Saving Seafood

Group hopes to solidify, amplify voice of fishing interests

November 16, 2015 — A new coalition of seafood industry interests is being assembled to help tell the commercial fishing industry story nationally, regionally and locally without being drowned out by the larger reach of well-funded special interest groups, organizers said Monday.

The National Coalition of Fishing Communities, according to its organizers, will provide an informational platform for fishing communities, commercial fishermen, fishing advocacy groups and other fishing stakeholders “all the way up the food chain.”

“We need to balance the protection of the resource with the protection of the fishing communities,” said Bob Vanasse, the executive director of the Savings Seafood website and the driving force behind the new coalition. “We need the entire supply chain to work together.”

Toward that end, Vanasse wants to include processors, seafood marketers and even restaurants to help portray the most accurate state of the industry and “move the national conversation in a positive direction.”

The coalition boasts a familiar name.

Former Gloucester Harbor Planning Director Sarah Garcia is the director of outreach and membership for the Washington D.C.-based coalition.

“This is a really exciting and innovative idea that will help us develop a shared message among all of the nation’s fisheries,” Garcia said. “We’re not just a clearinghouse for information for those with an interest in the management of the fisheries. We’re spreading the message that we all have to speak up for the domestic fishing industry so we can hear fishermen’s voices as well as the environmentalists.”

Read the full story at Gloucester Daily Times

 

Maine business owners explore challenges, opportunities of climate change

October 30, 2015 — SOUTH PORTLAND — Several Maine business owners said Friday that adapting to climate change doesn’t have to be costly and, in many cases, can help a company’s finances as well as the environment.

Climate change presents considerable challenges but also potential opportunities to Maine businesses and communities, many of which are witnessing the impacts of a changing ocean environment before their counterparts elsewhere around the country. That was a key theme of a forum co-sponsored Friday by the South Portland Chamber of Commerce and the Natural Resources Council of Maine.

“Ultimately, this has to make economic sense,” U.S. Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, said via Skype because early-morning budget votes in Washington prevented his return to Maine. “We can’t depend on everybody simply being good guys or nice men and women. It has to work in terms of a return on investment.”

Laying out the challenges facing Maine due to a changing climate, King and Gulf of Maine Research Institute President and CEO Don Perkins discussed how lobster and other fish species are already changing their habits as the Gulf of Maine warms. A recent six-part Portland Press Herald series explored the ecological and economic implications of the fact that the Gulf of Maine has warmed faster than almost every part of the oceans around the globe during the past decade.

“It’s real and it has very sobering implications for our fishing industry, obviously,” said Perkins, whose staff at GMRI recently co-authored a scientific study showing cod populations were not recovering because of warming Gulf of Maine waters. “Once you get over agonizing about that – and it is cause for agony – the fact is that we’re dealing with that problem a decade or a few decades earlier than many other ocean regions. And as a result, there is a huge opportunity in this state to figure out how to understand a changing system.”

Read the full story at Portland Press Herald

 

World Seafood Congress 2015 – A Truly Global Event

September 30, 2015 — Almost 300 industry leaders, seafood professionals and academics took up residence in the historic fishing town to hear from 94 speakers on issues including sustainability, trade, ethics and industry skills, with new findings and reports revealed exclusively to the congress’ delegates.

Highlights from some of the 50 sessions that took place included addresses from Liv Holmefjord, the Norwegian fisheries minister, Timothy Hansen, president of IAFI and Dr Paul Williams, chief executive of Seafish, the UK industry authority that hosted this year’s event.

Read the full story at The Fish Site

 

Industry Looks to Future on Final Day of World Seafood Congress

September 10, 2015 — On its final day, the congress’ program focused on the future, with keynote speaker Chris Grieve, executive director at Meridian Prime, opening the session by looking closely at the opportunities and challenges facing the industry in the 21st century. Chris also examined the need for skills and training to help ensure sustainable practices are implemented as the industry moves forward.

This forward-looking theme was continued throughout the day, with a number of sessions on sustainability, future product opportunities and the developments taking place among international fisheries.

Read the full story at The Fish Site

 

Gulf of Maine’s Cashes Ledge: Efforts to Extend Federal Protections Rankles Fishing Industry

September 1, 2015 — Several conservation groups are calling on the White House to designate an area of the Gulf of Maine as a National Monument. The Cashes Ledge Closed Area is considered important habitat for cod, and The Conservation Law Foundation, the National Geographic Society, and others say it must be protected.

This story includes a clarification. See Editor’s Note below.

But opponents of the idea, including Maine Gov. Paul LePage, say such a move is undemocratic and unfair to fishermen.

The area known as Cashes Ledge is about 80 miles off the Maine and the Massachusetts coast, covers about 500 square miles and contains the largest kelp forest in the North Atlantic.

It contains an underwater mountain range where the highest peak – known as Ammen Rock – comes to within 30 feet of the ocean surface. Not only is it a beautiful and diverse habitat, says Sean Mahoney of the Conservation Law Foundation, “but Cashes Ledge is such a key area if we’re going to have any hopes of restoring iconic fish like cod.”

Read the full story at MPBN News

 

New England’s Groundfish Industry is Suffering, Hope for Fix Unclear

August 7, 2015 — SCITUATE, Mass. — In 1759 and 1776 economist, Adam Smith, used the metaphor of the “invisible hand” to describe how the actions of individuals based in self-interest could result in unintentional benefits for society overall. Smith used the invisible hand both in describing the benefits of a free market when it comes to income distribution and production. The theory goes an individual working in for their own interest in a market of other individuals behaving in the same manner will unintentionally create more social benefits than if that individual was working with the intention of creating social good.

In the fishing industry in New England, the invisible hand has been slapped away by the overbearing paw of excessive and misguided government regulation. The result is an inefficient market that not only hurts individuals, but also the overall industry and consumers.

Today, there are only five ground fishing boats that make Scituate their homeport. Five years ago, the number was 16, a reduction of over 68 percent. Each boat represented a small business.

Read the full opinion piece at Scituate Mariner