Saving Seafood

San Diego Seafood Industry Flounders Under Coronavirus, But Fishing Community Finding Ways To Stay Afloat

May 18, 2020 — At San Diego’s Dockside Tuna Harbor Market on a recent Saturday, hundreds of people lined up along the pier. They came to this market to get their hands on some fresh fish, caught and butchered by local fishermen.

The restaurant business has changed dramatically in the last couple of months, and that’s made it hard for the San Diego seafood industry to stay afloat. So, fishermen are turning to the market to make up the lost profit.

But seafood businesses are also hurting. They may get some relief from a government stimulus package, but how quickly they can bounce back could depend on the types of fish they supply.

Read the full story at KPBS

San Diego’s Fishing Community Pivots to Stay Afloat

April 15, 2020 — The COVID-19 shutdown of many of the city’s restaurants has left much of San Diego’s commercial fishing fleet reeling, and right now they’re doing everything they can to stay afloat including shifting the way they’re selling fish at the weekly Tuna Harbor Dockside Market (598 Harbor Lane), which has remained open as an essential business.

Starting today at 5 p.m., San Diegans looking to add fresh seafood to their meals will be able to access an online store to place pre-orders for locally caught seafood that will be portioned and ready for pickup at the outdoor market between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. on Saturday. To test out the new pickup system, the variety available online will be limited to finfish like ahi tuna and opah plus sea urchins, crabs and spot prawns. The goal is to spread out the number of shoppers coming to the market at the same time.

Customers will also be able to purchase fish from the market during its normal hours of 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. under expanded protective guidelines: An extended 12-foot social distancing designation will be in place for those waiting to enter the market; there will be strict limits on the number of people (including staff) who will be allowed on the pier at one time; and customers are being asked to wear a face mask while shopping at the market.

“The commercial fishing fleet has always provided food for people and we’re still here,” says commercial fisherman Kelly Fukushima. “We want them to know they can rely on us to put food on people’s tables.”

Read the full story at Eater San Diego

At sea during pandemic, fishermen return to stormy times

March 23, 2020 — The coronavirus literally traveled over them from Asia to California while they were on the high seas catching tuna.

They were as safe as anyone from the virus doing one of the most dangerous jobs, and now? Fishermen are returning home to California to find a state all but shuttered and nowhere to sell their catch.

A handful of tuna boats filled with tens of thousands of pounds of fish are now floating off San Diego’s coast as they scramble to find customers. Many wholesalers stopped buying as restaurants were ordered closed except for takeout.

San Diego, once known as the tuna capital of the world, boasts a thriving industry that sells primarily to wholesale buyers and restaurants.

Many are third-generation fishermen, like Nick Haworth. He pulled up his vessel to a dock in downtown San Diego with 30,000 pounds (13,600 kilograms) of big eye tuna and opah. It was selling for $10 a pound to the public, a third of the market price.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at NJNN

Bumble Bee tuna has filed for bankruptcy

November 27, 2019 — Something fishy is going on.

Bumble Bee Foods, LLC — renowned as for its Bumble Bee canned tuna products — filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Thursday, years following a Department of Justice investigation which found evidence of a massive price-fixing scheme by the San Diego-based company.

Taiwanese fish supply chain company FCF Co. plans to put in a $925 million bid for the assets in a deal to be completed within 90 days, CNN reported.

“It’s been a challenging time for our company but today’s actions allow us to move forward with minimal disruption to our day-to-day operations,” Bubble Bee president and CEO Jan Tharp said in a statement.

A staple of American kitchen for over a century, the Bumble Bee brand has been in troubled waters over the past few years.

Read the full story at The Daily News

California’s Seafood Imports commits to IPNLF and responsible tuna sourcing

September 30, 2019 — San Diego, California, U.S.A.-based importer and distributor Seafood Imports has been inducted into the International Pole and Line Foundation (IPNLF) as its latest member, the non-profit association announced on 30 September.

Seafood Imports, which was founded in 1997, is a provider of specialty seafood products to the international foodservice industry, with direct sourcing from South Africa and Asia. Among the company’s offerings are private label sashimi-grade JAVA and JAVA Kosher tuna products, which contain wild, one-by-one caught tuna sourced from the Indian Ocean courtesy of Indonesia. Exclusively packaged for Seafood Imports, the JAVA and JAVA Kosher tuna products are sold to U.S. customers.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Bloomberg: Bankruptcy a possibility for Bumble Bee

August 7, 2019 — Bumble Bee Foods is considering filing for bankruptcy to alleviate it of increasingly dire financial situation.

The San Diego, California, U.S.A.-based firm, which claims it is the largest seller of packaged seafood in North America, exceeded the leverage ratio it is allowed under the terms of its senior debt, according to Bloomberg. That sent the firm into technical default on its principal operating loan, a USD 650 million (EUR 550 million) facility with Brookfield Principal Credit as the administrative agent. However, its lenders have agreed to a forbearance period, allowing the company to continue its efforts to restructure itself to regain its profitability, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

CALIFORNIA: A Deep Dive into the San Diego Fishing Industry

August 1, 2019 — “The beginning was tough—they didn’t trust us,” says Yehudi “Gaf” Gaffen, CEO of Protea Waterfront Development, referring to San Diego’s fishermen and women. “For decades they’ve been discriminated against and business has been taken away from them. People take advantage of them.”

Gaffen and his company have won the bid to redevelop the San Diego harbor. Their $2 billion “Seaport San Diego” plan will historically alter the future of the city’s waterfront—70 acres, to be almost exact. The fate of local fishers lies largely in his hands.

And a little fish market on a little dock may be the reason both Gaffen and the fishers themselves are so keenly aware of their vital importance.

Read the full story at San Diego Magazine

Why are so many whales washing up on West Coast beaches?

July 9, 2019 — The past year and a half has been harrowing for the world’s largest mammals, as an unusual number of gray whales have stranded on West Coast beaches this year, following excessive whale entanglements in 2018.

Gray whales have been washing ashore with alarming regularity, particularly in the San Francisco area and the Los Angeles and Long Beach Harbors, but also at some beaches in San Diego.

On March 29, San Diego lifeguards found a 30-foot-long dead whale off the shore near Mission Beach, just a day after another whale carcass was towed away from the coast off Torrey Pines.

As of June 27, a total of 171 whales have stranded on West Coast beaches off North America, with 85 of those turning up on the U.S. coastline and 37 beaching in California alone. Since most whales that die either sink or float out to sea, the beached whales represent just about 10 percent of total mortalities.

Gray whale deaths hit a peak in May, and continued through June. With whale carcasses drifting on shore, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on May 31 declared an “unusual mortality event,” which triggers heightened investigation and response to the strandings.

Read the full story at The San Diego Union-Tribune

PFMC: June 2019 Council Decision Summary Document Online

June 28, 2019 — The following was released by the Pacific Fishery Management Council:

The Pacific Fishery Management Council met June 20-25, 2019 in San Diego, California. The June 2019 Council Meeting Decision Summary Document contains the highlights of significant decisions made at that meeting. Results of agenda items that do not reach a level of highlight significance are typically not described in the Decision Summary Document.

Suppliers bank on supermarket deli growth

June 10, 2019 — Two large seafood suppliers are banking on the fast-paced sales growth in supermarket delis with new product launches.

San Diego, California, U.S.A.-based Anova Food launched seared ahi tuna steaks and tuna poke at the International Dairy Deli Bakery Association (IDDBA) conference in Orlando, Florida, which took place 2 to 4 June. Worcestershire, United Kingdom-based SeafreshGroup also unveiled a line of new seasoned marinated shrimp for grocers’ deli cases at the trade show.

In the U.S., the deli departments of supermarkets are growing faster than most other departments, as the demand for prepared foods and meals rises among millennials and other consumers. Nearly three-quarters of grocers said their deli sales rose in 2018, and more than 80 percent said they anticipate additional growth during 2019, according to a recent Progressive Grocer survey.

“The growth in supermarkets is in prepared foods, along with natural and organic foods. Millennials are looking for more grab-and-go items,” Gregory Cobble, director of sales at SeafreshGroup, told SeafoodSource at IDDBA. For example, Whole Foods features a number of different deli/ prepared seafood items, such as shrimp ceviche and tuna poke, Cobble said.

Read the full story at Seafood Source