Saving Seafood

Farm bill’s untold story: What Congress did for fish sticks

December 21, 2018 — The Farm Bill Congress passed last week will be known for many things. It increases subsidies for farmers and legalizes industrial hemp. But for Alaska, the bigger impact might be what the bill does for fish sticks served in school lunchrooms across America.

The national school lunch program has for decades required school districts to buy American-made food. But that doesn’t always happen when it comes to fish.

“There was a major loophole,” Sen. Dan Sullivan said. “Major. That allowed, for example, Russian-caught pollock, processed in China with phosphates, sent back to the United States for purchase in the U.S. School lunch program.”

Let’s break that down: Rather than buy fish sticks made of Alaska pollock, many school districts buy fish caught in Russian waters that are frozen, sent to China, thawed, cut up, sometimes plumped up with additives, refrozen and sent to the U.S. And it qualifies for a “Product of USA” label because it’s battered and breaded here.

“Literally turns a generation of kids in America off of seafood when they have this as fish sticks in their school lunches,” Sullivan said. Aside from being bad for Alaska’s fishing industry, Sullivan said the twice-frozen Russian pollock is bad seafood and kids won’t like fish day at school.

Read the full story at Alaska Public Media

Farm bill, with US fish requirement, passes Senate, now heads to House

December 12, 2018 — American seafood is one step closer to being served exclusively in school lunches across the country.

The U.S. Senate on Tuesday, 11 December, passed the Farm Bill, by an 87-13 margin. Now, the five-year agriculture-related appropriations and policy making bill goes to the House, which is expected to vote on this issue today, Wednesday, 12 December.

While the bill is making headlines elsewhere for legalizing hemp and increasing farm subsidies, it will also have an impact on American fishermen. That’s because the bill includes language from the “American Food for American Schools Act,” a proposal offered by U.S. Sens. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) and Maria Cantwell (D-Washington).

The senators’ bill called for school lunch programs, which are regulated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, to buy U.S. commodities for student meals. While most products were already American grown or made, there were a loopholes in it that allows school districts to purchase imported products, such as bananas and fish, because they either could not be produced in sufficient quantities or could be purchased at a lower price.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

‘Buy American’ provision survives in US Farm Bill, big win for Alaskan pollock

December 12, 2018 — Alaskan pollock harvesters and processors have scored a major victory over their Russian competitors in the waning moments of the 115th US Congress, promising to end their dominance in US school meals.

A provision championed by senator Dan Sullivan, an Alaskan Republican, to close a major loophole in the US Department of Agriculture’s “buy American” food rules for school systems, has survived and is included in the text of the final 2018 farm bill conference report released Monday night by House and Senate agriculture committee leaders, Undercurrent News has confirmed.

The legislation must still go back to the floors of both chambers for final votes before Congress concludes, which is expected to happen by Dec. 21. But those final steps are considered largely perfunctory and president Donald Trump could wind up signing the bill before the end of this week.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

Farm Bill provision would tilt school pollock, tuna purchases back to US

September 19, 2018 — US pollock and tuna harvesters don’t normally care much about the so-called Farm Bill, the massive, every-five-year legislation that helps to, among other things, preserve crop subsidies for American corn and soybean growers and nutrition programs for the unemployed. But they do this time.

That’s because Alaska Republican senator Dan Sullivan has placed a provision in one of the two bills now being worked out in a congressional conference committee that would force the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) to more aggressively enforce the “buy American” rules required for schools to receive federal reimbursement for the meals they serve to children, including fish.

The US pollock industry maintains that strapped-for-cash school systems aren’t following those rules, resulting in some 60% of the pollock they serve to be what they claim is less expensive and inferior, twice-frozen fillets sourced originally from Russia. They support Sullivan’s change.

“We are mindful of the need to maximize the use of federal dollars in procuring fish products for school meal programs and for school districts to maximize available school lunch foods,” said the At-sea Processors Association (APA), a group that represents six seafood companies that maintain interests in or operate 16 US-flag, high-tech trawl catcher/processor vessels in the Alaska pollock fishery, in a recent statement.

“However, it is similarly important to maximize the nutritional value of school lunch meals for children and to ensure that students’ early exposure to fish products is positive in order to promote incorporating more seafood meals into diets consistent with federal dietary guidelines.”

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

 

US senator from Alaska speaks out against Trump tariffs

August 27, 2018 — If the Trump administration is serious about putting “America First,” then it must consider what the proposed 25 percent tariff on Chinese products will do to the Alaskan seafood industry. That was the message U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan delivered last week at a public hearing held by the U.S. International Trade Commission.

The Alaska Republican testified his state is currently caught in the crossfire as the world’s two largest economies consider hiking levies on goods imported from each other.

Sullivan said nearly USD 1 billion (EUR 859.4 million) in U.S. seafood ultimately destined for American consumers is being targeted by these tariffs. That’s because frozen fish, after it’s initially processed in the States, is sent to China to be filleted because it is more cost-effective. Most of that is caught by Alaskan fishermen.

Sullivan likened the fish to an American car made in the U.S. by local workers, only to have the final detailing performed in China before its sent back to dealerships here. The Trump administration wouldn’t consider increasing tariffs on those automobiles, Sullivan said.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

 

SEN. DAN SULLIVAN: Progress is coming for Southeast Alaska

June 25, 2018 — Whenever I return to Southeast Alaska, I’m always filled with a renewed sense of optimism and awe for our state. Our beautiful landscapes draw tourists from across the world. Our waterways help make our state the “super power” of seafood and the home of the largest Coast Guard presence in the Pacific. Indeed, it’s largely because of the importance of our fisheries and the Coast Guard that I pushed to be the Chairman of the Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries, and the Coast Guard. In this committee, we are making progress on important issues that greatly impact Southeast.

First, throughout Alaska, and particularly in Southeast, our oceans are our lifeblood. It’s imperative that they remain sustainable. That’s why I authored the Save Our Seas (SOS) Act with Sheldon Whitehouse, D-Rhode Island, which unanimously passed the Senate.

Over the course of decades, marine debris, particularly plastics, deposited in the ocean half a world away finds its way to our coastal communities and ecosystems. This is especially detrimental to our state, with its 47,300 miles of shoreline and bountiful fisheries.

Our bill provides the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) with funds for ocean debris cleanup, and allows the NOAA Administrator to declare severe marine events which authorizes additional funds for states, like Alaska, for cleanup and response efforts. Importantly, the SOS bill also focuses on the international component of the marine-debris crisis by directing the State Department to work with countries that are the source of such pollution. Our bill has helped spur international awareness of this problem. We’re hopeful it will pass the House soon and become law.

Read the full opinion piece at the Juneau Empire

Alaska requests disaster relief for struggling Gulf cod fishery

March 22, 2018 — Alaska Governor Bill Walker and other state officials sent a letter earlier in the month to the federal government to request a disaster declaration for the Kodiak-based Pacific cod fishery in the Gulf of Alaska.

The declaration would free up federal funds for people affected by low cod numbers in the gulf, where biologists turned up an 83 percent drop in the population from 2015, prompting the National Marine Fisheries Service to slash the fishery’s quota by 80 percent and making it eligible for disaster relief.

The letter, which was also signed by Lieutenant Governor Byron Mallet and U.S. senators Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan, will go to Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross for review.

“Due to poor fishery performance and low catch limits, value of the 2018 Pacific cod harvest is expected to be USD 7 to 8 million [EUR 5.7 million to 6.5 million], or an 81 to 83 percent decline in revenues from the most recent five-year average,” the letter read.  “Throughout the Gulf of Alaska, direct impacts will be felt by vessel owners and operators, crew, and fish processors, as well (as) support industries that sell fuel, supplies, and groceries. Local governments will feel the impact to their economic base and the State of Alaska will see a decline in fishery-related tax revenue.”

Biologists believe warmer waters associated with the marine heat wave in the Pacific Ocean have contributed to declining cod stocks. Studies show that warmer water temperatures boost the metabolism of the cod, making it hard for them to reach their energetic demands.

With the warm water mass known as The Blob moving on, some experts are cautiously hopeful that Pacific cod in the Gulf will make a comeback.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

 

Alaska: Sullivan offers legislators six reasons for optimism

February 27, 2018 — In his final reason for optimism, Sullivan echoed Alaska’s official slogan and said the state can be “a land of the future” with high technology investment.

He said that as a member of the committee in charge of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, he has been seeking ways to move NOAA facilities and employees to Alaska.

Currently, many of NOAA’s Alaska offices — including the National Marine Fisheries Service region for the state — are found in Washington and Oregon. The City and Borough of Juneau has long sought to transfer some or all of those offices to the capital city.

“As for science, we have so much potential to be a vibrant hub of research, but the federal government needs to be a better partner,” Sullivan said.

Sullivan concluded his remarks by urging the Legislature to act on its opportunity.

Read the full story at the Juneau Empire

 

Seafood group wants next Magnuson-Stevens Act to do away with “overfishing”

February 16, 2018 — A consortium of groups with ties to the seafood industry is calling for the U.S. Congress to pass a Magnuson-Stevens Act reauthorization bill that gives the Regional Fishery Management Councils greater flexibility to achieve their objectives, but they also looking for federal officials to change how a couple of items are termed.

Saving Seafood’s National Coalition for Fishing Communities is asking Congress to do away with the term “overfishing,” claiming it’s not accurate to base a stock’s condition on just its fishing mortality. In its place, the 24-member group wants to new MSA law to call fishstocks “depleted.” They made their recommendation in a letter to U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska).

“The term ‘overfished’ is perceived negatively and can unfairly implicate the industry for stock conditions resulting from other factors,” the group wrote.

Gib Brogan, a campaign manager with Oceana, said the effort behind depleted is an attempt by commercial fishing interests to escape a “negative perception and culpability for the state” of stocks.

“Modern fisheries science already accounts for the ‘other factors’ that may decrease the abundance of fish in the oceans,” Brogan said.  “When these ‘other factors’ have been accounted for in the underlying science, fishing remains as the source of mortality and it is entirely appropriate to keep the focus on fishing by using ‘overfished.’  If these other factors are not being appropriately considered, that should be resolved through the assessment for affected fish stocks, not a blanket change in terminology.”

Along with several other commercial fishing groups, the coalition is also calling for the new act to do away with the 10-year rebuilding requirement and giving the regional councils more flexibility in determining the timeframe needed to bolster stocks. The group also suggests moving from “possible” to “practicable” when it comes to those rebuilding periods.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

 

Murkowski, Sullivan Applaud Emergency Relief for Communities Affected by Fisheries Disasters

February 12, 2018 — WASHINGTON — U.S. Senators Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Dan Sullivan (R-AK) Friday applauded the inclusion of funding for fisheries disasters in the Bipartisan Budget Act, which established funding levels through the end of Fiscal Year 2019. The bill passed the Senate in a vote of 71-28.

Last month Senators Murkowski and Sullivan called on their colleagues to include disaster funding for coastal communities affected by longstanding and ongoing fisheries disasters, as Congress considered a relief package for U.S. communities impacted by hurricanes and wildfires.

“The dollars contained in this bill are truly vital to communities in the Gulf of Alaska who were hit hard by the pink salmon fishery in 2016. From commercial fisherman and processors to local governments who saw less revenue, this hit everyone hard,” said Senator Murkowski. “I’d like to thank my colleagues on the Senate Appropriations Committee, especially Senators Cochran and Shelby, for working with me over the months to secure this aid for Alaska and other states impacted by these disasters.”

“The 2016 pink salmon season was a disaster for our coastal communities, fishing families, and other fisheries related businesses,” said Senator Sullivan. “This emergency aid was a long time coming, and I thank my Senate colleagues for working with Senator Murkowski and I to address this pressing issue. Going forward we’ll work with NOAA and the affected communities to make sure the dollars are put to good use.”

Read the full story at Alaska Native News