August 27, 2020 — A new study exploring the potential that COVID-19 can linger on food, including frozen seafood, draws connections between recent outbreaks of the disease in China, Vietnam, and New Zealand.
The study, “Seeding of outbreaks of COVID-19 by contaminated fresh and frozen food,” was filed on preprint server BioRxiv on 17 August. BioRxiv publishes preliminary findings that have not been scrutinized by peer review.
August 26, 2020 — The Martha’s Vineyard Fishermen’s Preservation Trust has received a $250,000 grant to expand its community seafood program, allowing it to buy, process and donate a surplus of black sea bass and scup for chowder donations throughout the Island.
The grant was awarded by Catch Together, a nonprofit organization that invests capital in support of fishermen, fishing communities and ocean conservation throughout the country, according to a press release from the preservation trust.
Since the pandemic began in mid-March, demand from high-end restaurants and wholesalers for seafood has plummeted, driving down prices for local fishermen and leading to large surpluses of once-invaluable catch, like scallops, lobster and oysters.
In response, the fishermen’s preservation trust — an Island nonprofit dedicated to supporting and preserving the Island’s independent fishermen — came up with a creative solution, starting its community seafood program in April of this year.
August 26, 2020 — The application period for the Fish Harvester Benefit and Grant Program, which aims to provide self-employed fish harvesters with financial support, officially opened on August 24.
The application period will run through September 21, 2020 and interested parties can visit the DFO website for more information.
August 26, 2020 — Disbursement of over $11.3 million from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act was discussed at the Aug. 17 meeting of the Atlantic Coast section of the N.J. Shellfisheries Council. Led by John Maxwell of Atlantic County, 26 members met virtually to discuss various topics with state Bureau of Shellfisheries representatives.
At the top of the list is the distribution of $11,337,797 New Jersey will receive from the CARES Act to assist commercial fisheries that have been negatively affected by the pandemic.
Joseph Cimino from the state Department of Environmental Protection’s Marine Fisheries Administration said they have sent a required spending plan to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for review. The plan would allocate 50 percent of the funds received to commercial fisheries and aquaculture, 35 percent to processors and dealers and 10 percent to for-hire recreational and charter fleets.
August 25, 2020 — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) refused only 37 seafood entry lines in July, continuing a trend where federal officials were rejecting a historically low number of products.
According to the Southern Shrimp Alliance, that amount is by far a record low for the month. It’s only 21.3 percent of this historical average the alliance has tracked since 2002. It’s also significantly lower than the previous record low of 91 entry lines, which occurred last year.
August 24, 2020 — Scientists across the world continue to pursue essential research to the best of current abilities, even as they must also navigate the new COVID-19 landscape. I am part of one of those research efforts: a tuna-tagging cruise that departed from Hawaii last weekend with a track through Kiribati waters.
We left port after overcoming a mountain of logistical odds, under the driving belief that the work of promoting sustainable fisheries and ocean health is worth taking on the seemingly insurmountable challenges.
Half of the world’s tuna catch comes from the Western and Central Pacific, providing a critical source of protein and export revenue for Pacific island nations and others.
August 24, 2020 — Five months after social distancing began scuttling scientific field work around South Carolina, the marine researchers who watch over fish and other aquatic life have re-started monitoring efforts.
In a few cases, the gap in data could add uncertainty for years to come over decisions about when and how to allow certain fishing.
In March, the spread of COVID-19 prompted the S.C. Department of Natural Resources to pause its research vessel trips, including the inshore trawl of the Charleston Harbor that had run every month without interruption for four decades. The trawl drags a net along the harbor floor and researchers collect data on what comes up. Among other things, it allows state regulators to keep an eye on the shrimp population.
August 24, 2020 — The losses for U.S restaurant and foodservice industry continue to mount as COVID-19-mandated closures persist and the travel market remains depressed.
Airport foodservice operator HMSHost is laying off at least 3,000 employees by mid-October in response to its coronavirus-related struggles, Restaurant Business reported.
August 21, 2020 — Senators Edward J. Markey and Elizabeth Warren are adding their names to the list of politicians questioning NOAA over their decision to reinstate at-sea monitors and observer coverage in the Northeast.
Observers and at-sea monitors for those in the Northeast were reinstated this past Friday, August 14. The requirement to carry observers on board had been waived for months due to health and safety concerns surrounding the coronavirus. However, NOAA Fisheries Assistant Administrator Chris Oliver announced last month that the waiver would be lifted because “observers create no more risk than crew members.”
August 21, 2020 — A federal judge has ordered fishery managers to reanalyze the impact of the American lobster industry on endangered North Atlantic right whales, and issue a new rule for protecting the whales by May 31, 2021.
The judge did not, however, ban lobster fishing with vertical buoy lines in a right whale feeding area, as environmental advocates requested.
Part of Cape Cod Bay is already closed to lobster fishing in the late winter and early spring to protect right whales from getting tangled in fishing gear. But environmental groups — The Humane Society of the United States, Defenders of Wildlife, Conservation Law Foundation and the Center for Biological Diversity — wanted an additional area in southern New England closed immediately as well.
U.S. District Court Judge James E. Boasberg, who ruled on the matter this week, said a sudden closure “would disrupt fishermen’s current operations and their near-term plans.”
“The COVID-19 pandemic has gutted the market for lobster, cutting the price in half and pushing fishermen, most of whom are self-employed, to the economic brink,” Boasberg wrote in his ruling.