Saving Seafood

Relief is coming for Virginia fisheries, although payments likely won’t be large

October 2, 2020 — Fisheries managers are close to being able to roll out relief for Virginia’s hard-hit fishing industries, although a small federal allocation to the commonwealth means payments aren’t likely to be large, Virginia Marine Resources Commission officials said Tuesday morning.

“Because there were so little funding and such great economic damage, the idea of the sort of trying to make sure you make up the loss for people was not an option on the table,” VMRC Deputy Commissioner Ellen Bolen said during a presentation to the commission. “We just did not have enough money.”

Virginia’s fisheries have been pummeled by the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly as restaurants, one of their primary customers, have shuttered or severely curtailed their business. Officials have estimated direct losses to the industry of at least $100 to $120 million, not accounting for trickle-down effects to associated business like boat-building.

Read the full story at NBC 12

For Alaska’s seafood processors, COVID-19 has cost tens of millions of dollars

October 2, 2020 — Seafood processors had a lot to deal with this season.

“Our biggest challenge in 2020 was safely staffing our plants,” said Julianne Curry, the public affairs manager for OBI Seafoods.

“It was a huge lift to get all employees tested, transported, quarantined, and fully integrated into each of our plants all while observing a closed campus and all COVID-related protocols and doing it all with very little time to plan and prepare for the summer salmon season,” she said.

To keep track of how the pandemic is shaping the seafood industry, economists at the McDowell Group have started to publish monthly briefs for the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute.

“It’s interesting to describe a crisis when you’re in the crisis, right? And that’s our situation,” said Garrett Everidge, an economist at the McDowell Group. “The goal is to try to keep up to speed on how the pandemic is impacting the seafood industry and really impacting all stakeholders, from local governments, supply chains, retailers, harvesters, processors.”

Read the full story at KTOO

In a down market, Alaska fishermen avert disaster by feeding families in need

October 2, 2020 — It’s been a hard season for small fishermen in many parts of Alaska because of economic losses caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. But a seafood donation program started by a Sitka organization is helping bring some stability to fishermen and consumers during an uncertain time.

“I very quickly heard about people who were struggling here in town and that catalyzed us to start talking to local fishermen, local processors, about how we as commercial fishermen could help meet that local need,” Behnken said.

Normally, ALFA is a membership organization that advocates for sustainable fisheries and small fishermen. They also run Alaskans Own, a community supported fishery that sells seafood boxes to people around the country.

But Behnken and her partners decided to branch out to meet the local need brought on by the pandemic. They used grant funds from Catch Together to supplement the price of lingcod, so Sitka fishermen like Foss and her husband could start their season with some security. Then, they created a market for the seafood by delivering it to families who were struggling to make ends meet because of the pandemic.

“The pandemic really created a lot of need around Alaska and around the country from loss of jobs,” she said. “It’s just a particularly difficult time for people and then to be able to have really good quality food coming from Alaska’s healthy oceans. It’s just a really special to be able to provide that and make those connections.”

Soon, Behnken started getting calls from other communities asking her to expand. With the help of outside funders and organizations, they delivered seafood to military families in Alaska and to Tribal communities in the Pacific Northwest. Justin Zuelner is the head of The Wave, the foundation that helped distribute the seafood in the Pacific Northwest.

Read the full story at Raven Radio

Getting back to fishing: Jerry Fraser of Wells, Maine

October 2, 2020 — As editor and publisher of National Fisherman, Jerry Fraser says, one principle always came to his mind amid the ceaseless debates over management, gear types, the ocean environment and the future of fisheries.

Equity.

“I don’t say you shouldn’t be careful, and I don’t say fishery management doesn’t work,” says Fraser, 67, who retired in 2019 after nearly a half-century career in fishing and journalism.

“Fishery management shouldn’t be preoccupied with making it easy. It should make it equitable,” says Fraser. “It’s a tough racket. There’s no argument that’s going to satisfy everyone.”

During a stormy new era of enforced consolidation, transferable quotas and catch share systems, Fraser says he looked for the balance of preserving fisheries and fishing communities.

“You can make a lot of economic arguments against keeping small farms,” he says. “If you make a priority of preserving this industry, we would come out in a different place.”

Fraser’s own life took different turns, from a New York City kid to beginner fisherman during summers in Maine, two threads that wound together to form his adult working life.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

CARES Act spend approvals clears USD 13.2 million for fishery aid in four states

October 1, 2020 — Four states that recently gained CARES Act spend plan approvals are now in the process of distributing aid, which all together totals just over USD 13.2 million (EUR 11.2 million) in funds.

The four states – North Carolina, Virginia, Alabama, and Rhode Island – represent collectively less funding than many individual states. Currently just over USD 114.1 million (EUR 97.1 million) in funds have been cleared for release through spend plans, with the largest recipient so far – Massachusetts – receiving just over USD 28 million (EUR 23.8 million).

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Pacific Seafood Outbreak Update: Company Confirms 94 Current Positive COVID Cases

October 1, 2020 — Pacific Seafood confirmed over the weekend that their Warrenton plant has a total of 94 positive COVID-19 cases. Of those cases, 86 of them were from last week, while eight were from the week prior.

Clatsop County’s Public Health Department released a notice last week reporting a “major outbreak” at Pacific’s Warrenton plant. According to the report, 77 out of the plant’s 159-member night shift tested positive for the virus. As a result, Pacific temporarily suspended operations as they tested their day shift workers.

Read the full story at Seafood News

Kim Gorton calls on Congress to pass another stimulus for small businesses in seafood, foodservice

September 30, 2020 — Bad debt is plaguing the U.S. seafood industry, and the only cure is another federal stimulus package. That was the message Kim Gorton delivered Wednesday, 30 September, to the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Small Business.

Gorton, the president and CEO of Slade Gorton and a board member of the National Fisheries Institute, the U.S. seafood industry’s primary trade body, told the panel seafood industry businesses like her family’s have a combined USD 2.2 billion (EUR 1.9 billion) in bad debt and other foodservice companies carry about USD 10 billion (EUR 8.53 billion) in bad debt.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Huffman hosts New England listening session to discuss federal fisheries policy

September 30, 2020 — U.S. Representative Jared Huffman (D-California) held the latest in a series of listening sessions online on 28 September in order to gauge stakeholder’s thoughts on fisheries management, particularly the Magnuson-Stevens Act.

Huffman, the chair of the House Subcommittee on Water, Oceans, and Wildlife, has been hosting listening sessions featuring local stakeholder groups from various regions across the country. Originally intended to be in-person visits to parts of the U.S., all sessions have been taking place remotely due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Huffman Resumes Nationwide Listening Tour

September 30, 2020 — The following was released by The Office of Congressman Jared Huffman (D-CA):

On Monday, Congressman Jared Huffman (CA-02), Chair of the House Subcommittee on Water, Oceans, and Wildlife, hosted the latest session on his nationwide fisheries listening tour for a discussion on federal fisheries policy in the context of the New England fishery management region. Huffman’s listening tour has previously visited Hawaii, the Gulf Coast, Florida, Seattle, Maryland, San Francisco, and Eureka, California.

“New England has a long and storied history of fishing, and communities in this region depend on healthy oceans and coasts,” said Rep. Huffman. “There are many challenges facing the fishing industry today; as we all know the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the entire country, but the fishing industry has been hit particularly hard. The New England region is also seeing some of the most drastic ocean warming on the planet. This was an important conversation about how we can support fisheries through science and sustainability as they meet these crises head-on.”

Representative Huffman heard from a range of stakeholders, including fishermen, advocates, scientists, and members of the public, who gave feedback on the current state of fisheries management under the Magnuson-Stevens Act and what they hope to see in future federal fisheries policy. Rep. Huffman was joined by Representatives Seth Moulton (MA-06), Chellie Pingree (ME-01), Ed Case (HI-01), Joe Courtney (CT-02), Bill Keating (MA-09), and a video appearance by Senator Ed Markey (MA).

The ideas Huffman receives from this listening tour, and from other stakeholder outreach that is already underway, will inform his introduction of a reauthorization of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, the primary law governing fisheries management in U.S. federal waters.

More detail on Huffman’s listening tour, which was first announced in July 2019, can be found here.

Click the following links to watch a recording of Monday’s event on Facebook or Youtube.

Maine’s CARES Act spend plan acknowledges now-approved aid isn’t enough

September 29, 2020 — Maine is among the latest states have had CARES Act spend-plans approved by NOAA, bringing the current total of states with approved plans to 12 as of 29 September.

Maine – along with Alabama, North Carolina, Rhode Island, and Virginia – have all had spend plans approved and can now begin the application process for fishery participants. The states join California, Georgia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Oregon, and South Carolina.

Read the full story at Seafood Source