Saving Seafood

MASSACHUSETTS: New Bedford seafood giant Cooke buys insolvent U.S. fish processor, expands global reach

October 29, 2020 — A division of New Brunswick seafood giant Cooke Inc. has acquired Mariner Seafood LLC of New Bedford, Mass., expanding the family-owned company’s operations in the United States.

True North Seafood, the flagship brand and processing arm of Cooke, purchased Mariner Seafood for US$2.75 million after the U.S. company filed for bankruptcy protection last month. The sale was approved by a Massachusetts court Monday.

The sale includes two processing plants in the port of New Bedford capable of processing more than 8,000 tonnes a year of seafood product, including scallops, haddock, cod, salmon and shrimp.

Glenn Cooke, CEO of Cooke, said it has been a dream of the family seafood company to have a presence in the historic, high-value fishing port.

“We now have over 4,000 Cooke employees in 22 U.S. states and we will continue to invest and grow our New Bedford processing operations,” he said in a statement.

Cooke, which started in rural New Brunswick in 1985 with three employees, now has a global workforce of more than 10,000 employees in 10 countries. It claims to be the largest privately held family seafood company in the world.

Read the full story at the Preeceville Progress

MASSACHUSETTS: Hook-A-Cure hosting blood drive

October 27, 2020 — The nice folks at Hook-A-Cure, whose fishing tournament has been part of raising $200,000 in the past for cancer treatment and research, has had to cancel many of their events because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

But they remain undaunted. They are sponsoring their inaugural Red Cross Blood Drive to help increase blood supplies for transfusions needed by cancer patients.

The event is set for Nov. 7, from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m. at the True North Brewery at 116 County Road in Ipswich. Donors, because of the pandemic restrictions, must preregister at redcrossblood.org or by calling 800-733-2767.

Organizers said they need 36 donors to make the drive a success. So, pack a vein and head on out to Ipswich for a fine cause.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times

Study finds lobster population healthy off Maine, poor in southern New England

October 26, 2020 — The American lobster population is in decent shape off of Maine and Canada, but continues to decline in southern New England, according to an assessment by an interstate regulatory group.

The stock assessment released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s American Lobster Board lines up with previous analyses of the lobster fishery. Lobster fishermen pulled in record catches of the crustaceans off Maine in the last decade, but the catch collapsed off more southern states such as Connecticut.

Environmental changes have made the more southern waters less hospitable for lobsters, scientists have said. Warming temperatures off southern New England have made it difficult for them to grow and reproduce.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the Portland Press Herald

Path to extinction continues for North Atlantic right whales

October 26, 2020 — Scientists say to avoid species extinction and rebuild their population, fewer than one North Atlantic right whale per year can be lost to human-caused mortality or serious injury. Entanglement in fishing lines or being struck by a vessel are the two main causes of human-induced death in the world’s most endangered great whale species.

After years of progress and cooperation with the shipping industry, vessel strikes again appear to be on the rise, with vessels ignoring speed restrictions imposed where right whales have been spotted. The number of whale entanglements also are headed in the wrong direction, with four confirmed entanglements in U.S. waters this year, including three recent sightings in New Jersey and Massachusetts. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has said that a 60-80% drop in the number of whale mortalities is needed, but combined with stalled progress on a plan to reduce fishing impacts, the future for this whale again appears bleak.

If trends continue, the North Atlantic right whale could be the first great whale in modern history to go extinct, and those in the animal rights and conservation communities say the time to act is now.

“We’ve done the research, we have the evidence. The time is now to implement it,” said Amy Knowlton, a senior scientist at the New England Aquarium. Her specialty is assessing human impacts on whales and ways to address those threats. But there is frustration over a process led by NOAA that seems to only respond to litigation.

Read the full story at the Cape Cod Times

Massachusetts lawmakers press Perdue for more Section 32 Atlantic seafood purchases

October 23, 2020 — A group of Massachusetts lawmakers in Washington wrote to U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue on Wednesday, 21 October, to say they were thankful the Department of Agriculture has included Atlantic seafood in its purchases for public food programs. Now, they want to see more of it.

Since announcing a USD 20 million (EUR 16.9 million) Section 32 program solicitation for Atlantic pollock, haddock, and redfish in May, the USDA has made just once purchase agreement from that opportunity, and that came last month when the department purchased USD 4.4 million (EUR 3. million) worth of groundfish from New Bedford, Massachusetts-based Blue Harvest Fisheries.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Atlantic Herring Days Out Meeting Scheduled for October 30

October 23, 2020 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

Atlantic Herring Management Board members from the states of Maine, New Hampshire, and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts will meet on October 30, 2020 from 9:00 – 10:00 a.m., to consider changes to days out measures for the 2020 Area 1A fishery (inshore Gulf of Maine) in Season 2 (October 1 – December 31). This meeting will be held via webinar. The call and webinar information are included below:

Atlantic Herring Days Out Meeting
October 30, 2020
9:00 – 10:00 a.m.

You can join the meeting from your computer, tablet or smartphone at the following link: https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/199957885. If you are new to GoToMeeting, you can download the app ahead of time (click here) and be ready before the meeting starts. For audio, the meeting will be using the computer voice over internet (VoIP), but if you are joining the webinar from your phone only, you can dial in at +1 (571) 317-3122 and enter access code 199-957-885 when prompted. The webinar will start at 8:30 a.m., 30 minutes early, to troubleshoot audio as necessary.

The sub-annual catch limit (ACL) for the 2020 Area 1A fishery in Season 2 was originally set at 914 metric tons. The fishery opened Sunday, October 11 for Maine and Monday, October 12 for New Hampshire and Massachusetts with three consecutive landings days per week. The fishery moved to two consecutive landing days per week in the second week. At the October 16 Days Out meeting, preliminary estimates indicated approximately 445 metric tons of the original Area 1A sub-ACL remained available for harvest; however, NOAA fisheries recently transferred 1,000 metric tons of the Management Uncertainty Buffer to the 2020 Area 1A sub-ACL due to low landings in the Canada weir fishery. The new Area 1A sub-ACL is 4,214 metric tons with an estimated 1,369 metric tons remaining, which accounts for the fact that the Area 1A fishery closes when 92% of the sub-ACL is harvested.

Please contact Max Appelman, Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, at 703.842.0740 or mappelman@asmfc.org for more information.

The meeting announcement can also be found at http://www.asmfc.org/files/Meetings/AtlHerringDaysOutMeetingNoticeOct23_2020.pdf

Coast Guard tows Gloucester vessel 60 miles

October 23, 2020 — A Gloucester-ported fishing vessel suffered disabling mechanical problems on Wednesday and had to be towed 60 nautical miles over 19 hours by the Coast Guard before making it into Gloucester on Thursday under its own power.

The 77-foot Sea Farmer II, owned by Sandler Fisheries out of South Hamilton, contacted Coast Guard Sector Northern New England watchstanders at 1:45 p.m. and requested assistance after becoming disabled about 65 nautical miles off Kennebunk, Maine.

The Coast Guard dispatched the 110-foot cutter Sitkinak out of Portland, Maine, and a 47-foot life saving boat out of Station Gloucester on Harbor Loop.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times

MASSACHUSETTS: New Bedford port nets $20 million to protect against natural disasters

October 21, 2020 — A $16 million grant is bound for the city of New Bedford to improve the city’s port, helping prepare it for future natural disasters.

According to a U.S. Economic Development Administration press release, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross announced the grant funding on Tuesday.

The money, according to the press release, will “make port infrastructure improvements needed to protect commercial fishing businesses from floods and severe weather events.”

The Economic Development Administration (EDA) grant, to be located in a Tax Cuts and Jobs Act Opportunity Zone, will be matched with $4 million in local funds and is expected to create or retain more than 400 jobs and spur $4 million in private investment, the press release states.

According to a Tweet from New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell, a majority of the matching funds will come from the state, with the New Bedford Port Authority chipping in $500,000.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

MASSACHUSETTS: New Bedford Lands $16M Federal Port Infrastructure Grant

October 21, 2020 — New Bedford has landed a $16 million federal grant for port infrastructure improvements to protect commercial fishing businesses from floods and severe weather events.

The investment will be matched with $4 million in local funds, and is expected to create or retain 400 jobs and spur $4 million in private investment. The matching funds will come from from the state and the New Bedford Port Authority. The funding was made possible because the port is located in a federal tax cuts and opportunity zone.

The Economic Development Administration grant was announced by U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross on Tuesday.

“The Trump Administration is committed to helping disaster-impacted American communities obtain the modern infrastructure they need to build resilience against natural disasters,” said Ross in a media release. “These port infrastructure improvements will better protect New Bedford’s commercial fishing industry from flooding, and the project’s location in an Opportunity Zone will drive additional private investment to the community.”

The grant represents “another major step in our effort to modernize the Port of New Bedford and maintain its standing as America’s leading commercial fishing port and the economic hub of Southeastern Massachusetts,” said Mayor Jon Mitchell. “Enhancing the resilience of port infrastructure is central to both our economic development strategy and climate adaptation efforts.”

Read the full story at WBSM