Saving Seafood

MSC marks 20th anniversary with release of 2020 strategy

April 27, 2017 — The following was released by the Marine Stewardship Council:

Today, as the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) marks 20 years since its creation, the organisation set out its strategy for the years ahead. The plan includes the MSC’s aspiration for a more than a third of global marine catch to be certified or engaged in the MSC program by 2030. The MSC’s ambition is to strengthen engagement and impact in the Global South, Large Marine Ecosystems (LMEs), priority markets and species, and with consumers, while continuing to deliver value to MSC certified fisheries.

The release of the MSC’s strategic framework is accompanied by a historical narrative, outlining the organisation’s journey to date. Written by independent journalists from the Press Association, Sustainable seafood: the first 20 years gives a compelling account of the MSC’s origin, challenges and milestones to date.

“20 years ago, the MSC was a bold new idea developed by WWF and Unilever to address the challenge of unsustainable fishing,” says Rupert Howes, MSC’s Chief Executive.“They wanted to create a market based mechanism that would connect seafood producers and consumers through a credible third party certification and labelling program. This program would recognise and reward existing good practice, but critically, incentivise and drive real and lasting change where needed to ensure healthy oceans and seafood supplies for the future. 20 years on this bold innovation has become a proven concept, and a global sustainable seafood movement has emerged to work with all stakeholders to drive this transformation.’’

Read the full release at the Marine Stewardship Council

You May Soon Be Able to Track Your Seafood in Real Time to Fight Fish Fraud

March 29, 2017 — Fishermen and chefs are working together to curb rampant fraud in the seafood industry by allowing people to track a fish from the moment it’s caught until it lands at a restaurant or market.

Dock to Dish, an organization that fights seafood fraud by connecting chefs with fisheries in their local communities, is building a tracking system in an effort to solve the common problem of mislabeled seafood. A global test of more than 25,000 samples of seafood found that 1 in 5 was mislabeled as the wrong type of fish, according to a 2016 report from ocean conservation advocacy group Oceana, meaning people often purchase and eat seafood that is not what they presume it to be.

“People want to know. They’re demanding to know where food is coming from,” Dock to Dish co-founder Sean Barrett said.

The organization has raised more than $69,000 of its $75,000 Kickstarter goal to build a tracking system called Dock to Dish 2.0. In addition to supplying local restaurants with the catch of the day, Dock to Dish aims to present a digitized “end to end program that can answer every single question a consumer might have,” Barrett said.

The program would enable restaurant guests to see where their dinners come from through an online dashboard that displays newly caught fish in barcoded bags, which can be tracked as they travel to eateries. Customers would also be able to chat with fishermen before heading out to eat.

Read the full story at Time 

Pelagic Data Systems Announced as SeaWeb Seafood Champion Finalist

BOSTON — March 20, 2017 — The following was released by Pelagic Data Systems:

Pelagic Data Systems (PDS) is one of four finalists for the 2017 Seafood Champion Award for Innovation, SeaWeb announced today. A panel of seafood sustainability experts from industry and nonprofit organizations based in Asia, Europe and North America recognized the organization for its vessel-tracking technology, based on an affordable, solar-powered data collection device for small vessels. The technology has helped combat illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing in Gabon, Mexico, Indonesia, Maldives, Myanmar, Peru, Philippines, Thailand and the U.S.

“We are incredibly honored to be a Seafood Champion finalist among such great and pioneering individuals and organizations,” said Dave Solomon, PDS CEO. “The innovation that has taken place in the seafood sector in recent years is truly heartening. We are pleased that SeaWeb is recognizing work on vital issues like seafood traceability and transparency.”

The annual Seafood Champion Awards program, now in its 11th year, recognizes individuals and organizations for excellence in promoting environmentally responsible seafood. There are 16 finalists in four categories. Winners will be announced at an awards ceremony on June 5 at the SeaWeb Seafood Summit in Seattle.

“This year’s finalists have a global perspective, whether they act locally or at a broader level,” said Mark Spalding, president of SeaWeb and The Ocean Foundation. “Improving seafood’s sustainability requires addressing difficult political, technical, social and economic questions. To create change, you have to forge alliances and bring people together around a common cause. These are not easy things to do, but the Champions on this list have forged ahead and are making real progress.”

PDS was founded in San Francisco in 2014 with the goal of increasing transparency and traceability in the global seafood supply chain. Its vessel tracking system, roughly the size of a typical smartphone, records a vessel’s location multiple times per minute, and automatically and securely transmits stored data within network range. Using this data, fishers and regulators can track vessel and fleet fishing activity, confirming the legality and location of catch and the type of gear that was used.

“As the expectation of transparency and traceability in the seafood supply chain grows, we are working to develop technologies that serve fishermen, regulators, and the environment, making management and smart business decisions easily accessible,” said Melissa Garren, PDS Chief Scientific Officer. “We continue to be inspired and motivated by the creativity and innovation in this sector.”

The Seafood Champion Award for Innovation recognizes those who identify and apply new solutions to ecological challenges, market needs or sustainability barriers. In addition to Pelagic Data Systems, the finalists are:

  • FISH-i Africa, a partnership of eight East African countries that combats large-scale illegal fishing by sharing information and taking collective enforcement action. FISH-i’s string of investigations and prosecutions has created a more responsible fisheries sector.
  • Alan Lovewell of the 1,200-member, community-supported fishery Real Good Fish. He also runs Bay2Tray, a program within Real Good Fish that brings affordable local fish to public school districts with high poverty rates and sends fishermen into classrooms to teach about the ocean, fishing and health.
  • Karl Warr of Better Fishing. He has improved the sustainability of bottom trawling with an easily fitted cage mechanism that can free 95 percent of juvenile fish, saving fuel costs and allowing fishers to catch species selectively.

The Seafood Champion Award for Leadership recognizes people and organizations that bring stakeholders together to improve seafood sustainability or ocean health. The finalists are:

  • Susi Pudjiastuti, Indonesia’s Minister of Marine Affairs and Fisheries since 2014. She has banned the use of bottom trawlers and other unsustainable catching devices; led the fight against IUU fishing in her geographically dispersed island nation; and fought against the use of forced labor on fishing vessels.
  • Wally Stevens of the Global Aquaculture Alliance. A widely admired leading light in aquaculture, he has developed the GAA as both a competitive force, with its Best Aquaculture Practices certification, and a precompetitive convener via the annual GOAL Conference, the Responsible Aquaculture Foundation, the Global Aquaculture Advocate and other initiatives.
  • Mariah Boyle of FishWise. Known for bridging divides to unite businesses, NGOs and governments in pursuit of common goals, she has led companies such as Albertsons, Target, Hy-Vee and Sea Delight to improve traceability and reduce the risk of IUU fishing and human rights abuses in their supply chains. Her efforts have positively affected more than 7,500 stores and 250 million pounds of seafood.
  • Sea Pact, an innovative alliance of nine leading North American seafood businesses. The organization uses its collective power to lead improvement throughout the global supply chain, funding projects to drive change while showcasing how competitors can work together.

The Seafood Champion Award for Vision recognizes distinctive visions that significantly advance the sustainable seafood community. The finalists are:

  • Bren Smith, who is leading the development and promotion of 3-D ocean farms. His nonprofit GreenWave helps fishers become ocean farmers by adopting GreenWave’s open-source, replicable model, which restores rather than depletes ocean ecosystems.
  • Matthew Beaudin, executive chef of the Monterey Bay Aquarium, who moved $1 million in buying power to seafood producers within a 90-mile radius. He also is a regional and cross-border leader, developing aquaponics programs to support orphaned, HIV-positive children in Mexico.
  • The Marine Research Foundation, a three-person nonprofit in Malaysia whose work protects endangered sea turtles while making Malaysia’s shrimp-fishing industry more sustainable. The MRF overcame entrenched opposition to the use of turtle excluder devices and now anticipates a full rollout of the devices, which will save an estimated 4,000 turtles. That will open access for Malaysia to a global market hungry for sustainable shrimp.
  • The Global Ghost Gear Initiative, the first effort to tackle the problem of abandoned fishing gear on a global scale. This international, cross-sector partnership works with stakeholders from fishers to the United Nations to collect data and develop and model solutions that remove ghost gear from the ocean.

The Seafood Champion Award for Advocacy recognizes the promotion of sustainability, use of the media to raise the profile of sustainable seafood, work to strengthen public policy and resource allocations, and championing of advances in sustainable seafood. The finalists are:

  • The International Pole & Line Foundation, which spearheaded an effort by Indian Ocean countries to reform tuna fisheries management and played a central role in the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission’s groundbreaking adoption of a precautionary harvest strategy.
  • Ned Bell, Ocean Wise executive chef at the Vancouver Aquarium and founder of Chefs for Oceans, who has made sustainable seafood his mission. In 2014, he rode his bike 8,700 km across Canada, hosting 20 events alongside some of the country’s best chefs to raise awareness of sustainable seafood.
  • Dr. Caleb Otto, former Permanent Representative of the Republic of Palau to the United Nations, who has led his small island nation to a position of leadership on the international stage through his passionate advocacy for ocean health and sustainability at the United Nations.
  • Bill Mook of Mook Sea Farm in Maine, who is modeling how shellfish growers everywhere can address the threat of ocean acidification. He has become a resource for hatchery and farm operators in the U.S. and abroad, counseling them on how to avoid losses and exchanging innovative ideas for protecting the industry.

For more information on the awards and finalists, go to www.seafoodchampions.org. For more information on the awards ceremony and the Seafood Summit, go to www.seafoodsummit.org.

Read the release at Marketwired

How to Tell If That Fish Behind the Counter Is Actually Fresh​

March 16, 2017 — You know fish is good for you, but shopping for it is dicey. Much of the fish behind the counter is mislabeled, or not exactly fresh. And even if you can trust the labels, there are just so many of them: Should you buy American or Chilean? Wild-caught or farmed? Follow these six steps to guarantee you bring home the freshest, tastiest, and healthiest filet.

1. Buy American
A fish’s country of origin must be disclosed; it’s an FDA rule. Stick to USA seafood: Reports have revealed worker exploitation and unsanitary processing and storage methods in Asian fisheries, says Norah Eddy, cofounder of Salty Girl Seafood. Also look for the phrase “processed in the United States.” Some Alaskan salmon is sent to China for processing, a journey that can take more than two weeks before you buy the fish, Eddy says.

2. Keep the Skin On
Fish such as salmon, mackerel, and lake trout bring a healthy dose of omega-3s to the table. (Here’s why you need those good fats.) Skip the skin and you’re not maxing out on these good fats, says dietitian Robert Lazzinnaro, R.D. Chef Tenney Flynn of GW Fins in New Orleans crisps the skin this way: Melt butter in a pan over medium high. Scale the fish and score the skin in a crosshatch pattern; season both sides. Start skin side down; cook 3 to 4 minutes. Flip. Repeat. Eat.

Read the full story at Men’s Health

New Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross Lists U.S. Fisheries as a Top Department Priority

WASHINGTON (Saving Seafood) – March 1, 2017 – In his first address (starts at 9:41 in the video) to Department of Commerce employees this morning, newly confirmed Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross included U.S. fisheries among his top priorities for the department.

In a list of ten challenges facing the Commerce Department’s 47,000 employees, including the launch of more NOAA satellites and changes to the methodology of the 2020 U.S. Census, Mr. Ross specifically identified the need for “obtaining maximum sustainable yield for our fisheries.”

Maximum sustainable yield (MSY) refers to the largest catch that can be sustainably taken from a fish stock over an indefinite period of time. Promoting sustainable fishing by achieving maximum sustainable yield is one of the primary goals of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA), the chief law governing fisheries management in the U.S.

The U.S. commercial fishing industry is a vital part of the U.S. economy, with landings of 9.7 billion pounds of seafood in 2015 worth $5.2 billion, according to the latest “Fisheries of the United States” report from NOAA Fisheries. Nevertheless, nearly 90 percent of seafood consumed in the U.S. is imported into the country.

Mr. Ross has previously expressed his support for domestic fisheries and his desire to reduce America’s reliance on seafood imports, which has created an $11 billion trade deficit for the U.S. seafood industry.

“Given the enormity of our coastlines, given the enormity of our freshwater, I would like to try to figure out how we can become much more self-sufficient in fishing and perhaps even a net exporter,” Mr. Ross said at his January confirmation hearing, according to Politico.

Mr. Ross was confirmed in a Senate vote 72-27 Monday night. He is a successful billionaire investor and founder of the private equity firm WL Ross & Co., from which he has agreed to divest as he takes on his new government role.

Wilbur Ross: Make America first on seafood

February 28, 2017 — Wilbur Ross is expected to emerge as the Trump administration’s leading voice on trade after the Senate votes tonight to confirm him as Commerce Department secretary. He’s already singled out a surprising pet project: Reducing America’s reliance on seafood imports.

“Given the enormity of our coastlines, given the enormity of our freshwater, I would like to try to figure out how we can become much more self-sufficient in fishing and perhaps even a net exporter,” the 79-year-old billionaire businessman said at his confirmation hearing in January.

That would be a big job for anyone, since 85 percent, or some $20 billion, of seafood consumed in the U.S. comes from abroad. America is the second-largest seafood market after the 28-nation European Union, and the U.S. seafood industry runs an $11 billion trade deficit.

One action Ross could take to curb the amount of seafood the U.S. imports each year is to follow through on the Seafood Import Monitoring Program, which the Commerce Department’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration established during the waning days of the Obama administration. That regulation, supported by environmental groups like Oceana, is aimed at reducing billions of dollars in illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing each year by creating a traceability program to track imported seafood from point of harvest to point of entry in the U.S. Pros, Doug Palmer dives into Ross’ fishing expedition here.

Read the full story at Politico

Warning for seafood lovers: Beware of toxic fish

February 9, 2017 — When you think of what can hurt you in the ocean, chances are sharks come to mind.  But a more likely threat to your health is something that you can’t see: tiny toxins found on algae called ciguatoxins.

Researchers are Florida Gulf Coast University in Estero have been taking a close look at ciguatoxins, which can make you sick, and in rare cases be deadly.

FGCU Marine Science professor Dr. Michael Parsons tells 4 In Your Corner he’s done a theoretical calculation to give an idea of just how toxic we’re talking.  “If you had purified ciguatoxin, you would need, say, just 150 pounds of it to kill everybody on the planet,” says Parsons.

Read the full story at FOX 4

Fish Industry Says Tighter Monitoring Will Hurt Business

February 3, 2017 — Several seafood and restaurant industry groups sued the National Marine Fisheries Service over its plan to more closely monitor where market-bound fish are coming from to thwart those who profit from illegal catches.

In a lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, the plaintiff associations claim the new policy would increase the costs incurred by their members and that those costs would further hurt their businesses when they were, of necessity, passed on to consumers.

The fisheries service believes a large amount of the fish and other sea life consumed by Americans is being caught by illegal means or in ways that flout conservation and sustainable fishery management practices.

The rule at the center of the lawsuit establishes a new method of recordkeeping that federal regulators believe will allow them to better monitor where fish bound for America’s tables are coming from.

“The Rule would require seafood importers to trace the origin of the fish they import to either the specific boat that caught the fish or a ‘single collection point’ to the day the fish was caught and to the sector of the specific ocean where the fish was caught,” the complaint says.

Read the full story at Courthouse News Service

Unintended Consequences of the “One In, Two Out” Executive Order: Will America’s Fishermen be the Victims?

January 31, 2017 — Yesterday, President Trump signed an Executive Order that intends to reduce government regulations and associated costs to businesses and the federal government. The President claims this will help small businesses, but for the men and women making their living off the ocean, the order could pose some serious problems.

Known as “one in two out,” the order states that “for every one new regulation issued, at least two prior regulations be identified for elimination.”

How does this relate to fisheries? America’s fishermen are constantly adapting—to new science, to changing conditions on the water and to fishing seasons. They rely on fishery managers to make decisions that weigh environmental conditions, the best available science and fishermen input. Armed with this information, managers develop solutions that not only protect our environment, but support commercial and recreational fishing and coastal communities across America. And the method for implementing these day-to-day management decisions? Regulations.

Fishery regulations open seasons, establish catch quotas and test new management concepts. When a disaster happens, like an oil spill, a toxic algal bloom or a sudden decline in fish populations, regulations are the way the government protects fishermen and consumers.

Read the full story at the Ocean Conservancy

MASSACHUSETTS: Gorton’s brings back its fisherman

February 2, 2017 — The Gorton’s fisherman, on sabbatical since about 2010, is back and the iconic marketing figure now will be at the center of a social media-centric campaign by the Gloucester-based frozen seafood company.

The new campaign kicked of this week with the release of “Coach,” a video vignette directed by “Saturday Night Live” director Mike Bernstein that projects a humorous side to the slicker-clad Gloucester fisherman while still reinforcing — Gorton’s hopes — the coveted image of ruggedness and serious custodianship of the ocean.

The video spots, according to Gorton’s Vice President of Marketing Chris Hussey, have been tailored for presentation on a variety of different social media platforms and not as traditional television advertising spots.

Read the full story at The Gloucester Times