March 13, 2020 — The Global Aquaculture Alliance and other companies and nonprofits involved in the seafood industry have rescheduled events originally planned for Seafood Expo North America to online meetings and webinars.
The GAA Stakeholder Update Meeting will take place as a webinar on 19 March at 11 a.m. EST. GAA board and committee meetings, which are closed to the public, will also be held online.
March 11, 2020 — A number of seafood companies that were planning on exhibiting at or holding events during Seafood Expo North America in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A. – postponed by organizer Diversified Communications last week due to the COVID-19 outbreak – are going ahead with online versions of those meetings and live social media demonstrations.
In an effort being coordinated by Jennifer Bushman, principal of Route to Market, a strategic development consultant for aquaculture companies, this ad hoc group of seafood companies have joined together on a social media and publicity campaign dubbed the “No Show Fish Show.”
March 11, 2020 — Diversified Communications, the organizer of Seafood Expo North America/Seafood Processing North America, is conducting a survey to determine its customers’ preferences for when the postponed event should take place.
Originally scheduled to take place from 15 to 17 March, the event was postponed on 3 March due to the outbreak of COVID-19.
March 6, 2020 — Lobsters and sea scallops continued to top Northeast fisheries in value during 2019 – with oysters more modest in volume but rapidly gaining as a growth sector.
On the downside, it looks like tough times for herring will continue into 2020, and there’s no return in sight for Maine’s northern shrimp fishery.
WINNERS
Lobster: Although catch dropped by more than 15 percent this season, the commercial lobster fishery still hauled in 100 million pounds, according to Maine’s Department of Marine Resources. While that marks a 20 million-pound drop from 2018, many still feel positive about the industry’s trajectory over the past decade — after all, the 2019 catch is still above historical averages. Early on, worries about bait availability, right whale protections, trade deals with China, and a potentially larger drop in catch had the industry on edge, for good reason — lobster is worth more than $450 million to Maine’s economy.
“After a very slow start, the harvest numbers increased in the late fall and winter, and from deeper water and farther offshore,” said Steve Train, a lobsterman from Long Island, Maine. “Whether this is a one- or two-year thing because of cold springs and late sheds, or the beginning of a trend where the resource is shifting because of a change in climate, is still to be determined. But one thing appears obvious: The resource is healthy.” Export of lobster to China dipped by 46 percent after a tariff was imposed in 2018, and the coronavirus outbreak further disrupted the trade in lobsters from the U.S. and Canada.
Oysters: The taste for oysters seems to have no end in sight, and 2019 was no exception. The East Coast Shellfish Growers Association Executive Director Bob Rheault said that along the Atlantic coast “farmed oyster production has doubled in the past five years. There has been some consolidation — bigger firms buying smaller ones, and lots of new entrants” with most farms aiming to increase production. Despite half a decade of increased East Coast production, prices have trended up slow and steadily. The association estimates the total East Coast oyster industry is valued at $90 million, although many states lack good data. Rheault says raw bars are hot.
March 6, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:
At the request of the public, we are reopening the comment period for an Exempted Fishing Permit application from the Coonamesset Farm Foundation. The Exempted Fishing Permit would allow commercial fishing vessels to use dredge fishing gear with a forward facing camera within the Great South Channel Habitat Management Area to characterize habitat substrate types where dredge fishing occurs, and conduct compensation fishing that would support research conducted by the Coonamessett Farm Foundation. Regulations under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act require publication of this notification to provide interested parties the opportunity to comment on applications for proposed Exempted Fishing Permits.
You may submit written comments by any of the following methods:
Email: nmfs.gar.efp@noaa.gov. Include in the subject line “CFF Great South Channel HMA Clam EFP.”
Mail: Michael Pentony, Regional Administrator, NMFS, Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office, 55 Great Republic Drive, Gloucester, MA 01930. Mark the outside of the envelope “Comments on CFF Great South Channel HMA EFP.”
Comments are due by March 23. Please see the notice as published in the Federal Register for more information.
March 5, 2020 — New Bedford, Massachusetts-based seafood supplier Northern Wind is launching a new line of culinary-inspired seafood products under its Bon Cuisine brand this month.
Sixteen offerings comprise the latest Bon Cuisine line, including Zucchini & Smoked Salmon Fritters, Spinach & Cheese Salmon Kiev, Salmon En Croute, Pre-fried Crab Bites, Raw Garlic Butter Shrimp Skewers, Pre-Fried Shrimp Zucchini Fritters, and a Hoki Fish Taco Kit. Catering to consumer demand for adventurous flavors and ready-to-cook convenience, the new range “offers customers a trendy restaurant quality seafood option,” Northern Wind explained in a 2 March press release.
March 5, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:
NOAA Fisheries announces one new and one extended voluntary vessel speed restriction zone (Dynamic Management Area or DMA) south and southeast of Nantucket.
On March 3, 2020, the NOAA aerial survey team observed two separate aggregations of right whales, one 31 nautical miles south of Nantucket and the second 47 nautical miles southeast of Nantucket.
The DMAs are in effect immediately, through March 18, 2020.
These DMAs both cover areas in shipping lanes. Mariners are requested to route around both areas or transit through it at 10 knots or less.
New! Southeast of Nantucket effective through March 18
41 02 N
40 15 N
068 58 W
070 01 W
South of Nantucket DMA effective through March 18
41 11 N
40 22 N
069 32 W
070 37 W
March 4, 2020 — Out of concerns about the coronavirus, the 40th edition of Seafood Expo North America/Seafood Processing North America, scheduled to take place March 15-17 in Boston, has been postponed, organizers announced Tuesday.
The event, which brings together seafood buyers and suppliers from all over the world, was to have been held at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center, but media company Diversified Communications said in a news release that “After many weeks of monitoring the evolving situation around COVID-19 and evaluating the full spectrum of feedback we received among hundreds of calls and emails, we have decided that the (Expo) … will not take place in March and is postponed while we look at other options.”
The release went on to say that the decision was difficult “because of the major importance of this event to the industry. We heard from those of you who were concerned about health, safety and travel restrictions, and given the short time before the scheduled event date, and upcoming logistics, we have determined that postponement at this time is unavoidable.”
March 3, 2020 — Seafood Expo North America/Seafood Processing North America, scheduled to take place 15 to 17 March in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A., has been postponed by the event’s organizer, Diversified Communications.
The decision was made on 3 March in response to growing concerns over the global COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, according to Diversified Communications Group Vice President Liz Plizga.
March 2, 2020 — A North Atlantic right whale is near death after becoming entangled in fishing gear, a serious blow to the endangered species.
“The potential loss of a mother is particularly devastating,” researchers at the New England Aquarium said in a statement Friday.
Researchers with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration spotted Dragon, a 19-year-old whale who has given birth three times, while conducting an aerial survey about 45 miles south of Nantucket Monday.
Dragon was excessively thin, unusually gray, and had a buoy stuck in the right side of her mouth when researchers found her in a group of about 15 whales.