Saving Seafood

Consortium pushes Atlantic pollock as sustainable alternative to cod in New England

May 13, 2016 — New England fishermen have caught more than 10 million pounds of Atlantic pollock every year since 2003, and now a loose consortium of proponents are advocating for its greater use as a cheaper alternative to cod and haddock.

As New England’s cod fishery has been damaged by slow reproduction, tight quotas and the impacts of climate change, a group of fishermen, processors, restaurateurs and sustainable seafood advocates are aiming to rebrand Atlantic pollock as New England’s fish, according to an Associated Press article.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Cod, haddock rules change

May 12, 2016 — AUGUSTA, Maine — The Maine Department of Marine Resources announced an emergency rule change for the recreational cod and haddock fisheries effective May 7.

In accordance with the New England Fisheries Management Council and for consistency with the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) federal regulations effective May 1, the department is enacting emergency rulemaking for charter, party and recreational fishing vessels operating in state waters regarding cod and haddock.

Read the full story at the Mount Desert Islander

The boats that land the fish

May 11, 2016 — To ask the question “what boat landed this fish?” may be one of the most important environmental, social and political acts of 2016.

These are some names of Gloucester day boats, boats that make short trips to Jeffreys Ledge, Ipswich Bay and Middle Bank: the Maria GS, the Santo Pio, the Angela & Rose, the Janaya & Joseph, and Cat Eyes. And there are more. These boats land a mix of species that call the Gulf of Maine home, but they are primarily landing codfish, dab flounder, blackback flounder, yellowtail flounder, gray sole and some whiting.

These are some of the offshore Gloucester boats currently fishing the northern edge of George’s Bank: The Miss Trish, The Midnight Sun, the Teresa Marie III, the Harmony, the Teresa Marie IV and the Lady Jane. Again, there are more boats than this. Right now, they are landing haddock, redfish, pollock, codfish, dab flounder, gray sole and some hake.

In port, these boats, and others, can be seen tied up at Felicia Oil, Rose Marine, Gloucester Marine Railways and the State Fish Pier, wharfs along the Inner Harbor, many in clear sight of some Gloucester restaurants.

In an effort to celebrate and promote the quality seafood that these boats land, Gloucester Seafood Processing in Blackburn Circle stamps every issue of fish with the name of the fishing vessel that landed it. They are hoping other processors will, too. Restaurants — particularly in Gloucester — should proudly be announcing to their guests, “This pollock was landed yesterday on the Angela & Rose!” — or the Janaya & Joseph, or the Santo Pio.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Times

Prosecutors in Rafael case: Carlos Seafood’s transaction reports didn’t match up

May 11, 2016 — NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — The FV Hera II, a boat that prosecutors said fishing fleet owner Carlos Rafael owned through a shell corporation, reported catching 4,595 pounds of haddock on Jan. 25, then selling it to Rafael’s Carlos Seafood business, a registered dealer, according to the indictment of Rafael that was unsealed Monday.

Carlos Seafood also recorded acquiring 840 pounds of American plaice, or “dabs,” from the Hera II that day, prosecutors said.

But here’s the rub: Records of Carlos Seafood’s third-party sales Jan. 25, according to the indictment, cite about 200 pounds of haddock and 5,200 pounds of dabs.

In other words, prosecutors allege, a lot of the fish caught by the Hera II on Jan. 25 and reported as “haddock” actually were dabs, which are subject to stricter regulatory quotas. Those quotas are administered by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and limit how much of certain species commercial fishermen can catch.

Catching more of a protected species than allowed can bring significant value on the black market.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

Misunderstood pollock a key to New England seafood’s future

May 9, 2016 — PORTLAND, Maine — It might not be time yet to rechristen Cape Cod as Cape Pollock, but the humble fish is staking its claim.

The Atlantic pollock has long played a role in New England’s fishing industry as a cheaper alternative to cod and haddock, but the fish’s place in America’s oldest fishing industry is expanding as stocks like cod fade.

But the fish has an image problem.

While considered a whitefish, its uncooked gray-pinkish color looks drab compared to the snow-white cod fillets consumers are used to seeing on seafood counters. And many confuse it with the very different Alaska pollock, which is the subject of a much larger industrial fishery that provides fish for processed food products such as the McDonald’s Filet-O-Fish.

A loose consortium of fishermen, processors, restaurateurs and sustainable seafood advocates wants to change all that. They’re trying to rebrand Atlantic pollock as New England’s fish, and the push is catching on in places like food-crazy Portland, where food trucks offer pollock tacos to eager crowds.

Read the full story from the Associated Press

Rep. Moulton Letter Spurs Reforms to NOAA At Sea Monitoring Program

May 2, 2016 — The following was released by the office of Congressman Seth Moulton:

WASHINGTON – Today, Congressman Seth Moulton (D-MA) commended the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) for incorporating significant reforms to the At Sea Monitoring Program in advance of the start of the fishing season this Sunday. Moulton led a New England delegation letter to NOAA in January to put pressure on NOAA to incorporate these reforms to the ASM program.

“With the start of the 2016 fishing season beginning on Sunday, these reforms are essential to the effective and efficient implementation of the At Sea Monitoring program and the viability of the New England fishing industry,” said Moulton. “NOAA’s reforms to the At Sea Monitoring program make it more cost-effective while still reliably monitoring the groundfish catch. I am grateful to NOAA for listening to the concerns of the New England Fishery Management Council, and I am committed to continuing to work with all involved to ensure that fishing communities throughout New England are equipped to thrive.”

Today, NOAA announced its Framework 55 New England Groundfish Rulemakings, which sets catch limits for the 2016-2018 fishing years, adjust the groundfish At-Sea Monitoring (ASM) program, implement sector administrative measures for 2016; and establish recreational measures for cod and haddock. Notably, Framework 55 also reduces ASM Council Requirements in certain New England Groundfish Sectors/Fisheries.

“NSC deeply appreciates that many Members of Congress in the northeast region recognized the crucial need to evolve the at-sea monitoring program and, under Congressman Moulton’s leadership, co-signed a letter of support for these reforms to NOAA fisheries that have now been approved by the Secretary of Commerce,” said Jackie Odell, Executive Director of the Northeast Seafood Coalition. “Although NSC opposes industry funded at-sea monitoring requirements, the issue of who is funding the program is independent of the collective responsibility to improve the program and seek efficiencies. Changes that have been approved to the program under Framework 55 take advantage of the incremental benefits of additional years of data and knowledge gained since the inception of the program, while meeting the same statistical standards required. Approval of these modifications reflects sound and responsible fisheries management.”

NOAA Fisheries Announces Groundfish Catch Limits for Commercial and Recreational Fisheries

May 2, 2016 — The following was released by NOAA:

We are announcing the commercial groundfish annual catch limits for the 2016 fishing year (May 1, 2016-April 30, 2017).

2016 catch limits will increase for 10 stocks, but will decrease substantially for some stocks. The catch limits are available in the rule filed with the Federal Register today.

We are adjusting the sector at-sea monitoring program to make it more cost-efficient while ensuring sector catch is still reliably monitored. The target sector at-sea monitoring coverage level is 14% for 2016, as compared to 24% for 2015.

We are increasing recreational fishing opportunities for Gulf of Maine (GOM) cod and haddock.

Recreational GOM 2016 Cod Measures:

Season: Open Aug 1-Sep 30

Per Day Possession: 1 fish

Minimum Size: 24 inches

Recreational GOM 2016 Haddock Measures:

Season: Open Apr 15-Feb 28

Per Day Possession: 15 fish

Minimum Size: 17 inches

Read the final rule for Framework 55 and the final rule for recreational measures as filed in the Federal Register for further details. The fishery bulletins for the commercial and recreational rules (scroll to page 11) are available as pdfs on our website.

At-sea monitoring fees are the latest threat to New Hampshire’s dwindling fishing industry

April 1, 2016 — Working as both a biologist and a fisherman, David Goethel brings a unique perspective to the state and federal fishery management boards he’s an adviser on. 

“I’ve spent all my life acting as a translator because they speak all different languages,” says Goethel, who worked as a research biologist at the New England Aquarium before he became the owner and operator of the Ellen Diane, a 44-foot fishing trawler based out of Hampton. 

But the most recent disconnect between the factions has resulted in Goethel and other groundfishermen filing a federal lawsuit. 

After delaying the regulation for years, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is now requiring groundfishermen to pay for the at-sea monitoring program — at a cost of an average $710 per trip, conducted at random. The monitoring is done to ensure that the fishermen adhere to groundfish catch quotas set in May 2010 by the New England Fishery Management Council, under NOAA. (Groundfish include cod, haddock and other common bottom-dwelling species.) 

Read the full story at the New Hampshire Business Review

N.H. Fishermen Say Burden of At-Sea Monitoring Fees Could Break Industry

April 1, 2016 — New rules that took effect last month shift the costs of at-sea monitoring to local fisherman.

Critics say these new fees threaten the very existence of New Hampshire’s dwindling fishing industry and will put people out of business. There’s now a lawsuit pending on the issue.

Jeff Feingold, editor of the New Hampshire Business Review, joined NHPR’s Morning Edition to talk about the issue.

Let’s start with some background – what are these fees all about?

Back in 2010, they put these new rules together that limited the amount of ground fish that could be caught; that’s cod, haddock, and other fish, a lot of what commercial fishermen are looking for.

See the full story at NHPR

Number of New Hampshire groundfishermen continues to decline

March 30, 2016 — PORTSMOUTH, N.H. — The number of New Hampshire boats fishing for groundfish has continued to decline, with only five full-time groundfisherman left in the state.

Fishermen have been catching haddock, cod and flounder off the coast and selling it in New Hampshire for centuries. But fishermen said that quotas and regulations over the past decade that are meant to protect groundfish have made it almost impossible to make a living.

The regulations have also affected other fishermen. At Tuesday’s regional meeting of the New England Fishery Management Council, some complained they were unable to catch herring to use as bait because they were in the same area as regulated groundfish.

Read the full story at WMUR