Saving Seafood

Health, fisheries officials track and test for norovirus, toxic blooms

October 24th, 2016 — It was the night of Oct. 12 — Yom Kippur — and town health inspector Hillary Greenberg-Lemos was stirring a pot of matzo ball soup. The Department of Public Health was on the line telling her they were going to close Wellfleet Harbor to all shellfishing and recall all shellfish harvested in the town back to Sept. 26.

Her heart sank. There were only two days until OysterFest, a weekendlong festival when tens of thousands of shellfish lovers descend on the town, craving Wellfleet oysters. But it was those oysters, the town’s most prized and well-known commodity, that had sickened at least 81 people who ate them at weddings and restaurants the previous weekend.

“I felt sick,” Greenberg said of a different phone call she had received the previous day, from the mother of the bride at an Oct. 8 wedding, informing her that guests and members of the wedding had experienced days of diarrhea, nausea, vomiting. Greenberg took information from her and from other callers, initially believing it might be a food-handling problem, a classic food poisoning case.

Read the full story at the Cape Cod Times 

Tropical Fish in Cape Cod Waters: “The More You Look, the More You See.”

October 24th, 2016 — Gulf Stream Orphans are appearing in our region. That’s not the name of a rock band, and they’re not unaccompanied children. Gulf Stream Orphans is the research term for Caribbean fish that show up in our Cape Cod waters, and scientists are looking to see if their numbers are increasing.

Owen Nichols, Director of Marine Fisheries Research at the Center for Coastal Studies, joins us to talk about these fish, what types they represent, and new efforts to understand whether they’re appearing more often, or simply being noticed more now that researchers are looking for them.

Read the full story and listen to the audio at Cape and Islands 

MASSACHUSETTS: Shellfish, except bay scallops, still off-limits

October 24th, 2016 — Shellfish harvesting — with the exception of bay scallops — continues to be banned in Nantucket waters because of toxic plankton, which first arrived Oct. 7 in Cape Cod waters and made its way to the island a few days later.

“On Tuesday the state Division of Marine Fisheries requested shellfish to sample and we sent them 20 oysters from the harbor for tissue testing,” said Jeff Carlson, Nantucket’s natural resources coordinator.

“Hopefully they can get the testing done quickly and if it comes back clean, we can open things back up.”

Carlson said he did not know how long the state would take to test the samples and added it had sent out similar requests to towns bordering Nantucket Sound that have been included in the harvesting ban.

The reason for the state-mandated closure is plankton called Pseudo-nitzschia that produces a toxin that if consumed leads to amnesic shellfish poisoning. Symptoms of such poisoning include nausea, abdominal cramps, vomiting, dementia, amnesia, permanent loss of short-term memory and, in extreme cases, coma or death.

Read the full story at The Cape Cod Times 

MASSACHUSETTS: Gorton’s taps into consumer demand to meet market challenge

October 24th, 2016 — Gorton’s Seafood has been around for 167 years, but Gloucester’s most prominent seafood processor now finds itself sailing through a retail climate as volatile and shifting as any the company has experienced, company executives told a touring group of city and state officials on Friday.

The market turbulence, according to the Gorton’s executives, stems from rapidly evolving consumer demands for healthier choices and convenience, as well as from waves of international competition that have laid siege to the U.S. and Canadian retail frozen seafood markets.

“We are in a very, very competitive business,” said Judson Reis, Gorton’s president and chief executive officer for the past seven years. “We have competitors from all over the world who want to get into this market.”

In the past 10 years, Reis said, more than 800 new brands have entered the North American frozen seafood market from around the world — many of them from out along the Pacific Rim.

“They didn’t all stay,” Reis said. “But that gives you an idea of how competitive a business it is.”

The growth within the frozen seafood market, according to Gorton’s Vice President of Marketing Chris Hussey, is being driven financially by the expanding middle class and overall diversification of the consuming public and culturally by an overarching awareness of the health benefits associated with eating seafood.

Reis said Gorton’s, the largest frozen seafood company in the U.S. and the second largest in Canada through its BlueWater Seafoods subsidiary, is meeting the market challenge with a consumer-centric culture and a commitment to innovation that, taken together, help form the “Gorton’s Way.”

Gorton’s response includes new lines of products — marketed as Delicious Classics, Smart Solutions and Everyday Gourmet — that tap into new consumer demands with more healthy choices, more nuanced packaging and an emphasis on simplicity and convenience.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Times 

Fairhaven man dies of apparent drug overdose on New Bedford fishing boat

October 21, 2016 — NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — State and local police are investigating the apparent fatal overdose of a man, who was found unresponsive on a fishing boat docked at Pier 3 in New Bedford.

The 49-year-old Fairhaven man was pronounced dead at St. Luke’s Hospital Thursday night after being found on the fishing vessel Saint Jude.

The death appears to be an overdose, police said, but the state’s medical examiner was investigating.

Signs of drug use were found. A co-worker on the boat attempted CPR before police, fire and EMS arrived at about 8:38 p.m. The victim was transported to St. Luke’s Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 10:05 p.m.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

Atlantic States Marine Fishery Commission to debate 2017 shrimp moratorium

October 19, 2016 — The Atlantic States Marine Fishery Commission will decide in November whether the Gulf of Maine shrimp fishery, which has been closed for the previous three seasons, will remain closed for the 2017 season.

The commission is scheduled to meet Nov. 10 in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, first to review the most recent stock status report for northern shrimp and technical recommendations from the shrimp advisory panel. It will then set the specifications for the upcoming season.

Tina Berger, ASMFC spokeswoman, said the 2016 status report has not been finalized, but said she would be surprised if the stock status report revealed anything resembling an extraordinary comeback for the species.

“I haven’t seen the report, but I would be surprised if there was a season,” Berger said. “If there is one, it would probably be a very small one. But again, I haven’t seen the report.”

The stock status reports dating back to 2012 reveal a species in free fall, with record low levels of abundance and biomass and poor recruitment since 2012. Those assessments showed problems with overfishing, warming water temperatures and a dwindling number of spawning females.

The dire state of the fishery and the resulting closures also have given rise to a discussion among New Hampshire, Maine and Massachusetts about future fishery management options for the beleaguered fishery — including limiting access to what historically has been an open fishery.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Times

MASSACHUSETTS: Norovirus confirmed in oysters

October 17th, 2016 — No oysters at OysterFest? It’s not just painful for those coming to indulge in the region’s favorite bivalve. Everyone, from those who grow the oysters and shellfish religiously consumed by the hundreds of thousands over the two-day event, to the shuckers who unshackle oyster from shell, to the cashiers, all lose out on valuable income.

At least they now have confirmation that it was indeed a norovirus that sickened more than 75 people who ate Wellfleet oysters last weekend.

“It’s beyond speculation,” said Mike Hickey, the chief shellfish biologist for the state Division of Marine Fisheries. On Friday the norovirus was confirmed in the laboratory by analysis of stool samples, he said.

Unfortunately, it could be a long wait until Wellfleet shellfish can again be sold to be eaten raw.

“If there’s a chance that shellfish are not safe in any way, then they did the right thing,” said longtime shellfisherman Barbara Austin of the state decision this week to shut down Wellfleet shellfish beds and the OysterFest board of directors’ ban on selling any raw shellfish at the festival this weekend.

“This maintains the idea that Wellfleet oysters are safe. We want a clean, healthy, organic food for everybody,” Austin added.

Still, it’s a bummer, she said. She’s already put in the days to cull the shellfish and pack them in bags ahead of time and move them to the Wellfleet Shellfish Company to have them chilled and certified as being in compliance with state and local health regulations. Plus, she’s purchased everything from wood to build the booth to cutlery and napkins to furnish what is essentially a small restaurant for the weekend.

Read the full story at the Cape Cod Times 

MASSACHUSETTS: Aw-shucks! No raw oysters at Wellfleet OysterFest

October 14th, 2016 — If you’re headed to the Wellfleet OysterFest this weekend, you might be surprised to learn that there will be no raw oysters served.

The state has closed all shellfish beds in the Cape Cod town because of an outbreak of suspected norovirus illness that is believed to be linked to consumption of shellfish from that area, according to the state Department of Public Health.

Shellfish harvested from the area has also been recalled, the department said in an advisory issued Wednesday.

Organizers of the OysterFest said they have decided not serve any raw oysters during the two-day event that starts on Saturday.

Read the full story at The Boston Globe 

Will scallops become extinct?

October 13th, 2016 — Nantucket resident and documentarian John Stanton examines the declining sea scallop harvest threatening Nantucket’s bay scallop fishery. Environmental factors have spread this problem throughout the East Coast and, even in decline, Nantucket remains the last commercially viable scallop fishery. Beyond the industry that is at stake, Stanton profiles the vital communities of fishermen who are being impacted. Stanton will lead a post film discussion.

The film will be shown at 7 p.m., Oct. 21, at the New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center, 33 William St.

Dock-U-Mentaries is a co-production of New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park, the New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center. Films about the working waterfront are screened on the third Friday of each month. All programs are open to the public and presented free of charge. This monthly program is co-sponsored by Buzzards Bay Coalition.

Read the full story and watch the video at The New Bedford Standard-Times 

MASSACHUSETTS: Fish processor seeking tax subsidy from Gloucester

October 13th, 2016 — National Fish & Seafood, a tenant at Americold’s sprawling waterfront property in East Gloucester, is looking to buy the facility.

National Fish has approached the city about supporting its application for a Tax Increment Financing subsidy. The TIF is part of its plans to purchase the two-building site at 159 East Main St. from a real estate subsidiary of Americold called ART Mortgage Borrower Propco.

The sale price included in a circulating draft of the purchase-and-sale agreement, according to Gloucester Economic Development Director Sal Di Stefano, will be in the neighborhood of $4 million. The property and structures carry an assessed value of $8.28 million.

“They’ve approached us about supporting their application for a TIF and we’re in the very early stages of that process,” Di Stefano said. “We’re always happy to work with any company that is looking to expand and invest here in Gloucester, especially on the waterfront.”

National Fish employs about 155 at the site, where it processes and markets more than 40,000 tons of frozen seafood annually under the National Fish, Matlaw’s and Schooner brands. The property, along with the Gloucester Marine Railways, are the last two East Gloucester waterfront parcels still within the city’s Designated Port Area. Fifty percent of properties in the DPA are required to be dedicated for marine industrial uses. 

National Fish President Todd Provost did not return phone calls Wednesday seeking comment. An Americold official declined comment.

The East Gloucester property stretches over more than 4 acres on the eastern shore of Smith Cove, supporting two buildings with a combined area of 171,653 square feet, according to city tax records.

The larger of the two warehouse buildings — at 109,941 square feet — is used for cold storage and was built in 1961. The smaller warehouse, 65,712 square feet, is used for processing and was completed in 1962. The site also includes 14,800 square feet of docks.

Read the full story at The Gloucester Daily Times