Saving Seafood

Safety net proposed for fishermen

July 25, 2019 — Louisiana shrimpers say a bill introduced in the Senate that would provide a safety net for commercial fishermen to help in difficult years like 2019 is a long time coming.

For decades, shrimpers and others in the commercial fishing industry have advocated for the federal government to either move them under the U.S. Department of Agriculture or provide them the same insurance and benefits as farmers.

Sen. John Kennedy, R-Louisiana, joined with Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, R-Mississippi, to introduce the legislation, which would provide revenue-based relief to producers to assist with losses after natural disasters and changes in water salinity.

This year, all of Louisiana’s fisheries have seen losses due to flooding that lasted for several months and required the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to open the Bonnet Carre Spillway twice for the first time in its history.

Freshwater inundated the normally brackish waters that support shrimp, causing population decreases by up to 86 percent in some basins.

While commercial fishermen are also looking for immediate aid through a disaster declaration, the bill would establish a relief program that wouldn’t require a declaration for future events.

Read the full story at The Daily Comet

U.S. Sen. Kennedy calls for permanent relief fund for fishing industry

July 24, 2019 — U.S. Sen. John Kennedy, a Louisiana Republican, is calling for a permanent taxpayer-supported safety net for the fishing industry.

The Commercial Fishing and Aquaculture Protection Act of 2019, introduced by U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, R-Mississippi, does not carry an explicit price tag. Kennedy’s statement in support of the bill compares the proposal to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s “well-established” disaster programs for farmers.

“The shrimp and oyster seasons produced significantly lower yields on average this year due to disastrous freshwater intrusions in the Gulf,” Kennedy said in a prepared statement. “We need to give our fishing industry a break. This legislation will establish a program to help fishermen cope with disaster conditions like these.”

USDA reportedly is preparing an open enrollment for a $3 billion aid package for  farmers and ranchers. Enrollment is expected to begin by late August or early September.

“Farmers and ranchers who experience serious losses have access to well-established USDA programs to help them survive down years,” Hyde-Smith said. “Commercial fishermen, including aquaculture operations, do not have that option.”

Read the full story at The Center Square

With more storm flooding expected, Louisiana and Mississippi fishermen seek aid

July 10, 2019 — The news just got worse for the commercial fishing industry in Louisiana and Mississippi. Already impacted by oyster mortalities and movement of shrimp to other areas after the Bonnet Carre Spillway opening, the Gulf Coast is expecting flooding due to a tropical storm and likely hurricane this weekend.

A weather system in the Gulf could form as a tropical depression or tropical storm this week, and then hit the Gulf Coast as a Category 1 hurricane on Saturday, according to the National Weather Service.

Already, the tropical system caused flash flooding in New Orleans, and the Mississippi River in New Orleans is forecast to crest near 20 feet this Saturday, according to the National Weather Service.

The Mississippi and Louisiana fishing industries are already plagued by Mississippi River flooding. The flooding caused the opening of the Bonnet Carre Spillway more than 100 days ago, causing freshwater to mix with saltwater, producing toxic algae bloom off the coast of Mississippi and in Lake Pontchartrain near New Orleans.

Already, a majority of oysters along the coast of Louisiana and Mississippi are dead, and other seafood species have been impacted.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

MISSISSIPPI: Vessel built at Moss Point shipyard christened, set to head to Uruguay

July 8, 2019 — The Southern Star, a ship built at Omega Shipyard in Moss Point, has been christened and is now ready to head to South America.

A christening ceremony featuring local dignitaries and executives from Omega Protein was held Monday at the Moss Point shipyard. Following the christening, invited guests took a short river cruise on the Southern Star, admiring the vessel.

The newly retrofitted vessel will head to Uruguay next, where it will be used by a sister division of Omega Protein. The state-of-the-art ship is going to be a quantum leap into the future compared to what’s currently available in the Uruguayan fishery.

Renovations to the vessel include a completely rebuilt propulsion system and state-of-the-art digitally controlled equipment designed to reduce the amount of manual labor necessary to catch and land red crab.

With its new equipment, the Southern Star will be able to stay at sea for up to 30 days per trip. The vessel will also have facilities to process, package, freeze, and store red crabs on-board, allowing the vessel to sell directly to retailers and wholesalers. Those amenities will allow for better quality and fresher product.

Read the full story at WLOX

Louisiana, Mississippi seafood feeling sting of algae blooms

June 26, 2019 — Louisiana and Mississippi government warnings not to eat fish from certain areas of the states are causing the seafood industry concern.

After an algae bloom developed when the Bonnet Carre Spillway was opened to alleviate flooding along the Mississippi River, the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality issued beach closures in Hancock and Harrison counties along the Gulf of Mexico.

Subsequently, the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources (MDMR) is advising the public to not eat fish or any other seafood taken from “affected waters or in proximity to the beach closures,” MDMR said in a statement. “The public’s safety is very important to our state and our agency will continue working closely with MDEQ to monitor our waters and our seafood.”

The Louisiana Department of Health is also warning the public about a potentially large algae bloom that is developing on Lake Pontchartrain, “while algae toxins have not been found in the edible parts of fish, LDH advises that fish not be harvested or eaten from the lake during the bloom,” the agency said in a statement.

In southern Mississippi, news reports on the beach closures and seafood caution are causing concerns among consumers and the seafood industry.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Why So Many Sharks Have Bird Feathers in Their Bellies

May 22, 2019 — Marcus Drymon wasn’t expecting a baby shark to barf up a ball of feathers onto his boat.

The shark’s presence wasn’t the weird bit: Drymon and his team of fisheries ecologists regularly assess fish populations along the coasts of Mississippi and Alabama, and every year, they’ll catch, weigh, tag, and release thousands of sharks. In 2010, they were doing just that for the meter-long tiger shark when it coughed up the feathers. “Being an ecologist, I scooped them up and took them back to the lab,” Drymon says.

He passed the feathers to Kevin Feldheim, a molecular biologist at the Field Museum, who analyzed the DNA within them to work out what species they belonged to. The answer: a brown thrasher, a thrush-like songbird that lives in forests. What on Earth was it doing in the belly of an oceanic apex predator?

“I had expected a laughing gull or a brown pelican,” Drymon says. “The brown thrasher was the last bird I would have expected.”

Read the full story at The Atlantic

Sen. Wicker’s bipartisan bill protects national security by fighting illegal fishing

May 7, 2019 — U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS) last week introduced a bipartisan bill to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing that threatens the national security of the United States.

Sen. Wicker on May 1 sponsored the Maritime Security and Fisheries Enforcement (SAFE) Act, S. 1269, with U.S. Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE), which also would prevent the illegal trade of seafood and seafood products, among other purposes, according to the congressional record.

“The Maritime SAFE Act would give federal agencies greater tools to protect maritime security, lawful fishing and the global seafood supply chain,” Sen. Wicker said on Wednesday.

Sen. Wicker pointed out that bad actors involved in illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing also have been known to conduct other illicit activities, including weapons, drugs and human trafficking.

“We cannot let illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing jeopardize the livelihoods of America’s honest fishermen or fund other criminal activities,” said Sen. Wicker, who serves as chairman of the U.S. Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee.

Read the full story at The Ripon Advance

NORTH CAROLINA: New experiment raises possibility of fresh N.C. soft-shell crabs year-round

March 11, 2019 — An experiment to farm soft-shell crabs in North Carolina ponds could augment declining wild stocks and lead to having plenty of the delicacy fresh almost year round.

Scientists from North Carolina and Mississippi will work together in a three-year venture to raise blue crabs and harvest them for the lucrative soft-shell market.

Fresh soft crabs flood the market typically in May and June, at the height of molting season.

A $339,239 grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will fund the project, managed by Sea Grant programs in both states. The University of Southern Mississippi Gulf Coast Research Lab will lead the effort and lend expertise.

Read the full story at The Virginian-Pilot

Petition, gathering kick off new push for US federal aquaculture bills

February 19, 2019 — Another push for passage of a new US federal aquaculture law is in full swing with a petition to Congress signed by 122 professionals mostly from aquaculture or other seafood-related industries.

An informational gathering on Capitol Hill has been scheduled for lawmakers and their staff early next month.

Both the US Senate and House of Representatives’ versions of the Advancing the Quality and Understanding of American Aquaculture (AQUAA) Act that were introduced during the 115th Congress expired in December along with the session, but Margaret Henderson, campaign director for the Stronger American Through Seafood (SATS), told Undercurrent News Friday that she believes new bills will be introduced in both chambers within the next two months.

Senators Roger Wicker, a Mississippi Republican, and Marco Rubio, a Florida Republican, and representatives Collin Peterson, a Minnesota Democrat, and Steve Palazzo, another Mississippi Republican, all of whom championed the earlier bills, are back, and support is already being built.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News