Saving Seafood

Fishermen, state leaders push back against at-sea monitoring proposal

September 3, 2020 — Senator Mark Montigny (D-New Bedford) has joined local fishermen and his legislative colleagues to push back against a proposed policy shift that would require 100% at-sea monitoring of commercial groundfish vessels.

The New England Fisheries Management Council (NEFMC) is considering Amendment 23 to the Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management Plan (FMP) that would require groundfishing vessels to implement 100% at-sea monitoring or a blended approach of at-sea monitoring and electronic monitoring.

The proposed change seeks to improve catch accountability in the fishery, but fishermen argue this particular proposal is overly burdensome and unnecessary to achieve the stated goal, a press release from Montigny’s office states.

New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell and Gloucester Mayor Sefatia Romeo Theken also co-signed a letter to the New England Fisheries Management Council opposing Amendment 23 to Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management Plan.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

Scientists to Set Acceptable Biological Catch for Main Hawaiian Islands Uku and Consider Hawaii Small-Boat Fisheries Management Options

September 3, 2020 — The following was released by the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council:

Scientists from throughout the Pacific will convene Sept. 9-10, 2020, to discuss fishery management issues and make management recommendations for fisheries in the Western Pacific Region. The meeting of the Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) of the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council will be held virtually and is open to the public. The full agenda, background documents and instructions for connecting to the meeting and providing oral public comments are available at www.wpcouncil.org/event/137th-scientific-and-statistical-committee-meeting. Among the agenda items are the following:

Main Hawaiian Islands Uku

The SSC will set the acceptable biological catch for the main Hawaiian Islands uku (grey snapper) fishery for fishing years 2022-2025. The best scientific information available for fishery management decisions is the 2020 stock assessment with catch projections to 2026. Based on this information, the maximum sustainable yield is estimated to be 204,972 pounds and the overfishing limit is 301,948 pounds. A panel of fishermen, fishery scientists and managers evaluated the social, ecological, economic and management uncertainties associated with the assessment and quantified a risk level for the SSC to consider.

Hawaiʻi Small-Boat Fisheries

Information on Hawaiʻi small-boat fisheries, which does not include the Hawaiʻi longline vessels, is currently insufficient for robust fisheries management. The Council will consider options that include no action, variations on a mandatory permitting and reporting system (including by sector or by species), a registry system and a pilot permit system. The Council held a virtual Fishers Forum and public meeting to discuss these options Aug. 27, 2020. The SSC will hear a report about the public meeting and an analysis of the options and may choose to recommend one for Council consideration.

Oceanic Whitetip Sharks

The SSC will hear a report on population projections for the western and central Pacific Ocean (WCPO) stock of oceanic whitetip sharks, a species that was overfished per a 2019 assessment and listed under the Endangered Species Act. Population projections for the stock assess the impact of internationally implemented conservation and management measures since 2013 (which prohibit shark retention and ban the use of “shark lines”) and are based on expected catches throughout the Pacific. The projections use updated estimates of post-release mortality. The SSC may make recommendations on the projections and report.

North Pacific Striped Marlin

Following a Council recommendation on phased catch reductions for striped marlin, the SSC will also review and may make recommendations on a rebuilding plan for North Pacific striped marlin and allocations of international catch limits. The stock has been internationally overfished per a 2019 stock assessment. The Council is required to address relative impacts of domestic fisheries and international overfishing per the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. Approximately 6% of reported North Pacific striped marlin landings since 1975 is attributed to U.S. Pacific fisheries, including the Hawaiʻi longline fishery.

Recommendations made by the SSC on these and other matters will be considered by the Council when it meets Sept. 14-17, 2020, virtually with host sites at Cliff Pointe, 304 W. O’Brien Dr., Hagatna, Guam; Hyatt Regency Saipan, Royal Palm Ave., Micro Beach Rd., Saipan, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI); and Department of Port Administration, Airport Conference Room, Pago Pago International Airport, Tafuna Village, American Samoa. Instructions on connecting to the web conference, agendas and briefing documents will be posted at www.wpcouncil.org/meetings-calendars. Host sites are subject to local and federal safety and health guidelines regarding COVID-19; check the Council website for updates.

FDA and OSHA publish COVID-19 food safety checklist, with additional information for seafood processors

September 2, 2020 — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), in partnership with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), has released a food safety checklist for human and animal food operations to heed during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The checklist is meant to be used as an assessment tool as pandemic conditions persist, and can be especially pertinent for operations re-starting after a recent shutdown.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Alaska fishing industry likely incurred tens of millions of dollars in coronavirus-related expenses

September 2, 2020 — Alaska seafood processors are paying tens of millions of dollars extra to cover costs from the COVID-19 pandemic, and most of it is coming out of pocket.

Intrafish Media provides a first, in-depth look at how costs for providing protective gear like masks and gloves, testing thermometers, extra staff to handle sanitizing demands between work shifts, and modifying worker lines for social distancing are playing out in the nation’s seafood processing sector.

At Bristol Bay, for example, where around 13,000 workers from outside Alaska come to work on fishing boats and in 13 plants of varying sizes, it’s estimated that all major processors combined likely spent $30 million to $40 million on COVID-related costs during the two peak fishing months of June and July this summer.

Read the full story at the Anchorage Daily News

At-sea monitor meeting to be held online, not in person

September 2, 2020 — The New England Fishery Management Council dispensed with the suspense on Monday when it announced its September meeting, initially set for Gloucester, will be conducted online via webinar.

The three-day meeting, scheduled for Sept. 29 to  Oct. 1, is expected to include the council’s final action on the highly contentious measure — Amendment 23 — to establish future monitoring levels for sector-based vessels in the Northeast multispecies groundfish fishery. The council hopes to post the remainder of the agenda by the end of this week.

The September meeting was scheduled for the Beauport Hotel Gloucester on Commercial Street. But that was before the dawning of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent indoor and outdoor gathering restrictions that have forced all but one of the council’s public meetings and hearings online.

The current Massachusetts indoor gathering restrictions call for no more than eight individuals per 1,000 square feet of space, with the gathering not to exceed 25 individuals in any single enclosed space.

Those restrictions would have limited an in-person meeting to the council’s 18 voting members, a handful of non-voting members and legal counsel. The public and even some council staff presenters would have been forced to participate via online webinar.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times

How This Seafood ‘Sourcerer’ Runs New York City’s Lobster Game

September 2, 2020 — “Selling lobsters is definitely a complicated process,” says Steven Wong, owner of Aqua Best Seafood Market in New York City. “I’ve eaten so much lobster in my life I can actually taste the difference in where they caught it.” Wong and his family have been selling and shipping diverse seafood to customers, many of whom are restaurateurs for some of NYC’s best restaurants, for over 30 years. In that time, Wong has become known for his sourcing of high-grade lobster, so much so that he earned the nickname “the lobster ‘sourcerer’”

“A lobster’s not just a lobster. A lobster is just like a diamond,” says Wong of the many different types of lobsters he sources from all over the country. “There are different cuts, different grades, different sizes, there are different areas from where you catch lobster that have different qualities.”

Before COVID-19, the shop went through an average 60 to 80 thousand pounds of lobster per week, and during the holidays that number could be up to 150 thousand pounds. Wong’s company sells lobster and other fish to 175 restaurants in the northeast, and they ship anywhere in the world in under 24 hours; “even in Singapore,” he notes, “which has the longest flight, like 19 hours.”

Read the full story at Eater

Blue Recovery webinar series seeks to make up for the missed “super year”

September 2, 2020 — This year was supposed to be the “super year” for ocean sustainability, with many major events and gatherings planned to bring momentum and focus to the issue. However, COVID-19 has pushed the pause button for large gatherings and international travel, and has taken attention off of the environment.

In response to the obstacles facing the community of individuals and organizations focused on seafood sustainability issues, virtual meetings are being held to try to maintain the movement toward sustainability.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Remote assessments and audits to continue for MSC partners affected by pandemic

September 2, 2020 — The following was released by the Marine Stewardship Council:

The Marine Stewardship Council is continuing to permit remote assessments and audits where Covid-19 restrictions prevent on-site audits. This is due to the continuing impact of the pandemic on the sustainable seafood industry.

The decision is based on the MSC’s close monitoring of the effect of previous derogations for fisheries and chain of custody holders and is effective from 28 September 2020 to 27 March 2021.

An unprecedented initial six-month automatic extension to the usual timelines for MSC assessments and certifications came into effect on 27 March 2020 and will end on 27 September 2020.

MSC certificate holders may continue to use remote assessments and audits in place of the usual site visits for another six months where national or local Covid-19 restrictions apply or the independent assessor considers a health risk is involved. Initial assessments of fisheries and supply-chains for businesses that do not yet have a certificate will require additional risk assessments and reviews. Remote assessments have proven effective since their implementation in March.

Chain of Custody certificate holders who are required to undergo independent labour audits still have until 28 March 2021 or the second audit in the revised standard (whichever is later), to complete these.

Chief Science and Standards Officer at the MSC, Rohan Currey said:

“Many fisheries and supply chains continue to be affected by the impacts of the pandemic. Certificate holders must continue to meet the requirements of the MSC Standards. We recognise this may require alternative measures to ensure sustainability and traceability of seafood.

“We want to reassure those engaged in our program that we recognise the local constraints on many partners, and we will do what we can to support our partners through these unprecedented times. However we must maintain the integrity of our global certification programs for the long-term benefit of all partners.”

Details of the temporary changes to assessment and certification processes are available via the MSC website. The MSC team will be contacting fisheries, conformity assessment bodies and partners in the sustainable seafood supply chain with further information in the coming days. Other MSC activities, such as the licensing of products, will carry on as normal.

Alaska’s Salmon Fisheries Confront COVID-19

September 1, 2020 — Northwest summers mean salmon on the grill. While Alaskans fill freezers with their own catch – our freezers are filled with enough salmon to last until next summer – those grilling elsewhere must buy either farm-raised salmon or wild sockeye salmon caught in Bristol Bay, Alaska.

Wild salmon return from the ocean to restart a life cycle that has persisted for millions of years. Wild Alaska sockeye (a favorite species of salmon) is caught over the course of a four- to six-week season, from mid-June through July, when the largest remaining wild salmon population returns to Bristol Bay.

These fish have been harvested by Alaska native peoples for thousands of years. Sockeye have been smoked, filleted, canned and frozen – and given, traded, sold and eaten – for generations.

Read the full story at U.S. News

The human impact of organized crime in fisheries extends far beyond the ocean

September 1, 2020 — Despite the name, organized crime in fisheries is not only about fishing. While illegal fishing is a serious problem across many regions of the world, organized crime in the fisheries sector extends much farther. It occurs globally throughout the entire fisheries value chain: on-shore; at-sea; at the coastal interface; and in cyberspace. Regardless of where it occurs or how it happens, its harmful effects take a massive toll on human populations worldwide.

Organized crime in the fisheries sector can take various forms including drug and human trafficking, fraudulent catch documentation, money laundering and corruption — crimes that have potentially dire humanitarian implications. These crimes are profit-driven, diverting government revenue to the shadow blue economy at the expense of coastal communities and the pursuit of key sustainable development goals such as zero hunger, zero poverty and peace, justice and strong institutions. These crimes also directly can endanger those who are exploited in their perpetration.

People in many coastal nations, particularly developing countries, depend on the fisheries sector for food and jobs. Large ocean nations are particularly vulnerable to disruptions in the sector, as recently exposed by the impacts of COVID-19. Criminal networks operating in the fisheries sector exacerbate the economic dislocation of local coastal communities, threaten already tenuous food security and divert much-needed state revenue. But there is hope: effectively tackling organized crime in fisheries will help foster a sustainable ocean economy which, in turn, will benefit communities reliant on the ocean and its resources.

Read the full story at GreenBiz