Saving Seafood

ROB MOIR: Expanding the fisherman’s voice

June 17, 2016 — Gloucester’s fishing industry knows all too well about the complexity of our oceans. Through my years of working with groups like the commercial striped bass fishermen and the Massachusetts Lobstermen’s Association, I have seen our fishermen adapt to the highs and lows that come with fishing these seas. That complexity has multiplied as new demands are placed on our ocean and coastal areas. From wind power to aquaculture, there are more and more people making a living off our waters.

And while we all agree that New England should make the most of these opportunities, we can’t do it at the expense of our fishermen’s livelihood, the health of our ocean wildlife or the places where our families go to play. It is now more critical than ever for us to effectively protect our oceans.

That is why I’m proud to see the years of compromise come to fruition with the release of our nation’s first draft regional ocean plan. Following the establishment of the National Ocean Policy in 2010, a planning body made up of New England states, local tribes and federal agencies came together to coordinate the efforts of all agencies that work on ocean-related issues. The result: a draft plan that streamlines ocean management at all levels of government.

I applaud the Northeast Regional Planning Body for a great first draft. I’m happy to see that the first goal focuses on maintaining healthy ocean ecosystems. This connects so well to my many years of working with fishermen and other ocean users to adopt a more ecosystem-based approach to ocean management.

For those in the fishing industry, this plan provides many benefits. But what tops the list in my mind is the ability to have all of this robust data and information in one place. With 150 species of marine life, the data portal is full of science and research that has been thoroughly validated. Anyone reading the plan can add comments or observations, and make note of any perceived gaps in the information. It allows us, for the first time ever, to break down siloes of information that have existed across the numerous state and federal agencies that manage our oceans.

Read the full editorial at the Gloucester Daily Times

Fish Pier’s seafood business evolving with the industry

June 16, 2016 — BOSTON — They dress much like their fathers and grandfathers before them, fish-stained slickers over well-worn jeans, thick gloves nicked by countless fillet knives.

And as the once-empty neighborhood around them closes in with new office towers and luxury apartments, the Seaport District’s fishmongers still make their living off the ocean.

Just often not the one that laps at the docks outside their doors.

After years of struggle in the face of a declining local fishery, the Fish Pier in Boston is again bursting with seafood businesses. But with New England fishing stocks tightly managed, the Fish Pier dealers are now more reliant on fishermen from distant oceans, their catch arriving by truck after being shipped through Logan Airport or the Conley Terminal.

“Just like a Ford has parts from different parts of the world, I think Boston is becoming this seaport hub, and that allows us to be very successful,” said Richard Stavis, chief executive of Stavis Seafoods, a Boston-based national seafood distributor with offices on Fish Pier.

Read the full story at The Boston Globe

Regulators close scallop fishery southeast of Cape Cod

June 16, 2016 — NANTUCKET, Mass. — The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is closing one of the key fishing areas off of New England where fishermen seek scallops.

The administration is closing the Nantucket Lightship North Scallop Access Area to scallop vessels that fish under “limited access general category” rules. The closure goes into effect at 12:01 a.m. on Thursday.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the Portland Press Herald

NOAA Fisheries Announces Closure of Nantucket Lightship North Scallop Access Area for Limited Access General Category Fleet

June 15, 2016 — The following was released by NOAA:

Effective at 0001 on June 16, we are closing the Nantucket Lightship North Scallop Access Area to the Limited Access General Category (LACG) Individual Fishing Quota (IFQ) scallop fleet.

As of June 16, 2016, no scallop vessel fishing under LAGC IFQ regulations may fish for, possess, or land scallops in or from the Nantucket Lightship North Access Area. The scallop regulations require that we close this area once we project that the LAGC fleet has fished all of the 485 trips allocated to them in this area.

Vessels that have complied with the observer notification requirements, have declared a trip into the Nantucket Lightship North Scallop Access Area using the correct Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) code, and have crossed the VMS demarcation line before 0001 on June 16 may complete their trip and retain and land scallops caught from the Nantucket Lightship North Scallop Access Area.

NOAA recommends millions in grants to study salmon, cod, shrimp, lobster

June 14, 2016 — The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced its support for more than USD 11 million (EUR 9.8 million) in recommended grants to study or improve the nation’s fisheries as part of its Saltonstall-Kennedy grant competition.

The grants, which still must be approved by the NOAA Grants Management Division and the Department of Commerce’s Financial Assistance Law Division, and are contingent upon adequate funding availability, include projects in seven categories: aquaculture, fishery data collection, bycatch reduction, climate change adaptation, marketing, socio-economic research and territorial science.

All areas of the United States, including overseas territories, have projects that have been recommended.

In Alaska, they include a proposed University of Alaska, Fairbanks study of halibut bycatch management (USD 297,995, EUR 264,877) and an Alaska Department of Fish and Game analysis of pink salmon productivity (USD 249,998, EUR 222,222).

Read the full story at SeafoodSource.com

Expanding lobster supplier hires New England seafood veteran

June 14, 2016 — York, Maine-based live lobster wholesaler Maine Coast has hired a general manager for its new Boston Fish Pier facility, which will open later this month.

Peter Kendall, a New England seafood sector veteran who’s previous role was operations manager at Mazzetta’s Gloucester Seafood Processing factory, is joining Maine Coast.

“We are happy to welcome Peter Kendall to our growing team,” said Tom Adams, founder and owner of Maine Coast, in a release. “This is a critical position as we expand our live lobster wholesale business to Boston. I needed someone with a strong understanding of the seafood business and real leadership skills. We found both with Peter.”

Kendall started in the seafood industry when he was 15 working summers as a lumper at the Portsmouth fisheries co-op. He studied resource economics at the University of New Hampshire and continued working seasonally at the co-op.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

Monkfish Money to Allow Study of the New England Fishery

June 13, 2016 — PORTLAND, Maine — The federal government says two projects designed to improve the future of the monkfish fishery will receive more than $3.7 million in grants.

The grants are going to the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth School for Marine Science and Technology and Cornell University Cooperative Extension.

The monkfish fishery was worth more than $18 million in 2014. It is based in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Fishermen also land monkfish in other states including New Jersey, New York, Connecticut and Maine.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the Maine Public Broadcasting Network

MASSACHUSETTS: Local Organizations to Receive Fishing Grants

June 10, 2016 — BARNSTABLE, Mass.  – Several grants will be awarded to regional groups and projects through the Saltonstall-Kennedy grant program to assist the needs of fishing communities.

NOAA Fisheries announced 50 projects across the nation that will receive $11 million for projects that will support economic opportunities and build and maintain resilient and sustainable fisheries.

The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution will receive more than $268,000 to model the impact of climate change on larval connectivity and the recruitment of the American lobster off of Southern New England.

Over $105,000 will go to the Aquacultural Research Corporation in Dennis to create commercial opportunities by piloting surf clam aquaculture techniques.

Read the full story at CapeCod.com

MASSACHUSETTS: Aquarium’s New Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life to Focus on Fisheries Conservation, Aquaculture, Marine Mammal Health, Research

June 10, 2016 — The New England Aquarium is celebrating the launch of its new Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life in Boston, a scientific institute focusing on fisheries conservation and aquaculture solutions, marine mammal research and conservation, habitat and ecosystem health, and marine animal health – a major new initiative for the Aquarium.

“The New England Aquarium has done excellent research and conservation work for 40 years,” said Nigella Hillgarth, the Aquarium’s President and CEO, who marked her second anniversary in late May and sees the Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life as the culmination of her work to date to raise the profile and public understanding of the Aquarium’s vital marine science work internationally.

“The idea of combining our strengths to create a center of excellence that can focus on solving some of the anthropogenic problems of the oceans was the right thing to do,” particularly around climate change, said Hillgarth who sought to create the Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life so scientific research can help shape international conservation policy.

Hillgarth and the Aquarium’s Board of Directors joined Massachusetts Environmental Secretary Matthew Beaton, National Geographic underwater photographer and Aquarium Explorer in Residence Brian Skerry along with other dignitaries on Wed. June 8 to celebrate the launch at the Aquarium’s Simons IMAX Theatre.

Read the full story at Newswise

Fishing Partnership Named Community Health Worker Program of the Year

Fishing Partnership Support Services has been named “Program of the Year” by the Massachusetts Association of Community Health Workers in recognition of the work performed by the partnership’s patient navigators. Several of the navigators gathered after the award with partnership leaders. From left, are: Angela Sanfilippo, J.J. Bartlett, partnership president; Lori Caron, Shannon Eldredge, Nina Groppo, holding award trophy; Lauren Hakala, partnership director of community health; Morgan Eldredge and Monica DeSousa. Navigators Debra Kelsey and Verna Kendall were not present.

Fishing Partnership Support Services was named “Program of the Year” by the Massachusetts Association of Community Health Workers. Several of the navigators gathered after the award with partnership leaders. From left: Angela Sanfilippo; J.J. Bartlett, partnership president; Lori Caron; Shannon Eldredge; Nina Groppo, holding award trophy; Lauren Hakala, partnership director of community health; Morgan Eldredge and Monica DeSousa. Navigators Debra Kelsey and Verna Kendall not pictured.

June 10, 2016 — The following was released by the Massachusetts Association of Community Health Workers:

The Massachusetts Association of Community Health Workers has presented its 2016 Community Health Worker Program of the Year Award to Fishing Partnership Support Services, an organization serving commercial fishermen and their families.

Presented during the association’s recent annual conference in Norwood, the award honors the partnership for optimizing the work and impact of patient navigators, a category of employees within the field of community health work.

The Fishing Partnership employs patient navigators at four coastal sites in Massachusetts and one in Maine, where they help fishermen obtain affordable health coverage, enroll in free safety trainings, get tested for various health risks, and connect with providers of services that run the gamut from legal aid and financial counseling to substance abuse treatment and family counseling.

All Fishing Partnership navigators reside in the communities where they work; in most cases, they have resided there for years, if not for their entire lifetimes. The navigators also have personal histories that relate directly to the fishing industry. Their ranks include women who are spouses, partners, siblings and children of fishermen. One navigator is a fisher herself.

In designating the Fishing Partnership as its Community Health Worker Program of the Year, the Massachusetts Association of Community Health Workers recognized the deep community roots of the organization’s navigators.

“Fishing Partnership navigators are visible and trusted members of their communities,” said association director Lissette Blondet. “They know their communities well and are well known in their communities. This makes them especially effective and productive.”

Blondet said that her association regards the navigators as “living witnesses to the value and the dignity of their neighborhoods, their towns, and the people they serve.” She added, “We have many good community health workers and community health programs in Massachusetts but very few of them adhere to best practices, across the board, the way the partnership and its navigators do.”

The Massachusetts Association of Community Health Workers is a statewide professional organization for community health workers from all disciplines. It is dedicated to strengthening the profession of community heath work and raising awareness and appreciation of the vital roles community health workers play in society.

It is “extremely gratifying” to be given the Program of the Year Award, said J.J. Bartlett, president of the Fishing Partnership.

“Our navigators have all been with the partnership for years,” he said, “yet their commitment to helping fishermen and the families of fishermen has only gotten stronger. We owe this award to their extraordinary dedication.”

Established in 1997, the Fishing Partnership was originally a provider of health coverage to fishermen. It continued in that role until 2011, when it transitioned to being a provider of a various services to fishermen, acting like a virtual human resources bureau within the industry. “We continue to develop our programming to address the changing needs of this population,” said Bartlett.

The dilemma of a fisherman whose wife lost her job in 2013, and with it the family’s health insurance, is typical of those solved by navigators.

“Due to the nature of my business, my wife being close to retirement, and having some family assets, we did not ‘fit’ into the application scenarios envisioned by the Massachusetts Health Connector,” this fisherman recently recalled. “We ended up in a seemingly unending nightmare of red tape…Without your help, I would never have been able to find my way through this process – and I am a well-educated person. Words cannot express my gratitude and appreciation for your work and dedication in helping my family over the past 15 months.”

There are many instances when a partnership navigator, due to her knowledge, contacts and high local profile, is asked to help a person or a family from her community who is not a fisherman or a member of fisherman’s household. They always respond affirmatively.

A case like this, cited in the Community Health Worker Program of the Year award documents, involved a navigator who donated six hours to helping a homeless family of six enroll in MassHealth, the state and federally supported health coverage program.

“Our community health workers, our navigators, see their role as more of a calling than a job,” said Bartlett, the Fishing Partnership president. “They don’t stop helping at 5 o’clock. If someone is badly in need of assistance, they’ll see them on a Saturday or a Sunday. They always go the extra mile.”

The Fishing Partnership has its administrative office in Burlington and its patient navigator offices in Gloucester, Plymouth, New Bedford and Chatham, Massachusetts, and in Kennebunk, Maine. Its Massachusetts navigators are:

Angela Sanfilippo and Nina Groppo of Gloucester; Lori Caron of Plymouth; Debra Kelsey, Verna Kendal and Monica DeSousa of New Bedford; Morgan Eldredge and Shannon Eldredge of Chatham.