Saving Seafood

ALASKA: Meeting season nears amid COVID-19 complications

October 30, 2020 — Many Alaska fishermen are likely to be involved in regulatory meetings next spring instead of being out on the water. And Alaska legislators will be distracted by hearings for hundreds of unconfirmed appointments as they tackle contentious budgets and other pressing issues.

New dates have been set for state Board of Fisheries meetings that were bumped from later this year due to COVID-19 concerns. During the same time, along with four unconfirmed seats on the fish board, the Alaska legislature also will be tasked with considering nominees for 137 state boards and commissions named by Gov. Mike Dunleavy during the 2020 session. State lawmakers were unable to do the usual in-depth vetting of appointees when the virus forced them to adjourn early.

The upcoming round of board meetings focuses on management of subsistence, commercial, sport and personal use fisheries at Prince William Sound, Southeast and Yakutat, as well as statewide shellfish issues and hatcheries.

The meeting dates of March 4, 2021, for the hatchery committee and March 5-10 for shellfish issues remain the same as originally scheduled. The Prince William Sound meetings, set to be held in Cordova, are now set to occur from March 30-April 5; for Southeast and Yakutat, the dates are April 17-29 with the meetings scheduled to be in Ketchikan.

Read the full story at the Alaska Journal of Commerce

Survey tracks covid-19 impacts on fishermen

October 30, 2020 — As the seafood industry responds and adapts to the effects of covid-19, NOAA is working to fill in some information gaps in its economic impact surveys.

One of those gaps is West Coast and Alaska seafood harvesters — folks on the East Coast have already been surveyed.

Ocean Strategies is aggregating information and delivering it confidentially to NOAA, helping to ensure West Coast harvesters are included in this important work to document impacts to the commercial fishing industry.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

US, Mexico partner on food safety

October 29, 2020 — The United States and Mexico are partnering on new food safety regulations, which include seafood safety enhancements and better disease outbreak mitigation measures

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and Mexico’s Federal Commission for the Protection from Sanitary Risks and the National Service of Agro-Alimentary Health, Safety, and Quality (SENASICA) – have officially expanded a partnership to work together on food safety.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Eligible Guam fishermen can now apply for $1M in COVID relief funding

October 29, 2020 — The Department of Agriculture’s (DOAG) Division of Aquatic and Wildlife Resources (DAWR) will help distribute nearly $1 million to eligible fishers in Guam.  DAWR received approval of their spend plan and a notice to proceed.

Guam is the first territory to be approved.  Out of 31 eligible states and territories, Guam is 1 of the first 17 approved.  With this approval, DAWR is now ready to begin accepting and reviewing application packets to be processed for direct payments to fishers.  Payments will be mailed directly to fishers by the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission.

Fishers who registered with DAWR, and were found to be eligible, may apply for the relief funding.  Registration was a necessary first step in the relief process as it enabled DAWR to calculate payment amounts, which was an integral part of the spend plan.

Read the full story at the Pacific News Center

Reminder: USDA Now Accepting Applications for Seafood Trade Relief Program

October 29, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is making approximately $530 million available to assist U.S. fishermen through the Seafood Trade Relief Program. This program is funded by the Commodity Credit Corporation and administered by the Farm Service Agency.

The program will provide direct support to U.S. commercial fishermen impacted by retaliatory tariffs. To qualify, they must hold a valid federal or state license or permit. Additionally, their catch must be sold or transferred to a permitted or licensed seafood dealer or by a permitted dealer if the catch is processed at sea. Seafood products grown in a controlled environment are not eligible for the program (except geoducks and salmon).

Payments are based on 2019 landings of:

  • Atka Mackerel

  • Dungeness Crab

  • King Crab

  • Snow Crab

  • Southern Tanner Crab

  • Flounder

  • Geoduck

  • Goosefish

  • Herring

  • Lobster

  • Pacific Cod

  • Pacific Ocean Perch

  • Pollock

  • Sablefish

  • Salmon

  • Sole

  • Squid

  • Tuna

  • Turbot

Fishermen can sign up for relief through the program from September 14, 2020 to December 14, 2020.  Sign up for the Program.

Here’s why Miami shark researchers are concerned about a potential COVID-19 vaccine

October 28, 2020 — Science’s steady march to find a vaccine capable of ending the coronavirus pandemic may come at the expense of another species: sharks.

Miami shark researchers say they’re concerned about a key ingredient used to make vaccines more effective, squalene — an oily substance found in plants and even human skin — but is particularly concentrated in shark livers.

The practice of using shark-derived squalene as a booster to stimulate a stronger immune response to a vaccine is not unique to the coronavirus vaccine. The compound has been shown to be safe and effective in millions of doses of vaccines, primarily in Europe, said Liza Merly, a shark immunologist at the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science.

Read the full story at the Miami Herald

Alaska Board of Fisheries faces backlog of issues after pandemic delays

October 28, 2020 — Many Alaska fishermen are likely to be involved in regulatory meetings next spring instead of being out on the water. And Alaska legislators will be distracted by hearings for hundreds of unconfirmed appointments as they tackle contentious budgets and other pressing issues.

New dates have been set for state Board of Fisheries meetings that were bumped from later this year due to coronavirus concerns. During the same time, along with four unconfirmed seats on the fish board, the Alaska Legislature also will be tasked with considering nominees for 137 state boards and commissions named by Gov. Dunleavy during the 2020 session. State lawmakers were unable to do the usual in-depth vetting of appointees when the virus forced them to adjourn early.

The upcoming round of fish board meetings focuses on management of subsistence, commercial, sport and personal use fisheries at Prince William Sound, Southeast and Yakutat, as well as statewide shellfish issues and hatcheries.

Read the full story at the Anchorage Daily News

How Fish-Recognition Tech Is Assisting Demand for Canned Tuna

October 28, 2020 — The pandemic is forcing marine protection observers to adopt technology that monitors fishing boats remotely instead of getting on the vessels and risking infection.

Commercial fishing fleets are facing a jump in demand for canned tuna, but the coronavirus outbreak has prevented industry watchdogs and environmental groups from sending people onto boats to monitor whether the catches are sustainable. Traditionally, those observers spend months on vessels collecting data and watching for illegal activity.

Instead, some vessels are installing video cameras, sensors and systems that use algorithms to detect different types of fish and marine life, similar to the way Facebook Inc identifies people tagged in photos, said Mark Zimring, large scale fisheries program director at The Nature Conservancy, a U.S.-based environmental nonprofit organization.

The goal is to make sure boats don’t misreport the contents and volumes of their catches and ensure at-risk species like turtles and sharks are safely released when they’re caught by accident. Satellite imagery, machine-learning tools and artificial intelligence are also used to detect practices such as illegal shark-finning and labor abuses.

Read the full story at Bloomberg

NPFMC wrestles with halibut bycatch in Bering Sea

October 28, 2020 — Federal fisheries managers aiming to limit incidental halibut bycatch in the Bering Sea are moving forward with alternative options to resolve allowable bycatch based on abundance of the species.

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council noted in a revised purpose and need statement approved during its October meeting that the Amendment 80 sector, in the Bering Sea, a fleet of trawl catcher-processors targeting rock sole, yellowfin sole and flathead sole, is accountable for the bulk of the annual halibut prohibited species catch in the Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands groundfish fisheries. The meeting was virtual, due to safety concerns prompted by the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic.

While the Amendment 80 fleet has reduced halibut mortality in recent years, the continuing decline in the halibut stock requires consideration of additional measures for bycatch management, the council said.

When halibut abundance in the Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands declines, prohibited species catch by these trawl catcher-processors can result in a larger proportion of total halibut removals, particularly in International Pacific Halibut Commission Area 4CDE, which includes the Pribilof Islands. To that end, the council intends to establish an abundance-based halibut prohibited species catch management program in the Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands for the Amendment 80 sector that meets requirements of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Management Act, particularly to minimize halibut prohibited species catch to the extent practicable under National Standard 9 and to achieve optimum yield in the area groundfish fisheries on a continuing basis under National Standard 1.

Read the full story at The Cordova Times

MASSACHUSETTS: Hook-A-Cure hosting blood drive

October 27, 2020 — The nice folks at Hook-A-Cure, whose fishing tournament has been part of raising $200,000 in the past for cancer treatment and research, has had to cancel many of their events because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

But they remain undaunted. They are sponsoring their inaugural Red Cross Blood Drive to help increase blood supplies for transfusions needed by cancer patients.

The event is set for Nov. 7, from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m. at the True North Brewery at 116 County Road in Ipswich. Donors, because of the pandemic restrictions, must preregister at redcrossblood.org or by calling 800-733-2767.

Organizers said they need 36 donors to make the drive a success. So, pack a vein and head on out to Ipswich for a fine cause.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times