Saving Seafood

CHRISTOPHER BROWN: A New Administration and our Nation’s Fisheries

November 16, 2016 — The following was released by the Seafood Harvesters of America:

Commercial fishing employs over 187,000 Americans and provides $14.8 billion in economic output. The Seafood Harvesters are a unified voice for thousands of small businesses and self-determined fishing families who exercise the privilege of putting delicious, healthful seafood on America’s dinner plates.

As harvesters of a public resource we recognize and embrace our stewardship responsibility. We strive for accountability in our fisheries and encourage others to do the same. In doing so we honor both the bounty of our oceans and the many millions of Americans who enjoy seafood.

We know that the only way to ensure a plentiful and lasting seafood harvest for America is through science-based management of our fisheries. By respecting both the letter and the spirit of the Magnuson-Stevens Act – our nation’s foundational fisheries law – America’s commercial fishermen have played a central role in the remarkable success of U.S. fisheries and a 98% increase in the sustainability of our 199 most important fish stocks. When we focus on accountability in fishing practices and fishery management we make economic success possible, while at the same time working to curb illegal and unregulated seafood imports that put American workers and consumers at risk.

We call on the incoming Trump administration to join us in championing tens of thousands of commercial fishing businesses in this country. And we look forward to working with accountability-focused members of the recreational fishing community as they demonstrate their own commitment to the economic and environmental sustainability of our nation’s priceless marine resources.

First-Ever Fishery Improvement Project Launched in Japan

November 10, 2016 — The following was released by Ocean Outcomes:

Sustainable seafood movement takes a big step forward in East Asia as industry, fishermen, and NGOs come together to launch the “Tokyo Bay Sea Perch FIP”, the first project of its kind in Japan.

Tokyo, Japan — In 2016, the market value of sustainable seafood reached an all-time high of $11.5 billion USD, placing further incentive to increase the sustainability of fisheries across the globe. Asia’s share of global seafood production is up to 69%, by some estimates, but only 11% of this is certified as sustainable seafood production including Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) and Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) certifications. As such, implementation of Fishery Improvement Projects (FIPs) in Japan will ensure the growth of the Asian sustainable seafood market.

Ocean Outcomes (O2) and Kaiko Bussan Inc. today announced its launch of the “Tokyo Bay Sea Perch FIP”, Japan’s first Fishery Improvement Project (FIP). The project was introduced by Seafood Legacy Co., Ltd. to Seiyu GK, a subsidiary of Walmart Stores, Inc., the American multinational retail corporation and global leader in sustainable seafood, who have decided to support this project that will improve the sustainability of the sea perch fisheries in Tokyo Bay. As part of the project, at the end of October 2016, Seiyu test marketed the “Tokyo Bay Sea Perch FIP” product in 4 stores in the Kanto area and received positive feedback from customers regarding the quality, freshness and the reasonable price of the products. Going forward, Seiyu will discuss its support for this project including continued “Tokyo Bay Sea Perch FIP” product sales in stores and project grant contribution.

  • About Fishery Improvement Projects (FIPs)

A Fishery Improvement Project (FIP) is a collaborative project between fisheries stakeholders, such as fishermen, businesses, distributors, and NGOs, to improve the sustainability of a fishery. Two-thirds of the top 25 North American retailers, comprising 90% of the global seafood market, have committed to supporting FIPs. Projects like the “Tokyo Bay Sea Perch FIP” are vital if fisheries want to improve and access global markets.

Tokyo Bay is a major fishing ground for sea perch and a historically and culturally important sourcing region for edomae sushi, the style of sushi created during the late Edo-period (late 19th century) that influenced the nigiri sushi that is common today. The “Tokyo Bay Sea Perch FIP” will ensure sustainable fisheries management and the enjoyment of sea perch for generations to come.

As a first step in the project, Ocean Outcomes collaborated with Kaiko Bussan to complete an assessment of current fishing practices calibrated against internationally recognized best practices standards. The assessment found opportunities to modify fishing practices and gather additional data as steps which could better inform fisheries management and lead to more sustainable practices overall. These opportunities, described in detail in the FIP work plan, include plans to better monitor bycatch of endangered, threatened, and protected species, plans to collect fishery data to better evaluate and monitor stock abundance, and a commitment to work towards a more collaborative management plan.

Below are comments from each organization regarding the launch of the FIP.

Shunji Murakami (Ocean Outcome / Japan Program Director)

“Launching the Tokyo Bay Sea Perch FIP is a monumental moment for the sustainable seafood movement in Japan. Improving fisheries practices benefits both marine resources and fishing communities.”

Kazuhiko Oono (Kaiko Bussan, Inc. / President and CEO)

“Fishery improvement, while a new concept for Japanese fishermen, makes sense. We harvest, process, and sell the sea perch we catch, so our business is completely reliant on abundant sea perch resources. As the resource declines, so does our fishery. This project will ensure we’re harvesting the optimal amount of sea perch while not negatively affecting the amazing environment in which we work.”

Wakao Hanaoka (Seafood Legacy Co., Ltd. / CEO and Founder)

“Our hope for this project is to invigorate the Japanese market in a way that encourages cooperation amongst retailers and producers in the implementation of more sustainable fishing practices. This will benefit ocean ecosystems, businesses, fisheries, and local communities.”

Kumie Wama (Seiyu GK / Vice President of Corporate Affairs)

“Responsible and sustainable fishing practices, which the participants of “Tokyo Bay Sea Perch FIP” have committed to undertake, are very important for the future of marine resources in Japan. As a company that relies on shared marine resources, we consider it our corporate social responsibility to provide environmentally friendly products to our consumers.”

Florida company’s new traceability policy “raises the bar” for seafood distributors

November 8, 2016 — Florida-based Sea Delight has released a new policy on traceability that reflects the company’s commitment to improving transparency along the supply chains it sources from as well as along those across the industry at large, it announced on 2 November.

The new protocol works in tandem with Sea Delight’s Sustainable Seafood Policy, and will be applicable to all seafood that the company purchases. The latest policy combines commitments to both traceability and social responsibility, and underscores the importance of improving the company’s business practices to allow for more robust tracking of product information throughout the supply chains it engages with, according to Sea Delight.

“This is such an exciting moment for our company,” said Adriana Sanchez, sustainability director at Sea Delight, in a news release. “We are setting an industry-leading precedent among North American seafood distributors by publically committing to work towards best practices in traceability, address critical issues such as legality and social responsibility, and engage our supply chain partners in collaborative and long-lasting improvements.”

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Mislabeled Seafood May Be More Sustainable

November 8, 2016 — With seafood, what you see is not always what you get.

It’s no secret that mislabeling is rampant around the world. Recent studies estimate up to 30 percent of seafood served in restaurants and sold in supermarkets is actually something other than what is listed on the menu or label.

Why mislabeling happens is a little squishier. Fraud, human error or marketing ploys — combined with an often multicountry traverse from boat to restaurant — make it possible you are eating a different fish than what’s on the menu.

A University of Washington study is the first to broadly examine the ecological and financial impacts of seafood mislabeling. The paper, published online Nov. 2 in Conservation Letters, finds that in most cases, mislabeling actually leads people to eat more sustainably, because the substituted fish is often more plentiful and of a better conservation status than the fish on the label.

“One of the motivations and hopes for this study is that we can help inform people who are trying to exert their consumer power to shift seafood markets toward carrying more sustainable options,” said co-author Christine Stawitz, a UW doctoral student in the School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences and the Quantitative Ecology and Resource Management program.

Read the full story at the University of Washington

NOAA: Americans are catching and eating more fish

November 1, 2016 — ELLSWORTH, Maine  — The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration released its annual Fisheries of the United States report for 2015 last week and, by almost any measure, the news was good.

Whether they are more health-conscious or some other factors came into play, the per capita consumption of fish and shellfish last year was 15.5 pounds. That’s an increase of just under a pound over the 14.6 pounds of seafood (and freshwater fish) Americans consumed in 2014.

All that good eating — if you included goodies like fried catfish, breaded scallops and fish sticks — didn’t come cheap. U.S. consumers spent some $96 billion for the products from various fisheries last year.

What was good for the nation’s consumers was good for the economy, too. The commercial marine fishing industry contributed about $48.7 billion to the domestic Gross National Product — including the “value added” aspects of the industry such as processing.

The commercial fishing industry had a strong year in terms of volume in 2015 but, in some fisheries, prices dropped enough to affect the “ex-vessel” price across all fisheries.

All commercial landings increased 2.4 percent from 2014 to a total of 9.7 pounds. Finfish represented 88 percent of landings, but just 46 percent of landed value — reflecting the high value of species such as lobster and scallops.

A closer look at the numbers shows that U.S. fishermen landed almost 7.8 billion pounds of edible fish and shellfish at ports within the 50 states — down 78 million pounds from 2014. Stateside landings of fish for industrial uses (animal feed, agricultural and other products) were almost 2 billion pounds, up 19 percent from the year before.

American lobster landings were 145.9 million pounds valued at $617.2 million — a decrease of 1.9 million pounds (over 1 percent), but an increase of $50.6 million (nearly 9 percent) compared with 2014. Maine led in landings for the 34th consecutive year with 121.7 million pounds valued at more than $498.4 million — a decrease of 2.4 million pounds (nearly 2 percent) compared with 2014. Massachusetts, the second leading producer, had landings of 16.4 million pounds valued at $78.3 million — an increase of 1.1 million pounds (over 7 percent) compared with 2014. Together, Maine and Massachusetts produced almost 95 percent of the total national landings. The average ex-vessel price per pound was $4.23 in 2015, compared with $3.83 in 2014.

Read the full story at the The Ellsworth American

American’s seafood appetite is on the rise

October 27, 2016 — The numbers are in: Americans ate nearly a pound more seafood in 2015 than the year before.

It marked the third consecutive year that consumers put more seafood on their plates, but their rising appetite still isn’t back to where it was nearly a decade ago when people ate a record average of 16.6 pounds in 2004.

The numbers come from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s annual Fisheries of the United States report, published this week.

The recent trend is a promising sign to seafood harvesters who make a living hauling fish and hard shell from the water.

The Garden State Seafood Association, a New Jersey commercial fishing trade group, said it’s “encouraged that Americans are eating more seafood” and urges consumers “to buy, eat and learn more about U.S. domestic fisheries.”

The United States imported 90 percent of its seafood in 2015, the report found.

New Jersey ranks 9th in the United States for seafood commercial harvests, according to the report.

American’s consumed on average 15.5 pounds of seafood last year, up from 14.6 pounds in 2014.

Read the full story at the Asbury Park Press 

New Fisheries Monitoring Technology to Take Center Stage at Seafood Source Webinar

WASHINGTON (Saving Seafood) — October 19, 2016 — This Thursday, October 20, advances in low-cost small-scale fisheries monitoring will be showcased on Seafood Source’s monthly webinar series. Viewers will learn how emerging technology is significantly smaller and cheaper than traditional vessel monitoring systems, and is helping to lead the fight against illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing. These new tools are also ensuring that small-scale and artisanal fishermen remain competitive as standards for seafood transparency increase.

“Small Vessels, BIG Data: Silicon Valley Takes Up the Fight Against IUU Fishing” will feature Pelagic Data Systems’ (PDS) CEO Dave Solomon and Chief Scientific Officer Melissa Garren, along with Jack Whalen of the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership, and will be hosted by Seafood Source editor Cliff White. It will be held from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. EST, and is free to view with registration at seafoodsource.com.

PDS is the developer of lightweight vessel tracking systems made specially for small vessels that are being used to fight IUU fishing, and the exploitation of global fish stocks. It has partnered with fishing and conservation groups to pilot its technology in Southeast Asia, as well as Latin America and West Africa. The Sustainable Fisheries Partnership is a non-profit that works to rebuild depleted fish stocks.

Technology such as the one developed by PDS provides monitoring for vessels that are otherwise unable to accommodate large and expensive traditional satellite-based monitoring systems. Such technology is growing in importance as regulations increasingly put a premium on transparency in the seafood supply chain. Just recently, the U.S. raised standards on imported seafood, making it more important than ever for fishermen to have cheap tracking tools to verify sustainable practices.

Using vessel-monitoring tools can also help small-scale and artisanal fishermen stay competitive as the demand for seafood transparency grows. Certifications for fairly traded and sustainably caught seafood can increase the price of catch, but require more comprehensive monitoring to achieve. New technologies allow fishermen to be proactive in demonstrating they are doing things the right way, without waiting for regulations to force their hand.

Today, 95 percent of the global fishing fleet consists of small-scale vessels, and most of these are invisible to data monitoring. This allows for IUU fishing, which hurts the vast majority of the fishing industry and steals profits from legitimate fishing businesses. Filling in the data gap for small-scale fisheries has the potential to benefit law-abiding fishermen while helping to rid the world of IUU fishing.

Register for the webinar here

Why Is Fish Good for You? Because It Replaces Meat?

October 7, 2016 — Articles often mention that eating any kind of fish (not just fatty fish) twice weekly reduces various health risks. Is this because it replaces red meat, or is there some other reason?

Many fish, especially oily, darker-fleshed fish like salmon and herring, are rich in heart-healthy, polyunsaturated, omega-3 fatty acids, but healthful fats are not the only reason to eat fish. Dietary guidelines in the United States encourage adults to eat eight ounces of a variety of fish and seafood each week – roughly two meals’ worth – because of the “total package of nutrients in fish,” which includes lean protein, vitamins A and D as well as B vitamins, and a host of minerals such as iron, iodine, selenium and zinc.

Women who are pregnant or breast-feeding are urged to eat as much as 12 ounces of seafood to improve infant outcomes, but should steer clear of fish that’s high in methyl mercury. (The Food and Drug Administration recommends avoiding king mackerel, tilefish, shark and swordfish and limiting tuna; the nonprofit Environmental Working Group advises against a broader list of fish in its Consumer Guide to Seafood.)

“Fish is very low in saturated fat and low in cholesterol,” said Jennifer McDaniel, a spokeswoman for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, and people who follow a Mediterranean style diet that incorporates seafood appear to be at lower risk for obesity, “but a lot of people don’t think about that and just focus on omega-3s.”

Read the full story at The New York Times

Bait and Switch Still a Favorite Policy for Many Seafood Restaurants

October 6th, 2016 — Happy National Seafood Month!

But do you know what’s in your sushi or that basket of fish and chips? A recent report indicates you might not.

According to research compiled by ocean conservation group Oceana from 200 studies, 20 percent of seafood sold worldwide is mislabeled.

So that tuna you’re enjoying might actually be whale meat, and the “wild-caught salmon” commanding the high ticket price on the menu may actually be cheaper farmed salmon. In other egregious cases, fish containing high levels of mercury are being sold as safer alternatives, and some “caviar” contains no animal DNA whatsoever.

How can this happen? “Seafood fraud is one of those issues that isn’t always under one [government] agency,” Beth Lowell, senior campaign director at Oceana, explained to NBC. “There’s this patchwork of fish management laws, wildlife trafficking laws, food and drug laws.”

Oceana defines mislabeling as “species substitution where one fish was sold as another.” And, according to their research, it’s rampant.

Fishy methodology?

But not everyone agrees that the problem is as widespread as this report indicates. The National Fisheries Institute, a non-profit organization dedicated to education about seafood safety, sustainability, and nutrition — and which promotes dietary guidelines recommending Americans include fish and shellfish in their diets twice per week — responded to the Oceana report criticizing their methods.

The NFI cited FDA research that shows the percentage of mislabeled (primarily domestic) seafood is 15 percent, focusing on the varieties at highest risk for mislabeling and/or substitution, including cod, snapper, and grouper.

Others in the industry think all of these numbers are overstated. “My belief is that it’s very, very small,” Wayne Samiere, a marine biologist and owner of Honolulu Fish Company, told NBC. “In seafood, reputation is everything. Who would risk their reputation?”

“You can always go to a restaurant and find something, always dig up some kind of thing going on, but is it going on on a large scale?” he said. “There’s simply no way. A high-end chef in a large restaurant group, these are the guys that will be the most afraid, they have the most to lose. The benefit is very small.”

Read the full story at NBC

Americans’ Seafood Consumption Below Recommendations

October 4th, 2016 — From fish tacos to smoked salmon pizza to shrimp sushi rolls, Americans are finding new ways to eat seafood. Seafood (fish and shellfish) is a nutrient-dense source of dietary protein, which is relatively low in calories and saturated fat, compared to some other protein sources, and rich in key nutrients, including vitamins A, B12, and D; iron; zinc; magnesium; phosphorous; and potassium. Seafood is the primary food source of the beneficial omega-3 fatty acids, EPA and DHA.

The 2015-20 Dietary Guidelines for Americans and supporting USDA MyPlate food group targets recommend that Americans eat a variety of protein foods, including at least two servings of seafood per week, as part of a healthy eating pattern low in added sugars, saturated fats, and sodium. For an average 2,000-calorie-per-day diet, that advice translates into at least 8 ounces of fish and shellfish per week, or about 20 percent of total consumption from the protein foods group (meat, poultry, seafood, eggs, legumes, nuts, seeds, and soy foods).

ERS food availability data suggest that Americans are eating less than this recommended amount of seafood. After growing from 12 pounds in 1970 to a peak of 16.5 pounds in 2006, average per capita supplies of seafood available for Americans to eat were 2 pounds less in 2014 at 14.5 pounds. Loss-adjusted availability (a proxy for consumption) was 2.7 ounces per week, or about one-third of recommendations.

ERS annually calculates the available supply of a commodity as the sum of production, imports, and beginning inventories minus exports; farm, industrial, and other nonfood uses; and ending inventories. Per capita estimates are determined by dividing the total annual supply of the commodity by the U.S. population for that year. ERS calculates a second set of data—loss-adjusted food availability—by adjusting for food spoilage, plate waste, and other losses at the retail and consumer levels, to more closely approximate actual intake.

Survey data show that while more than half of Americans meet or exceed Dietary Guidelines targets for the total protein foods group, most people need to make changes in their choice of foods within the group to reap the health benefits of seafood and stay within limits for total calories and saturated fat. Compared to the recommended 20 percent, seafood accounted for 5 percent of total consumption from the protein foods group in 2014, which was dominated by meat and poultry.

Consumers also chose a relatively limited variety of seafood products. Five foods—shrimp, salmon, canned tuna, tilapia, and Alaska pollock—made up nearly three-quarters of total seafood consumption in 2014. Low-cost imports of farm-raised shrimp, salmon, and tilapia and the use of wild-caught Alaska pollock in fast-food fish sandwiches, frozen fish sticks, and imitation crab meat have largely driven the popularity of these four seafood species.

Consumption of seafood may be limited by a number of factors, including a lack of awareness about the health benefits of seafood; unfamiliarity with preparation methods; higher retail prices, on average, compared with meat and poultry; and concerns about food safety and mislabeling of imported seafood products.

Read the full story at the USDA