Saving Seafood

Seafood Industry Sinking From Virus Fallout Pleads for Bailouts

July 10, 2020 — Seafood processors and fishers struggling with falling prices and disappearing markets during the coronavirus pandemic are pushing for federal bailouts following a government directive to send aid to New England’s lobster industry.

“We’re all scared. We’ve got tons of money wrapped up in these businesses,” said Nick Muto, the Cape Cod Commercial Fishermen’s Alliance chairman and an independent small-boat captain dealing in groundfish and lobster. “We’re definitely hoping for some help here from the federal government,” Muto added. “But I’m leery to bet on it.”

Restaurant closures, mandated by local officials nationwide to slow the rate of infection, decimated seafood vendors’ sales. Now, some states beginning to relax restrictions are seeing a resurgence of Covid-19 cases—just as the industry tries to recoup its losses.

Read the full story at Bloomberg Law

China Customs slowdown frustrating seafood suppliers

July 10, 2020 — An apparent coronavirus-related slowdown in customs processing in China is hampering exporters accessing the country’s seafood markets.

Indian seafood exporters have noticed a slowdown in checks at Chinese customs, which is backing up containers of inbound Indian shrimp, according to The Hindu BusinessLine. The average checking time has gone from three to 10 days, making Chinese buyers hesitant, according to Indian seafood exporters, some of whom suspect deliberate Chinese foot-dragging is related to a Sino-Indian border conflict in the Himalayas.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

National Fisheries Institute Statement on COVID19 and the Safety of Imported Shrimp

July 10, 2020 — The following was released by the National Fisheries Institute:

Today the General Administration of Customs of the People’s Republic of China suspended imports and ordered recalls of frozen shrimp from three Ecuadorian companies after the government claimed “outer packaging…were at risk of being contaminated by the new coronavirus.”

But the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has been clear that there is no known transmission of the novel coronavirus from “food or food packaging”, and that there is “no reason to be concerned” about the virus passing in this way.  Guidance from the Centers for Disease Control, World Health Organization, and the European Food Safety Agency reinforce this finding.

In fact, the Chinese Customs announcement states they found no evidence of the virus on the inner packaging of the samples they tested, nor on the shrimp itself.

In addition, the Chinese government emphasized humans would not get COVID from the shrimp, stating, “Experts judged that the result of the detection did not mean that it was transmissive.”

Governments should follow the advice of the World Health Organization, which states, “Food has not been implicated in the transmission of COVID-19” and continues “testing of food or food surfaces for this virus is not recommended.”

Simply stated global public health experts continue to state that humans will not get coronavirus from frozen food or its packaging.  Stating, implying, or reporting otherwise is just wrong.

NOAA Fisheries Cancels Three Research Surveys

July 10, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Due to the uncertainties created by the COVID-19 pandemic and the unique challenges those are creating for NOAA Fisheries, we are cancelling three research surveys off the Northeast United States. The cancelled surveys include those for sea scallop, Atlantic surfclam/ocean quahog, and an advanced technology survey investigating the ocean’s mesopelagic layer—the “twilight zone.”

These are difficult decisions for the agency as we strive to balance our need to maintain core mission responsibilities with the realities and impacts of the current health crisis.

Since March, we have been rigorously analyzing various options for conducting cruises this year and are taking a survey-by-survey, risk-based approach. After much deliberation, we determined that there was no way to move forward with these surveys while effectively minimizing risk and meeting core survey objectives.

Read the full release here

OREGON: Pacific Seafood’s Warrenton plant hit with another coronavirus case

July 9, 2020 — A positive COVID-19 test has been reported from a new hire at the Pacific Seafood processing plant in Warrenton, Oregon.

The Oregon Health Authority plans to employ contact tracing and other measures in what Clatsop County leaders described as a “joint decision.” The Daily Astorian reported that there had been “several days of tensions” between the county, the health authority, and Pacific over how to deal with the case.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Pandemic’s effect on global seafood industry demand and pricing will be long-lasting, report says

July 8, 2020 — The global seafood industry will experience lasting impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic, including reduced demand and pricing.

That is the conclusion of the State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture report produced every two years by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the only report that tracks global fisheries and food trends.

This year it included a special focus on the pandemic which has toppled seafood markets and supply chains around the world. The report forecasts that global seafood production will be down 1.7 percent (6.6 billion pounds) and the trade value of seafood will decrease by nearly $6 billion.

Of that, wild capture fisheries are projected to decrease by 2 percent (nearly 4.2 billion pounds), while aquaculture production is expected to decrease by 1.4 percent (2.6 million pounds).

Read the full story at the Anchorage Daily News

ISFMP Policy Board Webinar Scheduled for July 14 at 1 PM

July 8, 2020 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Interstate Fisheries Management Program Policy Board will be meeting via webinar on July 14th (1-2 PM) to review and consider approval of proposed guidance on adjusting recreational measures due to COVID-19 impacts. The Draft Agenda and materials are available at http://www.asmfc.org/files/Meetings/ISFMP_PolicyBoardAgenda_Materials_July2020.pdf. The webinar information follows:

Webinar link: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/1705992754171840016. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email with information to connect to the webinar. We strongly recommend connecting to the webinar using the computer audio (VoIP). For those who will not be joining the webinar but would like to listen in, please refer to your confirmation email for dial-in information.

Landmark New York City wholesaler struggling to survive

July 8, 2020 — Already struggling to stay in business since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the owner of a fourth-generation New York City seafood wholesaler was devastated to hear the news last week that restaurants in the city cannot open for indoor dining – only outdoor.

To top it off, Broadway theaters will remain closed through the end of this year, and nightclubs remain closed.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

$2.6M in federal aid committed to new program with hopes to help keep Hawaii’s fishing industry afloat

July 8, 2020 — Mayor Kirk Caldwell on Tuesday announced a new “fish to dish” program to help Hawaii’s ailing fishing industry.

“Our fishing community is feeling the economic strain of this pandemic like so many other industries on Oahu,” said Caldwell in a statement. “Hawaii’s longline fisherman provide a valuable source of food to our island, and fortifying this industry not only provides our community with some of the freshest fish in the world, but sets up a sustainable network to solidify our food security ahead of future disasters.”

Hawaii Longline Association Executive Director Eric Kingma said that when the market crashed in March, wholesale companies laid off about half of their employees, and some boats have remained idle for several weeks.

Overall, the direct and indirect economic impacts amount to about $1 billion and have affected about 9,000 jobs, he said, so this program comes at a critical time for the industry.

Read the full story at the Honolulu Star Advertiser