Saving Seafood

MASSACHUSETTS: Lobster bill survives budget deal Legislation to allow in-state sale, processing of unfrozen, shell-on, lobster parts

July 24, 2019 — It’s now up to Gov. Charlie Baker to decide whether Massachusetts will allow more in-state lobster processing to make the Bay State lobster industry more competitive with its contemporaries in Maine and Canada.

The legislation to allow the in-state sale, transport and processing of unfrozen, shell-on lobster parts — a persistent, years-long campaign by state Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr — has survived the Massachusetts Legislature’s conference committee and is contained in the $43.1 billion budget awaiting Baker’s approval or veto.

The governor has 10 days to review and act on the budget prepared by the conference committee, which is comprised of representatives of the Senate and House. Any items vetoed by Baker are subject to legislative override, which would have to be initiated in the House and carry by a two-thirds majority in both the House and Senate.

“We have the second-largest lobster catch in the nation, yet without this change in law, our raw and frozen lobster parts are processed in Canada or Maine, only to be brought back to local consumers,” Tarr said in a statement. “By modernizing these lobster laws, we bolster the fishing industry, give consumers more choices and substantially support coastal fishing communities.”

Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times

MASSACHUSETTS: Lobster Processing Expansion Proposal Headed to Governor’s Desk

July 22, 2019 — The following was released by the Office Of The Massachusetts Senate Minority Leader Senator Bruce Tarr (R-MA):

The conference committee report on the state Fiscal Year 2020 budget, expected to be approved today by the legislature, contains a major provision to strengthen the Massachusetts lobster fishery, thanks to a persistent effort by the State Senate and Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr.

The long sought for change in law that has limited the sale, transport and processing of unfrozen shell-on lobster parts. Up to 80% of lobsters landed in the state are sent away for processing which experts say often means that Bay State lobsters are brought back for sale to consumers with a ‘Product of Canada’ label.

The State Senate had previously approved a similar measure authored by Gloucester Senator Bruce Tarr in 2016, 2017, and 2018. The Senate proposals have attracted a bi-partisan coalition of state Senators seeking to reform the outdated lobster processing laws and support economic opportunities to grow the industry and related jobs.

The state budget conference committee report adopted today gives final approval of the lobster language, which authorizes dealers licensed by the Department of Public Health, to proceed under the new framework.

While the sale of live, cooked, and canned lobster is legal in the state, the law currently requires Massachusetts lobstermen and seafood vendors to sell or transport lobster out-of-state for processing.

“We have the second-largest lobster catch in the nation yet, without this change in law, our raw and frozen lobster parts are processed in Canada or Maine only to then be brought back to local consumers,” said Senator Tarr. “By modernizing these lobster laws we bolster the fishing industry, give consumers more choices, and sustainably support coastal fishing communities.”

“The Massachusetts Lobstermen’s Association greatly appreciates Senator Tarr’s commitment over the last several years to modernize the lobster processing laws here in the Commonwealth. We are excited to see full on lobster processing and sales of lobster items soon to help further grow the demands for Massachusetts lobster,” said Beth Casoni, Executive Director of the Massachusetts Lobstermen’s Association.

“I’m proud of the work the Senate has done to ensure the sustainability and viability of the state’s lobster industry, which will give consumers more choices and benefit lobstermen in coastal communities statewide,” said Senate Committee on Ways and Means Chair Michael J. Rodrigues (D-Westport). “The lobster industry is a vital part of the Commonwealth’s economy and identity, and I applaud Senator Tarr and my colleagues in the House and Senate for supporting it.”

A Division of Marine Fisheries issued a report recommending adoption of the proposal citing an evolving interest from consumers in value added lobster in the form of shell-on tails and claws. The report says that the global market for Massachusetts landed lobster would be more readily accommodated with the new law.

“Removing archaic barriers to lobster processing in Massachusetts is a big boost to New Bedford’s local economy where our businesses can finally expand and create the jobs,” said Senator Montigny (D-New Bedford), lead cosponsor of the bipartisan effort. “For years, the Senate has repeatedly supported this policy and it is a relief that we can finally deliver it to the Governor’s desk.”

Lawmakers say that shifting handling from Maine and Canada will boost the viability and prosperity of the industry which will result in job creation. The lobster industry is a critical part of the Commonwealth’s economy and heritage with more than 900 licensed lobstermen landing

“I am glad to join my colleagues in support of our Massachusetts lobster fishermen,” said Senator deMacedo (R-Plymouth). “These advancements in our approach to lobster processing will provide an important benefit to the lobster industry and the fishermen who play such an important role in our communities and economy.”

Currently, up to 80% of lobsters landed in the state are sent to out of state processing facilities and industry leaders say the move will facilitate opportunities to create and grow jobs in the state. The Marine Fisheries report notes that the lobster demand has spiked and has continued to evolve in favor of processed lobster parts. The report noted that most US consumers do not know how to prepare live lobster and prefer processed lobster products.

“East Coast Seafood Group is very pleased that lobster processing expansion will now become law. We applaud Senator Tarr, The Baker-Polito administration and the bi-partisan effort to create jobs within the Commonwealth of Massachusetts,” said Bob Blais, Senior Vice President of East Coast Seafood Group. “The Law will further expand a multi-million dollar industry in the state, and most of all support the hardworking fishermen that drive this industry.”

The provision and the final version of the budget bill must still be approved by Governor Charlie Baker.

MASSACHUSETTS: Will Magnuson roundtable come to Gloucester?

July 16, 2019 — Congress continues to bumble around in its effort to reauthorize the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, which should come as breaking news to no one who understands the complexity of the law and the usual banality that ensues in Washington whenever more than three people gather in a room to discuss anything.

With that in mind, U.S. Rep. Jared Huffman of California is taking his act on the road, going coast to-coast to hold a series of roundtable discussions to “engage diverse perspectives, interests and needs of individuals who have a stake in the management of our ocean and fisheries resources.”

Correct us if we’re wrong here, but isn’t that just about everyone in the whole US of A? Just sayin’.

Anyway, Huffman, who is chairman of the House Water, Oceans and Wildlife subcommittee, has not offered a specific agenda or schedule for his personal rolling thunder tour.

But he did say he is committed to holding at least one session in each of the eight regions managed by a federal fishery management council – including New England. So, perhaps Gloucester?

He also said he is committed to introducing a draft Magnuson-Stevens reauthorization bill by next spring. So, keep a sharp orb peeled for that on Amazon. Or just wait for the movie.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times

Gloucester Lobster Industry Feeling The Pinch From China Trade War

July 11, 2019 — In Massachusetts, lobster is about as local a food as you can hope to find. These days, it’s also likely to be on the menu in Beijing and Shanghai. China has become a major lobster importer.

But one year into the U.S. trade war with China, U.S. lobster sales to China are down, and coastal communities — including Gloucester — are feeling the pinch.

Vince Mortillaro, who runs a lobster wholesale company in Gloucester, has worked over the last decade to capitalize on the demand for lobster from China, developing systems that enable him to ship fresh lobster from Gloucester to China in 36 hours and spending $3 million to build a new dock and warehouse to hold extra product.

The payoff was enormous: a 30 to 40 percent jump in business.

Then the trade war began, and lobster, like soybeans and steel, was caught in the cross hairs. In response to U.S. tariff increases on Chinese goods in July 2018, China raised tariffs on U.S. imports — including lobster. It now costs Chinese companies an extra 25 percent to buy lobsters from the U.S.

“We’re down over $6 million in sales,” said Mortillaro. “Over a million dollars a month.”

But China is still importing plenty of lobster — now, from Mortillaro’s competitors in Canada. In the wake of raising U.S. lobster tariffs, China lowered tariffs on Canadian lobsters to 7 percent.

Read the full story at WGBH

MASSACHUSETTS: Despite red tide, some still clamming

July 8, 2019 — The Gloucester shellfish warden is urging the public to refrain from all shellfish harvesting at city beaches and flats during the current red tide closure to guard the health of both the public and the city’s commercial shellfish industry.

Shellfish Warden Peter Seminara said his staff documented 16 violations in just the past week — including one on July 3 that involved 70 pounds of illegally harvested surf clams and another on the Fourth of July involving 40 pounds of surf clams. Both incidents occurred at Wingaersheek Beach.

“We’re really trying to alert all beachgoers to the health dangers of taking shellfish during the closure,” Seminara said Friday. “It presents a danger to the public’s health and it does have an economic impact on our commercial clamming industry if people start getting sick from shellfish harvested in Gloucester.”

The portion of the city’s shellfish areas in Essex Bay was closed June 18 because of the red tide, or algal blooms, that occurs when pollution causes toxin-producing algae to proliferate, posing a serious threat of illness or death if ingested. The remaining city shellfish areas followed suit on June 20.

Waters, tributaries and flats off Essex, Ipswich, Rowley, Newbury, Newburyport and Salisbury are also closed due to red tide.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times

Groundfish managers to review catch share system

July 5, 2019 — In 2010, the New England groundfish fleet began fishing under a new catch share system when federal fishing regulators established the sector system that remains in place today in the Northeast Multispecies groundfish fishery.

Now, nine years after implementation, the New England Fishery Management Council is embarking on a review of the first six years of the commercial groundfish catch share system and is using a series of nine meetings in fishing ports from Maine to New York to elicit public comment.

One of those meetings is scheduled for Gloucester on July 25 at the Sawyer Free Library on Dale Avenue. The meeting is set to run from 4:30 to 7 p.m.

“Most of our fishermen in this fishery now fish in a sector, so we thought it would be a good time to review the program after having it in effect for a while,” said Janice Plante, spokeswoman for the council.

The review actually is mandated by NOAA Fisheries, though in a rather oblique manner. The agency said management councils should periodically review — “no less frequently than once every seven years” — catch share programs to evaluate whether they meet the objectives of the fishery management plan.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times

Lobster dealers feel pinch in tariff trade wars

July 3, 2019 — A year ago this month, China imposed a sweeping array of retaliatory tariffs that effectively closed off the massive Chinese consumer market to U.S. seafood dealers — particularly lobster exporters such as Mortillaro Lobster of Gloucester.

Consider: Mortillaro estimates that during the first six months of 2019, the 25% Chinese tariffs have cost it more than a half-million pounds of lobster sales to China, valued at about $6 million.

“The impact has been huge,” Vince Mortillaro, one of the owners of the Gloucester seafood dealer, said Tuesday afternoon. “We’ve had to lay people off. We’re not losing a barrel-full right now, but we’re not really making any money, either. And it’s tough to come to work when the company’s not really making any money.”

And it’s not just China.

Mortillaro and other lobster exporters also have been stung by deep cuts in lobster sales to the European Union — primarily because of an exclusive trade deal between Canada and the EU that frees Canadian lobster exporters from any tariffs while imposing an 8% tariff on shipments from the U.S.

“We used to sell more to the EU than to China,” Mortillaro said. “Now we’ve got the double-whammy. We can’t sell to the 28 EU countries and we can’t sell to China.”

Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times

Moulton, Ferrante: Trade war hurting lobstermen

July 1, 2019 — The U.S. trade war with China has turned into a war of another kind, as representatives at the state and federal levels are taking aim at tariffs that have rocked several sectors of the New England seafood industry.

In Washington, U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton, a Democratic candidate for president, filed legislation to expand disaster relief to fisheries — such as the New England lobster industry — harmed by retaliatory tariffs that have choked off lucrative trade with China.

The bill calls for amending the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act “to require NOAA to evaluate the impacts of duties imposed on American seafood” and to ultimately allow the federal Department of Commerce to consider the impact of trade wars on the fishing industry as a means of providing disaster relief.

A similar measure was filed in the U.S. Senate by Sen. Ron Wyden, the senior senator from Oregon.

“The president’s lack of strategy and the uncertainty in our local economy is the perfect storm for local fishermen who are already doing more with less,” Moulton said in a statement. “Until the president ends his misguided trade war, Congress should step up and provide some relief.”

In Boston, state Rep. Ann-Margaret Ferrante of Gloucester pushed for a hearing in Gloucester by a joint committee of the Massachusetts Legislature on the Trump administration’s trade policies with China “and its effects on the Massachusetts lobster industry and corresponding ports.”

Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times

MASSACHUSETTS: Whole Foods committed to Gloucester, despite plant exit

June 24, 2019 — Even though Austin, Texas, U.S.A.-based Whole Foods market is closing its seafood processing facility in Gloucester, Massachusetts, it plans to continue sourcing seafood from the Bay State.

Whole Foods recently said that its North Atlantic region will be permanently closing its Pigeon Cove Seafood facility in Gloucester, effective 15 August.

The plant closing will eliminate 60 full-time positions. However, Gloucester Mayor Sefatia Romeo Theken said that Linda Shear, executive coordinator of team member services for Whole Foods, confirmed in a phone call that the retailer’s seafood processing will stay in Massachusetts.

“We addressed Whole Foods Market’s commitment to buying local and fresh seafood, and I am happy to report that this remains a priority for them,” Romeo Theken said in a statement provided to SeafoodSource. “I have asked them to buy it [seafood] here in Gloucester and my team will continue the conversation about Gloucester Fresh with Whole Foods Market.”

And, while Theken is “disappointed” in Whole Food’s decision to close the Pigeon Cove Seafood Facility, she was “pleased to hear that they are actively addressing the needs of the displaced employees”.

“I learned that all of the employees will be offered employment and training opportunities at Whole Foods Markets in the area [and] all employees are eligible for some type of severance package as well as unemployment benefits,” Romeo Theken said.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Whole Foods’ seafood plant closing, impacting 60 employees

June 20, 2019 — The mayor of Gloucester, Massachusetts, U.S.A., is “disappointed” that Whole Foods Market is suddenly closing its seafood processing facility in the city.

The Austin, Texas-based retailer notified the city via a letter to Mayor Sefatia Romeo Theken that its North Atlantic Region will be permanently closing its Pigeon Cove Seafood facility in Gloucester, effective 15 August.

“I am disappointed at the decision made by Whole Foods Market to close its Pigeon Cove Seafood Facility. This closure will result in the elimination of 60 full-time positions,” Romeo Theken said in a statement provided to SeafoodSource.

However, Whole Foods officials agreed to talk to Romeo Theken about the closure next week, the Gloucester Daily Times reported.

“We want to talk with them about what they’re going to do to try to get their employees other jobs, but we also want to speak with them about the reasons for closing it and their plans for the space at 15 Parker St.,” she told the newspaper.

The company’s rental lease at the Parker Street facility – which is owned by a Montagnino family trust controlled by James Montagnino – is not set to lapse until November 2020, according to Romeo Theken.

“We want to find out if they plan to sublet that space or exactly what they plan to do,” she said.

This is the second time in a month that a seafood processing plant appears to be shutting down operations in Gloucester, after National Fish and Seafood closed in May. Since then, however, a new group called NSD Seafood Group re-opened the facility and said it would re-hire as many NFS employees as possible.

Read the full story at Seafood Source