Saving Seafood

Coronavirus, added supply pushing Atlantic cod prices downward

October 5, 2020 — Atlantic cod has been a stable, steady commodity for the global seafood market in the past decade. And it will continue to serve that role in the coming years, according to a panel of cod experts assembled for a 1 October webinar, “Opportunities and Challenges in the Atlantic Cod Marketplace,” organized by Sea Data Center in cooperation with Maritech Solutions and SeafoodSource, and hosted by Sea Data Center Managing Director Anna Björk Theodorsdottir.

Global groundfish catches have been stable over the past three years, averaging 7 million metric tons (MT) each year. Of that, around 1.1 million MT has been cod, according to Finn Arne Egeness, a senior whitefish analyst at Helsinki, Finland-based Nordea Bank.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

PFMC: Groundfish Management Team to hold online meeting November 6, 2020

October 2, 2020 — The following was released by the Pacific Fishery Management Council:

The Pacific Fishery Management Council’s (Pacific Council) Groundfish Management Team (GMT) will hold an online meeting to discuss items on the Pacific Council’s November 2020 meeting agenda.  This meeting is open to the public.  The meeting will be held Friday, November 6, 2020, starting at 9 a.m. (Pacific Standard Time) and ending at 12 p.m., or when business for the day is complete.

Please see the meeting notice on the Council’s website for participation details.

For further information:

  • Please contact Pacific Fishery Management Council staff officer Todd Phillips at 503-820-2426; toll-free 1-866-806-7204.

Regulators Move to Increase At-Sea Monitoring of Groundfish Catch in New England Waters

October 2, 2020 — New England fishing regulators have approved a plan that would significantly increase at-sea monitoring for groundfish trips, as a way to help inform scientists and stocks managers about what’s being caught in area waters.

The plan calls for in-person observers or video monitoring on up to 100 percent of trips made by fishermen who target cod, flounder, haddock, and other groundfish.

For the first four years, nearly all costs are expected to be covered by the federal government and other organizations to avoid financially burdening fishermen. But if the full costs aren’t covered beyond that point, the monitoring level could drop back to the current 40 percent, paid for, at least in part, by fishermen. The new plan calls for reevaluation of costs and other considerations in the fifth year.

The plan was endorsed by the New England Fishery Management Council but still requires additional federal approvals before taking effect.

Read the full story at CAI

NEMFC approves 100 percent observer coverage with federal funding

October 2, 2020 — The Northeast groundfish fleet will move toward 100 percent observer coverage – so long as full government funding if available, the New England Fishery Management Council decided in approving Amendment 23 to its multispecies plan Wednesday.

While most fishermen dispute the need for blanket coverage – whether by at-sea observers or electronic systems – the final amendment offers some temporary respite, in specifying that costs will be 100 percent reimbursed by federal funding for the first four years.

If federal funding is insufficient, industry will pay for a default of 40 percent coverage. In the third year of the program, the council will review results and could reset the requirements for year five.

It’s expected the amendment, if approved by NMFS, could take effect in 2021. The compromise devised by council members came a day after Massachusetts Gov. Charles Baker wrote to council chairman John Quinn, urging a solution to monitoring costs.

At around $700 a day, requiring full monitoring on every trip would drive much of the fleet out of business, fishermen warned.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

Regional Council Approves Mandatory Monitoring For New England Fishing Boats

October 1, 2020 — A regional fishery council has approved a plan to require human or electronic monitors on all New England fishing boats targeting groundfish such as cod and haddock. The controversial measure seeks funding from Congress to help pay for the monitors.

Conservationists and some fishermen are applauding the New England Fishery Management Council’s decision. They say it would improve depleted fisheries by providing better data on their actual status, while providing fishermen an incentive to more precisely target species that are within set quotas.

“As they get close to their quotas they can adjust their gear and they can fish in different areas, in order to avoid those stocks that they don’t have quota for,” says Geoffrey Smith, marine program director for the Nature Conservancy in Maine.

Read the full story at Maine Public

PFMC: SSC Groundfish subcommittee to hold online meeting October 23, 2020

October 1, 2020 — The following was released by the Pacific Fishery Management Council:

The Pacific Fishery Management Council’s (Pacific Council) Scientific and Statistical Committee Groundfish Subcommittee (SSC Groundfish Subcommittee) will hold an online meeting, which is open to the public.  The meeting will be held Friday, October 23, 2020, starting at 2 p.m. (Pacific Daylight Time) and ending at 4 p.m., or until business for the day is complete.

Please see the Meeting notice on the Council’s website for participation details.

For further information:

  • Please contact Pacific Fishery Management Council staff officer John DeVore at 503-820-2413; toll-free 1-866-806-7204.

Council OKs monitors on all fishing trips

October 1, 2020 — The New England Fishery Management Council voted to set a future target of 100% monitoring coverage on sector-base groundfish vessels, but it appears to have found a way to do it without immediately sinking the region’s fleet financially.

The council, deliberating online via webinar on Amendment 23, overwhelmingly approved the motion for its preferred alternative of 100% coverage level for sector vessels in the Northeast Multispecies groundfish fishery.

But the motion, crafted through a morning and afternoon of rulemaking on the fly, included a valuable caveat for fishermen: The region’s commercial groundfish harvesters likely won’t have to pay the full costs for the monitoring for the first four years the amendment is in effect or as long as supporting federal funds last.

According to the approved measure, the commercial fishing industry will receive federal reimbursements, or money from other federal mechanisms, for 100% of their electronic monitoring costs and 100% of their at-sea monitoring costs in the first four fishing years the amendment is in effect.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times

NEFMC adopts controversial plan to monitor all trips to sea

September 30, 2020 — After years of concerns about the overfishing of some of New England’s iconic species, the regional body overseeing fishing issues on Wednesday adopted a divisive plan that could require monitors to accompany groundfishermen on all trips to sea.

The plan approved by the New England Fishery Management Council would require that fishermen who target cod, flounder, and other groundfish bring monitors on their trips or install electronic devices to track their catch. The plan aims to ensure that fishermen accurately account for the haul they unload at the dock and are not improperly discarding fish that might exceed their quotas.

But the plan is contingent on Congress covering much of the costs, putting its future in doubt.

At the start of a contentious virtual meeting, John Quinn, the council’s chairman, described the debate over increased monitoring as “the most divisive issue” he has experienced in his five years overseeing the group, noting there have been multiple threats of lawsuits.

Environmental advocates called the plan a step in the right direction, but they worried that it wouldn’t be viable without sufficient government support.

“If federal funding continues, we will finally have accurate and precise baseline information about the catch, discards, and landings in this fishery,” said Gib Brogan, a fisheries policy analyst at Oceana, a Washington D.C.-based advocacy group. “This information is the foundation of successful modern fisheries management, and we are optimistic that today’s action will help chart the future success of this fishery.”

One environmental group, The Nature Conservancy, offered to pay as much as $2 million to cover the costs of the entire fleet to equip the boats with electronic monitoring devices, calling such action “essential” to preserving the region’s fisheries.

“The critical discussion of establishing monitoring targets that improve catch accounting while maintaining flexibility and fleet viability has yet to be addressed by the council,” said Jackie Odell, executive director of the Northeast Seafood Coalition, an advocacy group for groundfishermen in Gloucester. “The can has been kicked down the road.”

Read the full story at The Boston Globe

Court Rejects Pacific Choice Appeal on Non-Whiting Groundfish Quota Holdings

September 29, 2020 — The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit rejected an appeal from Pacific Choice Seafood Company challenging the National Marine Fisheries Service rule on single-entity quota cap in the non-whiting groundfish fisheries off the West Coast.

The panel affirmed the district court’s summary judgment entered in favor of NMFS rule, limiting the total allowable catch and prohibiting any one entity from controlling more than 2.7 percent of the outstanding quota share.

Read the full story at Seafood News

NEFMC’s increased monitoring consideration raises concerns among fishermen

September 29, 2020 — The New England Fishery Management Council is considering the adoption of a new rule that would require the expansion of current monitoring mandates.

The new rulemaking, called Groundfish Monitoring Amendment 23, has been in process for over two years and is intended to overhaul the way groundfish monitoring takes place. The council had been seeking comments on the new amendment over the summer, and is now considering the implementation of the new rules.

Read the full story at Seafood Source