Saving Seafood

NEFMC Skate, Scallop, EBFM, and SSC Webinars: Join-In, Listen Live, Get Documents

March 23, 2020 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:

The New England Fishery Management Council will hold several advisory panel (AP) and committee meetings via webinar in late-March to discuss issues related to skates, scallops, and ecosystem-based fishery management (EBFM). The Council’s Scientific and Statistical Committee also will meet by webinar.

Here are three important notes that apply to all of the webinar meetings.

  • Anyone who wants to provide oral comments during one of the webinar meetings MUST register for the webinar. The telephone call-in option by itself will not let you speak unless you register first. When you register, you will be given a PIN number that you’ll need to enter when prompted after you dial-in with your phone. Many participates simply use the microphone and speaker options on their computers instead of calling in after registering for the webinar. Please be aware that if you dial-in, your regular phone charges will apply.
  • Instructions for how to provide oral comments during webinar meetings can be found in the Council’s “Remote Participation” guide.
  • The Council has a deadline for submitting written comments for consideration at its meetings. Individual deadlines are listed below, but the submission address is the same for all meetings. Address comments with an appropriate subject line to Council Chairman Dr. John Quinn or Executive Director Tom Nies and email them to comments@nefmc.org. The address for mailing comments is: New England Fishery Management Council, 50 Water Street, Mill #2, Newburyport, MA 01950.

Here’s what’s in the queue for the rest of March.

SKATE ADVISORY PANEL AND SKATE COMMITTEE: The Skate AP and Skate Committee will meet jointly via webinar on Thursday, March 26, 2020 beginning at 8:30 a.m.

SKATE WEBINAR REGISTRATION: Register Now for the Skate AP/Committee webinar.

SKATE CALL-IN OPTION: To listen by telephone, dial +1 (562) 247-8321. The access code is 346-538-257.

AGENDA: The Skate AP and Skate Committee will discuss issues related to potential limited access, skate fishing communities, and Council research priorities. Details are available in the meeting notice and agenda.

SKATE COMMENTS: The deadline for submitting written comments for consideration at this meeting is 8:00 a.m. on Tuesday, March 24, 2020.

MATERIALS: Meeting materials are posted on the Council’s website at Skate AP/Committee March 26, 2020 webinar documents.

SCALLOP ADVISORY PANEL: The Scallop AP also will meet via webinar on Thursday, March 26, 2020 beginning at 8:30 a.m.

SCALLOP AP WEBINAR REGISTRATION: Register Now for the Scallop Advisory Panel webinar.

SCALLOP AP CALL-IN OPTION: To listen by telephone, dial +1 (415) 930-5321. The access code is 924-004-372.

AGENDA: The Scallop AP will receive an update on Framework Adjustment 32 and work to finalize the range of alternatives in Amendment 21. Details are available in the meeting notice.

SCALLOP AP COMMENTS: The deadline for submitting written comments for consideration at this meeting is 8:00 a.m. on Tuesday, March 24, 2020.

MATERIALS: Meeting materials will be posted on the Council’s website at Scallop AP March 26, 2020 webinar documents.

SCALLOP COMMITTEE: The Scallop Committee will meet via webinar on Friday, March 27, 2020 beginning at 8:30 a.m.

SCALLOP COMMITTEE WEBINAR REGISTRATION: Register Now for the Scallop Committee webinar.

SCALLOP COMMITTEE CALL-IN OPTION: To listen by telephone, dial +1 (872) 240-3311. The access code is 502-063-709.

AGENDA: The Scallop Committee will receive an update on Framework Adjustment 32 and work to finalize the range of alternatives in Amendment 21. Details are available in the meeting notice.

SCALLOP COMMITTEE COMMENTS: The deadline for submitting written comments for consideration at this meeting is 8:00 a.m. on Tuesday, March 24, 2020.

MATERIALS: Meeting materials will be posted on the Council’s website at Scallop Committee March 27, 2020 webinar documents.

EBFM COMMITTEE AND PLAN DEVELOPMENT TEAM (PDT): The Ecosystem-Based Fishery Management Committee and EBFM PDT will meet jointly via webinar on Tuesday, March 31, 2020 beginning at roughly 11:00 a.m. or as soon as the State of the Ecosystem Report* discussion at the simultaneous Scientific and Statistical Committee meeting is finished.

EBFM COMMITTEE/PDT WEBINAR REGISTRATION: Register Now for the EBFM/PDT webinar.

EBFM COMMITTEE/PDT CALL-IN OPTION: To listen by telephone, dial +1 (415) 655-0052. The access code is 933-669-071.

AGENDA: In addition to the State of the Ecosystem Report*, the EBFM Committee and PDT will discuss issues related to public outreach related to EBFM and the Council’s example Fishery Ecosystem Plan for Georges Bank. Details are available in the meeting notice.

EBFM COMMITTEE/PDT COMMENTS: The deadline for submitting written comments for consideration at this meeting is 8:00 a.m. on Friday, March 27, 2020.

MATERIALS: Meeting materials will be posted on the Council’s website at EBFM Committee/PDT March 31, 2020 webinar documents.

SCIENTIFIC AND STATISTICAL COMMITTEE (SSC)*: The Council’s Scientific and Statistical Committee will meet via webinar on Tuesday, March 31, 2020 beginning at 10:00 a.m. The public is invited to listen live.

SSC WEBINAR REGISTRATION: Register Now for the SSC webinar.

SSC CALL-IN OPTION: To listen by telephone, dial +1 (631) 992-3221. The access code is 157-256-431.

AGENDA: The SSC will receive a presentation on the Northeast Fisheries Science Center’s State of the Ecosystem 2020 report and provide recommendations on suggested revisions. The SSC also will discuss other business as necessary.

SSC COMMENTS: The deadline for submitting written comments for consideration at this meeting is 8:00 a.m. on Friday, March 27, 2020.

MATERIALS: Meeting materials are posted on the Council’s website at SSC March 31, 2020 webinar meeting documents.

GENERAL QUESTIONS ABOUT THESE WEBINAR MEETINGS: Contact Joan O’Leary at (978) 465-0492 ext. 101, joleary@nefmc.org or Janice Plante at (607) 592-4817, jplante@nefmc.org.

Maine scallops continue downward trend after years of growth

March 23, 2020 — Maine’s prized scallop fleet caught fewer of the shellfish for the second year in a row despite nationwide trends toward increased catch.

Maine is home to a scallop industry that operates in near-shore waters and is beloved in the culinary world. The state’s scallops have cachet in part because of how quickly fishermen are able to get freshly caught product to consumers.

But the fishermen harvested about 415,000 pounds of scallop meat in 2019, down more than 200,000 pounds from 2018. And that year was a dip from 2017, when fishermen brought nearly 800,000 pounds to land.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at The Washington Times

New England scallop, groundfish regulatory meetings to continue via web

March 18, 2020 — Important meetings that could help shape future stock assessments, quotas and other regulatory conditions in the waters off the US New England coast will continue in the next few months via the internet due to concerns over the coronavirus, the New England Fishery Management Council (NEFMC) announced this week.

“Due to federal and state travel restrictions and updated guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention regarding the new coronavirus, COVID-19, the April council meeting will be conducted by webinar,” NEFMC has now declared on its website.

The event, which was scheduled to take place in Mystic, Connecticut, April 14-16, will be held online, April 14-15.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

JESSICA HATHAWAY: Why local fisheries matter — with or without a global pandemic

March 18, 2020 — The topic of food security has been on the mind of forward thinkers for years now, who primarily have focused on access to food as affected by natural disasters. As Covid-19 closes ports, markets and distributors, and social distancing practices threaten the supply chain for goods and services, many of us are discovering how valuable local products are.

Some of my Maine-based social media groups have been filled with posts from the staff of locally owned stores, detailing the products they have for sale, and from local farmers hoping to find new distribution points for their goods and to remind local buyers that not everything is sold out, despite the popularity of Empty Shelf Shots.

I’m feeling lucky to live in a state with small-scale farmers and fishermen. The products being delivered locally are made, grown and caught right here. On Friday, as my office was closing for the foreseeable future, I hauled home 20 pounds of Maine blueberries and 10 pounds of Gulf of Maine scallops for the freezer.

This pandemic is a reminder that a global marketplace can satisfy our worldly desires, but it cannot sustain us through deeply troubled times when our access is limited. Diversification of markets would ideally include expanding local distribution points, as well as global ones. And if we as consumers want access to our local products in times of trouble, then we have to keep buying them even when the world opens up to us again.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

Scallop Research Set-Aside Program Supports 12 Projects for 2020-2021

March 12, 2020 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:

The Atlantic Sea Scallop Research Set-Aside (RSA) Program will support 12 projects during the 2020-2021 award cycle that address resource surveys, economic impacts of offshore wind development on the scallop fishery, links between environmental factors and scallop meat condition, and many other issues.

The awards were announced on March 11 by the Northeast Fisheries Science Center and the Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office, which both are part of NOAA Fisheries. The funded projects focus on scallop research priorities identified by the New England Fishery Management Council, which established the Scallop RSA Program in 1999 through Framework Adjustment 11 to the Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery Management Plan. The Council and NOAA Fisheries work together to support research-set aside projects. The Council sets priorities, and NOAA Fisheries manages the RSA competition and administers the program.

Read the full release here

Northeast Market Report: 2019 Year in Review

March 6, 2020 — Lobsters and sea scallops continued to top Northeast fisheries in value during 2019 – with oysters more modest in volume but rapidly gaining as a growth sector.

On the downside, it looks like tough times for herring will continue into 2020, and there’s no return in sight for Maine’s northern shrimp fishery.

WINNERS

Lobster: Although catch dropped by more than 15 percent this season, the commercial lobster fishery still hauled in 100 million pounds, according to Maine’s Department of Marine Resources. While that marks a 20 million-pound drop from 2018, many still feel positive about the industry’s trajectory over the past decade — after all, the 2019 catch is still above historical averages. Early on, worries about bait availability, right whale protections, trade deals with China, and a potentially larger drop in catch had the industry on edge, for good reason — lobster is worth more than $450 million to Maine’s economy.

“After a very slow start, the harvest numbers increased in the late fall and winter, and from deeper water and farther offshore,” said Steve Train, a lobsterman from Long Island, Maine. “Whether this is a one- or two-year thing because of cold springs and late sheds, or the beginning of a trend where the resource is shifting because of a change in climate, is still to be determined. But one thing appears obvious: The resource is healthy.” Export of lobster to China dipped by 46 percent after a tariff was imposed in 2018, and the coronavirus outbreak further disrupted the trade in lobsters from the U.S. and Canada.

Oysters: The taste for oysters seems to have no end in sight, and 2019 was no exception. The East Coast Shellfish Growers Association Executive Director Bob Rheault said that along the Atlantic coast “farmed oyster production has doubled in the past five years. There has been some consolidation — bigger firms buying smaller ones, and lots of new entrants” with most farms aiming to increase production. Despite half a decade of increased East Coast production, prices have trended up slow and steadily. The association estimates the total East Coast oyster industry is valued at $90 million, although many states lack good data. Rheault says raw bars are hot.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

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

Lund’s-linked vessels sue NOAA over industry funded at-sea monitors

February 24, 2020 — A group of US Atlantic herring trawlers linked to major New Jersey scallop and squid supplier Lund’s Fisheries have sued the US National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) arguing that a new rule requiring them to pay for the cost of at-sea monitoring violates federal laws.

The lawsuit, filed Feb. 19 in a Washington, D.C., federal court, alleges that NOAA’s Feb. 7 publication of a “final rule” that will pave the way for industry-funded monitoring claims that the rule exceeds the agency’s authority granted under the Magnuson-Stevens Act, the main legislation that regulates fishing in US federal waters.

The lawsuit further claims that the rule improperly infringes on “Congress’s exclusive taxation authority” and violates three other federal laws — the Anti-Deficiency Act, the Miscellaneous Receipts Act and the Independent Offices Appropriations Act, all of which regulate how the government collects and spends money.

The rule, according to the lawsuit, could cost herring harvesters as much as $700 per trip for the monitors, third-party observers hired by the vessel owner.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

New England Council Update – February 24, 2020

February 24, 2020 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:

Here are several timely meetings and management actions that directly relate to the work of the New England Fishery Management Council.

SCALLOPS:  The Council’s Scallop Advisory Panel (AP) and Scallop Committee both have a couple of meetings coming up.
  • Scallop AP:  The AP will meet on Wednesday, February 26, 2020 at the Hilton Garden Inn in Boston.  The agenda and meeting materials are available here.
  • Scallop Committee:  The Committee will meet on Thursday, February 27, 2020 at the same hotel in Boston.  Here are the meeting materials.
  • Scallop AP and Committee:  The Scallop AP and Committee will meet again back-to-back on Thursday and Friday, March 26 and March 27, 2020 at the Hilton Garden Inn in Boston.  More information will be posted on the Council’s scallop webpage in the near future.
  • Scallop Framework Adjustment 32:  The Council signed off on Framework 32 during its December 2019 meeting.  The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS/NOAA Fisheries) has reviewed the document and is accepting public comments on the proposed rule through March 6, 2020.  Here is the Framework 32 webpage.
  • Of Note:  NOAA Fisheries released its Fisheries of the United States 2018 Report.  Scallops ranked fourth in the nation in the category called “highest value species groups,” coming in at $541 million.  Roughly $532.3 million of that total came from sea scallop landings and the remainder was due to bay scallops.  Scallop landings helped make New Bedford, MA the highest value fishing port in the U.S. for the 19th consecutive year.
ATLANTIC HERRING:  The Council’s Herring AP and Herring Committee will meet on Tuesday, March 3, 2020 at the Four Points by Sheraton in Wakefield, MA.  The AP will start off in the morning at 8:30 a.m. and the Committee will meet after lunch, roughly around 1 p.m.  Here’s the agenda.  Meeting materials for both the AP and Committee meeting are available here.
  • Draft Addendum III:  The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) will hold a hearing on Draft Addendum III to the interstate herring plan at 11:00 a.m. on March 3 at the same location as the New England Council’s Herring AP and Herring Committee meetings.  According to ASMFC, Draft Addendum III “proposes options to better manage the Area 1A (inshore Gulf of Maine) sub-annual catch limit under low quota scenarios.”
FISHERY DATA:  The Fishery Data for Stock Assessment Working Group has delivered its final report to the Council.  The Council established the working group to explore how fishery-dependent data can be used to inform stock abundance and explain how this information is used in stock assessments.  The group developed a number of recommendations.  Learn more about the working group’s charge and membership. 
 
ABC CONTROL RULE CONTRACTOR:  The Council is seeking an independent contractor to develop alternatives for acceptable biological catch (ABC) control rules for groundfish stocks that have undergone analytic assessments as of 2019.  Letters of interest and supporting documents must be received by March 18, 2020.  Details are available at groundfish ABC control rules.  Here’s a link to the announcement.
 
SKATES – SAVE THE DATE:  The Skate AP and Skate Committee will meet jointly on Thursday, March 26, 2020 at the Fairfield Inn in New Bedford.  More information will become available shortly.  Here is the Council’s skate webpage.
  • The Council developed Framework Adjustment 8 to the Northeast Skate Complex Fishery Management Plan to set skate wing and skate bait specifications for the 2020-2021 fishing years.  NOAA Fisheries is collecting public comment on the framework through March 6, 2020.  Documents are available on the Framework 8 webpage.
RED HAKE:  Here’s a reminder that the Red Hake Stock Structure Research Track Assessment Meeting will be taking place March 9-12, 2020 in Woods Hole, MA.  The Council is working on an action to rebuild southern red hake.  Visit the Council’s whiting webpage for future developments. 
 
EBFM – SAVE THE DATE:  The Ecosystem-Based Fishery Management (EBFM) Committee and EBFM Plan Development Team will meet jointly on Tuesday, March 31, 2020 at the Fairfield Inn in New Bedford.  More information will become available shortly.  Here is the Council’s EBFM webpage.
 
JOIN US!  MAINE FISHERMEN’S FORUM:  The Maine Fishermen’s Forum will take place March 5, 6, and 7, 2020 at the Samoset Resort in Rockport, ME.  Several Council members and staff are participating in many of this year’s seminars, including a special day-long offshore wind session.  Council representatives also will be taking part in seminars about:  Groundfish Monitoring Amendment 23; changes in the federal Atlantic herring fishery; updates on the federal scallop fishery in the Gulf of Maine; an open forum with fisheries leadership; and reconsideration of Atlantic cod stock structure in U.S. waters.
  • Detailed descriptions of the seminars are available at Maine Fishermen’s Forum 2020.
  • Tables with daily at-a-glance schedules are available on the forum’s forms and schedules webpage.