Saving Seafood

Trump leans in on SNAP work requirements

August 3, 2018 — President Donald Trump on Thursday jumped into the farm bill debate once again — on Twitter, of course — in an effort to tip the scales toward House Republicans ahead of conference negotiations.

“When the House and Senate meet on the very important Farm Bill – we love our farmers – hopefully they will be able to leave the WORK REQUIREMENTS FOR FOOD STAMPS PROVISION that the House approved,” the president wrote on Thursday afternoon.

The U.S. seafood industry is starting an education campaign to convince Trump and other policymakers that American workers would be hurt, not helped, by his proposed new tariffs on China. The National Fisheries Institute, which represents the seafood industry, has rebranded its AboutSeafood.com website to tell the stories of American seafood workers threatened both by the proposed tariffs, as well as the retaliatory tariffs that China has already imposed in response to U.S. duties on more than $34 billion worth of Chinese goods.

“To understand the negative impact these tariffs will have on American workers, you have to go see them, you have to talk to them, you have to hear their concerns,” National Fisheries Institute President John Connelly said in a statement. “We’re bringing those stories to policymakers so they understand; this is not a theoretical, economic chess game. These tariffs have the potential to do a lot of harm to the seafood community and that community’s jobs are right here in the U.S.”

Political opposition: Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) both raised concerns about the impact of China’s retaliatory duties on their states’ lobster exports during a hearing last week with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer.

Their complaints were echoed by Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), who told Lighthizer China’s actions have “clearly rattled my state.” The increased duty affects about 40 percent of the state’s salmon exports and 54 percent of its cod exports that went there last year, she said.

Read the full story at Politico

Trump tariffs sting farmers, businesses from sea to shining sea

August 3, 2018 —  As President Donald Trump prepares to continue ratcheting up tariffs, the duties he has already imposed on $34 billion worth of goods from China and around $50 billion worth of steel and aluminum exports from around the world are causing pain across the United States.

That’s already prompted Trump to promise $12 billion in assistance to help farmers who have been hit with retaliatory duties on their exports to China, the European Union and other key markets. The aid package has been popular with voters, particularly in rural areas, according to a new POLITICO/Morning Consult poll. But the same poll also showed that most voters in farm states prefer free trade and better access to markets over subsidies.

Moonlight Meadery, a small business based in Londonderry, N.H., “had a deal effectively killed by the retaliatory tariffs on American wine,” Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) said. “This is a deal that would have doubled their output. For a small business that meant a lot. But what’s happened, they’ve had to lay off employees and they’ve also been hit by the increased cost of aluminum because of the tariffs on steel and aluminum.”

A New Hampshire business, Little Bay Lobster Company, that previously sold 50,000 pounds of lobster to China each week “can no longer find a buyer,” Shaheen added. After the Trump administration slapped a 25 percent duty on $34 billion worth of Chinese exports, China retaliated with a 25 percent tariff that priced New Hampshire lobsters out of the market, Shaheen said.

China’s 25 percent retaliatory tariff on U.S. seafood has “clearly rattled my state,” Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) said. The increased duty affects about 40 percent of the state’s salmon exports and 54 percent of its cod exports that went to China last year, she said.

“So this is, this is very, very significant to us. We’re still trying to figure out exactly what this means, not only to our fishermen but to the processors, the logistics industry, all aspects of the seafood supply chain,” Murkowski said.

In addition, Trump’s threat to impose a 10 percent duty on another $200 billion of Chinese exports could boomerang back on Alaska.

“Many of our fish and shellfish that are harvested in the state are then processed in China before re-importing back to the United States for domestic distribution. So in many ways, [Trump’s additional proposed tariffs would impose] a 10 percent tax on our own seafood, which is just a tough one to reconcile,” Murkowski said.

Read the full story at Politico

Group will sue New Hampshire hatchery for pollution

August 3, 2018 — An environmental group plans to sue New Hampshire’s largest fish hatchery, allegations that discharge from the facility is polluting nearby lakes and rivers.

The Conservation Law Foundation announced its plans Thursday to sue the New Hampshire Fish and Game Departments and its commissioners over discharges from the Powder Mill Fish Hatchery in New Durham. It now must wait 60 days before filing a lawsuit in federal court.

In its letter, the group alleges that hatchery food and waste containing high levels of phosphorous, nitrogen and other pollutants has caused “significant water quality violations” in the Merrymeeting River and nearby waterways. The notice alleges that the discharges are in violation of the hatchery’s federal permit which, in turn, violates the federal Clean Water Act.

Among the Conservation Law Foundation’s biggest concern is algae growth and outbreaks of cyanobacteria, which they claim have sickened people and animals, hurt property values along the river and prompted the state to ban activities like swimming in some waterways. The waterways aren’t used for drinking water.

“It’s unthinkable what this state facility has done to the Merrymeeting River, degrading its health and putting the public’s health at risk with cyanobacteria outbreaks,” Tom Irwin, director of Conservation Law Foundation New Hampshire. “During the heart of the summer, people want to swim, boat, and enjoy New Hampshire’s rivers and lakes. They don’t want to be told ‘stay out’.”

Fred Quimby, a retired environmental toxicologist who lives in New Durham where the hatchery is located, said the state has known about this problem for more than 15 years and has failed to take appropriate action to address the dirty discharges. He said cyanobacteria outbreaks have become more common, leading to some people getting skin rashes and animals dying.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the New Jersey Herald

Historic Maine cod fishery had all-time worst year in 2017

July 30, 2018 — PORTLAND, Maine — One of the most historic fisheries in the country hit an all-time low last year as cod fishermen continued to struggle with choking quotas and low abundance of the fish.

Maine’s cod fishery has existed since at least the early 17th century, and it was once one of the strongest in the country. The fishery peaked at more than 21 million pounds of cod, a fish often used with the fish and chips dish, in 1991.

But fishermen only brought 79,816 pounds of cod to land in Maine in 2017, mirroring a downward trend around New England, where cod fishermen have also struggled in New Hampshire and Massachusetts, state data said. Maine’s total was less than half the 2016 haul and by far the lowest on record according to state data that go back to 1950.

One reason for the collapse is that federal quotas for cod are so low many fishermen are just avoiding them altogether, said Terry Alexander, a veteran fisherman out of Portland and Boston. Cod fishermen typically also seek other species, such as haddock and flounder, and they must stop fishing altogether once they reach quota for cod, per the rules.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the Boston Globe

 

Changes coming to herring fishery as bait crunch looms

July 25, 2018 — New England’s lobster fishing industry is again facing the possibility of a bait shortage, and ocean managers are looking to make some tweaks to the herring fishery.

The lobster and herring fisheries are tied to each other because herring is the preferred bait for lobster traps. But fishermen in Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts have sometimes had trouble getting enough bait in recent summers.

An arm of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission changed some of the rules about herring fishing off of New England starting on Monday. The rules have to do with how many days herring fishermen can operate, and how much fish they can bring to land.

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

Change in Area 1A Trimester 2 Effort Controls and Meeting Notice

July 19, 2018 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s (Commission) Atlantic Herring Section members from Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts revised the effort control measures for the 2018 Area 1A Trimester 2 (June 1 – September 30) fishery. 

Days Out of the Fishery

  • Vessels with a herring Category A permit that have declared into the Trimester 2 Area 1A fishery may land herring five (5) consecutive days a week. One landing per 24 hour period. Vessels are prohibited from landing or possessing herring caught from Area 1A during a day out of the fishery.
    • Landing days in New Hampshire and Massachusetts begin on Monday of each week at 12:01 a.m.
    • Landings days in Maine begin on Sunday of each week at 6:00 p.m.
  • Small mesh bottom trawl vessels with a herring Category C or D permit that have declared into the Trimester 2 fishery may land herring seven (7) consecutive days a week.

Weekly Landing Limit

  • Vessels with a herring Category A permit may harvest up to 640,000 lbs (16 trucks) per harvester vessel, per week. 
  • 160,000 lbs (4 trucks) out of the 640,000 lbs weekly limit can be transferred to a carrier vessel (see below).

At-Sea Transfer and Carrier Restrictions

The following applies to harvester vessels with a herring Category A permit and carrier vessels landing herring caught in Area 1A to a Maine, New Hampshire, or Massachusetts port.

  • A harvester vessel can transfer herring at-sea to another catcher vessel.
  • A harvester vessel is limited to making at-sea transfers to only one carrier vessel per week.
  • Carrier vessels are limited to receiving at-sea transfers from one catcher vessel per week and can land once per 24 hour period. A carrier vessel may land up to 160,000 lbs (4 trucks) per week. The carrier limit of 4 trucks is not in addition to the harvester weekly landing limit. Carrier vessel: a vessel with no gear on board capable of catching or processing fish. Harvester vessel: a vessel that is required to report the catch it has aboard as the harvesting vessel on the Federal Vessel Trip Report.

The Area 1A sub-annual catch limit (ACL) is 32,084 metric tons (mt) after adjusting for a carryover from 2016 and the research set-aside. The Section allocated 72.8% of the sub-ACL to Trimester 2 and 27.2% to Trimester 3. After incorporating the 295 mt fixed gear set-aside and the 8% buffer (Area 1A closes at 92% of the sub-ACL), the seasonal quotas are 21,291 mt for Trimester 2 and 7,955 mt for Trimester 3.

These effort controls are projected to extend the Trimester 2 fishery through the end of August. Landings will be monitored closely and the fishery will be adjusted to zero landing days when the trimester’s quota is projected to be reached.

The Atlantic Herring Section members from Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts are scheduled to reconvene via conference call to review fishing effort on:

  • Wednesday, August 8 at 12:30 pm

To join the call, please dial 888.585.9008 and enter conference room number 845-202-505 when prompted. 

Fishermen are prohibited from landing more than 2,000 pounds of Atlantic herring per trip from Area 1A on no landing days. Please contact Megan Ware, Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, at mware@asmfc.org or 703.842.0740 for more information.

A copy of the announcement can be found here –http://www.asmfc.org/files/AtlHerring/AtlHerringDaysOutTri2_July2018.pdf. 

RHODE ISLAND: Limited Availability of Local Seafood in New England

July 9, 2018 — Those looking to buy local seafood at grocery stores and fish markets in New England may have a difficult time finding much, especially if you’re searching for something other than shellfish. Just 15 percent of the seafood available at markets in the region originated in New England, according to a pilot study by the Rhode Island-based nonprofit Eating with the Ecosystem.

“Unfortunately, the results weren’t super surprising to me,” said Kate Masury, the program director for Eating with the Ecosystem who coordinated the project with University of Rhode Island professor Hiro Uchida and student Christina Montello. “We’re a seafood-producing region, it’s a big part of our economy, but we’re not making it available to our own consumers.”

Rhode Island’s results were better than the regional average, though still not as high as one might expect. About 24 percent of the seafood in Ocean State markets was captured in New England waters, which compares favorably to Massachusetts and Connecticut, at 12 percent each, and New Hampshire and Vermont, at 5 percent. Only Maine, at 33 percent, had more local seafood available in the markets surveyed than those in Rhode Island.

The findings are the result of a citizen science project called Market Blitz that took place over a two-week period in March. Volunteers visited 45 supermarkets and seafood markets in all six New England states to identify what species were available and where they were captured.

Read the full story at ecoRI

New Hampshire fishermen face declining prices

July 2, 2018 — Local commercial fishermen say the price per pound they earn for their catch has dropped in recent years as their industry continues to struggle financially.

Fishermen say they have been selling their fish at prices several cents per pound less than in years past, citing strict catch quotas, a decline in businesses that buy their fish and a rise in imported fish as causes for the drop in their earnings.

Hampton fisherman David Geothel said prices for small American plaice, a species of flounder on which he relies in the face of strict cod catch limits, have dropped from $1.40 to $1.50 per pound in previous years to between 40 and 70 cents per pound now. Grey sole, or witch flounder, another species he targets frequently, has gone from $1.50 to $1.80 per pound down to 80 cents to $1.10 per pound.

Jamie Hayward, a gillnetter out of Portsmouth, said he has seen monkfish prices drop by 60 percent from what they were in years past. He and Goethel both said the drop in prices is another blow to fishermen struggling with strict regulations they say are upending their industry. There were once dozens of fishermen in New Hampshire, but now Goethel said less than 10 are actively groundfishing.

“It has potential to be the end, to be honest with you,” Hayward said of the prices and what they could mean for commercial fishing.

Read the full story at the Hampton Union

Atlantic Herring June 26th Days Out Conference Call Cancelled

June 21, 2018 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Atlantic Herring Section members from Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts set effort control measures for the Area 1A fishery via Days Out meetings/calls.

The previously scheduled Days Out call on June 26, 2018 at 10:00 AM has been cancelled. Given the current weekly landings limit in the Area 1A fishery has not been fully harvested by all vessels and catch rates have not exceeded projections, the states have decided a Days Out call is not warranted at this time. The Section awaits the results of the 2018 Atlantic Herring Benchmark Stock Assessment, which is scheduled for peer review onJune 26-28, as well as the outcome of the recommendation from the New England Fishery Management Council to NOAA Fisheries to reduce the 2018 sub-ACLs.

The Atlantic Herring Section members from Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts are scheduled to reconvene via conference call to review fishing effort on the days listed below. If the states determine a Days Out call is needed ahead of July 17th, a call can be scheduled and the public will be notified via a press release.

  • Tuesday, June 26 at 10:00 AM – CANCELLED
  • Tuesday, July 17 at 10:00 AM
  • Wednesday, August 8 (time TBD)

To join the calls, please dial 888.585.9008 and enter conference room number 845-202-505 when prompted.

Please contact Megan Ware, Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, at mware@asmfc.org or 703.842.0740 for more information.

A PDF of the announcement can be found here.

New Hampshire memorials honor those ‘Lost at Sea’

May 29, 2018 — Deep water, as all Seacoast natives know, is beautiful and deadly. From the first settler’s records to the latest headlines, our oceans and rivers have claimed countless souls. Seacoast annals are filled with lives lost due to sudden squalls, shipwrecks, rogue waves, boating mishaps, drownings, naval battles and sunken submarines.

Memorials to those killed and missing at sea dot the greater Portsmouth coastline. From Newburyport, Massachusetts, to York, Maine, we found 10 somber reminders of the perils of water and the horrors of war. Our Memorial Day tour begins at “Great Island,” now New Castle, once the heart of Colonial New Hampshire. An island community dependent on fishing and the maritime trade, New Castle men were frequent victims of harsh weather on the ocean.

Just inside the gates of scenic New Castle Commons, off to the left, is a human-sized white obelisk dated 1856. A dozen lost sailors with familiar local names – Amazeen, Trefethen, Yeaton, Gerrish – are listed. Another side of the memorial, the words now faded, is marked with a fearsome biblical passage from the Book of Revelation. It reads, in part, “And the sea gave up the dead which were in it.”

When historian Charles Brewster wandered New Castle during the Civil War, this marble memorial stood in the garden of the Congregational Church – “a refreshing green spot, handsomely laid out” with gravel walks and flowerbeds. By 1916, with more names added, the obelisk had been moved to Riverside Cemetery. It was cleaned and moved again to its current location near the Oceanside Cemetery in 1997, within view of three lighthouses. Sadly, a modern plaque notes, this monument lists only a portion of the residents of New Hampshire’s smallest town (comprising only one square mile) who were buried in a watery grave over the last four centuries.

Here are nine more Seacoast memorials, large and small, that recall lives lost at sea or interned in foreign lands.

Read the full story at the Portsmouth Herald