Saving Seafood

VIRGINIA: Fish factory workers rescue two kayakers

July 25, 2024 — On Wednesday, July 10, four Omega Protein employees went above and beyond their daily protocols when they rescued two overturned kayakers near the facility.

It was a regular, windy day when lead fish bailer Darvell Kelly noticed something strange a ways away in the water.

According to Kelly, the waters were rough that day as he was unloading fish from the boat to the dock at the facility.

While getting on and off the boat unloading, Kelly realized what he had seen in the distance in Cockrell Creek were two people stranded in need of some help.

Read the full article at the Rappahannock Record

Virginia menhaden fleet files motion to dismiss lawsuit

July 15, 2024 — Virginia-based Ocean Fleet Services and Ocean Harvesters filed a “motion to dismiss” a $2 billion lawsuit against seafood giant Cooke Inc. of New Brunswick, Canada, that claimed the firm violated U.S. foreign ownership laws with the acquisition in 2017 of Omega Protein in Reedville, Va.

The lawsuit, filed on July of 2021 by plaintiffs W. Benson Chiles and Chris Manthey and unsealed in April 2024, alleges Cooke Inc., Omega Protein, Alpha Vessel Co. Holdings Inc., Ocean Fleet Services, Ocean Havesters, have been violating the American Fisheries Act (AFA) of 1998 and the 1920 Jones Act that allow only U.S. citizens to fish in U.S. waters.

The suit stems from an approximately $500 million purchase of Omega Protein of Reedville in 2017 by Cooke Inc. The lawsuit alleges that part of the deal was an illegal arrangement that gave Cooke improper control of the company and the fishing vessels.

The fishing companies’ motion to dismiss, filed July 9 in U.S. District Court in New York, alleges that the suit “lacks factual basis, are speculative, and are quite simply inaccurate.”

 “From the moment we became aware of this case, we have been eager to show that the allegations are inaccurate,” says an Ocean Harvesters spokesman. “Our legal filing underscores several key misstatements from the complaint and offers concrete evidence that they are false.”

The lawsuit alleges Cooke Inc. was involved in a “figurehead fraud scheme” creating a Delaware shell corporation to avoid violation of the AFA citizenship requirement and that “instead of simply acquiring Omega and owning its vessels (Cooke) restructured the entire acquisition to create an illusion of compliance with the AFA citizenship requirement.”

Read the full article at the National Fisherman 

Ocean Harvesters seeks dismissal of lawsuit claiming Cooke violated ownership laws

July 11, 2024 — Ocean Fleet Services and Ocean Harvesters have filed a motion to dismiss a lawsuit that claimed Blacks Harbour, New Brunswick, Canada-based Cooke Inc. violated foreign ownership laws when it acquired Omega Protein in 2017.

The lawsuit, filed in 2021, was recently unsealed after the U.S. Department of Justice declined to intervene. Filed in New York’s Southern District Court by W. Benson Chiles and Chris Manthey, the lawsuit claims Cooke could be liable for up to USD 2 billion (EUR 1.84 billion) in fines for exceeding foreign ownership requirements for domestic U.S. fishing fleets.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

LOUISIANA: Louisiana extends compromise menhaden fishing buffers

February 16, 2024 — Louisiana fisheries regulators voted Feb. 15 to potentially extend a current ¼-mile menhaden purse seine buffer zone to ½-mile coastwide, pulling back from a 1-mile setback requirement for menhaden fishermen.

In a unanimous vote the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission amend its earlier October 2023 notice of intent, reducing the proposed 1-mile coastwide menhaden fishing buffer to a half-mile coastwide buffer.

The amended notice would still set a 1-mile buffer for menhaden crews working in waters off Holly Beach in Cameron Parish. Commercial and recreational fishing advocates alike expressed support for the decision, after hard-fought months of debate to convince state officials.

Omega Protein menhaden processors and their fishing partners, Ocean Harvesters, say they support the commission’s decision “and look forward to a productive and safe 2024 fishing season,” starting April 15.

“Although none of the stakeholder groups achieved exactly what they were advocating for, that often makes the best compromise – to achieve an agreement through mutual concessions,” said Ben Landry, vice president of public affairs for Ocean Harvesters.

Read the full article at National Fisherman

VIRGINIA: Cooke Family and Omega Protein pledge $250,000 matching donation to Festival Halle restoration project

November 2, 2023 — Executive director Shauna McCranie and Save Festival Halle committee chairman Diane McGuire recently announced the Reedville Fishermen’s Museum has received a $250,000 donation pledge from the Cooke family and Omega Protein for the restoration of Festival Halle. The challenge grant will match dollar for dollar all donations received from supporters up to $250,000.

Cooke Inc. is a vertically integrated, family-owned seafood company based in New Brunswick, Canada. Omega Protein joined the Cooke family of companies in 2017. Omega Protein originated in 1878 in Reedville and has continued to be a large supporter of the museum and community for many years.

Read the full article at Rappahannock Record

MISSISSIPPI: Retired fishing vessels will serve as artificial reefs

August 28, 2023 — This week, Omega Protein sank two retired menhaden fishing vessels to create artificial reefs in Mississippi waters.

As working fishing vessels, the Mermentau and the G.P. Chauvin spent years pulling in menhaden from Gulf waters. Now in retirement, these boats have a new purpose as artificial reefs.

“We have a mud bottom of the coast of Mississippi. That does nothing for Fin Fish. It’s great for fish, but it doesn’t do anything for Fin Fish. So, when you put some type of structure, no matter what it is, it starts a whole new ecosystem in and around that structure,” Ralph Humphrey said.

Omega Protein partnered with the Mississippi Gulf Fishing Banks and the Department of Marine Resources to drop the vessels.

Read the full article at WLOX

Two Former Menhaden Fishing Vessels Intentionally Sunk as Part of Mississippi Reef Program

August 24, 2023 — The following was released by Omega Protein:

Two former menhaden fishing vessels have been successfully repurposed as artificial reefs, as the F/V Mermentau and the F/V G.P. Chauvin were sunk off the coast of Biloxi, Mississippi on July 26 and 27. TheMermentau and the G.P. Chauvin will now serve a second life as habitats for many Gulf marine species, creating new biodiversity hotspots and new destinations for divers and recreational fishermen.

The G.P. Chauvin and the Mermentau were both previously owned by Ocean Harvesters, which fishes for menhaden in the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico and is a long-term supplier and fishing partner to Omega Protein. In their active service, the vessels operated out of nearby Moss Point, Mississippi. Both vessels had been deployed in the fishery for over 30 years, with the Mermentau commissioned in 1988 and the G.P. Chauvin commissioned in 1989. The vessels fished for menhaden with several companies in the area before being retired in 2020 by Ocean Harvesters.

 

“Adapting retired fishing vessels like the G.P. Chauvin and the Mermentau for use as artificial habitats is a great way to responsibly dispose of these vessels while benefitting the environment and marine life at the same time,” said Monty Deihl, the CEO of Ocean Harvesters. “We are always looking for ways to contribute to conservation efforts in our home communities, and projects like this are among the best.”

The reefing was done in collaboration with the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources and Mississippi Gulf Fishing Banks, a non-profit that works to create new artificial reefs off the Mississippi coast.

“Artificial reefs are an essential part of our mission to promote biodiversity, healthy fisheries and tourism in Mississippi,” said Mississippi Department of Marine Resources Executive Director Joe Spraggins. “Retired ships like the Mermentau and the G.P. Chauvin provide a great substrate for reefs to thrive, and these donated vessels will continue to provide benefits to fish, the environment and sportsmen for years to come.”

 

“The vessels provided by Omega Protein will provide an ideal underwater habitat for marine fish and other organisms in the Gulf,” said Mississippi Gulf Fishing Banks (MGFB) President Ralph Humphrey. “It’s invaluable industry partnerships like these in our community that allow MGFB to safely and effectively continue our mission: creating artificial reefs that will ultimately improve fishing and diving in our Mississippi Gulf Coast waters.”

Omega Protein and Ocean Harvesters have long supported artificial reef programs, and have worked with several states to repurpose retired fishing vessels for new artificial reef habitats. The reefing of the GP. Chauvin and the Mermentau is the latest in a series of reefings of former menhaden vessels: most recently, Ocean Harvester’s Defender was sunk off the coast of Louisiana in 2021; in 2020, the Reedville was sunk off the coast of Delaware; the Barataria Bay was sunk off the coast of Mississippi in 2015; the Great Wicomico was sunk in the Gulf of Mexico in 2009; and the von Rosenberg was sunk off Mississippi in 2000. In the Atlantic, the Omega Protein vessels Tangier Island, Shearwater, and John S. Dempster, Jr have also been sunk for artificial reefs in recent years.

 

About Omega Protein

Omega Protein Corporation is a century old nutritional product company that develops, produces, and delivers healthy products derived from menhaden, a fish found abundantly off the U.S. Atlantic Coast and in the Gulf of Mexico. Omega Protein Corporation is a wholly owned subsidiary and division of Cooke Inc., a family-owned company based in New Brunswick, Canada.

 

Through its subsidiaries, Omega Protein owns three menhaden manufacturing facilities in the United States. Omega Protein also has a long-term supply contract with Ocean Harvesters, which owns 30 fishing vessels which harvest menhaden. All fishing vessels owned and operated by Ocean Harvesters, an independent company, were formerly owned by Omega Protein. Any references to commercial fishing of menhaden relate to Ocean Harvesters, not Omega Protein or Cooke Inc.

New fish spill cleanup boats on Chesapeake Bay

August 23, 2023 — Omega Protein’s last menhaden net tear on Chesapeake Bay has led to the firm designing and building a new clean-up vessel called a “skimmer boat.” It is designed to rapidly pick up dead fish on and below the surface of the water.

The 20’ x 8’ aluminum garvey-style boat was designed and built by Lambert Walker of Reedville, Va., who retired from Omega in 2013. Walker was asked to come out of retirement to build a new boat. Before he had retired, he had built a similar boat for the same type of use.

Walker, 72, says he is “just an old welder.”  He is an old welder and much more.  Walker started working in the companies’ metal shop in 1973, when Omega Protein was then known as Zapata Haynie Corporation.

His boatbuilding skills and knowledge have come from 40 years of building aluminum purse seine boats and handling maintenance needs on the companies’ equipment and on Omega’s steel hull fishing vessels.

“I just took out my scale rule, drew it up and welded it together,” he says modestly. “It is a nice little boat, and it will meet the need when it is necessary.”

Read the full story at National Fisherman

VIRGINIA: Omega Protein adds vessel to clean up net spills

July 9, 2023 — Menhaden fishing company Omega Protein has added a new vessel to its fleet in response to net spills last year that resulted in thousands of dead fish washing ashore on the Eastern Shore of Virginia.

This season, the reduction fishery company is using the new 85-foot vessel called the Hopeful Harvest and two 20-foot skimmers to catch any fish lost due to a net spill during catching operations.

The Hopeful Harvest vessel will be docked while the company’s fishing vessels are out making their catches, explained company spokesperson Ben Landry. The vessel will be deployed when needed, with the skimmers being used to scoop up any dead fish and transfer them to Hopeful Harvest.

Because it takes dead fish that have sunk into the water as a result of a net spill about 24 hours to surface, the vessel should be able to collect any spilled fish before they reach the shore, Landry said.

“We’re excited to have a resource that we’ve wanted for a long time,” said Landry. “We’ve kind of tinkered with that idea for a while,” he added, saying high-profile spills last year spurred Omega Protein to conclude “it’s probably good to put a fast-forward on those plans.”

Read the full article at Virginia Mercury

Omega Protein Fishing Partner Christens Two New Vessels, Reedville and Little River

May 7, 2023 — The following was released by Omega Protein:

Ocean Harvesters, Omega Protein’s fishing partner, kicked off the 2023 fishing season by christening two new vessels for the Atlantic menhaden fishery. The F/V Reedville and the F/V Little River are the two latest additions to the fleet of Ocean Harvesters, which fishes for menhaden in Virginia and operates a long-term supply contract with Omega Protein.

 

The vessels were christened on Saturday April 22 in a ceremony at Omega Protein’s facility in Reedville, Virginia. Kathy Deihl, Kelly Walker, Kristy Hall and Faye Hall, all long-time members of the local fishing community with ties to Omega Protein, served as sponsors of the vessels and assisted in breaking the ceremonial champagne bottles over their hulls. Hannah Long, the environmental manager for the Reedville plant, served as master of ceremonies, with remarks given by members of the Ocean Harvesters team.

F/V Reedville

“This is a symbol of continued investment,” said Monty Deihl, the CEO of Ocean Harvesters, as part of his opening remarks. “It’s not just [an investment] in the plant and in the vessel fleet, but it’s also an investment in the people here and the community of Reedville, and those people who are dependent on this business to support their families.”

F/V Little River

Both the Reedville and the Little River previously served in the Gulf of Mexico as supply ships for the offshore oil industry, before being acquired and refitted by the Omega Shipyard in Moss Point, Mississippi. Reedville was originally built in 1982, and will mark its first fishing season this year. Little River, built in 1977, began its new career fishing in 2020, but was officially christened this season after delays due to Covid.

Ocean Harvesters CEO Monty Deihl, delivering remarks at the ceremony

Reedville and Little River are names with storied histories in the fishery. Both names were previously bestowed on a pair of older, long-serving fishing vessels, which were converted from World War II service boats and then went on to work for decades catching menhaden.

F/V Reedville

“As a 3rd generation employee in the menhaden fishing industry, I am pleased to see this multimillion-dollar investment in the future of our business,” said Andy Hall, General Manager of Reedville Operations for Ocean Harvesters. “It represents Ocean Harvesters’ continuing commitment to provide our employees with the best, safest, and most state-of-the-art menhaden fishing vessels in the world. My hope is that the Reedville and Little River will fulfill their destinies of support to the local communities for decades to come, much like the original Reedville and Little River.”