Saving Seafood

US importer launches Indonesian crab traceability tool

March 21, 2017 — Miami, US-based blue swimming crab firm Blue Star Foods has announced it is launching a cloud-based fisheries data collection platform for a fishery in Indonesia.

The mobile-based iniative is being undertaken in partnership with Wilderness Markets. It integrates three components in an effort to provide a completely traceable supply chain.

A geospatial boat tracking system provides “on the water” data for fishing duration, location and timing. Provided by Pelagic Data Systems, these units are “uniquely suited for artisanal vessel tracking”, it said.

A proprietary mobile phone-based system aggregates landings data and is linked to a QR code system, which allows buyers-consumers to trace back product information in an integrated platform.

The QR code provides users with batch and product information, including fisher data, vessel name and landing site in compliance with landing regulations.

Dave Solomon, CEO of Pelagic Data Systems, said: “we are excited to work with Blue Star to bring transparency with a positive social and environmental impact to their supply chain in Indonesia”.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

First Blue Swimming Crab Harvester Cooperative Formed In Indonesia

March 17, 2017 — On February 20th, 2017. Blue Star Foods (USA), PT Blue Star Nusantara (BSN) through one of its subsidiaries PT Siger Jaya Abadi, along Wilderness Markets teamed up to assist in the formation of the first Blue Swimming crab harvester cooperative in East Lampung province, Indonesia. Such support was realized at the “Fishermen Cooperative Extension and the Establishment in the Context of Sustainability of Blue Swimming Crab Fisheries” in the Fish Landing Base (PPI) complex, Muara Mas Gading, District Labuhan Maringgai, East Lampung district, approximately 3.5 hours away from the capital of Lampung province.

The representatives from the US were the CEO of Blue Star Foods USA, John R. Keeler, and Neel Inamdar of Wilderness Markets, both of which provided funding support for the establishment of cooperative “Nelayang Rajungan”, first in Indonesia, whose mission is the preservation of the Blue Swimming Crab fisheries as well as the welfarex of fishermen.

The cooperative was formed under the extension of the Department of Cooperatives and SMEs Lampung Timur, was named Cooperative Work Young Bahari, chaired by Mr. Syamsudin, a local fisherman, with a membership of 37 local crab fishermen.

Read the full story at Perishable News

Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Trains 15,000 Shrimp and Tilapia Farmers Asia, South Pacific

March 7, 2017 — SEAFOOD NEWS — The Sustainable Fisheries Partnership wrapped up a major aquaculture training program in Indonesia, Thailand, and China that instructed thousands of shrimp and tilapia farmers with modern training designed to improve the industry in these regions.

Organizers initially expected the project to attract 12,500 farmers. But by the December 31, 2016 finishing date, more than 15,000 farmers in all three countries had participated in the training.

“This project has exceeded expectations because of the hard work of many committed partners to deliver improvements based on a detailed, local understanding of what farmers want,” said Anton Immink, SFP’s Aquaculture Director. “We recognize there is still a long way to go for many of these farmers, but we encourage others to actively engage in the improvements needed.”

The program, funded with the support of Walmart Foundation and IDH – the Sustainable Trade Initiative – has led to improvements in environmental and disease management across shrimp and tilapia farms in all three countries.

Ir. Rizal, head of the aquaculture unit of the Provincial Office of Marine and Fishery Affairs in Indonesia’s West Kalimantan province, said, “This training helped us improve the knowledge of traditional farmers in West Kalimantan to practice better farming. With better farming we hope that farmers can improve their shrimp and fish harvest.”

Training topics included: Better aquaculture practices; better post-harvest practices; better business management; group formation and management; value of zonal management; Code of Good Practice in Aquaculture; ecological farming, health management, and market outlook.

Sally Ananya, Director of The Food School, one of the partners in Thailand, said “The focus on smaller-scale producers and the specific inclusion of women in the training has been particularly valuable, as the contribution of these groups is often overlooked in projects aiming at improvements in shrimp farming.”

For some farmers, including Chareon Yongstar of Thailand, the training served as an eye-opener.

“I have learned so many practical best practices that I can apply at my farms,” he said. “But more importantly, the experience has raised more questions and made me realize how much more I don’t know. I hope there is a continuation of this program.”

SFP will continue to work closely with the international buyers to understand how these producers fit into existing supplies or how some of them can continue the improvements they have started to become part of the international supply chain.

This story originally appeared on Seafoodnews.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission.

FishWise announces partnership with seafood supplier North Atlantic, Inc. to work on supply chain sustainability and transparency

March 6, 2017 — The following has been released by FishWise:

FishWise announced today a new partnership with Portland, Maine-based frozen seafood supplier North Atlantic, Inc. (NAI) and its Indonesian subsidiary, Bali Seafood International (BSI). This partnership aims to further advance and communicate NAI/BSI’s commitment to sustainable and socially responsible seafood while exploring new opportunities to expand their influence in the industry.

Recognizing the importance of both sustainable fisheries and communities, NAI/BSI and its partners have invested in a new initiative to build infrastructure in the Lesser Sunda region of Indonesia that will integrate numerous fishing support services, including cold chain technologies, fisheries management, and education. Their new fishery community centers are expected to generate improvements in food safety and waste, traceability, and socioeconomic indicators, alongside environmental gains. BSI will pay premiums to fishers operating through the community centers, incentivizing artisanal fishermen to adopt more responsible practices.

NAI and BSI are seeking to share this innovative commercially-sponsored fishery management model with industry and broader sustainability stakeholders given its potential value in linking artisanal fishermen directly to seafood markets and improving livelihoods throughout fishing communities. This work builds on NAI’s engagement in fishery improvement projects and traceability, as well as its long-term partnerships with retailers to direct supply chains and address critical responsible harvesting practices.

“North Atlantic has been a trusted vendor to our retail partners for many years and we are excited to begin working with them more formally,” said William Wall, FishWise Distributor Division Director. “We at FishWise are always aiming to create and promote progressive sustainability leaders. North Atlantic’s ambition is unique — they are taking direct responsibility for the wellbeing of the community in which they operate and are developing mechanisms for lasting change, which we’re keen to communicate given the potential for these efforts to serve as a model for other companies.”

Read the full release here

Indonesia to curb rights abuses on foreign fishing vessels

January 25, 2017 — JAKARTA, Indonesia — Indonesia on Tuesday issued a new government decree requiring human rights certification for fishing boats operating in the country, in order to stamp out abuse and exploitation of workers in the fisheries industry.

“The ministerial regulation creates the certification mechanism to ensure the fishing industry here will be free of human rights violations,” Marine Affairs and Fisheries Minister Susi Pudjiastuti said at a press conference.

The decree, which comes almost two years after media reports first revealed brutal conditions aboard many foreign vessels reflagged to operate in Indonesian waters, requires all companies in the fisheries sector to submit a detailed human rights audit to ensure the well-being of fishermen and port workers.

All fishery companies are henceforth required to have an adequate insurance scheme, a standard minimum wage and clear working hours for their fishermen and port workers.

Read the full story at the Bangkok Post

New England’s 1816 ‘Mackerel Year’ and climate change today

January 19, 2017 — Hundreds of articles have been written about the largest volcanic eruption in recorded history, at Indonesia’s Mt. Tambora just over 200 years ago. But for a small group of New England-based researchers, one more Tambora story needed to be told, one related to its catastrophic effects in the Gulf of Maine that may carry lessons for intertwined human-natural systems facing climate change around the world today.

In the latest issue of Science Advances, first author and research fellow Karen Alexander at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and 11 others including aquatic ecologists, climate scientists and environmental historians recount their many-layered, multidisciplinary investigation into the effects of Tambora on coastal fish and commercial fisheries.

Alexander says, “We approached our study as a forensic examination. We knew that Tambora’s extreme cold had afflicted New England, Europe, China and other places for as long as 17 months. But no one we knew of had investigated coastal ecosystems and fisheries. So, we looked for evidence close to home.”

In work that integrates the social and natural sciences, they used historical fish export data, weather readings,  and town growth chronologies and other sources to discover Tambora’s effects on the Gulf of Maine’s complex human and natural system.

The 1815 eruption caused a long-lasting, extreme climate event in 1816 known as the “year without a summer.” As volcanic winter settled on much of the Northern Hemisphere, crops failed, livestock died and famine swept over many lands. In New England, crop yields may have fallen by 90 percent. The researchers found that 1816 was also called “the mackerel year,” a clue to what they would find regarding fisheries.

Besides Tambora’s climate effects, the authors examined other system-wide influences to explain observed trends. These included historical events such as the War of 1812, human population growth, fish habitat obstruction due to dam building and changes in fishing gear that might have affected fisheries at the time. Employing historical methods in a Complex Adaptive Systems approach allowed them to group and order data at different scales of organization and to identify statistically significant processes that corresponded to known outcomes, Alexander says.

Read the full story at Phys.org

 

Indonesian, Portuguese companies secure eco-labels for Pacific Ocean tuna

January 13, 2017 — PT Karyacipta Buanasentosa (PT KCBS), the Indonesian tuna catch and processing company that is wholly-owned by Yamako Pacific Pte Ltd., has obtained Friend of the Sea certification for its skipjack and yellowfin tuna.

All of the company’s tuna species are fished by pole-and-line by Friend of the Sea-approved vessels in the Western Central part of the Pacific Ocean.

“Achieving the Friend of the Sea certification is an important step forward for PT KCBS and it reinforces our sustainability efforts,” said Masayuki Takaku, general manager at PT KCBS. “It sends a very clear message to our customers and suppliers regarding our continual commitment to sustainability. We are very proud to have achieved this recognition.”

Another company to secure Friend of the Sea certification for its skipjack and yellowfin tuna this year is Freitasmar, a Portuguese company specializing in canned seafood production.

Friend of the Sea certified supplier Frabelle – a fishing company from the Philippines – catches all of Freitasmar’s tuna. The fish are caught by purse seine in the Western Central part of the Pacific Ocean.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Can North Carolina’s Local Seafood Movement Help Save its Fishermen?

November 16, 2016 — North Carolina’s commercial fishermen—who work primarily in independent, small-scale operations—landed 66 million pounds of fish last year, but rather than ending up on North Carolina plates, the majority was whisked out of state to markets where it could fetch a higher price.

“I think more New Yorkers eat North Carolina seafood than North Carolinians,” says Ann Simpson, who grew up in a small town on the coast and currently directs North Carolina Catch, a partnership of smaller organizations working to strengthen the state’s local seafood economy.

To fill the void created by the export of its catch, North Carolina—like most states—ships in seafood from abroad. Today, around 90 percent of the seafood Americans eat has been imported from places like China, Thailand, Canada, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Ecuador, and the average fish travels more than 5,400 miles between the landing dock and point of sale.

“People come to the coast looking for fresh seafood, and for the most part, they’re getting seafood from halfway around the world, which they’re eating in a local setting,” says Noelle Boucquey, assistant professor of environmental studies at Eckerd College, who studied North Carolina’s fisheries while at Duke University. Patronize a vendor at the Outer Banks Seafood Festival in Nags Head, and you’ll face the same conundrum.

Read the full story at Civil Eats

Why the death of coral reefs could be devastating for millions of humans

November 10th, 2016 — Coral reefs around the globe already are facing unprecedented damage because of warmer and more acidic oceans. It’s hardly a problem affecting just the marine life that depends on them or deep-sea divers who visit them.

If carbon dioxide emissions continue to fuel the planet’s rising temperature, the widespread loss of coral reefs by 2050 could have devastating consequences for tens of millions of people, according to new research published Wednesday in the scientific journal PLOS.

 To better understand where those losses would hit hardest, an international group of researchers mapped places where people most need reefs for their livelihoods, particularly for fishing and tourism, as well as for shoreline protection. The researchers combined those maps with others showing where coral reefs are most under stress from warming seas and ocean acidification.

Countries in Southeast Asia such as Indonesia, Thailand and Philippines would bear the brunt of the damage, the scientists found. So would coastal communities in western Mexico and parts of Australia, Japan and Saudi Arabia. The problem would affect countries as massive as China and as small as the tiny island nation of Nauru in the South Pacific.

Read the full story at The Washington Post

Tilapia has a terrible reputation. Does it deserve it?

October 24th, 2016 — When it comes to fish, no species brings out the haters like tilapia.

Read up on it, and you’ll find tilapia described with words like “muddy” and “earthy”; there are entire forum threads devoted to its inferiority. This very newspaper, back in 2007, called it “the fish that chefs love to hate.”

Should we really be so hard on this fast-growing freshwater fish?

In the world of food, there aren’t too many propositions that get universal agreement, but here’s one: Our oceans are overfished. If we’re going to continue to eat fish, and to feed it to the people scheduled to join us on this planet in the coming years, we have to farm it. And if we’re going to farm fish, an adaptable, hardy fish like tilapia is an excellent candidate.

Yet a combination of rumors and credible reports works against it. Perhaps you’ve heard that tilapia are raised in cesspools and live on poop? Even the USDA says there is — or, at least, used to be — some truth in that. The agency’s 2009 report on Chinese imports notes that “Fish are often raised in ponds where they feed on waste from poultry and livestock.”

Before we meet that fact with a chorus of “ewww,” it’s worth noting that turning feces into fish would be the agricultural equivalent of spinning straw into gold. Although there are important safety concerns in that kind of system, if you can manage those risks, you’ve got one of the most sustainable foods going. It’s a downright Rumplestiltskinnian miracle, and we should root for it, not against it.

The question is whether that still happens. To find out, I went to the source: Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch program, which rates seafood choices based on whether they have been responsibly fished or farmed. Seafood Watch lists tilapia from nine different sources. Four (from Peru, Canada, Ecuador and the United States) are rated “Best Choices,” another four (from China, Taiwan, Mexico and Indonesia) are “Good Alternatives,” and only one (from Colombia) is rated “Avoid.” I asked Ryan Bigelow, the Seafood Watch program’s engagement manager, to give me a rundown on the sustainability issues.

Read the full story at The Washington Post