Saving Seafood

Extended: Slow Speed Zone East of Boston to Protect Right Whales

April 24, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA Fisheries announces an extension to a previously established voluntary vessel speed restriction zone (Dynamic Management Area  or DMA) east of Boston.

This DMA was originally triggered based on an April 9, 2020, sighting of an aggregation of right whales from a Boston-area beach by private citizens.  On April 24, an aggregation of right whales was observed Northeast of Boston, MA.

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

East of Boston DMA is in effect through May 9, 2020.

42 47 N
42 05 N
70 26W
71 23W

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

Great South Channel: April 1 – July 31

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

MASSACHUSETTS: New Bedford fishermen navigate waves of uncertainty in age of coronavirus

April 24, 2020 — On the ocean, fishermen know the uncertainty they’re up against on each trip: Mother Nature. They face brutal weather and, at times, a bad catch. However, it’s on land right now that they’re currently navigating an uncharted sea of uncertainty.

Danny Eilertsen owns Nordic Inc., a fleet of six scallop boats docked at Fish Island in New Bedford.

He said they fish for scallops all year, but the scallop season really begins April 1. Ironically, he said, right now is great at sea — a healthy catch and cold waters. Yet when they come back with tens of thousands of pounds of scallops, they’re selling to a completely different market in the age of coronavirus.

“Scallops on the menu at restaurants now are a staple, they’ve been a staple for quite a few years. Pretty much every restaurant you go to has scallops, and that’s just stopped. So the fresh market for us is gone and that’s probably where the value has lost so much this last month, couple of months here,” Eilertsen said.

He says now, they’re selling at auction at 30 to 40 percent lower costs, and most of the product is put in the freezer to be sold at supermarkets or other markets around the world.

Read the full story at WPRI

MASSACHUSETTS: Oyster Farmers Ready to Harvest, But Have No Place to Sell

April 23, 2020 — On Katama Bay, oyster farmers are still working, tending their mesh cages. But due to dramatically depressed demand, most oysters maturing this spring will not be harvested.

The coronavirus pandemic has disrupted every corner of the agricultural and seafood industries. But the oyster farm industry occupies its own unique corner in the emergency. Without a viable market, oysters that were seeded last year and just now reaching maturity will soon grow past their prime size for retail sale. With restaurants closed, weddings canceled and summer gatherings on hold, the oysters will have to be sold to a cannery for a fraction of the price — or discarded back into the sea.

Further complicating the process, mature oysters need to be sold to clear space for fresh seed, which can take up to 18 months to reach maturity. Without a crop in progress, losses this season could stretch out even longer.

Scott Castro runs the Blue Moon Oyster farm in Katama bay. He said sales usually ramp up around this time of the year. But he has not sold a single oyster since March 10.

Read the full story at the Vineyard Gazette

Gloucester fisherman dies after fall overboard en route home

April 22, 2020 — Nicolo Vitale, a fisherman from Gloucester, Mass., died on Monday, April 20, after falling overboard from the dragger Miss Sandy.

The incident occurred as the boat was returning to port Monday afternoon. Vince Taormina, the Miss Sandy’s captain, made a distress call, reportedly about a mile outside the breakwater.

“He said he turned around and his crew member wasn’t there,” Roberts said, according to the Gloucester Times. “He said he didn’t even know how long he was missing. He said it could have been up to two miles.”

Read the full story at National Fisherman

At-sea waiver extended

April 20, 2020 — Local commercial groundfishermen breathed a double-sigh of relief last week. The New England Fishery Management Council voted 12-5 to postpone final action — initially anticipated for its June meeting — on the draft amendment that will set at-sea monitoring levels in the fishery for years to come. Fishing stakeholders argued the current immersion in everything COVID-19 made it almost impossible for fishermen to study the amendment in detail for public comment and that social distancing might have precluded final action at an in-person meeting in June (as opposed to a webinar).

And on Friday, NOAA Fisheries announced it is extending by two weeks its waiver period for at-sea monitors and human observers aboard vessels fishing in the Greater Atlantic Region. So, no observers or monitors until May 2 at the earliest.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times

RODA request pause in offshore wind development amid COVID-19 pandemic

April 15, 2020 — The Responsible Offshore Development Alliance – a lobbying group formed in January 2018 to represent the East Coast fishing industry in discussions over offshore wind energy development – has called for all a six-month pause in the regulatory process pertaining to offshore wind development in the Gulf of Maine due to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The call for a delay came via a letter sent to governors of New England states, including Charlie Baker of Massachusetts, Janet Mills of Maine, and Chris Sununu of New Hampshire. The letter was also sent to Walter Cruickshank, the acting director of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management. The letter sites the importance of public participation in regulatory decisions, which is hampered by measures many states are taking to prevent transmission of COVID-19.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

MASSACHUSETTS: Unmoored and unsure, fishermen make do

April 15, 2020 — On Saturday, folks came to Menemsha to buy directly off the decks of local scallop boats. Business was brisk. Captain Sam Hopkins, aboard the Endurance, mongered to a steady queue of masked customers. Like the nearby Martha Rose, sea scallops off the Endurance sold for $15 per pound.

“It was really nice to have some local support and have people who bought scallops right off the boat,” Hopkins said.

Lobsterman Jason Gale has also turned to direct boat sales. From the deck of the Watch Out at Lake Street Landing he sold lobsters at $8 apiece, regardless of weight, on Saturday. Gale said he put a 10 lobster cap per customer and sold out.

“I’ll just keep going as long as people want them,” he said.

Gale said the wholesale price was roughly $5.50 to $6 per pound

That jibes with an estimate from Beth Casoni, executive director of the Massachusetts Lobstermen’s Association.

Read the full story at the MV Times

Massachusetts lobster harvesters try direct sales again, triple results

April 14, 2020 — A second effort by lobster harvesters in Massachusetts to overcome coronavirus market challenges and sell directly to consumers, using Facebook, saw triple the results of the earlier attempt.

Troy and Doug Durr, the organizers of the South Coast Direct Source Seafood page, reported that well over 100 cars waited in line at the Union Wharf in the town of Fairhaven and bought almost 2,200 lobsters from four vessels on Easter Sunday, April 12. The harvesters set a price this time of $6.00 per pound for lobsters in the 1-1.45/lb range, and $7/lb for anything 1.5 lbs or larger.

The boats – the Intimidator, Miss Molly, Voyager and Cynthia Lee – began arriving at 1:30 p.m. and were sold out in four hours, according to the organizers, a Mattapoisett-based real estate agent and his uncle, a crew member on the lobster boat Mary Anne.

Another 200 lobsters from a late-arriving vessel were sold on Monday, Troy Durr told Undercurrent.

The Durrs previously organized a vessel direct sale effort on April 5 – also a Sunday — after processors stopped buying from harvesters due to the coronavirus-related closures of restaurants and the loss of export business, as reported by Undercurrent News. At the first event, which involved only the vessels Miss Molly and Mary Anne, 600 lbs of lobster were sold out at a price of $6.00/lb in 90 minutes.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

As Coronavirus Disrupts Seafood Supply Chains, Struggling Fishermen Seek Other Markets

April 14, 2020 — Scott MacAllister has mixed feelings about heading out to sea these days. This time of year, the 27-year-old dayboat fisherman primarily catches skate and monkfish from his home port of Chatham, Massachusetts. And while he certainly needs the income, MacAllister worries about exposing himself and his crew to coronavirus on his 40-foot boat, the Carol Marie.

“It’s a pretty small space [for] three or four people. If one of us gets it, we’re all going to get it,” he told Civil Eats. Still, MacAllister (pictured above) is grateful that the regional wholesaler who buys his catch, Red’s Best, still wants to buy his product.

Other fishermen in New England’s billion-dollar industry, which employs some 34,000 people, aren’t as lucky. Markets for lobster, oysters, and shellfish have collapsed along with restaurant closures and a sharp downturn in trade, leaving many fishermen struggling to make ends meet.

“There are certain things there are no markets for,” said Jared Auerbach, founder and CEO of Red’s Best, which buys solely from small, dayboat fishermen. While Red’s Best usually sells seafood fresh, the company is freezing fish in the hopes that international trade will eventually pick back up—or that the product will find new, domestic uses.

Read the full story at Civil Eats

Stimulus funding process proving tricky to navigate for smaller seafood operators

April 14, 2020 — The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in the U.S. seafood industry being upended as restaurant closures drive down the prices of seafood, leading a number of food organizations to request relief from the government.

The U.S. government launched a relief package in late March consisting of USD 2 trillion (EUR 1.8 trillion) in aid for businesses in the U.S., including USD 300 million (EUR 273.5 million) earmarked specifically for the seafood industry. That package includes incentives to encourage employers to keep people on their payrolls, direct payments to low- to middle-income families, and aid to seafood companies that have lost revenue due to the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Read the full story at Seafood Source