Saving Seafood

Operators Gear Up to Present Innovative, Flavorful Fried Fish During Lent

SEAFOODNEWS.COM by Michael Ramsingh — January 13, 2016 — Foodservice operators will infuse more flavor into the traditional fried fish staples during this year’s Lenten season. Fish dishes are expected to feature more Mediterranean, Asian, Middle Eastern and Mexican concepts and flavors. “Fish is the perfect canvas for any flavor, ” says Arlene Spiegel, of Arlene Spiegel & Associates, a restaurant consulting company in New York. “And people love fried food. A fried fish sandwich or fish and chips can be stellar. And it shouldn’t be just for Lent. It can be promoted all year round. It can be something important.”

Ocean Choice International said they are pleased with the decision by the Supreme Court of Newfoundland that dismissed a challenge to the company from Landvis Canada, the minority partner owned by an Icelandic Fishing Firm. Landvis sought to oust Martin and Blaine Sullivan, the two brothers who control the company. “It was a clear and unambiguous decision and we are very pleased that Justice Orsborn completely accepted our position,” said Martin Sullivan, Chief Executive Officer with OCI.

In other news the PEI Fishermen’s Association (PEIFA) wants changes made to the temporary foreign workers program to allow seafood processing plants to hire more workers. “It gets back to being able to process all the product that’s coming in. We’ve got a short term strategy, let us adopt it and we’ll work towards a bigger longer-term solution,” said PEIFA Executive Director Ian MacPherson.

Meanwhile, Ecuador and Peru are reporting lower mahi catches since the season began in Mid-November. It appears El Nino may be impacting mahi landings since warmer waters have increased the supply of bait fish. “One of the effects of El Niño is a bountiful supply of natural prey which the mahi are inclined to eat. Because of this they are preferentially feeding on natural bait and are less inclined to feed on fishing bait, resulting in lower catches,” said Jeff Azari, at Pacific Coral.

Finally, Alaskan Senator Lisa Murkowski said she would stall the final vote approving Dr. Robert Califf as the next FDA Commissioner if she does not get assurances that mandatory labeling laws will be written for genetically modified salmon. “I want to make sure, be very, very certain, that when we are talking about these genetically engineered fish for human consumption, voluntary labeling is not adequate,” said Sen. Murkowski.

This story originally appeared on SeafoodNews.com, a subscription site. It has been reprinted with permission.

 

 

Former State Trooper Andrew Foss Joins Ranks of Maine Marine Patrol

January 12, 2016 — The following was released by the Maine Department of Marine Resources: 

Andrew Foss, a ten year veteran of the Maine State Troopers has joined the ranks of the Maine Marine Patrol. Foss, a lifelong resident of Washington County, was sworn in by Department of Marine Resources Commissioner Patrick Keliher in January and began serving in the Lubec Patrol of Section 6, which stretches from the Hancock Bridge to the Canadian border.

Marine Patrol Officer Foss fills a vacancy created by the promotion of Russell Wright to Sergeant of Section 3, which runs from the Kennebec River to the St. George River.

Foss began his career in law enforcement as a Police Officer in Lubec where he served from 1986 to 1987. He also served as a Washington County Sherriff’s Deputy between 2001 and 2005. In 2005, he joined the Maine State Police and served from Machias until 2015. “Officer Foss’ extensive experience in law enforcement and knowledge of the people and places in Washington County will serve him well in his career in the Marine Patrol,” said Major Rene Cloutier.

Foss also brings to the position knowledge of the working waterfront in Washington County. Between 1991 and 2005 he worked for several aquaculture operations including Maine Pride Salmon, Treats Island Fisheries and Atlantic Salmon of Maine. His duties included site work, boat operation, scuba diving, and operation of computerized feeding systems. “Officer Foss’ experience on the water, operating boats and dealing with a commercial operation gives him unique insight into the challenges and opportunities of the working waterfront in downeast Maine,” said Major Cloutier.

“I like working on the ocean and I feel lucky to have been hired by the Marine Patrol,” said Officer Foss. “Working in Lubec is like going back home. I probably know 80 percent of the local fishermen and I look forward to getting to know fishermen in the area better.”

The Maine Marine Patrol is a bureau of the Maine Department of Marine Resources and provides law enforcement, search and rescue, public health, and maritime security on Maine’s coastal and tidal waters. Information about the Maine Marine Patrol, including contact information can be found at http://www.maine.gov/dmr/bmp/homepage.html.

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Lubec native Andrew Foss recently joined the ranks of the Maine Marine Patrol after a 10 year career with the Maine State Police. Officer Foss (center) was recently sworn in by Maine Department of Marine Resources Commissioner Patrick Keliher (left). Also pictured with Officer Foss is Major Rene Cloutier (right). Officer Foss is serving in the Lubec Patrol of Section 6, which stretches from the Hancock Bridge to the Canadian border.

 

FDA nominee sails through Senate committee, but could a fish stand in his way?

January 12, 2016 — A Senate health committee on Tuesday easily advanced the nomination of former Duke University researcher and cardiologist Robert Califf as the next commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration. But Califf, while widely expected to win confirmation from the full Senate, faces at least one surprise hurdle on the way to his new job: genetically engineered salmon.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) told her colleagues on the committee that met Tuesday to vote on Califf’s nomination that she is willing to stall it until he and FDA agree to mandatory labeling requirements for the AquaAdvantage salmon.

The salmon, produced by Massachusetts-based AquaBounty and approved by the agency in November, is an Atlantic salmon that contains a growth hormone from a Chinook salmon and has been given a gene from the ocean pout, an eel-like fish. The result is a fish engineered to grow twice as fast as its natural counterpart. The first genetically altered animal approved for human consumption, it has been the subject of long-running fights involving food-safety activists, environmental groups and the salmon fishing industry.

Read the full story at The Washington Post

Norway Posts Record Fish, Salmon Exports Despite Russian Embargo

SEAFOODNEWS.COM [Agence Press France] — January 6, 2016 — Norway registered record fish exports in 2015 thanks to a weaker currency which compensated for a Russian food embargo, an industry body said Tuesday.

Norway’s fish exports totalled 74.5 billion kroner (7.75 billion euros, $8.35 billion), more than double the level 10 years ago and a rise of eight percent from the record year of 2014, according to the Norwegian Seafood Council.

“In a year with trade restrictions in several markets and an import embargo in Russia, the result was better than expected,” director Terje Martinussen said in a statement.

Russia suspended food imports from most Western countries in August 2014 in retaliation for sanctions the West imposed on Moscow over its role in the Ukraine crisis. Russia had until then been one of the biggest markets for Norwegian fish exports.

China, which froze diplomatic ties with Oslo after the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to imprisoned dissident Liu Xiaobo, has also imposed drastic restrictions on Norwegian salmon imports, officially citing veterinary concerns.

But the weaker Norwegian currency, partly caused by plummeting prices for oil, another main Norwegian export, helped compensate for the Chinese and Russian declines.

In volume, Norway’s exports decreased by 2.2 percent to 2.6 million tonnes.

Salmon, Norway’s star product, and trout, accounted for two-thirds of seafood exports, for a sum of 50 billion kroner which was also a new record.

Two-thirds of exports went to the EU, where Poland, Denmark and France were the main takers.

This opinion piece originally appeared on SeafoodNews.com, a subscription site. It has been reprinted with permission.

DR. RAY HILBORN: Plenty of Sustainable Seafood Options Available

December 28, 2015 — The rising trend of “trash fish,” or unusual and underutilized seafood species, on fine dining menus in New York City was discussed last week in The New York Times by Jeff Gordinier. The idea is to, “substitute salmon, tuna, shrimp and cod, much of it endangered and the product of dubious (if not destructive) fishing practices,” with less familiar species that are presumably more abundant, like “dogfish, tilefish, Acadian redfish, porgy, hake, cusk, striped black mullet.”

Changing diners’ perceptions isn’t always easy, especially about seafood, but there is certainly momentum building for more diverse seafood species. Seafood suppliers are reporting record sales of fish like porgy and hake. Chefs feel good about serving these new species because, “industrially harvested tuna, salmon and cod is destroying the environment.” A new organization, Dock-to-Dish, connects restaurants with fishermen that are catching underutilized species and these efforts are highlighted as a catalyst for this growing trash fish trend. From a culinary perspective, this trend allows chefs to sell the story of an unusual and sustainable species, which more compelling than more mainstream species like tuna, salmon or cod. From a sustainability perspective, Gordinier implies that serving a diversity of seafood species is more responsible than the mainstream few that are “industrially caught” and dominate the National Fisheries Institute list of most consumed species in America.

Comment by Ray Hilborn, University of Washington

While I applaud the desire to eat underutilized species, it seems as if the chefs interviewed don’t know much about sustainable seafood. Below are a few quotes from the article that give the impression that eating traditional species such as tuna, cod, salmon and shrimp is an environmental crime.

“Salmon, tuna, shrimp and cod, much of it endangered and the product of dubious (if not destructive) fishing practices”

“The chef Molly Mitchell, can’t imagine serving industrially harvested tuna or salmon or cod. “You can’t really eat that stuff anymore,” she said. “It’s destroying the environment.”

“Flying them halfway around the world may not count as an ecofriendly gesture, but these oceanic oddities are a far cry from being decimated the way cod has. “Hopefully they’ll try something new and not just those fishes that are overfarmed and overcaught,” said Jenni Hwang, director of marketing for the Chaya Restaurant Group.”

“A growing cadre of chefs, restaurateurs and fishmongers in New York and around the country is taking on the mission of selling wild and local fish whose populations are not threatened with extinction.”

Read the full commentary at CFOOD

 

CALIFORNIA: No claws for fishermen this Christmas

December 23, 2015 — Most days at around 7 in the morning you can find local fishermen at Ketch Joanne’s Restaurant and Harbor Bar. They come to catch up over coffee.

The turnout varies from day to day along with the topics: Politics, local events and personal stories are all fair game. There is one conversation the group would prefer to leave alone and it involves a particular crustacean struck with a naturally occurring neurotoxin that is keeping it off Christmas dinner plates.

“We’ve got a group of guys being optimistic, thinking it’s going to open soon,” said longtime salmon and crab fisherman Jim Anderson, in reference to the Dungeness crab season. And then there are others, Anderson explained, who are more involved and believe this could be a much lengthier process.

“People are kind of edgy,” Anderson said. “Conversations have gotten away from crab.”

On a recent morning, a group of fishermen crowded around the table nearest to the restaurant’s front door. Sometimes they can fit 11 or 12 guys into the little booth, they say. Often, another group of the younger fishermen will set up at another table.

Read the full story at Half Moon Bay Review

Seafood Restaurants Cast a Wider Net for Sustainable Fish

December 22, 2015 — Michael Chernow doesn’t want people to step inside Seamore’s, his fish-fixated restaurant on the rim of Little Italy, worrying that they’re about to get a heap of science homework dumped onto the table.

“Our goal is not to say: ‘Welcome to Seamore’s School. We’re going to teach you all about sustainable fish,’” said Mr. Chernow, who is also one of the entrepreneurs behind the Meatball Shop chain.

But there is a blackboard. Labeled “Daily Landings,” it covers a wall of the restaurant, operating as a shortcut syllabus for anyone who wants to learn not only what fish are being cooked in the kitchen at Seamore’s, but also what species have been deliciously available for human consumption for centuries: dogfish, tilefish, Acadian redfish, porgy, hake, cusk, striped black mullet.

“Once they see the board, everybody gets pumped,” Mr. Chernow said. “‘Wow, look at all these fish, and I’ve never tasted them before.’”

Over the last decade or so, restaurant diners in this country have become more sophisticated about, and open to, ingredients that used to throw them for a loop: bone marrow, pork belly, sunchokes, orange wine, the ubiquitous kale.

Read the full story at The New York Times

FDA must develop plan to label genetically engineered salmon, Congress says

December 17, 2015 — The sprawling federal spending bill unveiled this week on Capitol Hill included a small passage with potentially big implications in the food world.

In two paragraphs on page 106, lawmakers instructed the Food and Drug Administration to forbid the sale of genetically engineered salmon until the agency puts in place labeling guidelines and “a program to disclose to consumers” whether a fish has been genetically altered. The language comes just a month after FDA made salmon the first genetically modified animal approved for human consumption and represents a victory for advocates who have long opposed such foods from reaching Americans’ dinner plates. At the very least, they say, consumers ought to know what they are buying.

The fish in the spotlight is the AquAdvantage salmon, produced by Massachusetts-based AquaBounty. The Atlantic salmon contains a growth hormone from a Chinook salmon and a gene from the ocean pout — a combination to help it grow large enough for consumption in 18 months instead of the typical three years.

Read the full story at The Washington Post

 

Congressional GMO Labelling Fight Set For January

December 17, 2015 — Lawmakers are pledging to re-double efforts to pass legislation early next year to block state GMO labeling laws and set national disclosure standards.

The industry wanted to get a bill attached to the must-pass fiscal 2016 spending agreement that congressional leaders reached on Tuesday, but talks stalled and Senate Democrats stopped even a temporary preemption measure from being included.

“The clock’s ticking. We’ll be back in session in January and that’s got to be at the front,” said House Agriculture Chairman Mike Conaway, R-Kansas. “We’ve got it fixed in the House. We’ve just to get the Senate to move on it.”

Michigan Sen. Debbie Stabenow, the top Democrat on the Senate Agriculture Committee, has also pledged to make the issue a top priority in January. She had been leading negotiations on the legislation this fall and had said in October that she wanted a bill passed by the end of the year.

An industry lobbyist who didn’t want to be quoted by name said negotiations would “begin in earnest” right after the first of the year on broad legislation.

A Vermont labeling laws is set to take effect in July, and the failure of the federal preemption measure could embolden labeling proponents who are gearing up to push next year for labeling laws in New York state and Connecticut, said Patty Lovera, assistant director of Food and Water Watch, which supports the state labeling efforts.

Read the full story at KTIC

Are You Eating Frankenfish?

December 15, 2015 — This month, Congress may decide whether consumers are smart enough to be trusted with their own food choices. Some lawmakers are trying to insert language into must-pass spending legislation that would block states from giving consumers the right to know whether their food contains genetically modified ingredients.

They must be stopped.

Nine out of 10 Americans want G.M.O. disclosure on food packages, according to a 2013 New York Times poll, just like consumers in 64 other nations. But powerful members of the agriculture and appropriations committees, along with their allies in agribusiness corporations like Monsanto, want to keep consumers in the dark. That’s why opponents of this effort have called it the DARK Act — or the Deny Americans the Right to Know Act.

As a chef, I’m proud of the food I serve. The idea that I would try to hide what’s in my food from my customers offends everything I believe in. It’s also really bad for business.

Why, then, have companies like Kellogg and groups like the Grocery Manufacturers Association spent millions in recent years to lobby against transparency? They say, in effect: “Trust us, folks. We looked into it. G.M.O. ingredients are safe.” But what they’re missing is that consumers want to make their own judgments. Consumers are saying: “Trust me. Let me do my own homework and make my own choices.”

Read the full opinion piece at the New York Times