Saving Seafood

National Fisheries Institute joins US business-backed campaign against tariffs

September 13, 2018 — The National Fisheries Institute has joined around 80 other U.S. trade associations in a coordinated campaign to oppose tariffs and other barriers to free trade.

The multi-industry coalition, Americans for Free Trade, on Wedneday, 12 September, launched a multi-million dollar national campaign titled Tariffs Hurt the Heartland. The campaign is aimed at members of the U.S. Congress and the general public and will tell stories of American businesses, farmers, workers, and families being hurt by the recently imposed tariffs. It will include events in congressional districts across the country; paid television, radio, and online advertisements; a “rapid-response war room” that will fact check and respond to tariff announcements; a digital and traditional media campaign including op-eds, blogs, and press statements on tariff-related issues; and direct outreach to key members of Congress “on behalf of grassroots voices from across the nation,” according to the newly-formed organization.

“American jobs are fueled by international trade in seafood,” NFI President John Connelly said in a press release. “Without access to seafood imports from important markets like China, or if these products become too expensive, jobs here in the U.S. will pay the price.”

Partners in the campaign include the National Retail Federation, Farmers for Free Trade, Retail Industry Leaders, the Consumer Technology Association, the American Apparel and Footwear Association, and the National Marine Manufacturers Association. A full list of participating organizations can be seen at the campaign’s website, AmericansforFreeTrade.com.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Tariffs throw wrench into seafood supply chain

September 6, 2018 — Many seafood processors, fishermen and support businesses have been watching with increasing dismay as the trade war between U.S. and China heats up and impacts billions of dollars in trade.

In March, President Donald Trump’s administration announced its intention to levy tariffs against China in connection with “unfair” trade practices, including theft of intellectual property. When the first round of tariffs on Chinese products were announced, the seafood industry hoped to escape the list of impacted items.

That hope faded when a host of seafood products were included on the list of proposed retaliatory tariffs from the Chinese government. Then Office of the U.S. Trade Representative proposed another set of tariffs, including seafood products, at 10 percent in July. Then that number was upped to 25 percent in August.

In a hearing hosted by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative Aug. 20–24, Bob DeHaan of the National Fisheries Institute said the tariffs will effectively punish American fishermen for Chinese intellectual property theft, which has nothing to do with them. Of the $2.7 billion in proposed tariffs on seafood, more than $95 million came from Alaskan fishermen.

“In many cases such as the iconic Bristol Bay salmon run that just concluded this year, the fishermen are family-owned enterprises who sell their catch to seafood companies for processing, distribution and sale around the world,” he said. “How punishing these harvesters and these businesses for in effect buying American will convince China to respect its obligations regarding intellectual property rights and technology transfers is difficult to fathom.”

Read the full story at the Alaska Journal of Commerce

NFI testifies against proposed tariffs against China

August 23, 2018 — The National Fisheries Institute testified before the United States Trade Representative on 22 August in strong opposition to new tariffs proposed by the Trump Administration on Chinese goods.

The tariffs, which could be either 10 or 25 percent, would impact USD 200 billion (EUR 172 billion) in goods sourced annually from China. Robert DeHaan, representing NFI, said the tariffs would harm the seafood industry in the United States.

“USTR’s proposal will punish American fishermen and the communities that rely on them by making their products more expensive for American families to eat,” said DeHaan. “Of the [USD 2.7 billion (EUR 2.32 billion)] in annual seafood shipments subject to this proposal, an estimated [USD 950 million (EUR 819 million)] – more than a third – comes from an American fisherman – primarily an Alaska fisherman – harvesting in U.S. waters in a U.S.-flag vessel using a U.S. crew.”

The Trump Administration’s stated goal for the tariffs – making China respect its obligations regarding intellectual property rights – don’t line up with tariffs on seafood, added DeHaan.

“How punishing these harvesters – and these businesses for ‘Buying American’ – will convince China to respect its obligations regarding intellectual property rights and technology transfers is difficult to fathom,” he said. “Cutting fish is not an intellectual property secret.”

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Fishing industry gears up for a fight over China tariffs

August 10, 2018 — A national fishing industry group is using local workers to put human faces on the plight that the commercial fishing sector faces amid the trade fight with China.

The National Fisheries Institute just released a series of videos featuring New Englanders — a processing plant manager in Boston, a Quincy seafood shop owner, a supplier to Maine lobstermen — extolling the virtues of free trade. Institute spokesman Gavin Gibbons says the group started featuring people in the Northeast because of the balance of import and export work that happens here. You can’t treat fish like steel, he says. Commercial fishermen, for the most part, face strict federal quotas. There’s simply no way to ramp up domestic production if it becomes tough to import seafood.

Gibbons’ group fears imports will become much more challenging if the Trump administration follows through on plans to impose tariffs of up to 25 percent on seafood imports from China. An NFI lobbyist will testify before the International Trade Commission on Aug. 20 to argue against them. (NFI represents all corners of the industry: fishermen, retailers, wholesalers.)

The US has plunged headlong into a tit-for-tat fight. China has already imposed a 25 percent tariff on US seafood exports, much to the chagrin of the lobstermen who had found a burgeoning new foreign market in that country.

Read the full story at The Boston Globe

NFI Expands “Seafood, See Jobs” Trade Education Campaign

August 7, 2018 — SEAFOOD NEWS –After rebranding its AboutSeafood.com website late last week to support the stories of American seafood workers, the National Fisheries Institute (NFI) has announced that they have now expanded their content offerings.

The “Seafood, See Jobs” campaign “tells individual stories of the American seafood workforce to illustrate that both importers and exporters fear the harmful effect of the trade policies the U.S. Government is imposing via tariffs on seafood.” The campaign initially launched with three “Featured Videos” and four “Faces of Seafood Jobs” videos on the AboutSeafood.com home page. Just a day after the launch NFI has added an additional two videos to their “Featured Videos” section and one more video to their “Faces of Seafood Jobs” section. The organization plans on updating the site weekly with new videos and content.

NFI hopes to portray the message that “seafood trade is not a simple matter of import vs. domestic.”

“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,” NFI president John Connelly said in a press release. “We’re brining these stories to policy makers 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.”

Visit AboutSeafood.com to learn more. Or visit SeafoodSeeJobs.com to go directly to the campaign videos.

This story originally appeared on SeafoodNews.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission.

National Fisheries Institute launches campaign defending US seafood jobs

August 3, 2018 –The National Fisheries Institute is rebranding its AboutSeafood.com website in an effort to support U.S. seafood workers, the organization announced on Thursday, 2 August.

The move comes on the heels of existing and potential future tariffs between the United States and China. What started out as a set of tariffs initiated by U.S. President Donald Trump in January eventually escalated into a full-blown trade war, which hit the the seafood industry when China implemented 25 percent tariffs in June on several items, including seafood.

The United States soon responded with its own tariffs on seafood in July. China, in turn, said it would take “firm and forceful measures” in response. Now, President Trump has threatened still more tariffs as U.S. fishermen seek relief for the damage already being done by existing tariffs on their goods.

The NFI’s new campaign, “Seafood, See Jobs,” looks into the lives of workers that rely on the seafood industry for their livelihood. Fishmongers, lobstermen, and fishermen are featured, in addition to the many tertiary roles that rely on the industry, such as chefs, truck drivers, and manufacturing workers. The goal is to demonstrate the real impact the tariffs are having on American workers.

“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,” said NFI President John Connelly. “We’re bringing those stories to policy makers 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.”

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Trump’s plan for the oceans? More business, less protection

June 26, 2018 — Sea levels are rising, fish are chasing warmer waters north, $300 billion worth of goods are coming into or departing from American ports every year. It’s a dynamic time for coastal communities.

But with the stroke of a pen last week, President Donald Trump put the brakes on a comprehensive plan — years in the making — to balance the environmental, recreational and economic interests competing for the future of the oceans surrounding the U.S.

The Trump Administration is presenting a new executive order as a fundamental adjustment away from unnecessary levels of bureaucracy and toward an ocean policy that puts national security, job creation and corporate aspirations above all else.

The shift has been warmly received by fishermen and other business groups. Conservationists, however, are anxious that attitudes about ocean use will regress.

It’s quite a change of direction from the two terms under President Barack Obama.

Commercial fishermen have been strong critics of the previous policy and were happy to see it sink.

John Connelly, president of the seafood industry’s National Fisheries Institute, said in a statement that the Obama plan “excluded the perspective of the men and women who work the water.”

The National Ocean Policy created “additional levels of bureaucracy and uncertainty that threatened to reduce the overall productivity of our industry by forcing small business owners to divert limited resources away from their operations in order to deal with this unnecessary and ambiguous regulatory maze,” said Jim Donofrio, executive director of the Recreational Fishing Alliance, which is based in Bass River.

Garden State Seafood Association executive director Greg DiDomenico told the Press that “it’s safe to say we are encouraged” by Trump’s attitude toward ocean policy.

Read the full story at the Asbury Park Press

 

US imported more seafood in 2017 than any prior year

June 25, 2018 — The United States imported more seafood last year than at any point in its history, and the nation’s trade deficit in the sector is growing, federal data show.

The U.S. imported more than 6 billion pounds of seafood valued at more than $21.5 billion in 2017, according to data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which oversees American fisheries. The country exported more than 3.6 billion pounds valued at about $6 billion.

The widening gap comes at a time when Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, who heads the federal agency that includes NOAA, has identified reducing the deficit as a priority for the government.

The U.S. is home to major commercial fisheries for species such as Pacific salmon, New England lobster and Alaska pollock, but it imports more than 90 percent of the seafood the public consumes.

Ross and others in U.S. fisheries are looking at new strategies to cut the deficit, including increasing the amount of aquaculture-based farming, said Jennie Lyons, a NOAA spokeswoman.

The U.S. trades in seafood with countries all over the world, and the countries it buys the most from include Canada, China and Chile. Major buyers of U.S. seafood include China, Japan and South Korea.

While U.S. fishermen would love to grow commercial fisheries, it’s important to note that domestic and imported seafood are both important parts of the supply chain and support thousands of American jobs, said Gavin Gibbons, spokesman for the National Fisheries Institute.

Read the full story at the Associated Press

Tariff tango: Chinese seafood markets at risk as trade rhetoric escalates

June 20, 2018 — Last Friday U.S. and Chinese officials announced a bundle of tariffs, each targeting the other nation’s exports in what could become an all-out trade war.

President Donald Trump made an announcement early in the day imposing a 35 percent tariff on all Chinese goods containing “industrially significant technologies,” an estimated $50 billion worth of Chinese goods, calling the move an effort to boost domestic production.

More than 800 products, about $34 billion worth, will be subject to tariffs starting July 6. About 280 other exports will need to undergo a public comment period and will take effect later.

Later in the day of June 15, officials with the Ministry of Finance of the People’s Republic of China responded with the announcement of a retaliatory 25 percent tariff on various U.S. exports, including many seafood products. That 25 percent would be charged on top of existing tariffs.

“We are deeply disappointed in these retaliatory tariffs. There is no connection between the products targeted by the U.S. and the tariffs Beijing plans to impose on exported American seafood,” said John Connelly, president of the National Fisheries Institute.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

 

NFI’s Connelly: NOAA’s silence giving rise in US to third-party certifiers

June 11, 2018 — John Connelly, the president of the National Fisheries Institute (NFI), used his opportunity in front of US representative Rob Bishop, chairman of the House’s Natural Resources Committee, to light a fire under the federal government’s top fisheries regulator to better promote its quality work.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) “regulation of seafood sets a global standard for success, but it needs to do a better job of explaining that”, said Connelly, whose group most significantly represents seafood processors, wholesalers and importers, according to a statement.

“…Communicating about its successes raises NOAA’s profile, while a sea of third-party certifiers jockey for recognition in the commercial landscape,” he continued.

“Fisheries managed by NOAA shouldn’t need a third party to come in and certify that they’re doing a good job. We spend more than 800 million taxpayer dollars on fisheries management annually, the least NOAA can do is talk about it.”

Read the full story at Undercurrent News