Saving Seafood

At-Sea Processors’ Gilmore Announces Retirement, New Hire Comes from Environmental Non-Profit

February 28, 2019 — The following was released by the At-Sea Processors Association:

Jim Gilmore

The At-sea Processors Association (APA) announced today that Jim Gilmore, its Director of Public Affairs, will retire June 30, 2019, after 30 years with the association. Gilmore will be replaced by Matt Tinning, the current Associate Vice President for Oceans at the Environmental Defense Fund, a prominent U.S.-based non-profit noted for pursuing collaborative, market-based solutions to environmental problems.

During his tenure at APA, Gilmore directed the organization’s public affairs and corporate social responsibility programs, which helped to establish the Alaska pollock industry’s leadership position in global seafood sustainability. Among Gilmore’s accomplishments are his work to enact the landmark American Fisheries Act, which paved the way for a catch share program for the largest U.S. fishery, the Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands Alaska pollock fishery. The advent of catch share management enabled the Alaska pollock catcher/processor sector to optimize food production, further minimize fishing effects on the environment, and strengthen the fleet’s international market competitiveness. For almost two decades, Gilmore has also led the Alaska pollock industry’s effort to become the largest certified sustainable fishery in the world. By achieving and maintaining certifications of the fishery under both the Marine Stewardship Council and Alaska Responsible Fisheries Management programs, his work has solidified Alaska pollock’s reputation as one of the world’s best managed fisheries.

Matt Tinning

APA’s executive director Stephanie Madsen said, “We are very grateful to Jim for his years of staunch advocacy and unwavering commitment to strengthening the Alaska pollock industry, and we couldn’t be happier to announce Matt’s coming onboard.” Madsen continued, “Matt’s been a leader in the NGO community promoting precautionary, science-based fisheries management. We are excited to have him put his considerable talents to work at APA.”

Tinning brings over a decade’s worth of experience in the e-NGO community to his new position. Prior to his work with environmental non-profits, the Australian-born Tinning served as a Liaison Officer at the Australian Embassy in Washington, DC. He also worked on Capitol Hill on the staff of former New Mexico Senator Jeff Bingaman.

Marine Stewardship Council aims to “improve confidence that the MSC Fisheries Standard is being applied consistently”

February 5, 2019 — The Marine Stewardship Council, one of the largest seafood-focused eco-labeling schemes in the world, is reviewing its standards and processes with the dual aims of increasing its effectiveness and addressing perceptions of inadequacies in how its system works.

The London, United Kingdom-based organization currently certifies more than 300 fisheries with a combined annual seafood production of 12 million metric tons, representing 15 percent of global marine catch. Its formal Fisheries Standard Review takes place every five years; the most recent review began in 2018 and will run through 2021. The MSC reviews its standards to “improve confidence that the MSC Fisheries Standard is being applied consistently,” according to the organization.

Last week, the MSC Board of Directors released a list of 16 topics it will include it’s the second stage of the review. Those topics include MSC’s requirements for ghost gear, low trophic species, shark-finning, endangered threatened and protected species, and the accessibility of the MSC program to small-scale, squid, crab, and octopus fisheries.

“The next stage in the MSC Fisheries Standard Review will be an in-depth analysis of all topics agreed for review,” MSC CEO Rupert Howes said. “Over the next year, the MSC will work alongside stakeholders to harness their expertise and experience to identify potential updates to the standard.”

Read the full story at Seafood Source

MSC to include ghost gear, shark finning, endangered species in standard review

January 25, 2019 — The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC)’s board of trustees has confirmed a list of 16 topics that will be reviewed in the next stage of its fisheries standard review.

In addition to the topics to be included in the standard review, the MSC board has approved topics for more immediate public consultation. These include a consultation on shark finning as part of the MSC’s scope requirements in early March 2019, concluding in early 2020.

The full standard review list incorporates feedback received from numerous stakeholders and includes consideration of the MSC’s requirements for ghost gear, low trophic species, shark finning and endangered threatened and protected (ETP) species, it said. It also covers topics relating to the accessibility of the MSC program to small scale, squid, crab and octopus fisheries.

“The next stage in the MSC fisheries standard review will be an in-depth analysis of all topics agreed for review,” said Rupert Howes, MSC CEO. “Over the next year, the MSC will work alongside stakeholders to harness their expertise and experience to identify potential updates to the standard. This is an opportunity for stakeholders to inform the future development of the standard. We encourage anyone with knowledge or an interest in these areas to get in touch.”

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

ISSF Report Shows Many Tuna Stocks Not Meeting Criteria for Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) Sustainability Standard

January 25, 2019 — The following was released by the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation:

Only five out of 19 major commercial tuna stocks are being managed to avoid overfishing and restore depleted fish populations — and have earned a passing score for Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) Principle 1 — according to independent scientists in a report published by the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF).

ISSF 2019-02: An Evaluation of the Sustainability of Global Tuna Stocks Relative to Marine Stewardship Council Criteria attributes this failure to poor stock status, the lack of well-defined harvest control rules (HCRs), and the lack of effective tools to control harvest. Only three of the stocks have well-defined harvest control rules from Regional Fisheries Management Organizations (RFMOs), which continue progressing slowly in this area.

The January 2018 version of the report had found that six out of 19 stocks were being managed to avoid overfishing, meaning the situation has not improved in the last year. While South Pacific albacore Principle 1 score has improved thanks to further progress by WCPFC on this stock’s harvest strategy workplan, two other stocks have seen their overall Principle 1 scores worsen: eastern Pacific bigeye due mostly to uncertainties in its latest stock assessment, and Atlantic yellowfin tuna due to weak tools in place to control exploitation that may be hindering its rebuilding plan.

About the Report

An Evaluation of the Sustainability of Global Tuna Stocks takes a consistent, comprehensive approach to scoring tuna stocks against certain components of the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) standard. The MSC is a global certification program for fisheries.

The report — updated four times since first published in 2013, and organized by individual tuna stock and tuna RFMO — is designed to:

  • Provide a basis for comparing between stock scores and tuna RFMO scores as assessed by the same experts.
  • Become a useful source document for future tuna certifications or in the establishment of tuna Fishery Improvement Projects (FIPs).
  • Prioritize ISSF projects and advocacy efforts against initiatives that will improve low performance indicator scores.

The scores in the report focus on stock status (MSC Principle 1) and the international management aspects relevant to RFMOs (part of MSC Principle 3) and are based on publicly available fishery and RFMO data. Each of these Principles is evaluated in relationship to Performance Indicators (PIs) within each Principle. The Evaluation report also includes detailed remarks on each stock, evaluations of the four RFMOs, and comprehensive reference citations.

The report does not address bluefin tuna stocks.​

MSC Principle 1

The MSC Principle 1 states: “A fishery must operate in a manner that does not lead to overfishing or depletion of the exploited populations and, for those populations that are depleted, the fishery must be conducted in a manner that demonstrably leads to their recovery.”

Regarding stocks receiving passing scores:

  • Among seven tuna stocks in the Atlantic Ocean, one received an overall principle-level passing score: Northern albacore.
  • Among eight tuna stocks in the Pacific Ocean, three received overall principle-level passing scores: Western skipjack, Eastern yellowfin and Southern albacore.
  • Among four stocks in the Indian Ocean, one received an overall principle-level passing score: skipjack.

Regarding stocks receiving failing scores:

  • In the Pacific, five stocks received overall principle-level failing scores: Western yellowfin, Northern albacore, Eastern bigeye, Eastern skipjack and Western bigeye.
  • In the Indian Ocean, yellowfin, bigeye and albacore all received overall principle-level failing scores.
  • In the Atlantic, yellowfin, bigeye, Western skipjack, Eastern skipjack, Southern albacore and Mediterranean albacore all received principle-level failing scores.
  • Stocks that require rebuilding include Atlantic yellowfin, Atlantic bigeye and Indian Ocean yellowfin.

See a graphic showing MSC Principle 1 averages from February 2013-January 2019.

MSC Principle 3

The MSC Principle 3 states: “The fishery is subject to an effective management system that respects local, national and international laws and standards and incorporates institutional and operational frameworks that require use of the resource to be responsible and sustainable.”

  • One RFMO —IATTC — received passing scores for all seven performance indicators under Principle 3.
  • All four RFMOs received overall principle-level passing scores from the authors.

See a graphic showing MSC Principle 3 averages from December 2013-January 2019.

While the report focuses on tuna stock status and sustainability as well as on RFMO policies, it does not address national or bilateral fishing jurisdictions, gear- or fleet-specific ecosystem impacts, or specific fisheries’ ecosystems — all of which are also considered within the MSC assessment methodology.

Since 2011, ISSF has been an active stakeholder in MSC tuna fishery assessments and certifications. ISSF’s strategic objective is to develop and implement verifiable, science-based practices, commitments and international management measures to help all tuna fisheries become capable of meeting the MSC certification standard without conditions.

Bumble Bee, FCF partner on albacore improvement projects

January 17, 2019 — Bumble Bee Foods and Taiwanese trader Fong Chun Formosa Fishery Company (FCF) are to partner with Ocean Outcomes on an initiative to improve fishing practices of the albacore longline tuna fisheries in the Indian Ocean and Western and Central Pacific Ocean, from which Bumble Bee sources.

“As we procure a significant amount of albacore tuna annually to meet demand for our products, we are in a unique position to help ensure the long term sustainability of longline albacore fisheries,” said Mike Kraft, vice president for sustainability at Bumble Bee.

“All of that tuna comes from healthy stocks. This initiative will launch two fishery improvement projects (FIPs) to help ensure those stocks remain healthy, while working to close identified gaps between current fishery operations and other MSC [Marine Stewardship Council] principles.”

A positive transformation of tuna management and tuna fishing practices is gaining momentum, especially in the purse seine sector — but not all harvesting sectors are as far along, the firms said.

Recent catch sector engagement initiatives – such as the Global FIP Alliance for Sustainable Tuna (GFAST) – have made progress in addressing the challenges of international management of tuna fisheries, but there is clearly an opportunity to increase participation from Northeast Asian longline fleets, they added.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

UK parliamentary inquiry calls for independent review of MSC

January 17, 2019 — The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) needs to address major concerns raised during an inquiry that looked into the effectiveness of the eco-label and the fishery certification scheme, recommends a new report published by the United Kingdom’s House of Commons’ Environmental Audit Committee (EAC).

EAC opened its Sustainable Seas inquiry in April 2018 to consider the future of oceans. The inquiry focused on how marine life can be protected from climate change, overfishing, and pollution, and how the U.K. government can create a more sustainable blue economy. One of its oral evidence sessions focused specifically on the MSC, with the participation of MSC CEO Rupert Howes.

In the inquiry, the MSC was criticized for recertifying a tuna fishery where there had been evidence of illegal shark finning dating back as recently as 2015.

“To ensure continued consumer confidence in the MSC certification, we recommend the MSC addresses specific criticisms raised… into its five-year review and strengthens its standard accordingly. These criticisms include its unit of assessment, the need to factor in carbon from ships into its standard, concerns about shark finning (where we look forward to the publication of data verifying the reduction of this practice in 2019) and barriers to entry for small scale fisheries. The review should be transparent and ideally independently evaluated,” stated the report.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Bycatch an Issue in 2018 Pacific Hake Fishery; Uncertainty Lies Ahead Amid Shutdown

January 10, 2019 — SEAFOOD NEWS — None of the three sectors in the U.S. Pacific hake fishery attained its specified sector allocation in 2018 and all reported problems with bycatch — either smaller sizes of whiting or other species.

The catcher-processor sector achieved the highest percentage of its allocation, catching 116,074 mt of its 139, 612 mt allocation, or 85 percent. The shoreside sector harvested 76 percent of its 169,127 mt allocation for a total of 129,180 mt in landings. The mothership sector struggled the most last year and attained only 69 percent of its 96,614 mt allocation for 67,096 mt in landings.

“It was one of our better seasons,” Pacific Seafood’s Mike Okoniewski said, noting that the company’s Newport plant did exceptionally well while the Astoria plant had adequate production. “There was a greater amount of nice fish off of Newport this year, so fishermen didn’t have to travel far.”

Similarly, the Arctic Storm Management Group, a mothership company based out of Seattle, generally had a good season but that was not representative of the whole mothership sector, said Sarah Nayani, Arctic Storm’s director of compliance.

“In 2018 our company processed 38 percent of the mothership catcher vessel catch and 26 percent of the total mothership sector allocation. Unfortunately, 31 percent of the mothership sector allocation went uncaught, which is more than any single company processed,” Nayani said. “For next year we’ve planned additional trips to improve attainment and provide more MSC-certified sustainable product to the market.”

Around the Columbia River and into Washington, particularly near Willapa Bay, fishermen struggled to find larger fish, around 450 to 500 grams. The CPs and motherships, like shoreside fishermen, traveled north or south of the Willapa area to find bigger, more marketable hake.

However, traveling north led to other problems. The CP and mothership sectors said a lot of other species were mixed with whiting schools and many of those other species had hard caps. Pacific ocean perch rockfish bycatch was an issue as was sablefish, so both sectors continually moved their operations to avoid those other species. Southern areas were problematic as well, since Chinook salmon were frequently prevalent. Both of the at-sea sectors stopped fishing in November to avoid bycatch interactions.

“2018 was a good year for Arctic Storm overall,” Nayani said. “We saw demand and prices up for Pacific hake and a strong spring fishery with minimal bycatch. However, even with extra processing capacity from putting Arctic Fjord out on the water this fall (in addition to Arctic Storm) the fall fishery was slow for us due to patchy fishing, higher bycatch rates, and frequent movement to avoid bycatch.”

Now, everyone is looking forward to this year’s season, but any uncertainty now is due to the U.S. government shutdown and the inability of U.S. scientists to contribute to the stock assessment routinely done collaboratively with Canadian scientists. The stock assessment draft is due to be released Feb. 6, so scientists would normally be assimilating data and running models right now.

In an email to some Pacific hake stakeholders and U.S. fishery managers and scientists, Canadian stock assessment author Joint Technical Committee member Chris Grandin wrote Tuesday that Canadian scientists would produce the whiting stock assessment on time — but without the U.S. fishery dependent age composition data.

“If the government comes back online before Jan. 14, and U.S. JTC members are back at work we will be producing the hake assessment as usual without any changes,” Grandin wrote.

“If not, Andy and I will be producing a hake assessment on time for delivery Feb. 6. It will consist of adding 2018 catch to the base model from last year’s assessment, and some common sensitivity cases. Unfortunately, we cannot get access to the U.S. age composition data due to the shutdown and therefore will not include any 2018 age composition data in the models. Note that the assessment will be of the standard format with an executive summary, and all decision tables and projections in place for the base model.

“We realize the importance of this assessment to the fishery, and will endeavour to do as much as is possible given the constraints placed before us.”

U.S. industry representatives and scientists remain hopeful the shutdown will end soon so the stock assessment and management process will get back on track.

“We’re hoping we get a good quota this year, but won’t really know until we see the stock assessment,” Okoniewski said.

This story was originally published by SeafoodNews.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission. 

Omega Protein’s Menhaden Fishery Passes MSC Assessment; Public Comment Period Initiated

December 4, 2018 — SEAFOOD NEWS —  The US purse seine menhaden fishery operated by Omega protein has been recommended for MSC certification by SAI Global.

Today the assessment body released its draft report for public comment.  Scores for the three principal areas were quite high.

The MSC system is based on the target fishery achieving a score of 80 or above in a range of criteria, organized under 3 principles:  health and sustainability of target species; the status of the ecosystem and the environmental impact of fishing, and the management system in place.

Scores are averaged, and a fishery must exceed a score of 80 in each of the three main areas to be recommended for certification.

The menhaden fishery was scored at 82.5 on the target species health; at 87.4 on the ecosystem health, and at 92.2 on the management system in place.

Within these areas there were three specific issues that scored below 80, which will become conditions that need to be addressed in the five year plan for improvement following a successful certification.

The three issues identified by SAI Global as conditions are first, that Omega Protein must provide evidence of a harvest strategy that is designed to take into consideration the role of menhaden as a forage fish in the overall Northwest Atlantic ecosystem, meaning that if ecosystem impacts are identified, there must be a mechanism to reflect those impacts in the harvest strategy.

The second issue is that the client must implement a harvest control rule that ensures the exploitation rate is kept below a level where serious ecosystem impacts could occur, and the client will be expected to keep the stock fluctuating around a target level consistent with ecosystem needs.

The third condition is that every five years there must be a review of alternate measures related to bycatch.  The certifier recommends that more work be done on bycatch in the fishery.

The overall conclusion is to strongly recommend certification.  Under the MSC process, stakeholders have the right to lodge objections or suggest changes to the report.  Normally these types of suggestions are negotiated between the parties, and if no agreement can be reached, a stake holder may appeal the certification decision to a review board.

This story was originally published on SeafoodNews.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission.

SAI Global recommends MSC certify the Atlantic menhaden fishery

December 4, 2018 — SAI Global, one of the leading certification bodies for the Marine Stewardship Council, announced on 4 December that it’s recommending the Atlantic menhaden fishery be certified as sustainable.

The recommendation is a key step in the fishery attaining MSC certification. Now, the certification will go to a 30-day public comment period.

Omega Protein, by far the largest fisher of menhaden, has been the company leading the drive for MSC certification.

The recommendation comes amid some rising controversy over the fishery as competing groups – such as recreational fishermen and whale-watchers – claim that the fishery has been negatively impacting the environment. One nonprofit, Gotham Whale, has developed a petition directly targeting Omega Protein called the “Gotham Whale Action Plan.”

The petition calls for the Omega Protein fleet to be forced to fish 20 miles from New York or New Jersey. Currently, the vessels legally fish outside the three-mile limit.

Gotham Whale’s issue with the fishery largely relates to menhaden’s role as food for humpback whales in the region surrounding New York Harbor near New York City.

“Gotham Whale has been documenting humpback feeding in this area since 2011 and we would like it to continue,” the organization’s petition states. “We are also appealing to the owners of Omega Protein to further persuade them to leave the bunker for the whales.”

The conflict has already gained some attention from media. A New York Times article interviewed several recreational fishing and sightseeing boat captains, many of which claimed that the large Omega Protein boats were causing problems.

“We have a major issue with a fishing fleet coming in and taking all the food from the whales,” Tom Paladino, a whale watching boat captain, told the Times.

Omega Protein has also butted heads with the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission after the management organization put Virginia on notice for not implementing a reduced menhaden catch limit for Chesapeake Bay. While the overall limit for menhaden was raised for the 2018 and 2019 seasons to 216,000 metric tons (MT), the Chesapeake Bay limit – where Omega Protein does a lot of its fishing – was set for just 51,000 MT.

Chesapeake Bay’s quota was previously 87,216 MT. While the state of Virginia’s total quota was 170,000 MT, that represented little to no increase, something that didn’t add up for Omega Protein.

“We feel that it’s targeting one company, which is what this provision applies to Omega,” Ben Landry, Omega Protein’s director of public affairs, told SeafoodSource in May, noting that there are no caps for the bait fishery. “It’s not in accordance with the best available science. It’s not necessary for the conservation of the species because it’s not overfished.”

Read the full story at Seafood Source

MSC gives Gulf of Mexico menhaden fishery six more months to deliver report

November 29, 2018 — The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) has granted independent auditor SAI Global an extra six months — until June 6 — to finish its final report on whether to grant certification to the menhaden fishery in the US’ Gulf of Mexico.

The report was due Dec. 6, in a little more than a week. However, in requesting more time, SAI Global had noted unforeseen delays that included “a new benchmark stock assessment”, “additional consultation”, “substantial stakeholder submittals” and the “development and revision of the client action plan”, reveals MSC’s letter approving the delay, sent Monday to lead auditor Ivan Mateo.

If the new June 6 deadline is not met, the MSC warns, the application must be withdrawn.

The note about receiving a “substantial” number of stakeholder comments is interesting as several groups, including the Gulf Restoration Network (GRN) and Recirculating Farms Coalition (RFC), have let their opposition to MSC certification of the Gulf menhaden fishery be known. The fishery currently maintains no limits on its harvest of menhaden, which is a forage fish relied upon heavily by numerous other fish and bird species.

“Notably, the MSC label has become a well-known marker for fisheries that strive for sustainability,” said Marianne Cufone, RFC’s executive director, and Cynthia Sartou, GRN’s executive director, in a jointly signed letter sent earlier to the accrediting organization. “To certify gulf menhaden, with its lack of transparency and information, would most certainly tarnish MSC’s reputation and weaken public confidence in the label.”

Read the full story at Undercurrent News