Saving Seafood

Northeast observer coverage resumes July 1; councils express worry

June 24, 2020 — NMFS will resume its usual at-sea observe coverage in the Northeast July 1, after a three-month hiatus when the agency waived requirements because of the covid-19 pandemic.

Dr. Jon Hare, science and research director for the Northeast Fisheries Science Center, confirmed Monday that the agency and its observer providers will move ahead with the resumption, in the planning stages since May 29.

“The Northeast Fisheries Science Center’s Fisheries Sampling Branch has been working through internal protocols and processes to ensure shoreside components of the program can operate,” Hare wrote in a letter to fishermen and other stakeholders. “They are also coordinating with observer providers to develop deployment plans that support the health and safety of observers, fishermen, and others in the fishing industry, in light of the covid-19 virus.”

But the Mid-Atlantic and New England fishery management councils reacted with dismay, reflecting worries in the industry that the observer program is being set back in motion before it is safe to do so.

“The council believes that deploying observers on fishing vessels at this time poses an unnecessary risk to the health and safety of fishermen and observers,” Mid-Atlantic council chairman Michael Luisi wrote in a June 23 letter to Hare and NMFS Northeast regional director Michael Pentony.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

NORTH CAROLINA: Input Sought on CARES Act Fisheries Plan

June 15, 2020 — The North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries is seeking input from the public on a draft spending plan for $5.4 million in federal coronavirus fisheries assistance.

The spending plan must be approved by National Marine Fisheries Service for the state to receive the funding provided by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security, or CARES, Act.

The draft spending plan proposes an approach for disbursement of the funding through direct payments to eligible commercial fishermen, charter businesses, seafood dealers and processors, and qualified aquaculture operations who can document a greater than 35% revenue loss compared to the previous five-year average due to COVID-19.

The draft spending plan and other information pertaining to the draft can be found online on the CARES Act Fishery Assistance Information page. Written comments on the plan may be submitted through an online form that can be accessed via the website or by mail to: Draft CARES Act Fisheries Assistance Spending Plan Comments, P.O. Box 769, Morehead City, N.C. 28557.

Read the full story at Coastal Review Online

Vineyard Wind’s Major Environmental Study Finished

June 15, 2020 — The long-awaited supplemental draft environmental report for the Vineyard Wind project was recently released, setting the stage for numerous offshore energy projects planned for the waters off the East Coast.

The draft environmental impact statement (EIS) was initially issued in December 2018. BOEM planned to complete the EIS by August 2019 but delayed it after the National Marine Fisheries Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration called for a supplemental report to take into account the upsurge in offshore wind proposals. At the start of the federal review, 130 megawatts of construction plans had been submitted, but that figure quickly escalated to 22 gigawatts of offshore wind-energy potential.

“This expanded cumulative scenario is intended to better understand future impacts of the offshore wind industry while being responsive to the concerns of other ocean industries,” said Walter Cruickshank, acting director for the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM).

The new report considered the cumulative impacts on fishing and coastal habitats of the proposed 84-turbine Vineyard Wind 1 project. Sea turtles, finfish, marine mammals, and bird and bats were included in the large geographic analysis. Other issues given consideration included environmental justice, recreation and tourism, and air and water quality.

Read the full story at EcoRI

Long-awaited federal report issued on Vineyard Wind

June 12, 2020 — The long road to construction of what may be the nation’s first utility-scale wind farm appears to be reaching the end as the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management on Thursday released its report on the impacts of the proposed Vineyard Wind project.

The report marked the last major hurdle faced by the 800-megawatt project of 57 to 100 turbines rising nearly 500 feet at the hub from the ocean. The wind farm is located about 40 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard. This report, along with a Coast Guard report released late last month, represent additional measures required after the Coast Guard, National Marine Fisheries Service and the Environmental Protection Agency requested additional reports on the cumulative impacts on navigation, marine industry and the environment for the 1 million acres of ocean off Massachusetts and Rhode Island set aside for wind turbines.

The bureau’s report, a supplement to its original Environmental Impact Statement, looked at both local impacts and cumulative effects of offshore wind along the Atlantic seaboard. Environmental impacts were rated negligible, and deemed minor to moderate for marine mammals, birds, turtles, fish and marine and coastal habitats. The bureau found wind power would have a negligible to minor impact on local employment and economics, but would be beneficial when considering the wider Atlantic coast area.

Read the full story at the Cape Cod Times

RODA Nets $150,000 Grant from NMFS to Hold Symposium on Fisheries and Offshore Wind

June 11, 2020 — The Responsible Offshore Development Alliance (RODA) received a $150,000 grant from the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to hold a symposium on current knowledge of fisheries and offshore wind interactions.

The first of its kind project, “Understanding the State of the Science,” will advance agency, fishing industry, offshore wind energy developer and public understanding of existing research on interactions between the two industries, RODA said.

Read the full story at Seafood News

The Rising Tide Of Seafood: Opportunities And Prospects

June 11, 2020 — In the past few decades, particularly since the start of the 21st century, global seafood consumption has seen a steady uptick, fueled by an international boom in hatcheries and improved techniques in fish farming and aquaculture. An improvement in preservation and processing methods has also allowed for longer storage of raw fish and shellfish, boosting international trade of the same. Mounting recognition of the health benefits of seafood as compared to other forms of meat has led to a notable spike in seafood consumption in many countries, and the United States is following the same pattern, albeit a little slowly. These are some of the reasons our trade financing company keeps a close eye on the industry.

So what is the outlook for U.S.-based importers, and how have recent developments impacted the industry?

The U.S.’s Growing Love For Seafood

According to a report released by the National Maritime Fisheries Services (NOAA Fisheries) in February of this year, Americans ate an average of 16.1 pounds of seafood per capita in 2018. This number is a very slight increase from the 16 pounds per capita consumed in 2017, but is important for the United States, given the country’s traditional preference for other meats like chicken and/or beef. As more consumers include it in their diets, the demand for fresh as well as frozen seafood is going to increase. The U.S., for the most part, continues to meet this demand from overseas markets.

The NOAA Fisheries report noted that approximately 85%-95% of seafood consumed in the United States is imported from other countries, as per NOAA Fisheries chief scientist Cisco Werner. Although a study from May 2019 noted that this figure may be significantly inflated because not all of these imports are of foreign origin, there is no denying the strong contribution of imports to the United States’ seafood consumption.

Read the full story at Forbes

Maine Voices: Trump rights a wrong by reopening marine monument to fishing

June 10, 2020 — President Trump used the occasion of a visit to Maine last week to do right by an industry that hasn’t had much good news lately when he reopened to commercial fishing nearly 5,000 square miles of ocean south of New England that President Barack Obama closed in 2016.

Stay tuned. In the process of righting a wrong, Trump’s action, announced at a Bangor roundtable, has once again set hair on fire in the environmental community, tested the limits of presidential power and set the stage for litigation.

Obama created the area, known as the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument, just a few months before he left office. He portrayed the monument, the only one in the Atlantic, as a hedge against climate change.

Spanning four canyons and three seamounts, the monument is home to cold-water corals, endangered whales and turtles and numerous fish species.

If Trump’s action was controversial, it should be seen as no less so than the process that created the monument. Fishing in U.S. territorial waters is managed by the National Marine Fisheries Service, which is charged with providing productive and sustainable fisheries based on the best available science. NMFS works with regional councils to ensure all stakeholders are heard and that its regulations have “ground truth.”

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald

Fishery Council Leaders Discuss COVID-19; NMFS Touts ‘New Normal’ for US Seafood at CCC Meeting

June 1, 2020 — The Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council hosted leaders from the eight regional fishery management councils this week by video conference.

The first of the Council Coordination Committee’s biannual meetings spanned time zones from New England to American Samoa as the members and NMFS representatives discussed issues relevant to all of the Councils.

Read the full story at Seafood News

Fishery Management Councils to Meet May 27-28 by Teleconference

May 21, 2020 — The following was released by the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council:

Leadership teams from the nation’s eight regional fishery management councils will convene by teleconference for the spring 2020 Council Coordination Committee (CCC) meeting. The CCC is comprised of the chairs, vice chairs and executive directors of the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, Mid-Atlantic, New England, North Pacific, Pacific, South Atlantic and Western Pacific Fishery Management Councils. CCC chairmanship rotates annually among the eight Councils, which have authority over fisheries seaward of state waters in the US exclusive economic zone.

The committee meets twice each year with the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to discuss issues relevant to all fishery management councils. The Western Pacific Council is serving as this year’s CCC chair and will be hosting this year’s first meeting on May 27 and 28. The meeting will be held by teleconference due to COVID-19 travel and quarantine restrictions.  The public is welcome to participate.

Agenda items will be discussed between 7:30 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. (Hawai‘i standard time) each day. Among the scheduled topics are the following:

 

  • COVID-19 effects on Council operations and NMFS rulemaking
  • CARES Act $300M stimulus package for fisheries and aquaculture
  • President’s Executive Order 13921 on Promoting American Seafood Competitiveness and Economic Growth
  • NMFS updates on priorities, policy directives, technical guidance, bycatch initiatives, etc.
  • Legislative issues
  • CCC Scientific Subcommittee and Habitat Working Group reports

The complete agendas and conference call-in instructions will be posted at http://www.fisherycouncils.org/ccc-meetings/may-2020.

The meeting notice is available at https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2020-05-11/pdf/2020-10023.pdf.

 

Lobstering group wants to raise $500,000 for legal defense fund

May 7, 2020 — The Maine Lobstermen’s Association has launched a campaign to raise $500,000 to fund its legal efforts to protect the state’s most valuable fishery from the consequences of a recent federal court ruling that calls for more government protections for the endangered right whale.

Last month, a federal judge found the National Marine Fisheries Service had violated the U.S. Endangered Species Act by its authorization of the U.S. lobster industry – including Maine’s $485 million-a-year fishery – because it failed to report the fishery’s harmful impacts on the endangered right whale.

“This case could lead to closure of the world’s most sustainable fishery,” said executive director Patrice McCarron, whose association is the oldest and biggest lobstering group in Maine. “We cannot let that happen. Right whales are not dying in Maine lobster gear.”

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald