Saving Seafood

U.S. Commercial Fishing Interests Describe COVID-19 Challenges; List Top Federal Aid Assistance Proposals

March 24, 2020 — WASHINGTON — The following was released by Saving Seafood’s National Coalition for Fishing Communities:

Late last week, Saving Seafood staff was asked by Congressional offices for comment and input from the Commercial Fishing Industry as to what is being experienced as a result of the disruption resulting from the COVID-19 crisis, and how Federal emergency economic assistance might be able to assist.

Over the weekend, Pacific Seafood took the initiative to work across industry lines to craft letters, which have now been sent to the President, House and Senate Leadership, and Cabinet Members, outlining bold action that can be taken to preserve the operating liquidity of the seafood production employers who provide and support domestic food infrastructure and the millions of jobs they support. An unprecedented outpouring of over 180 companies and organizations throughout the seafood industry participated in this effort. These letters address possible actions in Congress.

To respond to the Congressional requests, Saving Seafood reached out to our extensive network of commercial fishermen and related businesses on the Atlantic, Pacific, and Gulf coasts, as well as Hawaii, for input on how COVID-19 has affected their businesses, and for recommendations on what they feel would be the best ways for the government to help. These efforts address possible actions at the local, state, and Federal levels, including both Congressional and Administration/Agency actions.

The fishing and seafood sectors are not homogeneous, and different regions and fisheries are experiencing different challenges; therefore, the forms of assistance described are intended to reflect both immediate pressures where prices have fallen, as well as longer term needs associated with securing future fishing vessel crew-members, and processing workforce.

We would like to express gratitude to Senators Ed Markey, Lisa Murkowski, Dan Sullivan, and Elizabeth Warren and their staffs for communicating the needs and concerns of the seafood industry to Senate leadership. It is our hope that Congress will heed their request, and also recognize and take action to address the reality that our commercial fishing and seafood industries are highly diverse between regions. Additional assistance beyond what is outlined in today’s letters and this release may be needed to address broader near-term critical needs for some seafood producers. Domestic harvesting, production, processing, transportation, and promotion will all need federal assistance to ensure that we can provide a steady supply of healthy domestic seafood to US consumers during this time of crisis.

NOAA’s “Fisheries of the United States 2017” reported that more than 2/3 (68%) of the $102.2 billion that consumers spent on fishery products in 2017 is spent at food service establishments, with less than one-third sold in retail outlets for home consumption. Thus, the necessary closures in the nation’s hospitality and restaurant industry are having an outsized impact on domestic commercial fisheries.

While this effort focused on the effect of the COVID-19 crisis on commercial harvesters and processors, support businesses such as fuel, shipyards, gear manufacturers, etc. are also being impacted by a decline in commercial fishing.

The following is a summary of suggestions made by members of our industry.

  • Essential Employee Status – According to guidelines published by the Department of Homeland Security, those employed in fish harvesting and processing are considered “Essential Critical Infrastructure Workers” as they provide food to the nation. Fishermen and processor staff must also be designated as essential employees so that they would be able to continue operations during any potential shelter-in-place orders. These businesses must also have free and fast testing deployed locally for these essential workers, as testing is a necessary component of onboarding/crewing protocol to safely serve upcoming fishing and processing seasons.
  • Grant programs or stimulus to cover losses – In order to maintain domestic seafood supply chains and to ensure continued operations, many businesses in the commercial fishing industry need liquidity. These businesses feel that additional borrowing should be a last resort, as the duration of this crisis is unknown and many businesses are already overleveraged in an attempt to keep up with foreign markets, including Asia where their seafood industry is heavily subsidized. Loan forgiveness for loans used to maintain payroll, grants for maintenance to keep vessels in good working order, and low-interest loans to refinance existing debt would help.
  • Payment relief – In addition to direct payments, and forgivable loans, another suggestion that would allow companies to continue operations is the suspension of certain financial obligations such as utilities, real estate tax, and mortgages.
  • Government purchase of seafood – The government could increase seafood purchases for institutional use (i.e. prisons, hospitals, school lunch programs, etc.) as well as for distribution as food assistance. The purchases would provide much needed capital, ensure stable prices, allow companies to move stored inventory, and ensure continued operations. This would also ensure a stable supply of fresh, healthy food for those who are facing food shortages.
  • Payroll and Unemployment Assistance – Many businesses are concerned that when restaurants, hotels, and bars re-open they will face significant lag time before resuming operations if they are forced to lay off staff during this time. This lag would compound the financial difficulties they are already facing. They would like to be able to continue paying staff or assure them that unemployment payments will be available to quickly fill the gap so that their employees don’t seek work elsewhere. Additionally, many vessel crew members are considered self-employed and do not currently qualify for unemployment or paid leave, so relief efforts must also be extended to these workers.
  • Promote American Seafood – On an encouraging note, many businesses are seeing an increase in retail sales of seafood through grocery stores and markets. U.S. fisheries are among the best in the world and this is a perfect opportunity to promote consumption of sustainably caught domestic seafood. A “Buy American” campaign, with simple instructions, could go a long way to helping these businesses move their product and maintain revenue.
  • Visa Expediting – Many businesses rely on temporary, seasonal foreign labor for the harvesting and processing of seafood. Current travel restrictions and bureaucratic delays are limiting the number of essential workers available. When travel restrictions are reduced and retail businesses reopen, fishing operations need to be able to staff up as quickly as possible, including hiring essential workers with valid temporary, seasonal visas.
  • Federal Fisheries Disaster Action– Declaration of a Federal fisheries disaster opens up aid options including direct subsidies for struggling businesses and low interest loans. The Administration should expedite the OMB approval process of stakeholder “spend plans” for fishery disasters already declared and funded by Congress. There are currently plans sitting at OMB awaiting final approval and funding disbursements. The COVID situation has placed a more urgent need in coastal communities for these previously appropriated funds.
  • Supply chain access – Several fishing operations around the country sell their products overseas. They are requesting continued access to and cooperation from officials at ports, rail, and border crossings so that they can maintain their sales.
  • Stability of Fisheries Access – In order that the industry may make a full and speedy recovery, to reduce costs, and to maintain supply, we urge reducing unnecessary regulatory burdens currently in place that are preventing access to and sustainable harvest from fishing grounds.

Read the letter to the President and the Administration here

Read the letter to Congress here

Senators Markey, Murkowski, Warren, Sullivan Call on Senate Leadership to Support Fishing and Seafood Industry in Coronavirus Response

March 24, 2020 — March 23, 2020 — The following was released by The Office of Senator Ed Markey (D-Mass.):

Senators Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) today were joined by Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) in leading a letter to Senate leadership calling for urgent support for the fishing industry as it endures severe economic hardship as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Given the vast amount of domestic seafood that is enjoyed in restaurants and exported to international markets, the closure of these markets from the COVID-19 pandemic has caused fishermen and seafood processors to face uniquely drastic economic impacts. As part of the urgently needed support, the letter highlights a variety of ways Congress can help the industry, including: establishing federal procurement programs for U.S. seafood products, federal fisheries disaster assistance funding, and the inclusion of support mechanisms for vessel loan payments assistance in any economy-wide coronavirus response package.

Full text of the letter can be found below.

The Honorable Mitch McConnell
Majority Leader
United States Senate
Washington, D.C. 20510

The Honorable Chuck Schumer
Minority Leader
United States Senate
Washington, D.C. 20510

Dear Leader McConnell and Leader Schumer,

As you work to draft economic relief packages to respond to the ongoing health and economic crisis caused by the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), we urge you to include support for the fishing industry, which is facing severe economic hardship as a result of this pandemic.

The fishing and seafood industries are essential drivers of the American economy, with $5.6 billion worth of fisheries products landed and $11.6 billion worth of fisheries products processed in 2018.  The COVID-19 outbreak has caused restaurants across the United States to shutter, eliminating a key customer base for the fishing and seafood industries. Large export markets in virus-affected countries like China have also been disrupted. Additionally, many fishermen are not eligible for unemployment benefits because they are self-employed. Congress must provide dedicated financial assistance to these vital industries to ensure that, when this crisis has passed, we still have a robust fishing economy. 

Some fisheries are completely shut down because there is no market for their fish. Seafood processors are struggling because closed restaurants are no longer buying fresh products. When boats sit idle in port, unable to fish, fishing captains cannot make vessel loan payments or pay crewmembers. Crewmembers often depend on their captains to provide meals during fishing trips, and are therefore lacking meals and pay. Without congressional help, this industry might go bankrupt at the dock.

When evaluating potential support, Congress should consider the establishment of federal procurement programs specifically for U.S. seafood products; helping fishermen with vessel loan payments and refinancing; qualifying fishermen for unemployment insurance; funding federal fisheries disaster assistance; and deploying other financial support mechanisms to maintain the stability of the seafood industry. We also strongly support robust funding for the National Marine Fisheries Service in the regular appropriations process to ensure that the global pandemic does not compromise management of our nation’s fisheries. 

We urge you to consider the unique and dire plight of the fishermen and seafood producers in the next legislative response to COVID-19. Without assistance, we face the real possibility of losing a significant portion of our fishing industry to economic challenges caused by COVID-19, and forever changing the character of our working waterfronts. 

US Senate Passes Save Our Seas 2.0 Act

January 15, 2020 — The United States Senate last week unanimously passed the bipartisan Save Our Seas 2.0 Act to “to address the plastic debris crisis threatening coastal economies and harming marine life.”

According to a press release from Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), who introduced the bill, the act is the “most comprehensive marine debris legislation ever to pass the U.S. Senate.”

The new legislation builds on the Save Our Seas Act of 2018, introduced by Sullivan and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.). The bill is now before the U.S. House of Representatives.

The Save Our Seas 2.0 Act has three main goals, according to Sullivan’s office:

  • strengthening domestic marine debris response capability with a Marine Debris Foundation, a genius prize for innovation, and new research to tackle the issue;
  • enhancing global engagement to combat marine debris, including formalizing U.S. policy on international cooperation, enhancing federal agency outreach to other countries, and exploring the potential for a new international agreement on the challenge; and
  • improving domestic infrastructure to prevent marine debris through new grants for and studies of waste management and mitigation.

Read the full story at the Honolulu Civil Beat

Save Our Seas 2.0 tackles global marine debris crisis

November 12, 2019 — We may have plenty of political differences, but we come from coastal states. That means we have a front-row seat to the peril of plastic waste and marine debris flowing into our oceans at the rate of around 8 million metric tons per year. We understand what it will mean for our fishing and tourism industries when the weight of plastic in our oceans equals the weight of fish in the sea — something projected to happen by mid-century. We don’t have a moment to lose in confronting this problem.

That’s why we built a coalition in Congress and gathered input from environmental and industry stakeholders alike. Despite a divided Washington, that work resulted in a bill that won broad, bipartisan support. When the Save Our Seas Act became law last October, it was a moment of bipartisan progress on a vital issue — one to be celebrated.

Before the president’s ink on Save Our Seas was dry, our bipartisan trio of senators began developing the Save Our Seas 2.0 Act. We sought to harness the momentum behind the first bill to up the ante on combatting the global marine debris crisis. Marine debris requires multifaceted, multisector solutions with a global reach, and the United States ought to be driving these solutions.

Read the full story at Roll Call

Sens. Ed Markey and Dan Sullivan introduce bipartisan bill to boost ocean health

October 28, 2019 — Democratic Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts and Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan of Alaska on Friday introduced the Ocean, Coastal and Estuarine Acidification Necessitates (OCEAN) Research Act, which boosts investment in research that could improve ocean health and protect the seafood industry.

The senators said in a news release Friday that the bill would lead to greater research and monitoring of ocean acidification, which occurs as a consequence of carbon dioxide forming acids when dissolved in seawater. The process harms shellfish, coral reefs and other marine life essential for healthy ecosystems and coastal economies.

In coastal areas, acidification may interact with warming waters, harmful algal blooms and low-oxygen “dead zones” with severe impacts. Southern Massachusetts and Narragansett Bay have been identified as “acidification hotspots,” jeopardizing the $500 million-plus Massachusetts shellfish industry.

The bipartisan bill introduced Friday would reauthorize the Federal Ocean Acidification Research and Monitoring Act, which lapsed in 2012 and provided funding for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Science Foundation. The bill calls for engaging with coastal communities and the seafood industry through an advisory board and research grants.

Read the full story at MassLive

Alaska Congress members ask to tap relief funds for seafood

June 20, 2019 — Alaska’s congressional delegation said the state’s fishermen and seafood processors should be included in a federal trade war relief package, a report said.

Lawmakers asked the Trump administration to give its seafood industry access to $15 billion earmarked for farmers, The Anchorage Daily News reported Wednesday.

“Unjustified retaliatory” tariffs are eroding Alaska seafood’s market share in China, U.S. Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan and Rep. Don Young said in a June 11 letter.

“New market growth has stopped and Alaska seafood consumption has dropped,” the legislators wrote to Perdue.

China’s 25% tariff on Alaska salmon, pollock, cod and other fish implemented in July boosts the overall tariff to 32% on some fish species, they said.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the San Francisco Chronicle

Alaska senator requests tariff exemption for state’s seafood

May 30, 2019 — An Alaska senator has written to the U.S. trade representative asking for Alaska fish species to be removed from a list of goods facing tariffs, a report said.

Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan sent a letter to U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer last week, The Kodiak Daily Mirror reported Tuesday.

As part of an ongoing trade dispute with China, earlier this month the Trump Administration announced an increase in tariffs from 10% to 25% on $200 billion worth of products and tariffs on an additional $300 billion worth of Chinese imports.

Sullivan said he asked Lighthizer to consider removing tariffs from seafood fished in Alaska including salmon, some species of rockfish and flatfish, Pollock, and Pacific cod.

The increase in tariffs is “creating tremendous uncertainty” for the industry and “is deeply troubling, because they continue to potentially negatively impact the very Americans the administration is trying to help,” Sullivan’s letter said.

The letter was also signed by Sen Lisa Murkowski and Rep. Don Young, who are both Republicans.

Read the full story at the Associated Press

ALASKA: Sullivan restates concern that Pebble comment period may be too short

April 19, 2019 — As a series of public hearings on the controversial Pebble mine came to a close in Anchorage on Tuesday, Sen. Dan Sullivan reiterated support for extending the period during which Alaskans can comment on the federal government’s draft report of the mine’s impacts.

Sullivan met with senior officials with the U.S. Army Corps recently, his staff said Tuesday.

“At that meeting, Senator Sullivan reiterated his view that the Corps should extend the comment period if necessary to ensure that the viewpoints of all Alaskans are taken into consideration on a project of this size and complexity. This is a general legal requirement of the federal permitting process,” Michael Soukup, an aide, said in a statement.

Sullivan raised the same concern in February, telling reporters the agency’s 90-day comment period is inadequate.

Read the full story at Anchorage Daily News

Rubio Reintroduces Bipartisan Bill to Promote U.S. Shark Conservation as a Global Model of Sustainability

April 3, 2019 — The following was released by the office of Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL):

Today, U.S. Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Dan Sullivan (R-AK), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), and Bill Cassidy (R-LA) reintroduced the Sustainable Shark Fisheries and Trade Act (S. 1008), bicameral legislation that recognizes the sustainable and economically-valuable fishing practices of U.S. shark fishermen and promotes U.S. standards for shark conservation and humane harvest abroad. U.S. Representative Daniel Webster (R-FL) has introduced similar legislation (H.R. 788) in the House.

“U.S. shark populations are growing because of years of sustainable management, benefitting ocean ecosystems, as well as coastal economies via fishing, trade, and tourism,” Rubio said. “My bill would extend successful U.S. shark conservation and humane harvesting standards to our global trading partners, helping to protect international shark populations as well. In doing so, we can save millions of sharks from being finned at sea, and preserve the livelihoods of commercial fishermen in Florida and throughout the U.S. who continue to fish in accordance with strong federal and state fisheries management laws.

“Our nation is a leader in sustainable fisheries management. While the practice of shark finning is already banned in U.S. waters, America does have a small population of fishermen who legally harvest whole sharks for their meat, oil, and other products. To address the global problem of shark finning, it is important for us to set an example for other nations by requiring their shark fisheries to be sustainably managed,” said Murkowski. “This legislation sets a strong policy example for other nations that wish to prevent shark finning in their waters, while protecting the rights of American fisherman that operate in legal and well-regulated shark fisheries, and supporting the efforts of shark conservationists. By supporting other nations as they work to eradicate the cruel practice of shark finning, we can find solutions to protect our fisheries, our communities, and marine ecosystems worldwide.”

Rubio first introduced the Sustainable Shark Fisheries and Trade Act last Congress, and
the Senate Commerce Committee approved the legislation shortly after.

Specifically, the Sustainable Shark Fisheries and Trade Act would:

  • Create a shark conservation and trade fairness certification for nations wishing to import shark products to the U.S.;
  • Prohibit the importation of shark products originating from any nation without a certification, and the possession of such products in the U.S. with limited exceptions for law enforcement, subsistence harvest, education, conservation, or scientific research;
  • Update the High Seas Driftnet Fishing Moratorium Protection Act to reflect the U.S. commitment to promote international agreements that encourage the adoption of shark conservation and management measures and measures to prevent shark finning that are consistent with the International Plan of Action for Conservation and Management of Sharks;
  • Direct the Secretary of Commerce to include rays and skates into the seafood traceability program to ensure that shark products are not smuggled into the U.S. falsely labeled as rays and skates, two closely related groups.

 

SEN. DAN SULLIVAN: Northern Lights: A global seafood superpower

March 26, 2019 — The seafood industry is the lifeblood of many of Alaska’s communities. The industry is the third largest economic driver in Alaska and the top employer. Alaska accounts for more than 50 percent of total U.S. commercial fishery harvest in volume and contributes more than 78,000 jobs to the Alaska economy. We are also the top exporter in the country of fish and seafood products.

Enhancing Alaska’s seafood powerhouse is one of the primary reasons I have fought to sit on the Senate Commerce Committee — which has fishing under its jurisdiction. As a member of that committee, I have worked relentlessly to continue the important work of my predecessor, Sen. Ted Stevens, who co-authored the Magnuson-Stevens Act. But there is a whole host of fisheries issues that also come before me, including ensuring that our fisheries remain healthy and vital, fighting burdensome regulations that would needlessly restrict access to our fishing resources, and, importantly, expanding the markets for our fisheries.

In my time as a senator, I’ve been working diligently on all of these priorities, and we’ve had some important successes. For instance, the Save Our Seas Act, a bill that I coauthored with Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) to help keep plastics out of our seas, was signed into law by the president in October. I recently negotiated a provision, known as the Vessel Incident Discharge Act, to provide Alaska fishing vessel owners and operators relief from a patchwork of overly burdensome and confusing federal and state regulations for vessel ballast water and incidental discharges.
We’ve also had important successes in Congress to expand markets for Alaska fisheries.

When I arrived in the Senate, I was surprised to learn that while the national school lunch program requires school districts to buy American-made food, fish had been largely excluded from those requirements in practice. It was a major loophole that allowed, for example, Russian-caught pollock, processed in China and injected with phosphates, to be sent back to the United States for purchase in the National School Lunch Program. And it qualified for a Product of USA label because it’s battered and breaded here.

Not only was this bad for Alaska’s fishing industry, the chemical-laden, twice-frozen fish that was served to students just didn’t taste good. It literally turned a generation of kids in America off of seafood.

Read the full opinion piece at National Fisherman