Saving Seafood

Are Sharks Being Killed For Coronavirus Vaccines?

October 13, 2020 — Sharks have made international news after Shark Allies, estimated that half a million deep-sea sharks are needed to extract enough squalene for Covid-19 vaccines. The non-profit organization recently came out with the petition to “stop using sharks in a coronavirus vaccine” and use more sustainably sourced alternatives.

But what exactly is ‘squalene’ and why is it possibly in human medicine? Well, first you need to look at basic shark anatomy. Sharks have no swim bladder, unlike bony fish, to help with buoyancy. So, they rely on the lift from their pectoral (side) fins and their large livers that are saturated with oil to maintain their buoyancy in water. Some sharks have a high content of the component squalene (C₃₀H₅₀) in their liver, a highly unsaturated aliphatic hydrocarbon.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), squalene has been/is being used as a “bactericide, an intermediate in the manufacture of pharmaceuticals, organic colouring matter, rubber, chemicals, aromatics, in finishing natural and artificial silk and surface active agents.” Nowadays, squalene is also being used in some adjuvants — common ingredients in vaccines that help create a stronger immune response. What is an adjuvant and why is it added to a vaccine? The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) defines an adjuvant as “an ingredient used in some vaccines that helps create a stronger immune response in people receiving the vaccine.” In other words, adjuvants help vaccines work better by helping the body produce an immune response strong enough to protect the person from the disease they are being vaccinated against. The CDC website says that MF59 is a common adjuvant that contains shark-derived squalene. It’s currently found in the Fluad influenza vaccine, licensed for adults 65 or older, and has been used in USA flu vaccines since 2016 with an “excellent safety record.” According to the World Health Organization (WHO), since 1997 a dose of the influenza vaccine (such as FLUAD or Chiron) contains about 10 megagrams of squalene “to make the vaccine more immunogenic.”

Read the full story at Forbes

Northeast shrimp: Surveys canceled over covid,
with no sign yet of recovery

October 13, 2020 — In Maine and New England, northern shrimp (Pandalus borealis) used to be a regional and seasonal staple. But, for seven consecutive years, the fishery has been shuttered. The last year there was a commercial season was in 2013, and at that time, dealers paid fishermen an average of $1.81 a pound.

Dustin Leaning, a fishery management plan coordinator for the Atlantic States, says “the Gulf of Maine stock remains depleted, and as of yet, has not shown a positive response to the commercial fishing moratorium. Reducing fishing mortality has historically been fishery managers’ most effective tool in rebuilding a stock that has reached low levels of biomass.”

The moratorium on fishing in Maine is in place until 2021.

“They’re resilient,” says Maggie Hunter, Maine’s head shrimp biologist. “They’ve recovered from collapses before (early 1950s, late 1970s), but we’ve never documented one in the Gulf of Maine lasting this long before.”

A 2019 Gulf of Maine survey by the Northern Shrimp Technical Committee revealed indices of abundance, biomass and spawning stock biomass at new time-series lows, and recruitment the third-lowest in the time series (1984-2019). Warming waters, like those in the Gulf of Maine, are also detrimental to shrimp populations. 

A Maine-New Hampshire inshore survey, along with spring and summer shrimp surveys, were all canceled this year because of covid-19 concerns.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

Cape Cod’s oyster growers struggle to recover from pandemic losses

October 12, 2020 — When Gov. Charlie Baker shut down restaurants and bars in March, Zack Dixon’s world, and that of hundreds of other shellfish farmers in Barnstable County, dropped off a cliff.

“Restaurants are our customers. When they closed in March, our business revenues went to zero,” said Dixon, who co-owns the Holbrook Oyster company with Justin and Jacob Dalby.

Over the past couple of decades, oysters have become the darling of the culinary world and aquaculture has expanded exponentially. Massachusetts landed nearly 8.7 million pounds of oysters, mostly from aquaculture farming, in 2018, worth $28.3 million. The Cape is home to 265 of the 391 licensed growers in the state, cultivating nearly 661 acres, half the state total of 1,203 acres.

When the East Coast Shellfish Growers Association surveyed larger dealers and wholesalers following the shutdown, they found that 98% of the market for oysters had evaporated overnight, said association president Bob Rheault.

“We knew we were inextricably tied to the food service industry, we didn’t realize how tied in we were,” said Rheault. “I don’t think any one of us would have guessed that amount.”

Read the full story at the Cape Cod Times

A Coronavirus Vaccine Could Kill Half A Million Sharks, Conservationists Warn

October 12, 2020 — A conservation group is warning that the development of an effective coronavirus vaccine on a global scale could ravage shark populations worldwide, as researchers race to produce a vaccine using an oil derived from sharks.

Squalene, a compound that is harvested from the livers of sharks, is a common moisturizing ingredient in cosmetics. It’s also used in malaria and flu vaccines as an agent that boosts the immune system’s response.

Shark Allies, a nonprofit that advocates for the protection of sharks, projects that some 500,000 sharks could be killed if a coronavirus vaccine with shark squalene proves to be effective. Already, an estimated 2.7 million sharks are killed annually for their squalene to make cosmetics, according to the group.

“The problem is that squalene, used as an ingredient in a COVID-19 vaccine, will be seen as something that’s unavoidable, and then as it becomes tested, it becomes the normal ingredient, and nothing else will be tested,” Shark Allies executive director Stefanie Brendl told NPR’s Weekend Edition Saturday.

Read the full story at NPR

Fishermen, charters nearing deadline to apply for COVID relief funds

October 9, 2020 — Participants in Georgia’s marine fisheries industry have until Thursday to apply for federal COVID-relief aid.

Congress in March appropriated nearly $2 million to supplement Georgia’s marine industry’s’ pandemic-related revenue losses and applications must be postmarked by Oct. 15, 2020, the Georgia Department of Natural Resources reminded the public Friday.

Eligible industry members must have experienced a revenue loss of greater than 35 percent between March and May compared to the same period for the past five years. Other eligibility requirements and more information can be found at www.CoastalGaDNR.org/CARES or by calling 912-264-7218.

Read the full story at the Savannah Morning News

Senators Collins, King Join Bipartisan Call to Ensure NOAA Fisheries Surveys Proceed in 2021

October 9, 2020 — The following was released by the The Office of Senator Angus King (I-ME):

In May 2020, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries started canceling research surveys to protect the health of its crews and personnel at sea on account of the COVID-19 pandemic.  In support of coastal communities across the country who rely on these surveys as a basis for their livelihoods, U.S. Senators Susan Collins (R-ME) and Angus King (I-ME) joined their colleagues in calling on NOAA to identify and resolve any challenges created by COVID-19 that prevented surveys from occurring in 2020 in order to ensure surveys can be safely conducted in 2021.

“Fishery and ecosystem research surveys are essential to support the U.S. blue economy and provide valuable fishery-independent data needed to carry out provisions of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA).  Data collected from NOAA’s research surveys are used to manage commercial and recreational fisheries that contributed 1.74 million jobs, over $240 billion in sales, and $111 billion in gross domestic product to the U.S. economy in 2017,” the Senators wrote.  “The economic output of U.S. fisheries is maximized by setting accurate quotas and catch limits, which depend on the long-term, fishery-independent datasets collected by NOAA’s research surveys.”

The Senators acknowledged NOAA’s initial response and actions to compensate for lost survey data; however, they reiterated that the methods used are not sufficient replacements for the typical large-scale, long-term research surveys required to sustainably manage fisheries under the MSA.  In closing, the Senators requested a clear, written plan for FY2021 surveys before December 15, 2020.

Read the full release here

ALASKA: Pollock: Season surges as fish sticks 
rule the covid marketplace

October 9, 2020 — Alaska pollock trawlers were well on track to catch their TAC for the year, and increased demand for seafood during the covid-19 pandemic threw some optimistic twists into market dynamics.

The TAC for the Bering Sea had been set at 1.425 million metric tons, with another 19,000 metric tons coming out of the Aleutian Islands harvest area. While the Aleutian Islands TAC has remained unchanged in recent years, those for the Bering Sea have been nudging upward from 1.345 million metric tons in 2018 and 1.397 million metric tons of last year.  

The TAC for the Gulf of Alaska, meanwhile, has also risen slightly from last year’s 112,000 metric tons with 115,930 metric tons for this year, and trawlers in August continued plugging away on their C-season allotments.

The A-season for pollock trawling in the Bering Sea began on Jan. 20 and ended on April 30, with nearly all four sectors (inshore, catcher-processor, mothership, and CDQ groups) catching their allotted percentages of the TAC.

As of August, the four trawl sectors were scattered about the Bering Sea and mopping up quotas for the B-season, which began on June 10 and ends on Oct. 31.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

ISSF Position Statement Outlines Top Asks for Indian Ocean Tuna Commission, Including More Robust Rebuilding Plan for Yellowfin Tuna

October 9, 2020 — The following was released by the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation:

The International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF) published its position statement in advance of the 24th Session of the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC), which will take place virtually November 2-6.

The impacts of COVID-19 have challenged regional fisheries management organizations (RFMOs) in conducting their meetings in 2020. IOTC cancelled its in-person annual Commission and Working Party meetings, which are now taking place online.

Even under these historically unique, pandemic-caused circumstances, ISSF believes IOTC must press forward on collaborative discussions and take decisions to ensure the uninterrupted, sustainable management of tuna stocks and marine ecosystems under its purview. Several critical measures and issues that require immediate attention and action by IOTC this year into 2021 are detailed in ISSF’s statement.

As in 2019, given the serious risk of further declines in the status of the stock, ISSF’s highest priority for IOTC is that it adopts this year an effective rebuilding plan for yellowfin tuna aligned with recommendations from IOTC’s own Scientific Committee. If implemented effectively, this would imply a 15%-20% reduction from the 2017 yellowfin catch levels. The interim-rebuilding plan adopted last year in Resolution 19/01 did not fully incorporate the Committee’s yellowfin advice, and it allowed for growth in some fishery sectors. In addition, reported over-catches in contravention of the Resolution is further eroding its effectiveness.

“Yellowfin stock status in Indian Ocean fisheries remains a clear concern,” said ISSF President Susan Jackson. “To rebuild the stock, IOTC must adopt a measure in 2020 that fully incorporates the recommendations of its own Scientific Committee, ensures all gears and fleets harvesting yellowfin are included and addresses non-compliance with the interim rebuilding plan. For fisheries management, COVID-19 presents many obstacles, but the Commission is responsible for this critical resource and should take immediate action to conserve it.”

ISSF’s other top “asks” of IOTC for its upcoming meeting agenda are:

  • Urgently monitor and manage catches of skipjack to ensure catches in 2020/2021 do not exceed the limit set by the adopted Harvest Control Rule in Resolution 16/02
  • Conduct management strategy evaluation (MSE) for albacore, bigeye, skipjack and yellowfin tuna stocks, and adopt species-specific management procedures, particularly for yellowfin
  • Request the Scientific Committee provide science-based limits on FAD deployments and/or FAD sets; develop recommendations in 2021 and adopt, by 2022, FAD marking guidelines, including the requirement to mark both the buoy and the FAD structure
  • Develop and adopt minimum standards for electronic monitoring systems (EMS) and an e-reporting information system both for logbooks and observers for all gears in 2021 so that large-scale purse seine vessels — and all vessels engaged in at-sea transshipment, regardless of gear type — are required to have 100% observer coverage within five years

Read the full IOTC Position Statement on the ISSF website.

Alaska proposes to split $50 million in virus aid among fishermen

October 8, 2020 — The Alaska Department of Fish and Game is taking public comments on a plan to split $50 million in federal coronavirus aid among commercial, sport and subsistence fishermen.

Under the state plan, sportfishing businesses will share $16 million, commercial fishing businesses will split $16 million, and fish processors will split $16 million. Subsistence fishermen will split $1.5 million, and aquaculture businesses will share $500,000.

The aid will be distributed by the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission, which is expected to take applications later this year using the state’s plan.

Applicants will have to sign an affidavit swearing that they lost at least 35% of their fishing revenue between March 1 and Nov. 1 as a result of COVID-19.

Read the full story at the Anchorage Daily News

Alaska Releases Plan and Application Forms for CARES Act Fisheries Relief

October 7, 2020 — The state of Alaska released its plan to “broadly distribute stimulus payments to those eligible individuals and businesses” who qualify for the $50 million allocated to Alaska in May through the CARES Act. Alaska and Washington state each received $50 million, a combined total of $100 million or about a third of the full $300 million appropriated by Congress for fisheries relief nationwide.

Eligible sectors are seafood processing, commercial harvesting, sport charter, subsistence, and aquaculture.

Read the full story at Seafood News