March 4, 2020 — The following was released by the U.S. Department of Commerce:
I would like to thank Earl Comstock for honoring his commitment to serve for three years as Director of Policy and Strategic Planning at the Department of Commerce. I value his wise counsel, his deep policy expertise, his innovative thinking and leadership, and I thank him for his service to the American people. I know he will excel in whatever new role he takes on and wish him the very best.
February 20, 2020 — The U.S. Department of Commerce violated federal administrative law by requiring at-sea monitors for herring fishing and making the industry pay for them, a group of New Jersey fishermen say in a new federal lawsuit.
The Secretary of Commerce’s approval of a final rule, and a related omnibus amendment, is arbitrary and capricious, according to the lawsuit filed Wednesday by the fishing company Loper Bright Enterprises Inc. and others in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
December 6, 2019 — Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo on Friday requested the U.S. Department of Commerce issue a disaster declaration for the Peconic Bay scallop fishery, following a catastrophic die-off of scallops in East End waterways.
An immediate declaration of a disaster is needed, he said, to provide “direct economic relief for the New York fishing industry.”
In a letter to Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, Cuomo requested that the federal government formally declare a fishery failure in the bay scallop fishery in the Peconic Bay Estuary due to a “fishery resource disaster.”
Cuomo did not site a figure for economic losses or impacts tied to the die-off.
The move comes as researchers and biologists from the state, Suffolk County, Cornell University and Stony Brook University gathered Friday night at Stony Brook’s Southampton campus to detail the latest information about the die-off, which was first recognized as the scallop season opened Nov. 5.
November 14, 2019 — For the people who harvest, sell, shuck and serve the bivalves, that’s a worrisome prospect: Oysters, traditionally cheap and plentiful, are more central to the restaurant and cooking culture of the Gulf Coast than to that of any other region.
“Oysters are part of who we are,” said Mr. Sunseri, whose ancestors founded P & J in 1876. His family is hoping to rent part of its production house here to a restaurant in an effort to stay afloat. If not for his good health and lack of debt, Mr. Sunseri said, “We’d be closed.”
In September, the United States Department of Commerce determined that Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi were suffering “a catastrophic regional fishery disaster,” making businesses in those states eligible for federal assistance.
Louisiana normally accounts for a third of the nation’s annual oyster harvest. The current season isn’t over, but losses reported so far are so severe “that we’re likely to not remain the largest oyster producer in the United States,” said Patrick Banks, an assistant secretary in the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries.
Heavy rain and snow in the Midwest caused the Army Corps of Engineers to open the Bonnet Carré Spillway, about 33 miles northwest of New Orleans, for a record 118 days last winter and spring. The spillway protects communities near the Mississippi’s mouth from flooding by releasing water from the river and reducing pressure on the flood-control system.
But it also reduces the salinity of surrounding waters, endangering oysters, which can tolerate brackish water but can die if the salt content is too low.
The river was so high that even areas unaffected by the openings were flushed with freshwater.
October 31, 2019 — According to a study released in 2012 by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, between 3.9 and 4.5 billion people get all or most of their protein sustenance from wild caught seafood. The Commerce Department reports that, despite having one of the largest exclusive fishing zones in the world, the United States imports more than 90% of its seafood.
These two facts should concern the American public and our presidential candidates, yet fishery policy is seldom if ever mentioned on the campaign trail. Every candidate has an agricultural policy, just look at the traffic jam of candidates at Iowa state fairs. Fishermen and farmers contribute over $230 million to the state’s economy annually. However, ask a candidate about the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Management Act and you will likely get a blank stare.
All candidates have national security policies and food security is inextricably linked to national security. A country that is self-sufficient in fishing and farming is also secure. Long supply chains, often involving countries that do not necessarily have the United States best interests at heart, is inherently risky. So why has this issue not been addressed in the most recent iteration of Magnuson?
August 21, 2019 — Persistent problems with the premier sensors of the GOES-R series satellites—designed to provide the next generation of weather observation for North America—were identified before launch and not properly tested or resolved, according to a new inspector general report.
Further, the Commerce Department IG found evidence that program managers changed the evaluation criteria for the contractor after the issues were identified—metrics that would have led to a 40-75% reduction in payment had they remained.
The GOES-R series of satellites includes GOES-16—launched November 2016—and GOES-17—launched March 2018—as well as the pending GOES-T and GOES-U still in production. The satellite constellation is equipped with a set of next-generation sensors to better predict weather patterns, including the Advanced Baseline Imager, or ABI, the “most essential instrument for mission success of the GOES-R satellites,” according to the IG.
August 13, 2019 — The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday, 12 August, announced changes in how it would administer the Endangered Species Act, a move it said would add transparency to the process.
However, environmental groups lashed out at the move, claiming it would make it harder to protect species and harm wildlife protections, given it will government officials the chance to consider economic factors when determining if action should be taken to intervene in a species’ management plan.
May 1, 2019 — It’s taken four years but fishermen along California’s North Coast who have seen crab and salmon seasons truncated and even closed altogether will finally see some relief after $29.65 million in federal disaster relief funding was approved by Congress.
It was in the 2015-16 year the Dungeness crab fishery and the Yurok Chinook salmon fishery both collapsed due to poor water quality. Despite $200 million in relief funding made available in 2018, the release of the money was delayed by the U.S. Department of Commerce and it took a letter from U.S. Rep. Jared Huffman and Rep. Jackie Speier to get the ball rolling again last year.
“We’ve been waiting almost two years since these funds were made available by appropriations from Congress,” said Noah Oppenheim, executive director of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fisherman’s Association on Monday. “These funds have been desperately needed for a long time and the crab fishermen are already experiencing another severe hardship with whale entanglements and the funds are needed more now than they were before.”
Oppenheim said local crab fishermen will see anywhere from $22,000 to $45,000 depending on the size of their operation and it’s not as if someone has hit the lottery, this is money that will be used on the basics and the bare necessities.
March 5, 2019 — U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross has made a change in leadership for the agency that oversees NOAA Fisheries.
In a memo dated 25 February, Neil Jacobs told NOAA employees that Ross assigned him to the “nonexclusive” role of undersecretary and NOAA Administrator. He replaces retired Rear Admiral Timothy Gallaudet, who had served as the agency’s acting administrator.
The switch will not change NOAA’s mission or priorities, Jacobs said.
“This is a natural shift that occurs in agencies and departments over time,” a NOAA spokesperson told SeafoodSource in a prepared statement. “Both leaders are dedicated professionals who believe in the people, science, and missions at NOAA. The agency’s important work on behalf of the American people and businesses will occur seamlessly into the future.”
Jacobs said Gallaudet continues in his position as the assistant secretary for oceans and atmosphere in the Commerce Department. In this position, Gallaudet will work on the department’s Blue Economy initiative, which is looking to bolster how the U.S. can better leverage the resources in the world’s second-largest Exclusive Economic Zone.
One of the priorities for the Blue Economy initiative is to examine how the U.S. can increase the amount of seafood America produces. Currently, America imports roughly 90 percent of the fish and shellfish consumed annually. The initiative also calls for surveying for oil and gas exploration.
March 5, 2019 — Virginia will not face penalties for failing to formally adopt new catch limits on Atlantic menhaden — as long as harvests stay within limits established by East Coast fishery managers.
The decision by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission in February headed off a potential legal showdown as to whether it had scientific justification for slashing the commercial menhaden harvest in the Bay in 2017, even as it raised catch limits along most of the coast.
Since then, the Virginia General Assembly has twice failed to adopt the commission’s mandated annual Bay cap of 51,000 metric tons.
Failure to adopt the limit put the state out of compliance with the commission’s regulations. As a result, the ASMFC could ask the U.S. Department of Commerce to impose a moratorium on all menhaden harvests in Virginia. Twice last year the ASMFC considered, but delayed, such an action.
Steven Bowman, who heads the Virginia Marine Resources Commission, said his agency monitored 2018 harvests both through catch records and aerial surveillance and would continue to do so. “The cap was not exceeded,” he said. “It did not come close to being exceeded.”