Saving Seafood

Bayless, Moonen among 50 US chefs to sign Portland Pact on MSA

November 21, 2018 — American celebrity seafood restauranteurs Rick Bayless and Rick Moonen are among the first 50 chefs who have signed on to the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s organized effort to “protect the strong conservation measures of the Magnuson-Stevens Act (MSA)”.

Undercurrent News reported earlier how the Monterey Bay Aquarium was planning to start on Nov. 7, the day after the US mid-term election, rallying chefs to sign a document produced at a meeting in Portland, Oregon, on Oct. 24. The so-called “Portland Pact for Sustainable Seafood” calls on “the new Congress to prioritize the long-term health of US fish stocks by protecting the strong conservation measures of the [MSA]”.

Commercial fishing groups that support Alaska Republican representative Don Young’s MSA reauthorization bill, HR 200, earlier expressed concern that the Monterey Bay Aquarium effort was an attack on the bill, which was passed by the US House of Representatives but requires Senate action before the expiration of the 115th Congress in December. The bill makes some of the most significant changes in MSA’s 42-year history, giving fishery regulatory bodies much more needed flexibility, say its champions.

But HR 200, which would have to be re-introduced in the 116th Congress if not successful in the next few weeks, already faces an uphill battle in the new House as it has enjoyed little support from the soon-to-be-in-charge Democrats.

The Monterey Bay Aquarium, which runs the Seafood Watch sustainability initiative, is one of a number of ocean conservation and environmental advocacy groups opposed to Young’s bill. The Environmental Defense Fund, Earthjustice, Oceana North America, the Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association, Seafood Harvesters of America, Fortune Fish & Gourmet, and Santa Monica Seafood have also expressed opposition. They say it would undermine previously established fishing policies and endanger many valuable species.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

 

Sportfishing interests making late push for agenda in US Senate

November 21, 2018 — With possibly just three weeks remaining in the 2018 U.S. Congressional calendar, recreational fishing supporters are making a last-minute push in hopes of getting at least part of their agenda passed before the end of the year.

Scott Deal, president of Maverick Boat Group, wrote a guest op-ed for The Hill earlier this week urging Congress to pass legislation that he said would modernize fishing regulations and open opportunities for anglers in federal waters.

“Because federal law has never considered the fundamental differences between recreational and commercial fishing practices, federal fisheries management problems facing anglers have been snowballing for decades,” Deal wrote. “Those problems are impediments to participation in sportfishing. How can we engage the next generation of anglers when the federal rules unnecessarily stand in the way?”

Much of what Deal and others sought was included in H.R. 200, which the House passed in July. However, that bill has languished in the Senate as it has remained in the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation since then.

While recreational industry leaders, like most others, admit that chances of a Magnuson-Stevens Act reauthorization getting through the 115th Congress are next-to-none, the American Sportfishing Association and other groups have set their sights on a new bill, where they hope some provisions can be included by amendments.

“We’re optimistic that the recreational fishing community’s priorities for improving federal fisheries management, which are contained in the Modern Fish Act, could be included in a public lands bill or another package that gets signed into law before the Congress adjourns,” Mike Leonard, the ASA’s vice president of government affairs, told SeafoodSource. “We know that our legislative champions like U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker are working hard at making that happen.”

Read the full story at Seafood Source

 

Alaska rejects salmon habitat protection measure, elects Mike Dunleavy governor

November 8, 2018 — In a midterm election which will likely have a significant impact on Alaska’s lucrative seafood industry, U.S. Representative Don Young was re-elected, State Senator Mike Dunleavy will become Alaska’s governor, and Ballot Measure 1, which sought to ensconce greater protections for salmon habitat, was defeated.

Young, the longest serving member of Congress (he has served since 1973), handily defeated his opponent, Alyse Galvin, who ran as an independent, to secure his 24th term in the House of Representatives. Young is the lead sponsor of a bill amending the Manguson-Stevens Act, which passed the House in July and is currently pending in the Senate. Young’s amendment would eliminate restrictions placed on regional fishery management councils and would give the councils more control over no-fishing timeframes in order to rebuild stocks.

Ballot Measure 1, which would have enacted stricter regulations for oil and gas development in salmon habitats and added regulations for restoring salmon streams if they are disturbed by development, was also defeated by a large margin. The measure drew criticism from Republicans, including U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski, who said it would interfere with business and development in the state.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Industry begins fight against Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Portland Pact

November 8, 2018 — The Monterey Bay Aquarium is preparing a campaign to recruit chefs from across the country to lobby the U.S. Congress to support measures that would hold fisheries accountable for overfishing and call for science-based decision making in the management process.

The Monterey Bay Aquarium advocates for greater sustainability in the seafood industry and operates the Seafood Watch initiative, which categorizes seafood items into one of three options: Best Choices, Good Alternatives, or Avoid. Its new initiative, called The Portland Pact, has not officially launched yet, said Erin Eastwood, an ocean policy program specialist for the organization, in a statement to SeafoodSource.

“The Portland Pact is not about the election or partisan politics,” she said. “It is about supporting strong policies to ensure the sustainability of U.S. seafood now and for the future.”

However, seafood industry leaders have already initiated a countermeasure, saying the Portland Pact is trying to undo steps proposed in H.R. 200, a bill the U.S. House of Representatives passed in July that would reauthorize and make changes to the Magnuson-Stevens Act (MSA).

H.R. 200, which has not been passed in the Senate, will need to be re-filed when the new Congress reconvenes in January if it’s not signed into law by then. Ryan Bradley, director of Mississippi Commercial Fisheries United, said he and other commercial fishing groups do not expect the lame-duck Congress to take up the MSA bill.

“We do not anticipate MSA reauthorization being a top priority for Congress, at least through the rest of this year,” Bradley told SeafoodSource.

The National Coalition for Fishing Communities, a commercial fisheries group, said the changes the bill makes to the MSA would enable regional councils to make decisions based on needs of the fishing community and changing ecological conditions.

In what it called an open letter to America’s chefs, the coalition called on chefs to consult with fishermen before agreeing to join the Portland Pact. It was signed by 15 industry leaders from across the country.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

House flips in US elections, impact likely on MSA reauthorization

November 7, 2018 — Democrats wrestled control of the U.S. House of Representatives for the first time in eight years in Tuesday’s elections across the United States, and that change in control may have implications for the fishing industry.

As of Wednesday morning, 7 November, the Associated Press had 219 House seats going to the Democrats, with 193 going to the Republicans. Democrats needed just 218 seats to win a majority, but with 23 seats still up for grabs, they could see their caucus grow to 230 or more once all election results have been tabulated.

Where Tuesday’s results may have the most impact on the seafood community is through the reauthorization of the Magnuson-Stevens Act. Industry insiders who spoke to SeafoodSource Wednesday said they did not expect H.R. 200, a bill which passed the House earlier this year, to get a vote in the Senate before the term ends next month.

That means, the process would start over again when the new Congress convenes in January. U.S. Rep. Don Young, who sponsored the reauthorization bill in this Congress, won re-election for his seat in Alaska, but as a Republican, he’ll be in the minority starting next year.

One thing that may help the seafood industry is that many Democrats represent coastal communities reliant on fishing, according to Bob Vanasse, executive director of Saving Seafood, which conducts media and public outreach on behalf of the seafood industry. Vanasse told SeafoodSource that his group will work with Democrats to vote for the interests of their constituents. He urged them to follow in the path of former U.S. Rep. Barney Frank, a Massachusetts Democrat who worked to support fishermen, many of whom were middle-class small business owners.

“One can be a good liberal and also represent your fishing constituents,” Vanasse said. “One would think that would be a natural fit.”

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Young’s win in Alaska caps long US election night for seafood industry

November 7, 2018 — It wasn’t expected to be so close.

Until roughly a month ago, most pundits expected Alaska Republican Don Young — the longest-serving member of the House of Representatives, a colorful, 85-year-old personality who has an office decorated with wild game trophies, has been known to wield a walrus penis bone in order to make a point, and is also one of the commercial seafood industry’s biggest champions — to handily defeat his Democratic opponent and retain his seat, as usual, on Nov. 6.

Then, a few days before the election, it wasn’t such a given, as polls showed Young’s 53-year-old Democratic challenger, Alyse Galvin, winning by a percentage point.

In the end, Young kept his job, apparently winning a 45th term with roughly 54% of the vote, though more votes remain to be counted.

“We got more votes this time than we got before, and everybody had me down,” he reportedly told the Associated Press in the early morning hours, after Galvin gave her concession speech.

“I feel real good about our campaign, and we were able to prove that Alaskans appreciate what I’ve been able to do. I’m going to have a good two years ahead of us,” he added.

Follow the examples set by Frank and Kennedy

Young wasn’t the only congressional race of consequence to the commercial fishing industry in the 2018 election.

Representative Bill Keating, the Massachusetts Democrat whose 9th district includes New Bedford, home of the US’ most valuable commercial fishing port, is the projected winner over GOP challenger Peter Tedeschi, having secured 61.3% of the vote with 43% of the precincts reporting.

Keating, who outraised Tedeschi by about $1.2 million to $800,000 in his campaign, is one of the Democrats that Bob Vanasse, executive director of Saving Seafood, hopes will continue to represent commercial seafood harvesters in the new Congress.

“Many of our coastal communities are represented by Democrats and they have been in the minority,” said Vanasse, whose group represents pro-commercial fishing interests. “We are hopeful that they will follow the examples of such members of Congress as Barney Frank and Ted Kennedy who demonstrated unequivocally that one can be a strong Democrat and a strong liberal and also stand up for the working families in their fishing communities.”

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

Fishery Council Announces Recommendations for Hawaiʻi Fisheries

November 5, 2018 — After a four-day meeting last week, the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council announced their recommendations for nearshore fisheries in Hawai’i and Guam. Under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act of 1976, the council has authority over fisheries throughout Hawai’i, American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), and the US Pacific Remote Islands.

During the meeting, the Council prepared an amendment to the Hawai’i Fishery Ecosystem Plan (FEP) to revise the precious corals essential fish habitat (EFH) document. The council specifically recommended revising existing seabeds and designating new seabeds as EFH for deepwater precious corals. The council also decided that the geographic extent and habitat characteristics for shallow-water precious corals should be updated.

The council recommended that the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) set the MHI non-Deep 7 bottomfish ACL at 127,205 pounds and MHI deep-water shrimp ACL at 250,773 pounds for fishing years 2019-2021. The council also recommended that the NMFS set the MHI Kona crab ACL at 3,500 pounds for fishing year 2019.

For precious corals, the council recommended that the ACLs for 2019-2021 be set to 5,512 pounds for ‘Au’au Channel black coral, 2,205 pounds for Makapu’u Bed pink coral, 55 for Makapu’u Bed bamboo, 489 pounds for 180 Fathom Bank pink coral, 123 pounds for 180 Fathom Bank bamboo coral, 979 pounds for Brooks Bank pink coral, 245 pounds for Brooks Bank bamboo coral, 148 pounds for Ka’ena Point Bed pink coral, 37 pounds for Ka’ena Point Bed bamboo coral, 148 pounds for Keahole Bed pink coral, 37 pounds for Keahole Bed bamboo coral, and 2,205 pounds for precious coral in MHI exploratory area.

Read the full story at Maui Now

Monterey Bay campaign targets new lawmakers, but MSA bill not only focus

November 2, 2018 — The Monterey Bay Aquarium, one of multiple ocean conservation groups opposed to a bill that would update the Magnuson Stevens Act (MSA), won’t waste any time in its efforts to influence new US members of Congress. It has launched a chefs-oriented campaign intended to begin reaching lawmakers the day after the Nov. 6 election, Undercurrent News has learned.

The advocacy group, which runs the Seafood Watch sustainability initiative, held a meeting on Oct. 24 in Portland, Oregon, where it got chefs to discuss, finalize and sign a “Portland Pact for Sustainable Seafood”. The document calls on “the new Congress to prioritize the long-term health of US fish stocks by protecting the strong conservation measures of the [MSA]”, reveals an email sent by Sheila Bowman, Seafood Watch manager of culinary and strategic initiatives, a copy of which was obtained by Undercurrent.

The email requested recipients to sign an attached copy of the document before Nov. 1, joining “other Blue Ribbon Task Force chefs”, but not to share it with anyone until Nov. 7. By signing the letter, the chefs would be agreeing with Monterey Bay Aquarium and its #ChefsForFish campaign that US commercial fishing policy would be best served by:

  • “Requiring management decisions be science-based;
  • “Avoiding overfishing with catch limits and tools that hold everyone accountable for the fish that they remove from the ocean; and
  • “Ensuring the timely recovery of depleted fish stocks.”

“On November 7: We will send another email asking you to help spread the word so that we can gather more chef signatures,” Bowman instructs in her email. “Our hope is to have hundreds of chefs representing all 50 states!”

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

 

Boating group doubles PAC contribution goal in midst of MSA reauthorization fight

November 1, 2018 — The National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA), a trade group that has pushed for the passage of several controversial commercial fishing bills, has released a three-year strategic plan that would boost the amount of funds it spends on the political action committee (PAC) it supports.

NMMA says it will now seek to contribute $500,000 per year or $1 million per two-year election cycle to BoatPAC, nearly double what it was previously spending.

That would give the group more firepower to support such legislation as Alaska Republican representative Don Young’s Magnuson-Stevens Act (MSA) reauthorization bill (HR 200) or Modernizing Recreational Fisheries Management Act (S. 1520), also known as the “Modern Fish Act,” a bill from senators Roger Wicker, a Mississippi Republican, and Bill Nelson, a Florida Democrat.

The two bills could wind up not getting passed during the 115th congressional session and come back for another try in the 116th, when the BoatPAC money might help.

HR 200 was passed in the US House of Representatives, in July, by a 222-193 vote, but the clock is ticking. A companion bill is needed in the Senate, which lawmakers could act on after the Nov. 6 election, during the two abbreviated months before the beginning of the new session in January.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

Fish council to review catch share regulations

November 1, 2018 — In May 2010, the world of the Northeast groundfishermen experienced a seismic transformation, as federal fishery managers ditched days-at-sea as its primary management tool and implemented a sector system centered on an expanded catch share program.

Now, nearly nine years later, the New England Fishery Management Council said it will conduct its first comprehensive evaluation of the groundfish catch share program to determine whether it is meeting its goals and objectives to improve the management of the fishery.

The review, according to council Executive Director Tom Nies, is not connected to any specific event or issue within the fishery, such as the widescale cheating, sector manipulation and ultimate conviction of New Bedford fishing kingpin Carlos A. Rafael.

“It’s not a response to Carlos, but it may help us identify areas related to his activities that we can address,” Nies said Wednesday.

The Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s own catch share policy actually mandate that the councils periodically produce “a formal and detailed review … no less frequently than once every seven years” on catch share programs.

“This is the first review, really, since catch shares originally were implemented in 2004, and more importantly, expanded in 2010,” Nies said. “It’s been on our radar for a couple of years. The next step is to assemble a staff and get the report written.”

Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times