Saving Seafood

Coronavirus-related closures impacting US fisheries, driving down prices

April 1, 2020 — As the COVID-19 pandemic continues across the U.S., with many states issuing stay-at-home mandates that will last at least a month, a growing number of fisheries are facing choppy waters.

The restaurant industry is seeking relief as its profits have plunged during the crisis, and many of the fisheries that supply those restaurants with seafood are facing similar downturns. Fisheries and suppliers of premium seafood products have been hit especially hard, with sales of products like lobster plummeting due to lack of demand.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

MAINE: Elver season opens with new safety measures in place

March 31, 2020 — Yes, Virginia, there will be an elver season this year after all.

Last Thursday, the Department of Marine Resources announced that the 2020 elver fishing season would open at 8 a.m. on Monday, March 30. Originally slated to open on Sunday, March 22, the season was delayed by DMR Commissioner Patrick Keliher because of concerns about the spread of COVID-19. At the time, Keliher said he was concerned that some elements of the fishery, “as traditionally practiced,” made it difficult to adhere to social distancing recommendations from the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Those include maintaining 6 feet of separation between people, in order to reduce the spread of this disease.

The announcement last week described a fishing season unlike any other in recent years.

For the first time, licensed elver harvesters will be allowed to fish for and sell the elver quota of other licensed harvesters instead of just their own quota. Dealers also have agreed to limit the number of transactions with harvesters during the season substantially by setting a minimum purchase quantity of 1 pound of elvers.

“Our objective is to reduce the population of harvesters congregating on the shores and at dealers’ shops,” Keliher said in a statement last Thursday. “Key to achieving this objective will be to allow those who are the most vulnerable to remain at home and have another harvester catch the elvers for them.”

Read the full story at The Ellsworth American

Maine’s eel season, delayed by virus, finally gets started

March 30, 2020 — Maine fishermen are expected to begin the state’s lucrative harvest of baby eels on Monday after the coronavirus outbreak forced the season to be delayed.

Maine fishermen catch the eels, called elvers, in rivers and streams every spring. They’re often worth more than $2,000 per pound, as they’re an important part of the worldwide supply chain for Japanese food.

Maine Department of Marine Resources Commissioner Patrick Keliher suspended the fishery earlier this month. It ordinarily would have started on March 22. Keliher said at the time that aspects of the fishery made it difficult to maintain social distancing and help prevent the spread of coronavirus.

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald

Fishermen turn to direct marketing as demand for Maine seafood plummets

March 27, 2020 — For decades, lobster has been the symbol of Maine’s fishing industry, but at the moment the microscopic coronavirus is taking center stage.

As recently as Feb. 27, the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention reported no confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus in the state. By Thursday, the public health agency reported 155 confirmed cases in Maine and the state was on virtual lockdown. All those who could work from home were staying away from their offices, “nonessential” businesses were shuttered, and bars and restaurants were closed except for takeout and delivery business.

While the economic news has been bad for all sectors of the economy, the fishing industry has been particularly hard-hit.

Last Friday, Gov. Janet Mills wrote to President Trump seeking “immediate assistance” for the Maine fishing industry. Harvesters, she said, “have only limited opportunities within their communities to sell small quantities … in hopes to earn just enough money to buy weekly necessities.” Likewise, she said dealers and processors reported there were “no markets for the product already in inventory.”

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald

Maine’s Elver Fishery Rules Relaxed To Protect Industry During Coronavirus Pandemic

March 27, 2020 — State regulators are relaxing some rules for Maine’s valuable elver fishery, in order to get the delayed season underway while maintaining safe practices during the coronavirus pandemic.

Licensed fishermen will be able to harvest not only their own quotas, but those of others as well, and to bring them all to dealers. The goal, says Department of Marine Resources spokesman Jeff Nichols, is to reduce the number of people involved on a daily basis.

“So that will reduce the number of harvesters on the banks and at the shops where they’re sold,” Nichols says. “At the same time dealers have agreed to a set of guidelines intended to provide protection at the shops.”

Read the full story at Maine Public

Maine’s elver fishery to reopen with more safety protocols to limit spread of COVID-19

March 27, 2020 — Maine’s elver fishing season is back on.

The Department of Marine Resources made the announcement Thursday night that fishermen could cast their nets next Monday, starting at 8 in the morning.

The department initially shut down the season Sunday – for a minimum of two weeks.

But, now officials have put some safety protocols into place to open up sooner.

Licensed elver harvesters may fish for and sell the quota of another licensed harvester.

Read the full story at WABI

Buy Local Fish

March 25, 2020 — Local and domestic sources of wild American seafood shipped to you or available locally for pick-up. The top listing is all domestic seafood suppliers who will ship anywhere in the country. Below that, find listings for all local suppliers by state. Both are listed in alphabetical order.

Don’t see your company? Submit your info here.

Find more community supported fisheries and local direct marketers at Local Catch.

*All suppliers are listed based on information submitted by the suppliers themselves and have not been endorsed, verified or vetted by National Fisherman.

SHIPPED TO YOU

Atlantic Sea Farms
Saco, ME

Fresh-frozen and fermented Maine kelp
Delivering to the Continental U.S.
Food Service and Retail available!

Contact: Jesse Baines
(207) 807-9185
jbaines@atlanticseafarms.com
atlanticseafarms.com
89 Industrial Park Road, Saco, Maine 04072

Product List:
Ready-Cut Kelp
Kelp Cubes
Fermented Seaweed Salad
Sea-Chi
Sea-Beet Kraut

Bristol Bay Wild
Sitka, AK

Bristol Bay sockeye

Delivered anywhere, click for local deliveries and pick-ups

Contact: Lilani Estacio
lilani@bbrsda.com
(907) 677-2371
P.O. Box 6386
Sitka, AK 99835
find.bristolbaysockeye.org

Read the full story at National Fisherman

Fishers, brewers, distillers: What aid do they need to survive Covid-19?

March 25, 2020 — As the spread of the novel coronavirus disrupts business as usual across the country, food producers of all kinds are turning to the government for the help they say they need to stay afloat through the pandemic. From fishermen to produce growers to brewers, companies and organizations are lining up for federal aid as policymakers argue about the coming stimulus for small businesses.

In the fish sector, the closure of scores of restaurants and the destabilization of exports to China has forced the seafood supply chain to adapt to primarily servicing retail stores where possible. Yet even if some fishermen are able to shift to retail, the existing disruptions could be ruinous to many independent producers.

Take the Maine fishermen who catch elver eel. Roughly 1,000 fishermen in the state catch the baby eels and mostly send them to China, to the tune of about $20 million in revenue each year. Yet now they must wait at least two additional weeks to begin harvesting due to officials’ concerns about the spread of coronavirus. State policymakers say the nature of the fishing operations “makes it impossible to follow social distancing recommendations, including maintaining six feet from other people to reduce the spread of this disease,” according to Patrick Keliher, commissioner of Maine Department of Marine Resources.

Read the full story at Fern’s AG Insider

Maine closes elver fishery, requests federal assistance due to COVID-19 impacts

March 24, 2020 — The U.S. state of Maine is requesting federal aid due to the ongoing impacts the COVID-19 outbreak is having on its fisheries.

Maine’s governor, Janet Mills, recently sent a letter to the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump requesting federal assistance for the state’s seafood industry as trade disruptions and restaurant closures affect the state’s valuable lobster fishery, which was worth USD 485 million (EUR 451.4 million) in 2019. The fishery has been heavily impacted by the ongoing pandemic as demand for lobsters has plummeted.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Delay of Maine’s elver season is the latest hit to state’s fishing industry from coronavirus

March 23, 2020 — The start of Maine’s annual, multi-million dollar commercial baby eel season, which had been scheduled to start Sunday, is being delayed for at least two weeks due to concerns about the spread of the coronavirus. It’s the latest example of the sizable economic hit Maine’s fishermen are taking as the global pandemic shuts down much of daily life.

The fishery might open on April 5, depending on the status of the outbreak, state officials said. In each of the past two years, Maine’s 10-week fishing season for baby eels — also known as “glass” eels or elvers — has generated totals of more than $20 million in statewide landings revenue for roughly 1,000 licensed elver fishermen.

“Portions of the elver fishery make it impossible to follow social distancing recommendations, including maintaining 6 feet from other people to reduce the spread of this disease,” Patrick Keliher, commissioner of Maine Department of Marine Resources, said Saturday. He added that, while he recognizes that the closure of the fishery may be “devastating” to people who rely on it, “the safety of our fishermen and their communities is our primary concern.”

Read the full story at the Bangor Daily News