Saving Seafood

Highlighting Women in Electronic Technologies: Part 2

March 27, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Electronic monitoring and electronic reporting technologies are being developed to support science-based management decisions in commercial and recreational fisheries. NOAA Fisheries is working with fishermen and industry organizations, fishery management councils, and many other partners. We will improve the timeliness, quality, cost effectiveness, and accessibility of fishery-dependent data by integrating technology into fishery reporting and monitoring programs. Learn about nine women from around the country that are helping shape the future of electronic technologies in U.S fisheries.

Mel Sanderson
Chief Operating Officer
Cape Cod Commercial Fishermen’s Alliance
Chatham, Massachusetts

Originally from Minnesota, Mel Sanderson received her bachelor’s degree in biology from Occidental College. She earned her master’s of coastal environmental management from Duke University, Nicholas School of the Environment. While in graduate school, Mel interned with the Cape Cod Commercial Hook Fishermen’s Association (now the Fishermen’s Alliance). The following October, the Alliance asked if she wanted to come back after she graduated to manage a new cooperative research project that she helped design while interning. Almost 16 years later, she’s still there. She works to ensure the sustainability of both the fisheries and the small fishing businesses that rely upon them. She has held almost every role at the Fishermen’s Alliance—a direct consequence of always being willing to say yes to whatever needed to be done in a small non-profit. She also has great bosses that support her need for a fresh challenge every few years.

In her role, Mel manages the regional electronic monitoring (EM) pre-implementation project for New England groundfish. She contracts with EM service providers and coordinates with NOAA and more than 20 fishermen. Together, they design, troubleshoot, and refine the EM audit model program design.

Read the full release here

Community-supported fisheries rush to pivot models as coronavirus cuts off restaurant clients

March 27, 2020 — With restaurants across the country shuttered COVID-19 outbreak restrictions, the seafood supply chain in most regions has grinded to halt. Fishermen are stuck with their catch left unsold and their boats tied up.

Legislators in Massachusetts and Alaska have called for urgent support for the fishing industry, but fishermen are stuck fending for themselves in the meantime. For fishermen and businesses focused on direct marketing and selling their catch locally, this means quickly pivoting their businesses to adjust to consumer needs during the pandemic.

Tele Aadsen of Nerka Sea Frozen Salmon in Bellingham, Wash., has been hustling nonstop to earn what she can since dining rooms were closed on March 15 and restaurants were limited to takeout and delivery options. Practically overnight, 90 percent of the company’s clients were lost.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

New England restaurants to buy 3m lbs of haddock from Blue Harvest

March 27, 2020 — Ninety Nine Restaurant and Pub, a Woburn, Massachusetts-based chain with 105 locations, has upped its commitment to haddock in its summer menu, and that’s good news for Blue Harvest Fisheries, the Gloucester (Massachusetts) Times reports.

The chain will buy 750,000 pounds of fresh haddock landed in Gloucester and another 2.25 million lbs of frozen haddock, according to the article, which reports that the combined 3m lbs is roughly 20% of the haddock caught commercially in New England and the rest of the United States.

Much of the fish is now being caught in the Gulf of Maine by vessels previously owned by harvester Jim Odlin, from Portland, Maine, landed in Gloucester, and then trucked to Blue Harvest’s recently built New Bedford processing facility, according to the article. Previously the fish was provided by Gloucester Seafood Processing, a subsidiary of US seafood importer and wholesaler Mazzetta.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

Northeast Fishermen Struggle As The Coronavirus Outbreak Halts Demand

March 26, 2020 — The coronavirus outbreak and the uncertainty surrounding it have left Northeast fishermen feeling the pressure. Across the country measures are being taken to “flatten the curve” or slow the spread of the virus. These measures include the closure of restaurants, bars and event venues. Without these markets available, fishermen have fewer opportunities to sell their fish and product is starting to pile up.

Nick Muto, a fisherman out of Saquatucket in Harwich, MA, who catches monkfish and skate is amongst the many who have had to reduce their fishing effort. “We’re feeling the pressure across the board not only the domestic – retail markets from fish markets to restaurants – but also we’re feeling it on a global scale,” Muto said. He added that a significant portion of his catch gets shipped to Europe and Asia, countries that have a more diverse seafood diet. However there is currently very little demand across the board.

Muto still has buyers to sell his fish to, but not all fishermen are in the same boat. In a letter to Senate leadership requesting aid for fishermen, Massachusetts Senators Elizabeth Warren and Edward Markey, along with Alaska Senators Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan wrote about a widespread decrease in fishing. “Some fisheries are completely shut down because there is no market for their fish,” the Senators write. “Seafood processors are struggling because closed restaurants are no longer buying fresh products. While boats sit idle in port, unable to fish, fishing captains cannot make vessel loan payments or pay crewmembers.”

Read the full story at Forbes

Senators: Without aid, fisheries may sink at dock

March 25, 2020 — Massachusetts Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Edward Markey are urging the U.S. Senate leadership to include the commercial fishing and seafood industries in any economic relief packages passed by Congress or face potential bankruptcy at the docks.

Warren and Markey, working with Alaska Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan, wrote in a letter to the Senate leadership that the spreading novel coronavirus has robbed fishermen of their most dependable markets and left all quadrants of the seafood industry struggling to keep businesses afloat.

“Some fisheries are completely shut down because there is no market for their fish,” the senators said in their letter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. “Seafood processors are struggling because closed restaurants are no longer buying fresh products.”

“Large export markets in virus-affected countries like China have also been disrupted. Additionally, many fishermen are not eligible for unemployment benefits because they are self-employed,” the senators said.

The letter traces the dire economic chain reaction the spreading virus has foisted on the fishing and seafood industries, from harvesters and processors to retailers and wholesalers.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times

Congressman Keating’s Letter to Congressional Leadership

March 25, 2020 — The Office of Congressman Bill Keating (D-Mass.):

On Monday, March 23, Congressman Bill Keating and other Members of Congress sent a letter to Congressional Leadership asking for fisheries aid during the coronavirus pandemic. The text of the letter can be found below:

Dear Speaker Pelosi and Leader McCarthy,

We are writing to you today to request that additional direct relief be included in Phase 3 or any future COVID-19 relief package for America’s domestic fisheries. In particular, we are asking that $1.5 billion dollars in direct aid be made available to all participants in the seafood industry including, but not limited to, domestic harvesters, processors, distributors, and aquaculture businesses across the country.

Domestic fisheries in the United States support more than 1.2 million jobs and generate $64 billion dollars of economic activity annually. Due to the COVID-19 outbreak fisheries in the United States are facing an unprecedented breakdown in the market for their products. Americans overwhelmingly purchase domestic seafood products, nearly 70 percent, at restaurant and hospitality establishments. In nearly every state, steps taken by government and citizens to prevent the transmission of the disease has focused on the closure of many of these establishments. This has left the American seafood industry unable to find a market for their products a time when the COVID-19 pandemic has also eliminated any avenue exports. The situation within American Fisheries is dire, and the harm being inflicted will undermine the longterm health of a sustainable industry.

Additionally, we urge the federal government consider any production support measures that may become available for fisheries. Government agencies, such as the Department of Defense, purchase significant volumes of agricultural goods on a monthly basis. As such, we request that the federal government use its purchasing power now to support sustainable fisheries across the nation by altering its purchasing profile to include increased amounts of sustainably harvested domestic seafood.

Read the full letter here

Blue Harvest follows Nielsen COVID-19 advice, promotes vertical integration, local fish

March 25, 2020 — Blue Harvest Fisheries, a New Bedford, Massachusetts-based groundfish and scallop harvester and processor that’s recently gone through some considerable expansion, is following the coronavirus-related advice of the consumer survey giant Nielsen Company.

It’s promoting itself in New England as a vertically integrated company and a local source of seafood.

Many retailers and foodservice companies in the eastern US have opted for imported fresh seafood from Iceland and Norway, or previously frozen product from Iceland, Norway or China in recent years, Blue Harvest noted in a press release issued Tuesday, adding:

“But right here in our local New England waters, we have a tremendous natural resource that is underfished and underutilized in our haddock, ocean perch, and Atlantic pollock stocks. Given the proximity of these stocks to our harbors, markets and transportation infrastructure, there is no risk of supply interruption from disruption of air transport from Europe, or ocean transport of twice-frozen product from China. And there is no risk of reduced availability and resulting price increases from a lack of air freight capacity.”

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

Slow Speed Zone East of Boston Extended to Protect Right Whales

March 25, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

In Effect Through April 7

NOAA Fisheries announces the extension of the voluntary vessel speed restriction zone (Dynamic Management Area or DMA) east of Boston.

This extension is based on a March 23, 2020, sighting of an aggregation of right whales from a Boston-area beach by private citizens.

There are currently three voluntary slow speed zones in place to protect right whales.

Mariners, please go around these areas or go slow (10 knots or less) inside these areas where groups of right whales have been sighted.

The East of Boston DMA is in effect through April 7, 2020.  

42 45 N
42 04 N
070 11 W
071 10W

The DMAs off Nantucket are in effect through March 27, 2020. 

Southeast of Nantucket 

41 02 N
40 15 N
068 58 W
070 01 W

South of Nantucket DMA 

41 11 N
40 22 N
069 32 W
070 37 W

Active Seasonal Management Areas (SMAs)

A mandatory speed restriction of 10 knots or less (50 CFR 224.105) is in effect in the following areas:

Mid-Atlantic: November 1-April 30

Cape Cod Bay: January 1-May 15

Off Race Point: March 1-April 30

More info on Seasonal Management Areas

Right Whales Are Migrating 

North Atlantic right whales are on the move along the Atlantic coast of the U.S. NOAA is cautioning boaters and fishermen to give these endangered whales plenty of room. We are also asking all fishermen to be vigilant when maneuvering to avoid accidental collisions with whales and remove unused gear from the ocean to help avoid entanglements. Commercial fishermen should use vertical lines with required markings, weak links, and breaking strengths.

Right Whales in Trouble

North Atlantic right whales are protected under the U.S. Endangered Species Act and the Marine Mammal Protection Act. Scientists estimate there are only about 400 remaining, making them one of the rarest marine mammals in the world.

North Atlantic right whales are NOAA Fisheries’ newest Species in the Spotlight. This initiative is a concerted, agency-wide effort to spotlight and save marine species that are among the most at risk of extinction in the near future. 

In August 2017, NOAA Fisheries declared the increase in right whale mortalities an “Unusual Mortality Event,” which helps the agency direct additional scientific and financial resources to investigating, understanding, and reducing the mortalities in partnership with the Marine Mammal Stranding Network, Canada’s Department of Fisheries and Oceans, and outside experts from the scientific research community.

More Information

Recent right whale sightings

Find out more about our right whale conservation efforts and the researchers behind those efforts.

Download the Whale Alert app for iPad and iPhone

Acoustic detections in Cape Cod Bay and the Boston TSS

Send a blank message to receive a return email listing all current U.S. DMAs and SMAs.

Details and graphics of all ship strike management zones currently in effect.

Reminder: Approaching a right whale closer than 500 yards is a violation of federal and state law.

Read the full release here

Coronavirus cancellation pinches New Bedford seafood industry

March 25, 2020 — The International Seafood Buyers Luncheon, which for years has showcased the city’s fishing industry and seafood processing plants, has been cancelled due to concerns about the coronavirus.

It is one of the first cancellations locally due to the infectious disease first identified in Wuhan, China at the end of last year which has since spread across the globe.

One SouthCoast Chamber posted the cancellation on its website, and Ian Abreu, manager of business development and small business engagement at the Chamber and a New Bedford City Council, confirmed it was due to concerns about the coronavirus. The New Bedford event had been scheduled for Friday. Rick Kidder, co-chief executive officer, did not return calls for comment.

The cancellation of the New Bedford luncheon and tour is a trickle-down effect after the postponement of the Seafood Expo North America/Seafood Processing North America, scheduled to be held March 15-17 in Boston, because of concern over the coronavirus, according to Edward Anthes-Washburn, executive director of the Port of New Bedford.

Typically, some 40 to 50 buyers would come to New Bedford, get an overview of the city’s port, enjoy a luncheon and tour five or six seafood processing plants, he said. This would have been the 15th year New Bedford has hosted the event.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

Rough week for lobster, fishing industries

March 23, 2020 — We here at FishOn are just as exhausted as everyone else by this otherworldly health crisis that has us tenaciously in its grip. We’re sick of staying indoors. We’re sick of not having any sports to watch. We long to go to the Sawyer Free Library and Pratty’s — which are far more similar than you think. And just once more, we’d like to touch our face. Or somebody’s.

But we are healthy, as are those around us. So we stay the course because we are New Englanders and we give in to nothing.

Still, it was a tough week hereabouts for our fishermen in both the lobster and groundfish fisheries.

As you may have read in the pages of the Gloucester Daily Times and online at gloucestertimes.com, some of the the restrictions enacted to try to halt the spread of the novel coronavirus – principally the shuttering of all in-situ dining at Massachusetts restaurants and travel restrictions that have made it difficult to move product around – have crushed the fishermen.

In the lobster fishery, already high inventory coupled with the loss of the restaurant trade – where the great preponderance of live lobsters are consumed – sent prices down into the root cellar and rocked everyone from harvesters to dealers and processors.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times