this month by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game recommends dividing the allocation evenly among sectors, which would increase the pot of money for fishing guides and lodges by more than $13 million.
United Fishermen of Alaska, which represents the commercial fleet and processors, asked the agency to explain its rationale for boosting the charter fleet’s allocation at the expense of other sectors.
UFA’s president Matt Alward signed a three-page letter to the commissioner’s office.
November 2, 2020 — The CARES (Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security) Act authorizes and provides appropriations to the U.S. Department of Commerce to aid qualified fisheries impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Over $300 million was identified for fisheries and aquaculture, with a total sum of $4,337,445 allocated for eligible Hawai‘i fishery sectors. The application period opens today.
The state Department of Land and Natural Resources Division of Aquatic Resources has developed a spending plan with the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration.
Applications must be submitted to the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission by Monday, Nov. 23. Interested applicants must review the spending plan to determine their eligibility.
November 2, 2020 — Sitting outside Mama’s on the Half Shell restaurant in Canton, Alisha Gladfelter painted the newly christened Shuck Shack, an outdoor oyster bar complete with a grill fashioned from a keg. The swirl of a mermaid’s tail — part of the restaurant’s logo — flowed from the tip of her paintbrush.
Maryland’s wild oyster season started in October, yet restaurants, watermen and others worry the coronavirus pandemic will stifle demand for the bay’s briny bounty. With few people dining out at restaurants and colder weather limiting outdoor dining, some in the seafood industry worry customers won’t venture out for oysters on the half shell and po’ boys.
November 2, 2020 — The following was released by the National Fisheries Institute:
For years, the National Fisheries Institute (NFI) and its members have seen Diversified Communications’ dedication to educating, connecting, and growing the seafood industry on display at Seafood Expo North America/Seafood Processing North America and its many events around the globe. This year has shined a spotlight on another Diversified Communications commitment: the health and safety of its employees, vendors, and customers.
Earlier this year Diversified made the difficult decision to reschedule and then cancel the 2020 edition of Seafood Expo North America. The 2021 version was planned for March.
Once again illustrating its commitment to meet the seafood community’s needs while prioritizing the health and safety of all Seafood Expo North America/ Seafood Processing North America attendees, Diversified has announced the 2021 event will be held later in the year.
NFI and our member companies appreciate Diversified’s responsiveness, flexibility and innovation during these unprecedented times. We are all looking forward to gathering and supporting Seafood Expo North America/Seafood Processing North America in 2021 when it is safe to do so.
November 2, 2020 — The current COVID-related fall in demand for seafood in China could lead to a shake-out of the Chinese seafood distribution scene in favor of large, state-owned trading firms, according to Didier Boon, the CEO of Beijing-based trading firm East China Seas.
Boon’s company, which imports Latin American seafood into China and ships product from China to Western markets, cannot compete with large Chinese companies that lean on their size and political connections to obtain advantages in the marketplace, Boon said. And those advantages have been exacerbated during a tightening in Chinese Customs’ actions in inspecting imported seafood.