Saving Seafood

Atlantic Menhaden achieves MSC certification

September 3, 2019 — The following was released by the Marine Stewardship Council:

Atlantic Menhaden caught by Omega Protein have been granted certification today against the Marine Stewardship Council standard for sustainable fishing. The certification comes following more than two years of detailed independent review by conformity assessment body, SAI Global, and extensive stakeholder input.

Atlantic menhaden (Brevoortia tyrannus) are small, oily fish that are caught commercially in a reduction fishery and a bait fishery. They appear in estuaries and coastal waters from northern Florida to Nova Scotia. While considered unfit for direct human consumption, menhaden caught via the modern purse seine reduction method are used in fishmeal and fish oil for human and animal nutrition, due to their high natural concentration of healthy omega-3 fatty acids. Menhaden are also valuable as bait for fishermen targeting other commercially valuable species, such as lobster.  The Gulf of Mexico menhaden fishery is currently in assessment with Omega Protein and Daybrook Fisheries jointly requesting the assessment.

“Congratulations to Omega Protein on achieving certification,” said Brian Perkins, Americas Director for the Marine Stewardship Council. “The certification signifies a dedication not only to sustainable menhaden fishing and to safeguarding marine ecosystems, but supporting the hardworking fishermen, processors, and everyone else who depend on the fishery for their livelihoods.”

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Menhaden is “one of the most selective, and effective fisheries”[i] with minimal bycatch. Between the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts, the U.S. menhaden fishery is the second largest in the country by weight, trailing only Alaska pollock. Most recent stock assessments of Atlantic menhaden confirm that neither species is undergoing overfishing or being overfished[ii].

“Omega Protein is appreciative that the sustainable Atlantic menhaden fishery has now been certified against the most rigorous sustainability standards of the Marine Stewardship Council,” said Omega Protein President and CEO Bret Scholtes. He continued, “The menhaden fishery has continuously operated in Reedville, Virginia since the 1870s and the population of menhaden remains robust and abundant. When buyers purchase seafood products with the blue MSC label, they can be sure they come from a sustainable fishery that has met the MSC Fisheries standard. This certification will differentiate our fishmeal and oil products from competitors on the global market.”

Stakeholder input is a critical part of the MSC fisheries assessment process and includes an objections process which allows for detailed scrutiny and transparency in the application of the MSC Fisheries Standard. Assessment includes a formal objections procedure to provide an orderly, structured process by which concerns about certification decisions can be lodged, reviewed and resolved, fairly and transparently by an independent adjudicator. The Atlantic Menhaden fishery assessment included several objections from registered stakeholders and involved the oversight of an independent adjudicator to ultimately determine if the determination by SAI Global should be upheld.

The MSC standard was established in 1997 and is the only wild caught seafood standard and ecolabeling program to meet United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (UNFAO) guidelines as well as meet Global Sustainable Seafood Initiative (GSSI) benchmarking criteria. The standards used to evaluate fisheries have been developed in deliberation with scientists, industry, and conservation groups, and reflect the most up-to-date fisheries science and management practices.

The MSC fishery standards are based on three core principles that every fishery must meet:

  1. Sustainable fish stocks: Fishing activity must be at a level which ensures it can continue indefinitely.
  2. Minimizing environmental impact: Fishing operations must be managed to maintain the structure, productivity, function, and diversity of the ecosystem.
  3. Effective Management: The fishery must comply with relevant laws and have a management system that is responsive to changing circumstances.

The Atlantic menhaden fishery is certified through 2024 and can enter reassessment after the five year period. During the five year certification, the fishery must undergo annual surveillance audits in order to ensure their ongoing compliance with the MSC’s requirements.

For more information click here

MSC certifies Atlantic menhaden fishery as sustainable

September 3, 2019 — The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) has certified the Atlantic menhaden fishery as expected, Omega Protein, the Houston, Texas-based division of Canadian seafood giant Cooke Inc. that applied for the certification, announced on Tuesday.

The decision follows a favorable ruling by an independent adjudicator against challenges by several NGOs, as earlier reported by Undercurrent News, and concludes a two-year effort by Omega.

“When we started this process in the Spring of 2017, we were confident that our Atlantic menhaden fishery could meet the high bar for MSC certification,” said Bret Scholtes, Omega Protein’s CEO. “Now that our fishery is officially certified, consumers around the world will know the work our fishermen do every day to ensure our products come from a sustainable, responsibly harvested resource.”

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

Read the MSC statements here and here

Peer Reviews for Atlantic Menhaden Species-Specific and Ecological Reference Points Benchmark Assessments Scheduled for November 4-8, 2019

August 27, 2019 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Atlantic menhaden single-species and ecological reference points benchmark stock assessments will be peer-reviewed through the SouthEast Data, Assessment and Review (SEDAR) from November 4 – 8, 2019 at the Town and Country Inn and Suites, 2008 Savannah Highway, Charleston, SC. The assessments will be used to evaluate the health of the stock and inform management of the species in an ecosystem context.

Review Workshops are open to the public, with the exception of select closed sessions for Review Panel deliberations when the public and all other workshop participants may be asked to leave the room.

A copy of the agenda for the peer review can be found here –http://www.asmfc.org/files/Meetings/SEDAR69RW_AtlMenhadenERPs_Agenda.pdf

For more information, please contact Patrick Campfield, Science Director, at pcampfield@asmfc.org or 703.842.0740.

ASMFC Atlantic Menhaden Board Maintains TAC at 216,000 MT for 2020

August 7, 2019 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Atlantic Menhaden Management Board maintained the total allowable catch (TAC) of 216,000 mt for the 2020 fishing season with the option to revisit the 2020 TAC following review of the 2019 single-species and ecological reference point benchmark stock assessments and peer-review reports. The TAC will be made available to the states based on the state-by-state allocation established by Amendment 3 (see table below).

The 2019 benchmark stock assessments are scheduled for peer review at the Southeast Data, Assessment and Review process (SEDAR 69) in early November. It is expected the benchmark assessments and peer-review reports will be available for Board review in February 2020. The assessments will be used to evaluate the health of the stock and inform the management of the species in an ecological context. Should the Board determine a change in the quota is necessary after review of the assessments, a two-thirds vote would be required for reconsideration of the 2020 TAC.

Read the full release here

MFC Members Won’t Seek Menhaden Quota Increase Out of Respect for Work on Ecological Reference Points

August 5, 2019 — The following was released by the Menhaden Fisheries Coalition:

It is the long-standing view of the members of the Menhaden Fisheries Coalition (MFC) that the quota for Atlantic menhaden should have been raised substantially in 2017 due to the documented strength of the stock in the last assessment. However, contrary to the claims of some activists from special interest groups, MFC members will not be pursuing a quota increase at this week’s meeting of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) out of respect for the Commission’s ongoing work on ecological reference points (ERPs).

“Our long-standing commitment to the sustainability of Atlantic menhaden has repeatedly been confirmed by the best available science,” said Jeff Kaelin, government relations coordinator at Lund’s Fisheries, an MFC member based in New Jersey. “While that science supports a substantial increase in the quota right now, we look forward to the Commission’s conclusions on ERPs, which will help guide management moving forward.”

The findings of the ASMFC’s 2017 update stock assessment and the 2014 benchmark stock assessment clearly indicate that Atlantic menhaden is thriving up and down the Atlantic Coast. The 2017 assessment again indicated that the menhaden population is not overfished nor is overfishing occurring. Additionally, the assessment showed mortality rates have remained below the overfishing threshold since the 1960s, and fishing mortality has been decreasing throughout the history of the fishery.

An analysis conducted by ASMFC scientists in 2016 showed that the menhaden quota could be increased by up to 40 percent with a 0 percent chance of leading to overfishing. Another analysis by the MFC using data from the ASMFC’s 2017 stock assessment found that the fishery already leaves 92 percent of fish in the water to serve their ecological role.

“There are numerous positive signs for the health of the menhaden fishery,” said Ben Landry, director of public affairs at Omega Protein, an MFC member based in Virginia. “That’s why Omega Protein is pursuing certification of the fishery’s sustainability by the highly respected Marine Stewardship Council, a process that is nearing its conclusion.”

Even though all current signs indicate a menhaden quota increase is warranted, industry stakeholders are supportive of efforts to better understand the role Atlantic menhaden play in the ecosystem. Therefore, while the ASMFC Biological and Ecological Reference Points (BERP) workgroup continues its work developing ERPs for the menhaden fishery, the MFC will not request a quota increase at this week’s meeting.

Multiple ASMFC Commissioners have stated that increasing the quota in past years was premature and that we should wait until the ERPs are conducted. MFC members believe the same should be true for any potential reallocation of the current quota at this week’s meeting.

Adjudicator shoots down objections to MSC certification of Atlantic menhaden

August 1, 2019 — An independent adjudicator has dismissed nearly all of the objections raised against granting the Atlantic menhaden fishery certification by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC).

Omega Protein, the Houston, Texas-based division of Canada’s Cooke filed for the MSC label for both Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico menhaden fisheries in June 2017 and received a positive recommendation from SAI Global for the Atlantic fishery in March 2019.

But the request also received two objections, one from the Nature Conservancy and the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, the other by the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership (TCRP), the Coastal Conservation Association and the American Sportfishing Association.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

Independent Adjudicator Rejects Objections to Atlantic Menhaden MSC Certification, Requests Clarification On One Point

July 31, 2019 — Today, an independent adjudicator found that most of the objections raised to the certification of the Atlantic menhaden fishery against the Marine Stewardship Council standard are unsubstantiated, dismissing all but one involving the future adoption of ecologically based management, where he is seeking language clarification.

Omega Protein filed for MSC certification for the Atlantic menhaden fishery in 2017, and the fishery was officially recommended for certification by independent certification body SAI Global earlier this year.

Two separate objections to SAI Global’s recommendation were filed: one by the Nature Conservancy and the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, the other by the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, the Coastal Conservation Association and the American Sportfishing Association.

After a July 8 hearing at the MSC Office in Washington, D.C., involving all parties, the independent adjudicator, Eldon V.C. Greenberg, found most of the objectors’ claims to be unconvincing.

For example, Mr. Greenberg wrote that the objectors’ assertion that “more recent data” showed that bycatch in the menhaden fishery was higher than previously estimated was “incorrect,” and that low bycatch levels in the fishery do not warrant more significant NOAA observer coverage. He also echoed Omega Protein’s argument that SAI Global was within its right to consider that menhaden management is “conservative and precautionary,” and that current harvest quota “essentially presents a 0% risk of exceeding overfishing thresholds.”

Significantly, Mr. Greenberg backed up SAI Global’s finding that, while the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) continues to work on ecosystem-based management of menhaden, it is enough that there is “a suite of measures in place that act together to avoid ecosystem risks.”

Another main argument made by the objectors involved the cap on menhaden harvest in the Chesapeake Bay of 51,000 mt, created by the ASMFC but not adopted by the state of Virginia. The objectors essentially argued that SAI Global should have made an independent judgment of the different management regimes of the ASMFC and Virginia, according to Mr. Greenberg.

On this topic, Mr. Greenberg wrote that SAI Global and Omega Protein “have the better of the argument.” He cited Omega Protein’s arguments that the Bay cap has never actually been exceeded, and that the ASMFC has not found the state of Virginia out of compliance with its management plan, writing, “In the absence of any action by the Commission, [SAI Global] would be treading on shaky ground indeed to find non-compliance on its own initiative, especially when the [total allowable catch] has never actually been exceeded.”

Only on the issue of ecologically based management did Mr. Greenberg not fully dismiss the objectors’ claims. He requested SAI Global issue language clarifying which jurisdictions need to implement the soon-expected ecologically based management measures, and how they are required to implement them. Mr. Greenberg stated that only the language should be changed, but added that there should be no changes to justifications for the recommendation. SAI Global now has 10 days to provide the clarifying language.

Omega Protein and Daybrook Fisheries have also jointly filed for MSC certification for the Gulf menhaden fishery, which has also received a preliminary recommendation for certification by SAI Global.

Menhaden reopening eases Maine bait worries – for now

July 19, 2019 — A two-week hiatus in the Maine menhaden fishery ended with the Atlantic States Fisheries Management Commission granting an additional 4.7 million pounds of quota, quelling worries about an impeding shortage of lobster bait.

The “episodic event fishery” that started July 15 won’t solve what has become a regular element of suspense for the industry. State officials reopened the season with additional effort controls, and reducing the weekly allowance from four trucks to three.

The harvest is restricted to state waters Monday through Thursday. The Department of Marine Resources had ordered a halt to the fishery June 30, after monitoring showed the fleet had exceeded the Maine annual quote of 2.4 million pounds by 1.5 million pounds – an overage of about 62 percent.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

Extra menhaden quota awarded to Maine as lobster bait shortage concerns heat up

July 17, 2019 — As the peak summer season begins to beat down on Maine’s lobster harvesters, state officials have stepped in to help ease some of the bait shortage burdens pressuring the sector as of late.

Last week, the Atlantic States Marine Fishery Management Council approved Maine’s request to reopen its recently closed menhaden fishery for an additional 4.7 million pounds of catch, according to a recent report from the Portland Press Herald. On 30 June, the state had to end its menhaden fishing season early after it determined that harvesters had exceeded the annual quota of 2.4 million pounds for the key bait species by 1.5 million pounds.

With the state’s fleet of more than 100 vessels seemingly docked for the summer, menhaden were still being found in abundance in Maine waters from Kittery to Penobscot Bay, prompting officials to petition the Atlantic States Marine Fishery Management Council for extra quota.

With their wish granted, state officials are hopeful that “landing the extra menhaden quota now that peak lobster season has started and bait demand is picking up will help ease fears of a shortage predicted as a result of a 70 percent reduction of landings for herring, Maine’s most popular lobster bait,” the Portland Press Herald explained. Prices were already rising when the herring season opened on Sunday, 14 July, noted a special bulletin issued by Maine.gov one day later.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

More Bait Fish Expected to Help Maine Lobstermen With Crunch

July 16, 2019 — The reopening of the fishery for a species of schooling fish could boost Maine‘s lobster industry during a season in which its favored bait might be hard to come by.

The Portland Press Herald reports regional fishing managers have approved Maine’s request to reopen the fishery for menhaden. That could make available a few million pounds of the bait fish, which are also called pogies.

The most popular lobster bait in Maine is Atlantic herring, but that fishery has been subject to deep quota cuts in recent years because of concerns about the stability of its population.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at U.S. News