Saving Seafood

Secretary of Commerce allocates $300 million in CARES Act aid to U.S. fishermen and seafood industries impacted by COVID-19

May 7, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA:

Today, Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross announced the allocation of $300 million in economic relief to U.S. fishermen and seafood industries affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The funds were allocated as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), signed into law on March 27 by President Trump.

Commercial fishing, charter/for-hire businesses, qualified aquaculture operations, processors, and parts of the seafood sector in coastal states and territories are among those eligible to apply for funds. Tribes are also eligible for funding including for any negative impacts to subsistence, cultural, or ceremonial fisheries. The Department of Commerce’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) will work with the three Interstate Marine Fishery Commissions, organizations with a demonstrated track record of success in disbursing funds, to quickly deliver financial assistance into the hands of those who need it.

“This relief package will support America’s fishermen and our seafood sector’s recovery,” said U.S. Department of Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross. “Thank you President Trump, Secretary Mnuchin, and our Congressional leaders of both parties for your work to pass the historic legislation that is bringing much needed relief to America’s fishermen. This Administration stands with the men and women working to provide healthy and safe seafood during this uniquely challenging time, while our U.S. fisheries work to continue to support 1.7 million jobs and to generate $200 billion in annual sales. The Nation is grateful to our fishermen for their commitment.”

Acting NOAA Administrator Neil Jacobs, Ph.D., lauded today’s announcement.

“For generations, our coastal communities have taken great pride in delivering protein-rich seafood to dinner tables across the country and enabling access to our world class recreational fisheries,” said Jacobs. “NOAA thanks our partners in the interstate marine fisheries commissions, states, territories, and Tribes for their assistance. Together, we will work to distribute these funds as quickly as possible.”

In addition to these funds, the President recently signed into law other Federal financial assistance programs, including at the Small Business Administration and U.S. Department of Agriculture, that can provide help to fishermen and related businesses.

Industries can find additional NOAA financial assistance information on our website.

$28M in aid headed to Massachusetts fisheries

May 7, 2020 — The Massachusetts seafood industry is set to receive $28 million of the $300 million in federal fisheries assistance — the highest amount of any state after Alaska and Washington, NOAA Fisheries told federal legislators Thursday in an email obtained by the Gloucester Daily Times.

The federal funds, which were part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security or CARES Act, are to be used to “address direct or indirect fishery-related losses, as well as subsistence, cultural or ceremonial impacts related to COVID-19.”

It remains unclear how the money will be distributed. The announcement also did not include specific eligibility requirements for receiving the assistance.

In general, fishery participants eligible to apply for the funding include tribes, commercial fishing businesses, charter and for-hire fishing businesses, qualified aquacultural operations, processors and other fishery-related businesses.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times

ISSF Adds New Board Member; Two Fisheries Experts Appointed to ISSF Environmental Stakeholder Committee

May 6, 2020 — The following was released by the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation:

The International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF) announced today recent appointments to its Board of Directors and Environmental Stakeholder Committee.

ISSF’s Environmental Stakeholder Committee (ESC) elected Bill Holden of the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) its Chair. In that role, he also joins the ISSF Board of Directors, replacing long-time Board member Dr. Bill Fox, formerly of WWF-US, who recently retired.

“The leadership and expertise displayed by Dr. Bill Fox, both as a member of the ISSF Board and the Environmental Stakeholder Committee, as well as a partner at WWF, has been invaluable,” said ISSF President Susan Jackson. “We are thankful for Bill’s guidance and commitment to ISSF and our collaborative work toward sustainable tuna fisheries and ocean health.”

In addition, Sara Lewis of FishWise and Dr. Tom Pickerell of the Global Tuna Alliance have joined the ESC.

“It’s always a pleasure to have new experts and advocates join our committees. These additions are serious assets to our conservation initiatives,” Jackson said. “Bill Holden joining the ISSF Board of Directors as Chair of our ESC is notable. It is the result of an enhancement in ISSF governance: the ESC elects its chair and that chairperson is then elevated to an additional leadership role as a member of the ISSF Board. Bill is well suited for this newly expanded role.”

Jackson added, “Sara Lewis’ devotion to transparency and traceability at FishWise makes her an ideal candidate for the ESC. And we welcome Dr. Tom Pickerell’s scientific guidance and collaboration once again as he returns to the ESC in his new role leading the Global Tuna Alliance.”

Dr. Bruce Collette, from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), retired from the ESC in January. He had been with the committee since its inception.

“Dr. Collette worked with ISSF on the ESC since the beginning,” Jackson added. “His fisheries expertise made him an invaluable asset to the committee, where his passion for tuna conservation is dearly missed.”

Read the full release here

MARTY SCANLON: Observer waiver expires, increasing risk to longline fleet

May 6, 2020 — The following is a letter to Randy Blankenship, NOAA’s Southeast Branch chief of the Atlantic Highly Migratory Species Management Division.

I certainly hope all is well. I would think that our federal government is still operating under the Social Distancing Guidelines that our country is under till May 15. With this being said, I am extremely disappointed to be taking calls from my membership that our pelagic longline industry’s observer waiver has not been extended.

Aside from the inherent danger of traveling from all over the country, the inability to practice social distancing within the confines of our small pelagic longline vessels puts both our crews and observers at increased risk.

We have an observer program that operates at a high standard of safety and at-sea risk criteria. I would think the danger of covid-19 to any observer through improper social distancing is far greater than if a vessel’s flares were to expire in the middle of the trip.

NMFS not extending the observer waiver to our pelagic longline industry is a blatant disregard for the wellbeing of our individual captains, their crews, our observers, as well as the families they would be returning to. The Blue Water Fishermen’s Association and its membership will be holding the agency as well as observer program responsible for any negative results of this blatant disregard of the president’s social distancing guidelines.

Read the full opinion piece at National Fisherman

NOAA again extends waiver to allow fishing without monitors

May 5, 2020 — The federal government is extending its suspension of the requirement for at-sea monitors in some East Coast fisheries until at least the middle of the month.

Some fishing boats are required to carry workers on board who collect data about commercial fishing. They are called observers or at-sea monitors, and the data they gather helps inform federal management of fisheries.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said its waiving the requirement in some Northeast fisheries until May 16. The agency waived the requirement to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the Bangor Daily News

NOAA Fisheries Approves Framework Adjustment 6 to the Atlantic Herring Fishery Management Plan

May 5, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA Fisheries approves Framework Adjustment 6 to the Atlantic Herring Fishery Management Plan (FMP). This action reduces Atlantic herring catch limits for 2020 and 2021, consistent with the New England Council’s harvest policy for herring and in response to estimates of herring biomass and recruitment, and maintains the 2019 catch caps for river herring and shad for 2020 and 2021.

This action updates the overfished and overfishing definition for the herring stock. The updated definitions are more consistent with the 2018 herring stock assessment, definitions used for other stocks in the region, and the ABC control rule developed in Amendment 8 to the Herring FMP.  This action suspends the carryover of unharvested herring catch for 2020 and 2021. Suspending carryover is needed because the amount of carryover from 2018 (just under 5,000 mt), and potentially 2019, is substantial relative to the reduced ACL for 2020 and 2021 (11,571 mt). If carryover is harvested in specific management areas early in the year, other areas that are typically fished later in the year may be constrained by the ACL such that the sub-ACLs in those areas cannot be fully harvested. Suspending carryover is consistent with the Council’s precautionary management given the approaching overfished condition of the herring stock and the uncertainty surrounding estimates of herring biomass and recruitment. This action also makes minor administrative clarifications and corrections to existing regulations.

Read the final rule as filed in the Federal Register and the permit holder bulletin available on our website.

Read the full release here

Carper, Coons ask NOAA to support fishermen, seafood processors in smaller states

May 4, 2020 — Sens. Tom Carper and Chris Coons, D-Delaware, and Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy, both D-Connecticut, are asking the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration assistant administrator to be transparent, expedient and fair in determining how Fishery Disaster Assistance funding is allocated to fishermen and seafood processors across the country, and urged the agency to consider a minimum allocation for smaller coastal states.

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has devastated fisheries, fisheries distributors, and fisheries processors, who are experiencing severe economic losses as domestic purchasing has plunged and exports have slowed. With limited capital, fishing communities — business owners, crews and processing plant workers — are facing unforeseen financial hardships that put their livelihoods at risk.

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act appropriated $300 million to NOAA for fishery disaster assistance. However, NOAA and the Office of Management and Budget are still considering how to distribute these funds among impacted fishing states. Without a minimum allocation, larger operations may receive a disproportionate amount of available funds, leaving struggling small businesses in states like Delaware and Connecticut with little help — and little recourse.

Read the full story at The Milford Beacon

Northeast Observer Waiver Extended through May 16

May 1, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA Fisheries is extending the waiver granted to vessels with Greater Atlantic Region fishing permits to carry human observers or at-sea monitors for an additional two weeks, through May 16, 2020. This action is authorized by 50 CFR 648.11, which provides the Greater Atlantic Regional Administrator authority to waive observer requirements, and is also consistent with the criteria described in the agency’s emergency rule on observer waivers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

NOAA Fisheries will continue to monitor and evaluate this situation.  As we have done in other parts of the country, we will use this time to work with the observer service providers to implement adjustments to the logistics of deploying observers, ensuring qualified observers or at-sea monitors are available as soon as safely possible.

Observers and at-sea monitors are an essential component of commercial fishing operations and provide critical information that is necessary to keep fisheries open and to provide sustainable seafood to our nation during this time. We will continue to monitor all local public health notifications, as well as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for updates. We are committed to protecting the public health and ensuring the safety of fishermen, observers, and others, while fulfilling our mission to maintain our nation’s seafood supply and conserving marine life.

Read the full release here

Northeast lawmakers demand immediate guidance, speedy release of coronavirus aid

May 1, 2020 — Congressional delegations from Massachusetts and New Jersey took up fishing industry calls for immediate guidance and “transparent distribution” from the Department of Commerce to allocate $300 million in coronavirus fisheries assistance approved by Congress.

“The Trump administration must swiftly make this financial assistance available to fishing communities and allocate it in a way that equitably accounts for the severe economic losses the hardest hit states have endured,” New Jersey’s delegation wrote in an April 23 letter to Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross.

“It has been nearly a month since the CARES Act was signed into law by President Trump…and yet the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has not released guidance for the distribution of the emergency aid nor has it publicly stated when that guidance will be released.”

“Since Congress passed the CARES Act on March 25, 2020, the Commerce Department has made only one public statement on the assistance to fisheries participants,” the Massachusetts lawmakers told Ross in an April 29 message.

NOAA’s sole public communication on the CARES Act fisheries aid was six sentences that appeared April 2 on its website, along with the link to an email address for fishermen and other stakeholders to submit information about the economic impacts of coronaries on their businesses.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

Reminder: Possession and Trip Limits for Northeast Multispecies Common Pool Vessels

May 1, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

On April 22, 2020, we published an inseason action that set fishing year 2020 common pool possession and trip limits, effective today, May 1, 2020.

You can find more information about the common pool possession and trip limits on the common pool summary page.  You can also read the notice published in the Federal Register, and the permit holder bulletin.

Read the full release here