Saving Seafood

Alaskan Pollock Production Continues As Usual Despite The Coronavirus Response

March 30, 2020 — While many in the fishing industry are struggling to sell their catch, one of America’s favorite fish, the Alaskan Pollock, continues to be in high demand. Why? Because the species is used to make many frozen items that show up in grocery stores across the country, such as frozen fish sticks and breaded fish fillets.

Frozen seafood products are in high demand as Americans stock up for the various quarantines in place. Sales have gone up as a result. Seafood Source reports, “Frozen seafood spiked 3.5 percent to around USD 1.1 billion for the week ending on 7 March and rose 4.9 percent for the month ending on 7 March.”

Alaskan Pollock is also used in many fast-casual sandwiches such as the McDonald’s Filet-O-Fish. Craig Morris, CEO of Genuine Alaska Pollock Producers, said that grocery stores “are doing very well during the current COVID-19 response here and in Europe.” This means that fishermen have plenty of buyers to sell their fish to.

Read the full story at Forbes

Blue Harvest follows Nielsen COVID-19 advice, promotes vertical integration, local fish

March 25, 2020 — Blue Harvest Fisheries, a New Bedford, Massachusetts-based groundfish and scallop harvester and processor that’s recently gone through some considerable expansion, is following the coronavirus-related advice of the consumer survey giant Nielsen Company.

It’s promoting itself in New England as a vertically integrated company and a local source of seafood.

Many retailers and foodservice companies in the eastern US have opted for imported fresh seafood from Iceland and Norway, or previously frozen product from Iceland, Norway or China in recent years, Blue Harvest noted in a press release issued Tuesday, adding:

“But right here in our local New England waters, we have a tremendous natural resource that is underfished and underutilized in our haddock, ocean perch, and Atlantic pollock stocks. Given the proximity of these stocks to our harbors, markets and transportation infrastructure, there is no risk of supply interruption from disruption of air transport from Europe, or ocean transport of twice-frozen product from China. And there is no risk of reduced availability and resulting price increases from a lack of air freight capacity.”

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

Blue Harvest rolls out frozen groundfish, scallop line just in advance of Boston show

February 28, 2020 — Fresh from its acquisition of a dozen groundfish vessels, Blue Harvest Fisheries is rolling out a new line of branded retail products to be sold quick frozen and packaged in 16-ounce re-closable bags.

The new products, which include wild-caught Atlantic scallops, pollock, ocean perch and haddock, arrive just in time to be showcased at the Boston, Massachusetts, seafood show.

Blue Harvest, which is based in New Bedford, Massachusetts, 59 miles south of the city hosting Seafood Expo North America, March 15-17, says its new offerings meet “the growing demand by consumers for all-natural, sustainably caught and locally harvested wild seafood”. They are to be sourced from Marine Stewardship Council-certified fisheries “in local US waters” and “100% traceable from fleet to table”.

And even better, they are to be processed in the US, as Blue Harvest plans to rely on its newly completed SQF-certified, 160,000 square foot plant on New Bedford’s waterfront. The company spent millions to build the facility, which comes with six high-capacity processing lines, direct offload capability, two cold storage areas and 700 feet of dock space.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

Blue Harvest Launching First Line of Branded Retail Products at Boston Seafood Show

February 25, 2020 — So far 2020 has been a big year for Blue Harvest Fisheries. Last week the New Bedford-based company completed the acquisition of 12 vessels and 27 fishing permits previously owned by Carlos Rafael. This week Blue Harvest Fisheries announced the launch of their first branded retail product line.

The new product line, which will be showcased at Seafood Expo North America in Boston next month, includes locally harvested and processed MSC-certified Atlantic sea scallops, Atlantic pollock (saithe), North Atlantic ocean perch (Acadian redfish) and haddock. The products in the retail line are quick frozen for freshness and sold in a convenient 16 oz. reclosable bag.

Read the full story at Seafood News

Blue Harvest finalizes acquisition of portion of Carlos Rafael fleet

February 20, 2020 — Last year in New England, U.S.A., 90 percent of the haddock quota and 92 percent of the pollock quota was left in the water.

Blue Harvest, based in New Bedford, Massachusetts, is aiming to change those numbers and the company’s recent acquisition of 12 groundfish vessels and 27 fishing permits is a part of its efforts to begin utilizing the resource. The vessels, and permits, were formerly part of the fleet of Carlos Rafael – a.k.a. “The Codfather” – who pleaded guilty in 2017 to falsifying fish quotas, tax evasion, and conspiracy and then subsequently settled a civil case with NOAA that forced him to permanently stop all commercial fishing by 31 March, 2020.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

New England Council Seeks Contractor to Develop Groundfish ABC Control Rule Alternatives

February 19, 2020 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:

The New England Fishery Management Council is seeking the services of an independent contractor to develop alternatives for Northeast multispecies (groundfish) acceptable biological catch (ABC) control rules. This is a medium-term, temporary contractor role, commencing in late March 2020 and expected to be completed by November 2020. Letters of interest and supporting materials must be received by March 18, 2020.

WHY IS THIS HAPPENING: Thirteen groundfish species – some with separate geographic stocks – are managed under the Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management Plan (FMP). The Council’s Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) is required by law to recommend ABCs for each stock based on an ABC control rule. The Council establishes control rules in consultation with the SSC. These control rules account for scientific uncertainty in the overfishing limit (OFL) and the Council’s risk policy. The current ABC control rules are contained in Amendment 16 to the FMP, which was implemented in 2010. Given developments over the past decade, these control rules may not reflect best practices, changes in policy, lessons learned from experience, and modifications to the law. Therefore, the Council is revisiting the control rules.

WHICH STOCKS ARE INVOLVED: This contract will focus on groundfish stocks with analytic assessments as of 2019, which are: Gulf of Maine cod, Gulf of Maine haddock, Georges Bank haddock, American plaice, pollock, Georges Bank winter flounder, white hake, Acadian redfish, Cape Cod/Gulf of Maine yellowtail flounder, Southern New England/Mid-Atlantic yellowtail flounder, and Southern New England/Mid-Atlantic winter flounder. The contract is limited to stocks with analytic assessments because a research track assessment in 2020 is expected to address stocks with empirical assessments.

WHAT’S EXPECTED: The contractor will work closely with representatives of the Council’s SSC, Groundfish Plan Development Team (PDT), and Groundfish Committee. Since the Council establishes ABC control rules in consultation with its SSC, the contractor will analyze and evaluate a suite of suitable control rules but not recommend a specific one. At present, standard ABC control rules are applied to groundfish stocks with analytic assessments – the rules are not tailored for each stock – and this should be the approach tested by the contractor.

  • The contractor will prepare a report that evaluates the performance of the control rules against a range of metrics that will be identified by Council representatives.
  • The contractor will be expected to identify possible ABC control rules and test their performance in a Management Strategy Evaluation (MSE) framework. This should be a “desktop” MSE working closely with Council representatives.

DESIRED EXPERIENCE AND SKILLS: The Council is looking for candidates that have familiarity with the U.S. federal fisheries management system, preferably in New England but this is not required. Additionally, among other skills, candidates should have: (1) extensive experience with analytic stock assessments and the use of simulation techniques to evaluate various ABC control rules and preferably be familiar with the stock assessment and projection models used for Northeast multispecies stocks; (2) a demonstrated ability to summarize complex policies and procedures in clear, easily read documents and through concise verbal discussions; (3) an advanced degree in a fisheries technical field, particularly in population dynamics, modeling, and stock assessment; and (4) a demonstrated ability to summarize conflicting information in an objective manner.

APPLICATION DETAILS: Interested professionals are encouraged to submit a letter of interest, current resume or curriculum vitae, examples of similar work completed for other organizations or publications, and a budget with expected expenses no later than March 18, 2020.

  • A complete list of desired experience and demonstrated skills can be found in the solicitation announcement, along with application mailing/email addresses and other information.
  • NOTE: Candidates employed by advocacy organizations or by organizations that are parties in fishery lawsuits will not be considered.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES: Interested candidates may want to review:

QUESTIONS: For more information, contact Executive Director Tom Nies at (978) 465-0492 ext. 113, tnies@asmfc.org.

NEFMC Posts Draft Groundfish Framework 59 Update on Website

February 19, 2020 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:

The New England Fishery Management Council has posted a revised draft of the preferred alternatives for Framework Adjustment 59 to the Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management Plan on its website. The draft includes updated tables that reflect the Scientific and Statistical Committee’s (SSC) acceptable biological catch (ABC) recommendations for groundfish stocks for the 2020-2022 fishing years and the annual catch limits (ACLs) and sub-ACLs that stem from those recommendations.

A copy of the revised preferred alternatives is available here. The revised sub-ACLs are reflected in the tables at right and on page 2.

The Council signed off on Framework 59 during its December 2019 meeting. At the time, the Council approved 2020-2022 catch limits for most of the stocks in the groundfish complex based on the SSC’s ABC recommendations.

However, the Council voted to send four stocks back to the SSC for reconsideration – Gulf of Maine haddock, Georges Bank haddock, American plaice, and pollock. All four stocks are healthy and well above their spawning stock biomass targets based on the latest assessments

Read the full release here

GAPP forms new European Partnership Program to promote Alaska pollock overseas

February 11, 2020 — The Association of Genuine Alaska Pollock Producers (GAPP) is seeking proposals for its first European Partnership Program, which are due on 15 March, according to a GAPP press release.

The European Partnership Program is an expansion of GAPP’s established North American Partnership Program. GAPP began soliciting proposals to drum up demand for Alaskan pollock in Europe after last year’s Groundfish Forum.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Alaska pollock fish sticks, surimi processing generates “significant” greenhouse gas emissions

January 24, 2020 — The processing of Alaskan pollock into products such as fish sticks, surimi and fish fillets generates “significant greenhouse gas emissions,” researchers at the University of California, Santa Cruz have found.

According to a study released by the university, the processing of the products post-catch results in almost twice as many emissions as the fishing itself. Typically, climate impact analysis of fishing ends once the catch is brought on-board.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Alaska pollock industry officials travel to China to meet seafood importers

January 22, 2020 — A group of Alaskan pollock industry officials, in China for a 10-day trade visit to explore opportunities in the country, met with senior U.S. Foreign Agricultural Service officials at the United States’ Embassy in Beijing last week.

The tour, sponsored in large part by a grant from the Emerging Market Department of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service, also included stops in Qingdao and Shanghai.

Read the full story at Seafood Source