Saving Seafood

Commentary: Fishing rules are strangling honest, hard-working, blue-collar fishermen

December 7, 2022 — Well, where do I start?

I guess the nation no longer cares for the fishing industry. Our government agencies have regulated us to the breaking point. Their data is unjust and from what fishermen see and what they are saying are on two ends of the spectrum.

You can set a net almost anywhere in the Gulf of Maine and Georges Bank and catch a white hake. But the assessment team that NOAA and NMFS has says there isn’t any hake, so they put unrealistic quota restrictions. So, that means boats with not enough quota have to purchase leased fish in hopes to catch other fish. But leasing hake quota is $1.50 a pound before you leave the dock. The average price to the boat for landing those fish is  $1.40, and that number is being generous. So, you lose money on catching a fish in hopes of catching another fish that lives in the same habitat.

Read the full article at The New Bedford Light

Massachussets: Mass. organizations receive $4 million for coastal resilience projects

December 7, 2022 — Three Massachusetts organizations will receive more than $4 million for projects to restore salt marshes and increase coastal resilience. The grants, from the public-private National Coastal Resilience Fund, were announced Tuesday as part of more than $136 million for 88 projects nationwide, including 12 in New England.

Established in 2018, the Fund invests in conservation projects that restore or expand natural features — such as marshes, wetlands, and oyster reefs — which minimize the impacts of storms and flooding. This is the second round of grants awarded in 2022.

Read the full article at wbur

MASSACHUSETTS: New Bedford’s port director on balancing fishing and offshore wind

November 18, 2022 — The following excerpt is from The Publics Radio:

Ben Berke: We’re making more money from seafood in this port than any other port in America. But there are some fisheries that aren’t financially stable anymore. As offshore wind starts to move in, do you think the fishing industry’s physical presence in New Bedford will shrink?

Gordon Carr: No. I don’t. What I have seen with that industry over 20 or 30 years of observing it is that it’s an extraordinarily resilient commercial industry that is also sustainable and understands the importance of the ecology of the ocean to their livelihood. They adapt and have for decades. I will say that it is a top priority of the Port Authority, and certainly the City of New Bedford to help them do that however we can — making sure that we have the facilities that they need, the policies in place that they need, and that we advocate on their behalf at every level.

Berke: Last year, the owner of New Bedford’s biggest fishing fleet, Roy Enoksen, actually sued the city over a proposal that could basically force him to give up a piece of the waterfront he leases from the city to the offshore wind industry. When a conflict like that arises, how do you pick between leasing to a fishermen versus leasing to an offshore wind contractor?

Carr: Well, I think it’s sort of hard to speculate on something like that. That’s a hypothetical. But that’s what long term planning is for, right? It’s to not get yourself into that sort of bind.

Berke: But this piece of the waterfront that Enoksen sued over is a real example of this kind of conflict. So in the end, does the Port Authority simply give the lease to whoever’s willing to pay more?

Carr: I don’t think so. I mean, I’m not going to prejudge our decisionmaking on the use of the site. There’s all kinds of other factors that go into that. Somebody could offer to spend a lot of money and create relatively modest or minimal economic impact or jobs, and that’s a judgment call that we will want to make.

Read the full article at The Publics Radio

MASSACHUSETTS: Tyler Miranda fights for New Bedford fishermen

November 9, 2022 — Tyler Miranda went on his first fishing trip on his father’s lobster boat when he was six years old.

“It was a day trip to Vineyard Sound,” the 37-year old said. “I was doing the worst job on the boat: fixing the bait. I had to deal with the smells and all that.”

Little did that child know that over 30 years later he would launch to prominence among New Bedford scallopers when he led the charge against a proposed limited access permit leasing program earlier this year.

“I don’t want to be a Wal-Mart fisherman,” he said before representatives of the New England Fishery Management Council in May. “I think the fisherman’s voice should be heard.”

The oldest of four children, Miranda said he dropped out of school at age 15 in order to pursue a career in the fleet.

“By then I had to tape the lobsters,” he said, adding he earned 10 cents per crustacean. “It was a little more responsibility because now I had to keep count of it.”

Read the full article at South Coast Today

Major Massachusetts offshore wind project no longer viable

November 7, 2022 — A major offshore wind project in the Massachusetts pipeline “is no longer viable and would not be able to move forward” under the terms of contracts filed in May. Both developers behind the state’s next two offshore wind projects are asking state regulators to pause review of the contracts for one month amid price increases, supply shortages and interest rate hikes.

Utility executives working with assistance from the Baker administration last year chose Avangrid’s roughly 1,200-megawatt Commonwealth Wind project and a 400 MW project from Mayflower Wind in the third round of offshore wind procurement to continue the state’s pursuit of establishing cleaner offshore wind power. Contracts, or power purchase agreements (PPAs), for the projects were filed with the Department of Public Utilities in May.

But last week, Commonwealth Wind filed a motion for a one-month delay in DPU’s review, telling the state that their project can no longer move forward as planned. A one-month freeze, the developer said, “would give the parties an opportunity to evaluate the current situation facing the project and potentially agree upon changes to the PPAs, along with other measures, that could allow the project to return to viability.”

“As has been publicly reported in recent weeks, global commodity price increases, in part due to ongoing war in Ukraine, sharp and sudden increases in interest rates, prolonged supply chain constraints, and persistent inflation have significantly increased the expected cost of constructing the project. As a result, the project is no longer viable and would not be able to move forward absent amendments to the PPAs,” attorneys for Commonwealth Wind wrote in their motion.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Light

Atlantic Capes Fisheries raises bar with BSP certification for its entire supply chain

November 3, 2022 — Based in Fall River, Massachusetts, U.S.A, Atlantic Capes Fisheries has become the first company to achieve Best Seafood Practices (BSP) certification for its supply chain. The company processes more than 20 percent of U.S scallop landings.

BSP is a certification program developed by the Global Seafood Alliance (GSA) to provide assurance that wild seafood products were harvested and processed in ethical and responsible ways. It is also the world’s only third-party certification program that can link certified fisheries to certified vessels, and further to processing plants.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Massachusetts wind power project ‘no longer viable’ without contract adjustments, says developer

November 1, 2022 — The developer for a major offshore wind power project in Massachusetts has asked state regulators to pause review of the contract for one month, saying that global price hikes, inflation and supply chain shortages are disrupting the plan.

The Commonwealth Wind project, which would supply 1,200 megawatts of offshore wind power starting in 2028, “is no longer viable and would not be able to move forward” without amendments to the power purchase agreement (PPA), according to a motion recently filed by the developer.

Attorneys for Commonwealth Wind in the motion cited global commodity price increases, in part because of the war in Ukraine, the sudden spike in interest rates, prolonged supply chain constraints and persistent inflation as reasons for the increased expected cost of construction.

Read the full article at CNBC

Blue Harvest defends its business amid rumored DOJ probe into New England groundfish rules

October 11, 2022 — New Bedford, Massachusetts, U.S.A.-based Blue Harvest Fisheries is defending its business practices amid pressure about the fisheries’ legal structure, and signs of a potential antitrust probe by the U.S. Department of Justice.

The concerns were kicked off in July 2022 by a story published in ProPublica via a partnership with The New Bedford Light highlighting the growing influence of foreign equity in U.S. fishing interests as a result of changes to federal rules adopted in 2010.

Read the full article at SeafoofSource

New England council votes down scallop leasing

September 30, 2022 — Capping six months of intense debate among fishermen, the New England Fishery Management Council voted this week against considering changes to allow scallop leasing within the fleet.

Fishermen crowded the council’s Sept. 27 meeting at Gloucester, Mass., for a debate on whether to develop an amendment to the scallop plant that would allow limited access scallop leasing for both access area trips and days-at-sea allocations.

Proponents of leasing, organized as the Scallopers Campaign, contended it would increase efficiency, cut costs and help operators when they face a major problem that takes a vessel out of action.

Opponents saw leasing as another avenue for consolidation of the fishery under fewer owners – as has happened in the Northeast groundfish fleet – with crew members and smaller independent operators at a disadvantage compared to fleet owners.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

Atlantic sea scallops at lowest biomass in over 20 years — what that means for New Bedford

September 30, 2022 — A Scallop Survey Report presented at the New England Fishery Management Council meeting Tuesday showed the Atlantic sea scallop fishery is facing its lowest biomass in over 20 years.

From a peak of more than 250,000 metric tons in 2017, to under 100,000 in 2022.

“There has been a decline since 2018 due to a large harvest and natural mortality,” Jonathon Peros, an NEFMC staffer, told the Council. “Biomass in 2022 is the lowest since 1999.”

Throughout NEFMC jurisdiction, the survey estimated a biomass decrease of almost 30%. The Georges Bank region saw the largest drop, around 36%.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Fisheries Division, scallop catch had been on an upward trajectory following its 1998 nadir of 5,564 metric tons.

Read the full article at South Coast Today