Saving Seafood

Rep. Jolly teams with GSI’s Hogarth on Gulf Red Snapper Legislation

November 30, 2015 — One of the largest issues both commercial and recreational fishers face is getting both fishermen and regulators to have faith in the data, especially when it comes to Gulf of Mexico reef fish. Recently introduced legislation by Congressman David Jolly of Florida will hopefully lead to a more accurate count of red snapper and other reef fish in the Gulf of Mexico.

The Gulf Red Snapper Data Improvement Act recently introduced in the House of Representatives by Rep. Jolly will allow for third-party data collection of fish populations to be used for federal stock assessments, which could ultimately lead to longer red snapper fishing seasons for the recreational sectors.

“Nobody trusts the data anymore,” said Dr. Bill Hogarth, Director of the Florida Institute of Oceanography and a Board member of the Gulf Seafood Institute. “Fishermen are on the water everyday and they see what is happening. When you are doing a stock assessment now, you are working with data that is at least two years old. Things change. We have to get more real time data, and this legislation is a good start.”

Rep. Jolly’s bill designates $10 million annually for third-party data collection of Gulf Red Snapper and other Gulf reef species. The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) Southeast Regional Office located in St. Petersburg, Florida would manage the data collection program. A member of the powerful House Committee on Appropriations, Jolly was able to secure similar language in the fiscal year 2016 House Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies Bill earlier this year.

Read the full story at Gulf Seafood Institute

 

 

Legislation Introduced to Reform Seasonal H-2B Guest-Worker Program

November 9, 2015 — Legislation has been introduced in the House of Representatives to reform the H-2B seasonal guest-worker program. H.R. 3918, the Strengthen Employment and Seasonal Opportunities Now Act also known by its acronym the SEASON Act, will reform the guest-worker program used by American employers to hire foreign workers for temporary and seasonal work, such as forestry, seafood processing, and other industries.

Introduced by House Small Business Committee Chairman Steve Chabot from Ohio, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte of Virginia, Congressman Andy Harris of Maryland, and Congressman Charles W. Boustany, Jr., MD of Louisiana, the SEASON Act is designed to bring needed reforms to the H-2B program in order to protect American workers, help U.S. employers who play by the rules hire seasonal guest-workers, save taxpayer dollars, and ensure the H-2B program is truly a temporary, seasonal guest-worker program.

“New regulations for the H-2B visa program issued by the current Administration are increasing the red tape and creating higher costs for the small and seasonal businesses using the H-2B program,” said Gulf Seafood Institute member Frank Randol, owner of Randol’s Restaurant and a shellfish processor who depends on guest-worker labor. “Many of our Gulf seafood processing plants were unable to open in 2015 due to a lack of labor. The industry will struggle to survive if they have a second year without these workers. This legislation is desperately needed.”

Read the full story at Gulf Seafood Institute

 

House Committee Holds Hearing on Gulf Red Snapper Legislation

November 2, 2015 — While former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s eleven-hour testimony before the 17-month-old House Select Committee on Benghazi took center spotlight on Capitol Hill, the House Committee on Natural Resources’ Subcommittee on Water, Power and Oceans met to a packed room filled with Gulf commercial and charter-for-hire fishermen to hear public testimony on H.R. 3094, the “Gulf States Red Snapper Management Authority Act” which gives Gulf States control of the red snapper fishery.

Sponsored by Louisiana Republican Representative Garret Graves, and endorsed by all five Gulf state fisheries managers, the new legislation would remove Gulf red snapper from federal management authorized by the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA) and place it under state management.

In his opening remarks, the bill’s author said he was convinced the Gulf states themselves could do a better job at managing red snapper than the federal government. Rep. Graves said he had repeatedly reached out to get input on the legislation from the commercial industry, but received none. However, he did thank Stan Harris, CEO of the Louisiana Restaurant Association and Board Member of the Gulf Seafood Institute, for his input.

During his opening remarks, Ranking Member Jared Huffman of California stated that the red snapper issue is as contentious as California water issues in terms of items being considered by the House Resources Committee.

The Subcommittee, chaired by Louisiana Representative John Fleming, heard testimony from seven witness including Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Secretary Robert Barham, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s Executive Director Nick Wiley and David Cresson, Executive Director of the Coastal Conservation Association (CCA), who spoke in favor of the legislation.

Read the full story at Gulf Seafood Institute

 

Mobile Seafood Quality Training Lab Developed to Address Refrigeration Issues

October 14, 2015 — LOUISIANA — Premium Gulf seafood has one common challenge: antiquated handling techniques used by generation after generation of fishermen, especially when it comes to onboard refrigeration. For years, processors across the Gulf have had to source higher volumes of premium product, be it shrimp, oysters, crabs or finfish. To meet this demand, a unique mobile “Seafood Quality Training Lab” has been developed to educate Louisiana fishermen on the latest in onboard seafood refrigeration and cold chain management.

The Louisiana Fisheries Forward (LFF) initiative is a seafood industry enhancement effort in partnership with Louisiana Sea Grant and LSU AgCenter. The mobile teaching lab was engineered and built by LeBlanc and Associates, a specialty marine refrigeration company.

“We looked at industry issues where we could offer fishermen solutions to produce a higher quality product,” said Thomas Hymel, a Sea Grant fishery expert. “One of the main issues required of fishermen to improve their catch quality is improved refrigeration. This needs to be a priority of Gulf seafood if our fishermen are going to become a top player in the global seafood industry.”

Members of the Fisheries Forward team researched training needs to address the issue. A fact-finding trip was made to Alaska to see first-hand how technology turned the largest U.S. seafood harvester into a premium vendor.

Read the full story at the Gulf Seafood Institute

 

ALABAMA: Gulf’s First Oyster Farmer Continues to Grow

September 25, 2015 — POINT AUX PINS, Alabama — Starting as a volunteer oyster gardener way back at the turn of the century – that’s the year 2000 for those with short memory – Steve Crockett planted the first off-bottom oysters in the Gulf as a reef restoration project for the Mobile Bay National Estuary program. Fifteen years later Point Aux Pins Alabama farm is one of the largest Gulf off-bottom oyster operations supplying restaurants and grocery chains across the South.

Gathering figures on the success rate of the restoration project, a grad student informed Crockett that data confirmed he had the best oyster growth rate of any sites on the eastern or western shores of the Bay, Dauphin Island, or Coden. That was enough to convince him to try growing oysters, at least for his own use and for friends.

“We started production the following year,” said Crockett. “We adopted the Australian Adjustable Longline Method for growing our oysters. We fiddled around with that for a couple of years but ended up losing our shirts, as well as our camp house, when Katrina stuck the Alabama coast in 2005.”

Three years later, and with a new house, Crockett was determined to try once more to farm caged grown oysters.

“This was about the same time Bill Walton appeared at the Auburn University Shellfish Lab,” he told Gulf Seafood News. “He was instrumental in our decision to get back into off-bottom caged oysters.”

Getting seed from Walton’s Auburn shellfish lab, in 2009 the East Grand Bay oysterman put his first crop of oysters in the water, while at the same time testing four different kinds of grow out gear.

Read the full story at Gulf Seafood Institute

 

Gulf Seafood Institute’s Newest Member Jennifer Young is International Seafood Safety Specialist

September 20, 2015 — Sitting on a beach enjoying the sunset on a remote Pacific island has been a perk enjoyed by Jennifer Young during her last seven years as a food safety specialist based in Hawaii, but as the Pacific’s waves gently broke against the shore she realized something was missing. But in her heart she realized she missed the bayous of Louisiana and the Gulf seafood she enjoyed.

Young, owner of Food Safety Solutions and the Gulf Seafood Institute’s newest member, is glad to be back home in Louisiana, as well as a new member an organization that she sees a loud and clear voice for Gulf seafood.

“I loved my time on the Island, but to be honest I missed the culture and the food of Louisiana, especially the seafood,” I was also starting to get frustrated by the direction of the industry and its limitations, such as the tug of war with annual catch limits and imposed longline fishery closures. While I still maintain an office in Hawaii staffed with experienced professionals, my heart finally led me back home to Louisiana.”

Originally from a small town south of Alexandria, she attended the University of Southwest Louisiana, now the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, and received her Bachelor of Business Administration of the American Intercontinental University founded in Lucerne, Switzerland.

Young is a registered Safe Quality Food (SQF) Consultant and has obtained certification in High Risk Food Sector Category 9 and 11, as well as 21 CFR Part 123 Seafood Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP).   She is also a National Environmental Health Association Registered Food Safety Trainer, and is accredited to develop Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) programs, as well as British Retail Consortium programs and Good Manufacturing Practices.

Read the full story at Gulf Seafood Institute

 

Gulf Seafood Institute Opens Membership As Influence Grows

August 11, 2015 — Three years after a group of Gulf seafood leaders met in the conference room of a downtown New Orleans hotel, the Gulf Seafood Institute (GSI) – the recognized voice of the Gulf seafood community – enters a new year with membership expansion open to businesses, organizations and individuals across the Gulf, as well as around the world.

After a very successful two-year Founding Member period, GSI is now initiating its standing, long-term dues structure recently approved by the Board of Directors. With this new dues structure, GSI will be well positioned to solicit new members as the organization continues to grow in numbers and scope.

GSI members sit alongside other Gulf seafood leaders in a forum where positive solutions to our region’s most pressing challenges are developed with a spirit of unity, transparency and sustainability. GSI continues to recruit leaders from across the spectrum of the Gulf seafood supply chain who share its vision for a successful and sustainable Gulf-wide community

“This new dues structure will allow GSI to recruit the best and brightest leaders from throughout the Gulf seafood community and beyond,” said the organization’s Executive Director Margaret Henderson. “It will allow GSI to continue our work to develop positive solutions to our community’s most pressing challenges.”

Read the full story from the Gulf Seafood Institute

 

Gulf Oil Spill Science Outreach Answers Unanswered Questions

July 10, 2015 — Five years after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, fishermen, visitors and residents of the Gulf coast are still filled with unanswered question about what exactly happened during the spill and the lingering effects. A new oil spill science outreach program now allows Gulf Sea Grant specialists to examine what types of information these target audiences need and develop tailor-made solutions providing answers to these unanswered questions.

With funding from the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative, and administration by the Gulf of Mexico Alliance, Sea Grant Oil Spill Science Outreach Specialists from Florida to Texas are providing information through free seminars and publications.

“Last fall, the Outreach Team interviewed with more than 500 coastal residents and discovered that residents still had many questions about how the oil spill affected public health, the quality of the water, and the health of the plants and animals living in the Gulf,” said Christine Hale, Texas Sea Grant Oil Spill Science Outreach Specialist at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi. “People are still concerned with the impacts of dispersants and oiling of habitats such as marshes and beaches.”

Read the full story from the Gulf Seafood Institute