Saving Seafood

New England’s struggling cod fishery to see new quota cut

December 2, 2015 — PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Fishing managers on Wednesday recommended a shift in the amount of fish New England’s beleaguered cod fishing businesses should be allowed to catch for the next few years, which would reduce the limit for some fishermen.

The New England Fishery Management Council met to consider quotas for several important food fish, including the Gulf of Maine cod, which once was the backbone of the New England fishing industry and is now in decline. The council recommended a slight rise in quota for Gulf of Maine cod along with a steeper quota cut for Georges Bank’s cod.

Tough quotas and low availability have made local cod difficult to find in New England, and when it is available, customers must pay more for it than they would for foreign cod. Ben Martens, executive director of the Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association, called the reduction in Georges Bank quota “a substantial cut to the industry.”

Inability to catch cod also prevents fishermen from landing species such as haddock, pollock and hake that live in the same areas, Martens said.

“It’s going to be hard for boats of any size to go out there and run a groundfish business,” he said.

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

 

 

Federal funding for at-sea monitoring likely to extend into 2016

December 2, 2015 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

We are pleased to announce an update on the status of federal funding for at-sea monitors in the New England Groundfish fishery. We have been informed that industry has facilitated an initial agreement among the three at-sea monitoring contract providers that may allow the remaining contract funds remaining to cover at-sea monitors after December 31 across the fleet, until those funds are expended, through sub-contracting arrangements. 

We have continued to track the expenditures of the three at-sea monitoring contract providers through the month of November and, as we anticipated, two of the contract providers have been on target to expend all monies by December 31, 2015. However, the third contract provider continues to spend funds at a slower rate because this company provides observers for only a small percent of the fleet (approximately 2% of the effort). 

Approximately $200K is currently available on this at-sea monitoring provider’s contract. This would allow for approximately 250 to 300 sea days of at-sea monitoring. (A “sea day” is a calendar day that the monitor spends at sea on a covered fishing trip. The rate at which those days will be used depends on how much fishing occurs.)

Following the use of the remaining 250-300 sea days of at-sea monitoring, the industry will be required to begin paying for all at-sea monitoring. We anticipate this occurring in early 2016. 

It is important to note that if the subcontracting arrangement the industry has negotiated is not effective, the transition of costs would occur as previously announced. NOAA cannot compel the companies to enter into such an arrangement, nor would it be equitable for NOAA to continue to cover only a portion of the fleet while requiring the rest of the fleet to pick up observer costs.

Fishing managers to revisit collapsed cod stock, quotas

December 2, 2015 — PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Fishing managers are recommending a shift in the amount of fish New England’s beleaguered cod fishermen can catch for the next few years.

The New England Fishery Management Council is meeting on Wednesday to consider quotas for several species of important food fish. One of the species is the Gulf of Maine cod, which was once the backbone of the New England fishing industry.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at Beaumont Enterprise

 

Can the net transform the world’s fishing industries?

November 30, 2015 — Local fishing communities in Indonesia are beset by a multitude of connected challenges, from illegal fishing to declining fish populations to their own personal safety in the country’s turbulent seas.

But a New York based telecoms company called Tone believes mobile network technology can solve these problems by getting fishermen in remote communities connected to the Internet through an initiative called mFish. Scaled up, they believe their model could address the problem of unsustainable and illegal fishing globally, as well as being applied in many other contexts.

“What we’re trying to do is bridge the digital divide,” says Tone’s Chief Marketing Officer Roald Van Wyk. “People assume technology equals connectivity, but a smartphone is no use if you can’t afford the data.” According to Tone, mobile broadband penetration in the developing world is still just 21%, indicating a huge untapped market which they’re hoping to help bring online.

Tone’s business model is to work with local partners to deliver a range of affordable data plans in countries where far fewer people are locked into long term contracts with mobile carriers – what’s known as ‘unbundling.’ The idea is that consumers get access to various content packages via channels on the Tone platform, some of which are co-branded with local companies to make them affordable. Tone will reinvest 20% of profits into social and environmental initiatives through its foundation.

Read the full story at The Guardian

 

The loss of Greenport, NY’s fishing fleet is another sign of a changing village

November 25, 2015 — Just a few decades ago, Greenport Village looked very different.

Fishermen describe as many as 50 towering fishing vessels crammed into the deepwater port, making pit stops at Claudio’s dock before their offshore expeditions in the Atlantic. The docks were swarmed with fishing crews unloading their stock for sale at fish markets across the East Coast.

But today, the dozens of captains whose boats once fed Greenport’s fishing industry have either fled for other ports or been scuppered altogether.

Greenport is sold to tourists as a fishing village (the village crest features a sailing ship from its whaling heyday). And while many commercial baymen, oyster farmers and charter boat captains still operate out of the harbor, the huge commercial fleet that powered the working waterfront is almost completely gone.

That once-great fleet took its penultimate blow this fall.

Third-generation fisherman Sidney “Sid” Smith III sold his 63-foot fishing boat, Merit, and left the industry in October, leaving just one offshore commercial fleet fisherman operating out of Greenport Village — Mark Phillips.

“Am I happy about selling the Merit? Not at all,” Mr. Smith said while recuperating from back surgery at his Southold home. “To me, it’s a sin to just let something go.”

Mr. Smith — a 61-year-old outspoken captain who’s had his run-ins with state and local officials over his fishing operation — said he’s tired of fighting the trend of a dying industry.

“It was hard work, but it was a good living,” he said. “But I’ve been watching boats disappear, docks disappear, whole businesses disappear.”

Mr. Phillips, who operates out of Greenport Harbor in the 83-footer Illusion, repeated the old saying: The more things change, the more they stay the same.

He thought the idiom would always apply to Greenport, he said. He’s not convinced anymore.

Read the full story at The Suffolk Times

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