Saving Seafood

ALASKA: A fishing boat docked in Dutch Harbor with 85 COVID-19 cases

July 21, 2020 — More than two-thirds of the crew of a huge factory fishing vessel docked in the Aleutian fishing port of Dutch Harbor has tested positive for COVID-19, local authorities announced Sunday.

The 85 cases are on board the American Triumph, owned by Seattle-based American Seafoods — one of the biggest players in the billion-dollar Bering Sea pollock fishery.

The Triumph arrived in Unalaska/Dutch Harbor on Thursday, with seven crew members reporting symptoms consistent with COVID-19.

All seven were tested for the virus upon arrival, and six of those tests came back positive, officials announced Friday. That prompted staff from Unalaska’s clinic, Iliuliuk Family and Health Services, to test the remaining 112 crew.

All crew members were restricted to either the vessel or their isolation locations while in Unalaska, city officials said.

Read the full story at KTOO

ALASKA: GAPP: Positioning pollock as value item could be key post-COVID-19

July 21, 2020 — As the number of nations that have been able to successfully manage the COVID-19 pandemic increases, positioning seafood items like pollock as a value proposition will become increasingly important, according to the Association of Genuine Alaska Pollock Producers (GAPP).

That perspective was shared earlier this month during GAPP’s fitfth webinar in its summer series. The webinar – titled “COVID-19 Consumer Insights: A Look Forward” – was hosted by Bill Romania and Sharon Ripps of R3 Consulting, and addressed the COVID-19 situation and its impact on consumer spending habits.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

ALASKA: GAPP announces new business partnerships through partnership program

July 17, 2020 — The Association of Genuine Alaska Pollock Producers (GAPP) has announced new partnerships with Denny’s, Gorton’s Seafoods, and New England Seafood Company, according to a 16 July press release.

Denny’s plans to offer pollock fish and chips as well as a pollock fish sandwich; Gorton’s plans to introduce recipes and an ad campaign to encourage customers to try Alaska pollock; and New England Seafood is introducing a pollock tenderloin – with an accompanying ad campaign – to customers in the United Kingdom.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Pollock Survey Begins in Eastern Bering Sea

July 16, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

For the past four decades, a team of scientists have conducted an acoustic trawl survey from a NOAA research vessel in the eastern Bering Sea. They collect acoustic measurements of fish abundance and distribution. They also sample fish by capturing them with trawl nets to groundtruth the acoustic signals to confirm the species. They also are able to learn more about the fish themselves—for example, their age, length, weight, and reproductive state.

Scientists believe using acoustic technology on saildrones to survey in the eastern Bering Sea will provide a reliable estimate of pollock abundance, based on past experience comparing the technology to ship-based surveys. It also helps that pollock are the dominant fish species in this area, minimizing the need to further sample with a trawl net to confirm species.

Since the standard surveys were cancelled this year due to COVID-19, data collected by the saildrones will fill a gap in the survey time series. Scientists use these survey data along with other data to assess pollock population abundance and trends (whether the stock is increasing or decreasing in size). The saildrone survey is expected to take two months to complete.

In late June, after some 40 days at sea, the three saildrones arrived at Unimak Pass, a 20-nautical-mile gap between Unimak Island and Ugamak Island that separates the North Pacific Ocean from the Bering Sea. At this point the saildrones separated. Each saildrone will cover a third of the 600-nautical-mile-wide survey area, which is bordered by Alaska’s Aleutian Islands to the south and the edge of the eastern Bering Sea shelf to the west.

The saildrones will complete a series of north-south transects moving from east to west; the mission is designed to mimic a typical ship survey as closely as possible in the amount of time available. Each vehicle is equipped with a Simrad EK80 high-precision split-beam echo sounder to map fish abundance.

Read the full release here

BRIAN PERKINS: A new wave of sustainable seafood to feed generations to come

July 6, 2020 — Seafood is having a moment.

Fish, especially canned and frozen options, increasingly have become a go-to choice for Americans during the pandemic as they stock their pantries and freezers; seek out new immune-boosting meal ideas; and look for alternatives to meat due to shortages and health concerns over meat processing. For example, U.S. shelf-stable tuna sales were up 31.2 percent over last year in March, according to Nielsen data.

While increased seafood consumption may be good short-term news for the U.S. seafood industry, it also is combating other major challenges, such as severely decreased foodservice and export business due to the pandemic. We must look at the flexibility and long-term viability of the seafood industry globally to prepare for the long-term implications of the current crisis.

Earlier this month, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) released its “The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2020” (SOFIA) report, which indicates more than a third of fisheries (34.2 percent) globally are operating at unsustainable levels. Compare that to 10 percent in 1990, and it becomes an abundantly clear global issue we must quickly and sustainably address, even as the industry is plagued with pandemic challenges.

While these numbers seem perilous, efforts by the U.N., the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), fisheries and conscious consumers already have led to stock recoveries for skipjack tuna, Alaskan pollock and Atlantic cod. The industry must look to these examples to enact changes that will ensure seafood is around for generations to come.

Read the full opinion piece at GreenBiz

ALASKA: GAPP exploring how to best position pollock during COVID-19 recovery

June 10, 2020 — The nonprofit trade group Genuine Alaska Pollock Producers (GAPP) is trying to determine the best way to market its fish during the coronavirus crisis, which has caused a massive shift in seafood buying preferences globally.

The issue was explored in the most recent webinar in the GAPP’s summer series, “Post-COVID Communications and the Wild Alaska Pollock Toolkit,” which took place on 5 June. According to Caryn Leahy, the vice president of global public relations firm Ketchum, who presented during the webinar, Alaska pollock is uniquely positioned to take advantage of the current situation.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

A Seattle fishing company has had more than 100 COVID-19 cases on its ships. They’re heading to Alaska this summer.

June 9, 2020 — As America’s meat producers contend with thousands of COVID-19 cases among processing workers, seafood companies have drafted rigorous plans to ward off similar spread of the disease as their summer season looms in Alaska.

But with that season still gearing up, the industry has already been shaken by its first major outbreak, aboard a huge vessel with an onboard fish processing factory. Last week, Seattle-based American Seafoods confirmed that 92 crew from its American Dynasty ship had tested positive for COVID-19 — nearly three-fourths of 124 people onboard.

Fishing executives had been working long hours to prevent just that type of disaster, and the news hit them hard.

“It was like, ‘Wow, I can’t believe this.’ We had done so much — each company had worked so hard to try to avoid this happening,” said Brent Paine, executive director of United Catcher Boats, a trade group whose members fish for pollock and cod off Alaska and another whitefish called hake off Washington and Oregon. “None of us have ever worked so hard in our lives than we have in the last two months, without a doubt.”

Read the full story at Alaska Public Media

COVID-19 Outbreak In Pacific Northwest Seafood Industry As Season Ramps Up

June 8, 2020 — As America’s meat producers confronted thousands of COVID-19 cases, Pacific Northwest seafood companies drafted rigorous plans to ward off similar spread of the disease in an industry where processors also work in close quarters.

But just a few weeks into the summer season, the industry has been shaken by its first major outbreak aboard a huge vessel with an onboard fish processing factory. This week, Seattle-based American Seafoods confirmed that 92 crew from its American Dynasty ship had tested positive for COVID-19, nearly three-fourths of the 126 people onboard.

“It was like, ‘Wow, I can’t believe this.’ We had done so much. Each company had worked so hard to try to avoid this happening,” says Brent Paine, executive director of United Catcher Boats.

The trade group’s members fish for pollock and cod off Alaska, and another whitefish called hake off Washington and Oregon. “None of us have ever worked so hard in our lives than we have in the last two months, without a doubt.”

Read the full story at Spokane Public Radio

US pollock, haddock harvesters threatened by advice against seafood aid double dipping

June 2, 2020 — Any fisheries that’ve benefited from other relief efforts should get lower priority when it comes to any future benefits awarded to the seafood industry, the president Donald Trump administration’s top fishery policy advisors have recommended.

While the advice doesn’t appear to interfere with the $300 million awarded the seafood industry as part of the earlier passed $2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act, it threatens other assistance to the Alaska pollock and New England groundfish fisheries as well as US catfish farmers, one longtime fishing industry professional argues.

Also, it doesn’t mesh with lawmakers’ original intent, the source maintains.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

Alaska Fisheries to Get $50M in Federal Aid Amid Pandemic

May 11, 2020 — Alaska will receive $50 million in federal coronavirus aid for fisheries, the U.S. Department of Commerce has announced, about half what state officials had expected.

Alaska is home to large stocks of pollock, an inexpensive fish used in fast-food sandwiches and fish sticks, and landed 58% of the nation’s seafood by volume in 2018, officials said.

Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy and his administration expected the state to receive about $100 million, or one-third of the $300 million allocated to fisheries in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act because of the state’s contributions to the industry, Anchorage Daily News reported Friday.

State officials even requested in advance that the state Legislature budget and audit committee give it authority to accept the expected federal aid. It has not yet been granted authority.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at U.S. News