Saving Seafood

NORTH CAROLINA: Offshore drilling suspended on NC coast, fishing industry has mixed reactions

April 29, 2019 — The Trump administration has put a suspension on plans to expand offshore drilling off the North Carolina coast, leading to mixed reactions from the state fishing industry.

Randy Robinson, a representative of Brunswick County on the N.C. Fisheries Association Board of Directors thinks that the presence of offshore drilling “isn’t necessarily a bad idea.“ He considers that offshore drilling could play a role in increasing the net amount of jobs for North Carolinians.

Additionally, Robinson blames the N.C. Wildlife Federation for causing more damage than offshore drilling would do. He explains that the organization’s push to reduce trawls and limit the length of nets for fishing shrimp has negatively affected commercial fishing across the state’s coast.

Read the full story at WECT

Lingering North Carolina Fisheries Association issues persist into 2019

January 25, 2019 — Captain George’s was the venue for the recent 2019 North Carolina Fisheries Association’s Annual Meeting, which addressed issues that included conflicts with special interest groups, shrimp trawl bans and aquaculture in the sounds.

The NCFA is the primary organization promoting, providing education and, in recent years, defending North Carolina’s commercial fishing industry.

NCFA board presided over an extensive agenda, discussing and taking comments from the dozen or so NCFA members attending on a wide range of legislative, regulatory and other issues the organization faces in 2019.

As board Chairman Brent Fulcher worked his way through the agenda, many of the same concerns facing the NCFA this year are the same, unresolved issues that were on the board’s plate five, 10, and even 20 years ago.

Primary among them were the continuing challenges of well-financed efforts of special interest groups claiming to represent recreational fishing interests.

For those who have followed these issues in the past, the actions of the Coastal Conservation Association, a national group with state chapters active in virtually every state, was once again behind several initiatives seen as a threat by the NCFA to their industry.

Read the full story at The Outer Banks Voice

North Carolina blue crab stocks flourish, but Hurricane Florence wiped out infrastructure

January 24, 2019 — North Carolina’s blue crab season got off to a good start, but was slammed when Hurricane Florence hit in September and was expected to rebound as 2018 came to a close.

“Some crabbers lost everything, and several packing operations were completely destroyed. It’s been a very tough year for the industry in general,” said Glenn Skinner, executive director of the North Carolina Fisheries Association.

However, preliminary figures indicate the blue crab fishery came out better than expected.

“All in all, 2018 was a great crab year for us,” says Dylan Dunbar, manager of Paradise Shores Seafood in Pamlico County. “Around here, crabbing usually slacks off in early July, when Maryland and Virginia markets pick up, and the prices drop. Many pull their pots and wait for things to pick up after the new year.”

Not so for many crabbers to the south, where the devastation from Florence was more extensive and took a toll on the area’s fish houses.

The 2018 Semi-Annual Commercial Landings Bulletin (January-June) indicates a decrease in blue crab landings, down from 8 million pounds landed in 2017 to 5.8 million for the same period this year.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

How Did North Carolina’s Commerical Fishing Industry Fare In Hurricane Florence?

October 10, 2018 — While cleanup crews are getting a good idea of how much the damage Hurricane Florence will cost, it’s not yet clear what the storm might have done to North Carolina’s fishing industry.

Farmers on land lost more than $1 billion worth of crops in the floodwaters from the hurricane. Jerry Schill of the North Carolina Fisheries Association says, in a way, commercial fishermen lost crops of their own.

“The fish stocks that they normally fish for in the fall, those fish stocks are displaced,” he said.

When a hurricane comes through, fish move to calmer waters – and it takes a while for them to come back – or they get caught in the storm surge and end up on dry land. One of the many images that went viral after Hurricane Florence was a photo of dead fish on Interstate 40 near Wilmington.

“A crop in the field, if it gets touched by floodwaters, it’s not usable. Well, our crop better be touched by water, or it’s not usable,” Schill said.

The exception to that rule is shellfish. Schill says commercial fishermen lost millions of oysters and clams because of too much exposure to fresh water from the floods.

Schill was speaking to a committee in the Legislature this week, one of many considering Hurricane Florence relief measures. The full House and Senate reconvene next week, and lawmakers are trying to sort through the damage estimates before then.

Those numbers help these committees come up with how much money they should ask for when the Legislature votes on a recovery package. But the commercial fishing industry doesn’t have the full picture yet.

Read the full story at WUNC

Following Florence: Carolina fishing families assess damages, prepare for fall fishing

October 3, 2018 — “We may be bruised, but we are not broken.”

These words were posted on Facebook by staff at R.E. Mayo Seafood shortly after Hurricane Florence pounded coastal North Carolina. Owned by Birdie and Carroll Potter, the business is located on the Intracoastal Waterway in Hobucken, N.C., and has long been known as the hub for locally caught fish, crabs, scallops and shrimp.

A bit further down the coast in Oriental, Endurance Seafood took a devastating hit, putting the company out of business.

“We are wiped out. No dock, no cooler, no freezer, no ice – Florence took it all. This storm was bad, it actually beat my walk-in cooler and freezer into pieces,” said owner Keith Bruno. Despite the destruction, he is optimistic.

“The important part is we are all safe,” said Bruno. “The rest — not so good.”

“You’ve got to move forward, you’ve got to keep going… because that’s what we do. We every once in a while have to pay a price to live so close to beauty. There is no doubt we’ll be back and stronger than ever. We will live up to our name and then some.”

Pamlico County fishermen were hit the hardest, according to Glenn Skinner, executive director of the North Carolina Fisheries Association.

“Some fish packing operations in Oriental and Vandemere were completely destroyed. It’s going to be a real hard winter for the industry,” said Skinner.

“We are kind of like farmers, we have a fall crop,” he explained. “The fall fisheries are big. We use that money and put it away for the winter time. The fisheries are going to be gone after this strong blow for several days. It will be next spring before we can make that up.”

Jerry Schill, government affairs liaison for NCFA, says these types of storms have a big impact on the mental health of fishermen and other working class North Carolinians.

“If these guys don’t catch anything, they get nothing. It doesn’t matter how hard they work. That’s a lot of stress on a family,” said Schill.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

NORTH CAROLINA: Florence Adds to Stress for Seafood Industry

September 27, 2018 — During a major hurricane, fish migrate away, oysters get contaminated and shrimp are blown to sea, scattered to deeper waters.

Though sometimes unnoticed, the seafood industry takes a big hit after storms like Florence. Not only does the crop move, but fishermen often live and work in the coastal communities that take the brunt of the storm’s rage.

“We get overlooked real easy. We are isolated to the coast. And unlike the agricultural industry, this affects everyone,” said Glenn Skinner, executive director of the North Carolina Fisheries Association. “Everyone who fishes is affected by this.”

Their boats, gear, docks and packing houses take a blow.

Anticipating the power outages, many fishermen got as much seafood as they could out of their giant cooling lockers and shipped it north and west. Any inventory that touches flood waters must be discarded.

Florence struck Pamlico County fishermen the hardest, according to Skinner. Some fish packing operations in Oriental and Vandemere were completely destroyed.

“It’s going to be a real hard winter for the industry,” Skinner said.

“We are kind of like farmers, we have a fall crop,” he explained. “The fall fisheries are big. We use that money and put it away for the winter time. The fisheries are going to be gone after this strong blow for several days. It will be next spring before we can make that up.”

Read the full story at the North Carolina Health News

After Florence, North Carolina fisheries begin recovery effort

September 24, 2018 — As Hurricane Florence pounded the North Carolina coast, representatives from Endurance Seafood used social media to give a first-hand account of the situation.

“We are all safe,” the company announced on a 14 September Facebook post. “The dock and coolers, not so good.”

Company video shows a storm surge pushing into the Oriental, North Carolina community. It was powerful enough to take the down the dock, damage equipment and flood the area. Five days later, Endurance owner Keith Bruno showed UNC Public Media the extent of the damage. The fishing equipment was safe, he said. However, the land operations, where Endurance buys and markets seafood, has been destroyed.

Bruno told UNC’s My Home, NC that the company will live up to its name.

“You’ve got to move forward, you’ve got to keep going…because that’s what we do,” he said. “We every once in a while have to pay a price to live so close to beauty.”

What price that will be for Hurricane Florence remains to be seen, but AccuWeather Founder and President Joel Myers predicted the storm will cause up to USD 60 billion (EUR 51.1 billion) in damage, and that includes the losses from the ongoing flooding wreaking havoc in the Carolinas.

A substantial portion of those losses will be incurred by the seafood industry, and once the weather subsides, officials want to be ready so they can expedite the recovery process.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

NORTH CAROLINA: Governor Cooper makes MFC appointments

August 2, 2018 — The following was released by the North Carolina Fisheries Association:

We have been notified today that Gov. Roy Cooper has appointed the following individuals to the Marine Fisheries Commission:

* Rob Bizzell of Kinston as a Recreation Sports Fisherman & Chair.

Bizzell is the Founder of Realo Discount Drug Stores, and the co-founder of Carolina Home Medical. Bizzell served as the President for the North Carolina Pharmaceutical Association and Chair of the Marine Fisheries Commission.

* Mike Blanton of Elizabeth City as a Commercial Fisherman.
Blanton fishes full-time in the Albemarle Sound. He currently serves as the proxy for the North Carolina Legislative Appointee to the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission.

* Tom Hendrickson of Zebulon and Harkers Island as a member at-large.
He is an attorney and businessman who works in real estate development, commercial real estate investment and management, including apartments in New Bern and affordable housing in Charlotte. He also serves on the Global Transpark Authority and was the Founding Chairman of North State Bank.

NCFA is pleased that the Governor has made these appointments and notes that commercial fisherman Mike Blanton is an NCFA member. We encourage fishermen to attend the next MFC meeting in Raleigh August 15 & 16.

 

House Passes MSA Reauthorization with Support of NCFC Members

July 13, 2018 — The following was released by Saving Seafood’s National Coalition for Fishing Communities:

Yesterday the House passed H.R. 200, the Strengthening Fishing Communities and Increasing Flexibility in Fisheries Management Act, which modifies and reauthorizes the Magnuson-Stevens Act.

Members of Saving Seafood’s National Coalition for Fishing Communities from around the country have been invested in improving MSA for years, and weighed in with their comments and concerns at various points in this process.

Many of these concerns were addressed during the committee process and in the discussion of amendments. Several Members of Congress cited support from NCFC members for the bill during the debate on the House floor.

From Rep. Bradley Byrne of Alabama:

Let me tell you, there are over 170 groups that have signed on to being supportive of this bill. I do not have time to read all the names to you, but let me just read a few: the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation…the National Coalition for Fishing Communities…and the Guy Harvey Foundation. This is a very broadly, deeply supported bill among people who are actually fishing. Now, it may not be supported by people who don’t fish and who don’t know anything about fishing, but for those of us who do fish…we like it.

From Rep. Garret Graves of Louisiana:

…Mr. Chairman, this bill is bipartisan. It’s why we have bipartisan support for this legislation. We have co-sponsors. It’s why the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation, the National Coalition for Fishing Communities…American Scallop Association, Garden State Seafood Association, West Coast Seafood Processors Association, North Carolina Fisheries Association, Florida Keys Commercial Fishing Association, Gulf Coast Seafood Alliance, Southeastern Fisheries Association and many, many others that have a genuine stake in the sustainability of our fisheries [support this legislation].

In the debate over a proposed amendment from Reps. Jared Huffman of California and Alcee Hastings of Florida that would be detrimental to commercial fishing, Rep. Don Young of Alaska, author of the bill, quoted from a letter signed by several of our members and submitted the day before the vote. The amendment was ultimately defeated.

According to a letter authorized by the National Coalition for Fishing Communities…I want to submit for the record, if I could, the letter to the leadership of the House and to myself where they say… “We believe it will undermine the MSA, impede reforms that are desperately needed, and attack jobs in coastal communities around the country, including California and Florida,” the home states of Mr. Huffman and Mr. Hastings. I suggest this amendment is uncalled for and frankly will gut the bill and the MSA, period.

East and West Coast NCFC Members: ‘H.R. 200 Will Create Flexibility Without Compromising Conservation’

June 25, 2018 — WASHINGTON — Today, East and West Coast members of Saving Seafood’s National Coalition for Fishing Communities (NCFC) submitted a letter to Speaker of the House Paul Ryan and Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy in support of H.R. 200, the Strengthening Fishing Communities and Increasing Flexibility in Fisheries Management Act, which would update the Magnuson-Stevens Act.

The letter, which was also sent to Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Rob Bishop, House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Emeritus Don Young, and other top Congressional officials, states that H.R. 200 will “create flexibility without compromising conservation.”

“We want a Magnuson-Stevens Act (MSA) that allows for both sustainable fisheries management, and the long-term preservation of our nation’s fishing communities,” the groups wrote. “We firmly believe that Congress can meet these goals by allowing for more flexibility in management, eliminating arbitrary rebuilding timelines, and adding other reforms that better take into account the complex challenges facing commercial fishermen.”

The letter does not include support from the NCFC’s Florida, Gulf of Mexico, and South Atlantic members, which supported the legislation from the beginning, but withdrew their support due to a late change to the Manager’s Amendment that would negatively impact their region. The NCFC’s East and West Coast members continue to support the bill on its overall merits, but share the concerns of Gulf and South Atlantic fishermen over this late alteration.

Organizations affiliated with the NCFC do not accept money from ENGOs, and represent the authentic views of the U.S. commercial fishing industry.

The letter signers represent the American Scallop Association, Atlantic Red Crab Company, Atlantic Capes Fisheries, BASE Seafood, California Wetfish Producers Association, Cape Seafood, Garden State Seafood Association, Inlet Seafood, Long Island Commercial Fishing Association, Lund’s Fisheries, North Carolina Fisheries Association, Rhode Island Commercial Fishermen’s Alliance, Seafreeze Ltd., Town Dock, West Coast Seafood Processors Association, and Western Fishboat Owners Association.

Read the full letter here