Saving Seafood

US looking to harness the ocean winds with British help

June 14, 2019 — As many American states are making the push to use more renewable energy sources, engineers in one of the country’s oldest states are looking “across the pond” for help from British scientists to harness the power of the wind.

When Joseph Massi enrolled at Bristol Community College, an hour’s drive south of Boston, Massachusetts, he chose to specialise in a brand new field of study – offshore wind power.

“It’s the new future. It’s where everything is going to be, the growth potential, especially in Massachusetts,” Mr Massi said.

The Massachusetts legislature is considering bills that would commit the state to 100% renewable energy within 25 years. To achieve this, the state will need lots more solar panels and wind turbines, and people like Mr Massi to manage, build or operate offshore turbines.

“Once it starts booming in the United States, that’s going to be where you’ll want to be,” Mr Massi said.

The federal government estimates that the coastal waters off of New Bedford, Massachusetts, are among the windiest in the nation.

But here’s some bad news. The US doesn’t know much about building wind turbines, out in the ocean at least.

Read the full story at BBC

U.S. Regional Offshore Wind Leasing Strategy Announced

June 13, 2019 — The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has published a new regional offshore wind leasing strategy, saying the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) provides a world-class wind resource on both the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. BOEM has 15 active commercial leases for offshore wind development that could support more than 21 gigawatts of generating capacity. The first commercial scale offshore wind facility on the OCS could be under construction as early as this year.

However, BOEM notes the need to consider other uses, such as commercial and recreational fishing, vessel traffic and military mission needs and and will be moving forward with leasing using a regional approach, processing projects currently in the pipeline, and pursuing leasing activities as follows:

Gulf of Maine. On January 2, 2019, BOEM received a letter from the Governor of New Hampshire requesting the establishment of an Intergovernmental Task Force.  Although the State of Maine and Commonwealth of Massachusetts have not yet expressed interest in promoting development in this area, BOEM believes that the establishment of a regional task force for the Gulf of Maine area that includes Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts governmental members will support further dialogue and collaboration on offshore wind matters affecting shared natural, socioeconomic, and cultural resources on a regional scale.

Read the full story at The Maritime Executive

Groundfishermen not hooked by monitoring alternatives

June 12, 2019 — For more than two years, the New England Fishery Management Council has worked on an intricate groundfish monitoring amendment that could have wide-scale economic and regulatory consequences for groundfishermen.

It has been a thorny, winding path that involves a host of groundfish committees, plan development teams and assorted staff within the far-flung fisheries regulatory landscape. Now a group of groundfishermen are weighing in. And they are not pleased.

Today, the council, meeting for the second of its three days in Portland, Maine, is expected to finalize the range of alternatives for revising monitoring programs when the amendment — named Amendment 23 — goes out for public comment, probably late in the fall.

In a letter to the council, groundfishermen from across New England criticized the process for developing the amendment by framing the issue within a simple cost/benefit analysis.

They claim the process for fashioning the amendment still has not identified what the revised monitoring programs will cost the groundfish industry that ultimately will be responsible for paying for it.

“That’s an extremely important issue, since they’re the ones paying for it,” said Jackie Odell, the executive director of the Gloucester-based Northeast Seafood Coalition. “These are industry-funded programs.”

Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times

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