Saving Seafood

Gov. Baker addresses pace of offshore wind development

June 11, 2019 — Poised to be the first state in the country to draw from utility-scale offshore wind power, Massachusetts has a responsibility to get it right and to position the offshore wind industry for long-term success dealing with climate change and delivering affordable power across the United States, Gov. Charlie Baker said Monday morning.

The state’s approach to secure clean power for itself and to blaze a trail for other states might make it “a little bit annoying to some people along the way,” but is designed to balance predictability for developers and the build-out of a sturdy local supply chain with increasingly urgent calls to deal with the impacts of a changing climate.

In a keynote address to the U.S. Offshore Wind Conference, meeting this week in at the Boston Marriott Copley Place, the governor said the two things he hears most often when talking to people interested in the offshore wind industry is that Massachusetts is moving too quickly and that Massachusetts is not moving quickly enough.

“That makes me think we’re probably in just about the right spot because people who think we’re not going fast enough have a completely unrealistic view about actually what’s possible and when, and the people who think we are going too fast I think don’t appreciate the fact that time is not necessarily our friend when it comes to these issues,” Baker said.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times

MASSACHUSETTS: National Fish files for bankruptcy

June 10, 2019 — National Fish & Seafood no longer operates in East Gloucester, having given way — and rise — to Atlantic Fish & Seafood in a recent asset sale.

But that does not mean the federal bankruptcy court or National Fish creditors are done with the former seafood processor.

National Fish, which shut down its operations on May 10 after failing to find a buyer for the financially beleaguered company, stated in May 29 filings in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Boston that it owes more than $80 million to all its creditors — including more than $64 million to secured creditors and $16 million to unsecured creditors.

“The board of directors for the company, having been fully apprised of all of the material facts related to the financial condition of the company, has determined it is in the best interests of the company, its creditors, and other parties in interest, that the company should cease operations and be liquidated under the supervision of the United States Bankruptcy Court,” National Fish’s board of directors stated in a unanimous written consent included in a May 29 filing.

The filings also confirm two other noteworthy items:

National Fish sold its assets to NSD Seafood Inc.  — the parent of Atlantic Fish & Seafood — for $3 million and National Fish’s largest creditor is the Dutch multinational bank Cooperative Rabobank, to which it owes “approximately $73 million in principal (plus interest, fees and other charges).”

Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times

MASSACHUSETTS: Voices in the Fog: Story of Portuguese cod fishermen

June 6, 2019 — The New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center, in partnership with the New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park, presents Voices in the Fog: New Bedford Chapter (2016) as the Dock-U-Mentaries Film Series continues on June 21 at 7 p.m.

Voices in the Fog is based on interviews of former Portuguese cod fisherman, who share memories, stories, and anecdotes of life in the high seas. The “New Bedford Chapter” introduces subjects who immigrated to the United States to build their lives and continue their careers on American soil. The film is in Portuguese with English subtitles.

The film was directed by Pedro Marnoto, with cinematography by Hugo Marques, and Pedro Marnoto. Production was by PAPS (Portuguese American Post-Graduate Society), Arte Institute.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

Researchers to Begin New Study on White Shark Behavior

June 6, 2019 — The Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries five-year white shark population study is nearing completion and scientists will begin a new wave of research off Cape Cod this summer.

Since 2014, research led by state marine biologist Dr. Greg Skomal has been conducted to get a more accurate picture of how many sharks spend their summers in waters off the Cape.

Results from the five-year study are expected to be released soon.

The Atlantic White Shark Conservancy, in collaboration with DMF, will start several projects that are focused on getting a better understanding of the predatory behavior of white sharks in the region.

“The big focus now is to get better information to inform public safety practices,” said Megan Winton, a staff scientist with the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy.

“The best way we can do that at this point is to learn more about what these animals are doing in the waters off of the coast.”

The research conducted over the next five years will be a continuation of the previous population study.

“Now the focus is to really get as many tags on animals as we can to get a better idea of what the population is doing as a whole off of our coast,” Winton said.

Atlantic White Shark Conservancy CEO Cynthia Wigren said it is critical to get a better idea of hunting and feeding behavior from a public safety perspective.

“If sharks are feeding at certain times of the day or stages of the tide, for example, we can use that information to identify periods when the risk of interactions between sharks and recreational water users may be highest,” Wigren said.

Read the full story at CapeCod.com

MASSACHUSETTS: East Coast Seafood Group renovates Seatrade plant in New Bedford

June 6, 2019 — Topsfield, Massachusetts, U.S.A.-based East Coast Seafood Group has renovated the 66,000-square-foot Seatrade plant in New Bedford, Massachusetts to turn it into a “state-of-the-art lobster facility,” the company said in a statement on 5 June.

New technology installed in the plant has given the company higher automation, superior packaging options, and better logistical layout, resulting in improved efficiency and product quality and shorter lead times for fulfillment of lobster orders and shipments, the company said.

Senior Vice President of Operations Bob Blais said the decision to renovate comes from increased sales and a desire to combine the company’s lobster and scallop processing under one roof.

“Beyond efficiencies, the new operation brings with it new product and packaging ideas as well as streamlined delivery to market. Many customers are familiar with East Coast lobster products and many others with Seatrade scallops, and now one facility offers the best of both,” Blais said.

East Coast launched its Salt & Sky brand in 2018, and the company has since been diversifying and expanding its foodservice and retail product portfolio, senior vice president of sales and marketing Steve Musser said.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

MASSACHUSETTS: Offshore drilling ban gets airing

June 4, 2019 — Trump administration plans to encourage offshore oil and gas drilling are motivating attempts to exempt Massachusetts, and maybe foil the entire scheme.

Lawmakers are weighing a ban on drilling for oil or gas in state waters, as well as a prohibition on the lease of state lands for oil or gas exploration, development or production.

While there are no immediate plans to drill off the New England coast, green groups say the proposal would fend off future efforts by denying access to the state’s land and waters, thus making exploration impractical.

The legislation, which goes before the Legislature’s Joint Committee on Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture on Tuesday, is part of a multi-state effort to thwart President Donald Trump’s plan to open more than 90 percent of the outer continental shelf to oil and gas exploration.

New Jersey, Delaware and California passed offshore drilling bans last year. Similar legislation has been filed in New Hampshire, Maine, Connecticut and Rhode Island.

Environmentalists say drilling will harm ecosystems and endangered species, such as the North Atlantic right whale, while threatening commercial fishing and tourism businesses.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times

MASSACHUSETTS: Lifejackets for Lobstermen back on SouthCoast in June

May 30, 2019 — Lifejackets for Lobstermen is making its way back to the SouthCoast. The program travels between ports in Maine and Massachusetts in vans, letting lobster and fishermen try on different life jackets and purchase one at a 50 percent discount.

The Northeast Center for Occupational Health and Safety: Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishing (NEC) developed the program after a study showed that in a large portion of lobster fishing deaths, recovered victims weren’t wearing life jackets.

The vans visited the SouthCoast in the beginning of April and will be returning in early June on the following dates and at the following locations according to NEC Research Coordinator Rebecca Weil.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

Sound barrier to chase seals, prevent shark attacks debated

May 29, 2019 — A Cape Cod company has proposed building a sonic barrier around the region’s beaches to chase away seals and prevent shark attacks.

Deep Blue LLC presented its idea Wednesday at a public meeting in Barnstable. It sparked a broader debate about addressing the region’s massive seal population.

The company envisions a system of underwater audio devices that will emit a sound unpleasant to seals.

Owners Willy Planinshek and Kevin McCarthy say that if the seals leave the area, the great white sharks that eat them will follow.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times

Link To Stress, Health Of Whales Might Be In Giant Mouths

May 29, 2019 — Whale researchers in New England believe they’ve found a new way to measure the amount of stress felt by whales when they experience traumas such as entanglements in fishing gear, and they say the technique could help protect the massive sea creatures from extinction.

The scientists, with the New England Aquarium in Boston, said the method involves measuring stress hormones by studying baleen, the bristly filter-feeding system in the mouths of the biggest whales on the planet. The baleen serves as a record that shows a spike in stress hormones when whales encounter threats such as a changing climate, ship strikes and entanglements, lead author Rosalind Rolland said.

Scientists can use the data to read the stress levels a whale experiences over the course of many years, somewhat similar to reading the rings on a tree. The data is important because whales experiencing more chronic stress are less likely to reproduce, and they can become more susceptible to disease — a bad combination for populations that are perilously low.

“A whale responding to any type of stressor could be interacting with a ship. It could be fishing gear. It could be environmental changes that stress the whale out,” Rolland said in a telephone interview. “This shows the stress hormones are related to what was going on with the whale.”

Read the full story from the Associated Press at WBUR

Film Details Impact Of The Loss Of The ‘Sacred Cod’

May 29, 2019 — In the early 17th century, English explorer Bartholomew Gosnold gave Cape Cod its name due to the abundant cod fish he saw in its waters.

Throughout history, the cod has played a crucial role in feeding various peoples, from explorers on ships such as the Vikings, to Basques, to Europeans, to early settlers of the Cape. They all lived on cod, whether it was fresh, salted or frozen. Author Mark Kurlansky, in his 1998 book “Cod,” dubs the cod “the fish that changed the world.”

Yet now this essential fish is endangered, as detailed in the film “Sacred Cod: The Fight for the Future of America’s Oldest Fishery.” The culprits? Climate change, government policies and overfishing.

“Overfishing was just part of the problem with cod,” David Abel, a Pulitzer-Prize winning reporter for the Boston Globe, said in an email interview. Abel reported, wrote, directed and co-produced the film, which will be screened at the Chatham Orpheum Theater on Saturday, June 1 at 10 a.m. as part of its Sustainability Series. “Climate change also has played a significant role in making it much harder for a species that had been overfished for generations to bounce back. Cod can only thrive in a narrow band of temperatures.”

As well as Abel, the 2016 independent film is the work of Steve Liss, for 25 years a photographer for Time magazine, and Andy Laub, founder of As It Happens Creative. The 65-minute film has won five awards and was broadcast around the world in 2017.

In a nutshell, the story is this. The cod fishery has collapsed in New England, specifically in the Gulf of Maine, which is warming at an alarming rate due to climate change. In November 2014, when the government learned that the population of cod was only 3 or 4 percent of what is needed to sustain a healthy population, cod fishing was banned in the region. This led to an outcry from fishermen whose livelihoods were threatened.

Read the full story at The Cape Cod Chronicle