Saving Seafood

What to Call Seafood Made from Fish Cells

August 10, 2021 — Food companies, regulators, marketers, journalists and others should use the terms “cell-based” or “cell-cultured” when labeling and talking about seafood products made from the cells of fish or shellfish, according to a new Rutgers study in the Journal of Food Science.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and U.S. Department of Agriculture require food products to have a “common or usual name” on their labels, so consumers can make informed choices.

With more than 70 companies around the world developing cell-cultured protein products and more than $360 million invested in their development in 2020 alone, the adoption of one common name is crucial as products move closer to commercialization.

The study by William Hallman, a professor who chairs the Department of Human Ecology in the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences at Rutgers University–New Brunswick, confirmed the results from his earlier study comparing seven potential names for these products.

Read the full story at Rutgers Today

New paper sheds light on fisher strategies for shifting stocks

August 2, 2021 — New research from Rutgers University has investigated community and fisher strategies for adapting to stocks changing as a result of ocean warming.

The paper, “Not All Those Who Wander Are Lost – Responses of Fishers’ Communities to Shifts in the Distribution and Abundance of Fish,” focused on the groundfish trawl fishery in Northeast U.S., an area that is already seeing warming temperatures and is considered a hotspot for the effects of global warming.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

How Fishing Communities Are Responding to Climate Change

July 8, 2021 — The following was released by Wellesley College:

What happens when climate change affects the abundance and distribution of fish? Fishers and fishing communities in the Northeast United States have adapted to those changes in three specific ways, according to new research published in Frontiers in Marine Science.

Becca Selden, Wellesley College assistant professor of biological sciences, and a team of colleagues examined how fishing communities have responded to documented shifts in the location of fluke and of red and silver hake. The team found that fishers made three distinct changes to their approaches: following the fish to a new location; fishing for a different kind of fish; and bringing their catch to shore at another port of landing.

Selden began this research as a postdoctoral scholar at Rutgers University in New Jersey with Eva Papaioannou, now a scientist at GEOMAR. They combined quantitative data on fish availability from surveys conducted by the National Marine Fisheries Service at the Northeast Fisheries Science Center and a unique geographic information system database from fishing trip records developed for this project. The researchers then interviewed fishers in 10 ports from North Carolina to Maine.

They explored three dominant strategies, and found that fishers throughout the Northeast were more likely to shift their target species. In interviews, the researchers learned that targeting a mix of species is a critical option for adaptation. Doing so can be complicated, however, because in many cases regulations and markets (or the lack of a market) constrain fishers’ ability to take advantage of a changing mix of species in fishing grounds. For example, in Point Pleasant, N.J., fishers can’t capitalize on an increase in dogfish in the region because of strict conservation measures that have been in place since 1988, when the species was declared over-fished, and the resulting absence of a market for those fish.

Read the full release here

Rutgers, Offshore Wind Company Investigates Clams Off New Jersey

June 29, 2021 — Atlantic Shores is a partnership between Shell New Energies US LLC and EDF Renewables North America. The joint venture plans to develop more than 183,000 acres of land between Atlantic City and Burnegat Light, 10 to 20 miles from the New Jersey coast.

When fully developed, the region could generate over 3,000 megawatts of wind energy, which is sufficient to power about 1.5 million households.

Jennifer Daniels, Development Director at Atlantic Shores, said: “By applying tools like this simulator, we can responsibly develop leased areas and provide renewable energy to the New Jersey community with minimal impact on the fishery.”

New Jersey power regulators may decide to approve the company’s proposal later this month.

Read the full story at Pennsylvania News Today

Multi-Phase Study Focuses on Wind Farm Impact on Mid-Atlantic Bight

June 17, 2021 — Some opponents of a proposed wind farm off the coast of Long Beach Island cite the continued lack of available data specific to the Mid-Atlantic Bight and its impact to the commercial and recreational fishing industries. On June 3, Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind and Rutgers University announced a multi-phase modeling study in collaboration with the surfclam industry.

The goal of the study, according to Atlantic Shores officials, is to better understand how Mid-Atlantic wind farm developments anticipated over the next three decades, along with climate change, will affect the distribution and abundance of surfclams.

“The study will also examine the economics of the Surfclam Fishery within the Atlantic Shores Lease Area and the greater Mid-Atlantic Bight,” according to a June 3 statement in which Atlantic Shores and Rutgers University announced the study launch.

Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind is one of two companies that could potentially build the state’s second wind farm, in part off the coast of LBI. The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities is expected to make an announcement on granting approval for the second wind farm sometime this month.

Atlantic Shores is a 50-50 partnership between Shell New Energies US LLC and EDF Renewables North America. It was formed in December 2018 to co-develop nearly 183,353 acres of leased sea area on the Outer Continental Shelf, located within the New Jersey Wind Energy Area.

Read the full story at The Sand Paper

Overfishing of Atlantic cod likely did not cause genetic changes: study

April 5, 2021 — Overfishing likely did not cause the Atlantic cod, an iconic species, to evolve genetically and mature earlier, according to a study led by Rutgers University and the University of Oslo—the first of its kind—with major implications for ocean conservation.

“Evolution has been used in part as an excuse for why cod and other species have not recovered from overfishing,” said first author Malin L. Pinsky, an associate professor in the Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Natural Resources in the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences at Rutgers University-New Brunswick. “Our findings suggest instead that more attention to reducing fishing and addressing other , including , will be important for allowing recovery. We can’t use evolution as a scapegoat for avoiding the hard work that would allow cod to recover.”

The study, which focuses on Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) off Newfoundland in Canada and off Norway, appears in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

In the Northwest Atlantic Ocean, cod range from Greenland to Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. In U.S. waters, cod is most common on Georges Bank and in the western Gulf of Maine, but both  are overfished. Cod can reach 51 inches long, weigh up to 77 pounds and live more than 20 years. Early explorers named Cape Cod in Massachusetts for the species because it was so abundant off New England, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Read the full story at PHYS.org

National Fisheries Institute and cell-based seafood makers ask FDA for labeling guidelines

March 10, 2021 — The Alliance for Meat Poultry and Seafood Innovation (AMPS Innovation), a coalition representing makers of cell-cultured protein products, and the US seafood trade association the National Fisheries Institute (NFI) jointly called on the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to support requirements for labeling these new products descriptively, accurately and consistently regarding what the products actually are and how they are made.

Based on research by Rutgers professor William Hallman, NFI and AMPS Innovation on Monday urged the FDA to adopt the use of the term “cell-cultured” to support uniform labeling of the products.

The US Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) and the FDA are working together to ensure the safety and labeling of cell-cultured meat, poultry, and seafood products.

FSIS will have oversight of the labeling of cell-cultured meat and poultry, as it does for all meat and poultry sold in the United States, while FDA will oversee the labeling of cell-cultured seafood, as it does for most seafood sold in the United States.

Read the full story at IntraFish

Extended Slow Zones to Protect Right Whales

March 1, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA Fisheries announces the extension of three voluntary right whale Slow Zones (1) south of Nantucket Island, Massachusetts, (2) east of Boston, Massachusetts and (3) southeast of Atlantic City, New Jersey.

On February 26, 2021, the New England Aquarium’s survey team observed the presence of right whales south of Nantucket. The Nantucket Slow Zone is in effect through March 13, 2021.

On February 27, 2021, Rutgers University and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution slocum gliders detected the presence of right whales east of Boston, MA and southeast of Atlantic City, NJ. These Slow Zones are in effect through March 14, 2021.

Mariners are requested to route around these areas or transit through them at 10 knots or less.

Slow Zone Coordinates:

Southeast of Atlantic City, in effect through March 14, 2021

39 25 N
38 44 N
073 44 W
074 36 W

East of Boston, in effect through March 14, 2021

42 40 N
42 00 N
069 57 W
070 52 W

South of Nantucket, in effect through March 13, 2021

41 23 N
40 40 N
069 39 W
070 35 W

See the coordinates for all the slow zones currently in effect.

Read the full release here

As water temperatures rise, Rutgers scientists breed tougher shellfish

February 23, 2021 — Over the last half-century, global sea surface temperatures have been on the rise, but in the last decade they have increased at an accelerated rate.

New Jersey’s coastal waters, both along the Atlantic Coast and Delaware Bay, have been no exception. More alarming, recent research indicates that sea surface temperatures in the Northeast are warming two to three times faster than the global average. For instance, in 2012, water temperatures in the Mid-Atlantic reached the highest levels ever seen in over 150 years of recorded observations.

This rapid increase in water temperature is already influencing New Jersey’s marine species. Breeding habits, ranges and growth rates are adjusting as the environment in which they have evolved to thrive has changed at an unnatural pace. For the commercial fishermen and women whose livelihoods depend on the state’s fishery, particularly those who are only just beginning to experiment with shellfish aquaculture, warmer waters mean higher operational risk.

A new study from the Rutgers University Haskin Shellfish Research Laboratory, which has been monitoring New Jersey’s shellfish stocks for more than a century, is working to combat the impacts of climate change by selectively breeding bay scallops and surf clams that can grow faster and tolerate higher water temperatures.

Read the full story at NJ Spotlight News

New Slow Zone off Atlantic City to Protect Right Whales

February 22, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA Fisheries announces a new voluntary right whale Slow Zone off of Atlantic City, New Jersey, slightly north of the existing slow zone off Atlantic City.

On February 21, 2021, Rutgers University’s slocum glider detected the presence of right whales 46 nm southeast of Atlantic City. This area is slightly north of and overlaps with the slow zone southeast of Atlantic City announced last week.

This Slow Zone is in effect through March 8, 2021.

Mariners are requested to route around this area or transit through it at 10 knots or less.

Slow Zone Coordinates:

Southeast of Atlantic City, in effect through March 8, 2021

38 59 N
38 19 N
073 34 W
074 26 W

See the coordinates for all the slow zones currently in effect.

Read the full release here