Saving Seafood

That fish is Smokin’

October 20, 2015 — Cultures have been smoking fish from the beginning of recorded history.  From Ireland to Egypt to China, preserved fish has been enjoyed worldwide.  Today smoked fish is still enjoyed in America, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Scandinavia, Eastern Europe and Russia.

At first, smoking was a necessary preserving technique.  Then, it became a part of the cuisine.  The process can be accomplished either by adding smoke or salt to thinly sliced pieces. Adding salt removes the water, drying the fish.  Bacteria hate dry smokey fish.

The Torry Kiln, invented in Scotland, revolutionized the smoked fish industry.  The oven uses air flow to regulate temperature and smoke application.  With a short exposure to room temperatures, bacteria has less of a chance of ruining the product.  Greater quantities of fish can be processed.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard -Times

 

John Kerry at Milan Expo: ‘There is too much money chasing too few fish’

October 19, 2015 — MILAN — Secretary Kerry travelled to Milan, Italy, on 16 October, to deliver remarks in commemoration of World Food Day and visit the US Pavilion at Milan EXPO 2015. While in Milan, the Secretary also met with Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni to discuss the bilateral relationship, as well as global and regional issues.

Remarks at the Expo Milan 2015

“…And now consider that the global population is growing – and growing unbelievably fast. In the next 35 years, we will go from about 7 billion people to 9 billion people walking the Earth. And all of them will need healthy food to thrive and survive. So given the hunger and the poverty on the Earth today, the challenge of making sure that future generations have enough to eat is not a small challenge.”

“Now, obviously, it starts with making sure that we’re producing more food. By some estimates, the world will have to increase food production by 60 percent between now and 2050 in order to keep pace with the rising number of mouths to feed. But growing and raising more food is only part of the challenge. We also have to be better stewards of the food that we have.”

Read the full story at FIS World News

 

MASSACHUSETTS: Federal Grant To Boost Gloucester Seafood Processing

October 14, 2015 — GLOUCESTER, Mass. — A $550,500 matching grant from the federal government will help the city carry out a $1.11 million water and sewer project aimed at boosting the water capacity for a growing number of high-volume commercial users in the city’s Blackburn Industrial Park.

The grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration, announced Tuesday by U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton at a gathering of city and area business leaders at the Gloucester Seafood Processing Inc. plant, the former Good Harbor Fillet facility, will allow companies like Gloucester Seafood, nearby Intershell and others within the park to grow, Moulton said.

It will also open the door to an estimated 150 new jobs within Gloucester’s “seafood processing innovation cluster,” Moulton’s announcement indicated.

Dave Anderson, manager for Gloucester Seafood Processing LLC — a division of the Illinois-based Mazzetta Corp., said his facility already has 180 full-time employees processing 40,000 to 50,000 pounds of lobster and up to 15,000 pounds of other home-caught seafood a day in a renovated plant that began production over the summer.

“This project is a project that means a lot for the city of Gloucester,” interim Mayor Sefatia Romeo Theken told the gathering of more than two dozen in a Gloucester Seafood conference room. “This is not just about Gloucester Seafood, it’s about all of the business along this road (Great Republic Drive). It’s about economic development, jobs — it’s about ensuring that this industrial park brings in jobs to our city.”

Read the full story from the Gloucester Daily Times

Mobile Seafood Quality Training Lab Developed to Address Refrigeration Issues

October 14, 2015 — LOUISIANA — Premium Gulf seafood has one common challenge: antiquated handling techniques used by generation after generation of fishermen, especially when it comes to onboard refrigeration. For years, processors across the Gulf have had to source higher volumes of premium product, be it shrimp, oysters, crabs or finfish. To meet this demand, a unique mobile “Seafood Quality Training Lab” has been developed to educate Louisiana fishermen on the latest in onboard seafood refrigeration and cold chain management.

The Louisiana Fisheries Forward (LFF) initiative is a seafood industry enhancement effort in partnership with Louisiana Sea Grant and LSU AgCenter. The mobile teaching lab was engineered and built by LeBlanc and Associates, a specialty marine refrigeration company.

“We looked at industry issues where we could offer fishermen solutions to produce a higher quality product,” said Thomas Hymel, a Sea Grant fishery expert. “One of the main issues required of fishermen to improve their catch quality is improved refrigeration. This needs to be a priority of Gulf seafood if our fishermen are going to become a top player in the global seafood industry.”

Members of the Fisheries Forward team researched training needs to address the issue. A fact-finding trip was made to Alaska to see first-hand how technology turned the largest U.S. seafood harvester into a premium vendor.

Read the full story at the Gulf Seafood Institute

 

Maine fishermen cash in as lobster cracks $4 a pound

October 9, 2015 — It’s a combination that seems to defy the laws of supply and demand – a large catch tends to lower wholesale prices. But that’s not happening this year even with Maine fishermen on track for another huge catch – about four times greater than what was harvested annually from the 1950s through the 1980s.

Industry experts say growing demand for processed lobster meat is allowing the market to absorb the additional catch while maintaining near-record prices paid to fishermen. They also say that Maine’s 4,500 commercial lobstermen, who for the most part fish from July through November, have benefited from some good timing.

The supply of Canadian lobsters available for processors this spring was down because there was so much ice in the Gulf of St. Lawrence that the fishing season was delayed. That means Maine lobsters were in high demand once the season kicked off in mid-July, a couple of weeks behind schedule.

And when the lobsters finally migrated to Maine’s coastal waters to shed their shells, they came at a steady pace rather than all at once.

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald

Aquaculture And Marine Ingredients Video Premieres At IFFO Annual Conference

October 7, 2015 — After decades of growth, the aquaculture industry continues to expand as a crucial segment of the global seafood market, and sustainably harvested fish meal and fish oil are fueling this growth. In a new video produced by Saving Seafood and released in partnership with IFFO, the trade association representing the marine ingredients industry, and Omega Protein, aquaculture industry leaders and experts discuss the future of fish meal, fish oil and farmed seafood. The video, which premiered on 28th September at IFFO’s Annual Conference in Berlin, is also being made available to the public.

View the video, “A Closer Look at Aquaculture and Marine Ingredients,” here

“People talk about fish meal replacements; there really aren’t fish meal replacements, because no one ingredient is going to have everything that fish meal has,” said Dr. Rick Barrows, a Fish Nutritionist at the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service Fish Technology Center in Bozeman, Montana.

Fish meal and fish oil are irreplaceable because they are some of the best sources of the proteins and essential nutrients that are vital to healthy farmed fish. Some of these nutrients, especially omega-3 fatty acids, are an increasingly important part of human diets as well, having been linked to improved heart health and better brain function.

“You and I, like fish, need 40 essential micronutrients,” says Dr. Michael Rubino, Director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Fisheries Office of Aquaculture. “Forage fish, in the form of fish meal and fish oil happens to be the perfect combination of those micronutrients.”

Read the full story at IFFO

 

 

Seafood Nutrition Partnership Launches National Public Health Education Campaign

WASHINGTON — October 7, 2015 — The following was released by the Seafood Nutrition Partnership:

Today, the Seafood Nutrition Partnership (SNP) is launching a first-of-its- kind, three-year public health education campaign across the country to help the underserved and all Americans better understand the nutritional benefits of eating seafood and its positive impact on improving heart health.

Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States, taking the lives of more Americans prematurely than any other preventable disease. The grassroots education campaign launches in nine cities this October, National Seafood Month, and aims to encourage Americans, especially the underserved, to eat seafood twice a week, as recommended by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Dietary Guidelines for Americans, which research has shown can lower the risk of heart disease by 36 percent.

Last year, the Seafood Nutrition Partnership concluded its Eating Heart Healthy pilot program conducted in partnership with Brigham & Women’s Hospital in Boston targeting low-income women with a high rate of cardiovascular disease (CVD).

The program was designed to help women curb their risk of heart disease through a seafood-rich diet. For four weeks, female residents of Roxbury Tenants of Harvard (RTH), a nonprofit affordable-housing community for low- and moderate-income families, participated in heart health- focused talks and cooking demonstrations, sampled omega-3 capsules, and were provided seafood recipes that can feed a family of four for $10 per meal.

At the end of the program, it was estimated that 92 percent of participants lowered their risk of sudden cardiac death, and 6 in 10 participants were at a lower risk for general cardiac problems.

“I try to eat well, but it’s difficult to cook healthy meals when you work full-time,” said Jacquie Boston, an Eating Heart Healthy program participant and resident of RTH. “The Eating Heart Healthy program transformed my life and my family’s life. Now, I have the skills to prepare heart- healthy meals.”

Based on the success of the pilot Eating Heart Healthy program, American Heart Association recently awarded a Go Red for Women grant to support the effort Boston, as the program expands this year to Seattle, Washington, D.C., and several other cities.

The launch of SNP’s national public health education campaign this month follows the success of pilots in Memphis, TN and Indianapolis, IN, last year. SNP partnered with local chefs, stakeholders, community leaders and health professionals to host cooking demonstrations, free health screenings to check omega-3 levels, week-long restaurant events, and to distribute free health education literature and recipes highlighting the nutritional benefits of seafood.

The campaign is focused on helping Americans, particularly the underserved, in nine cities: Birmingham, Alabama; Charleston, West Virginia; Golden Isles, Georgia; Indianapolis, Indiana; Jacksonville, Florida; Lexington, Kentucky; Memphis, Tennessee; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; and Toledo, Ohio.

“The USDA HHS dietary guidelines recommend eating seafood twice a week for optimal health, yet only 1 in 10 Americans follow this advice,” said Linda Cornish, Executive Director, Seafood Nutrition Partnership. “We hope to inspire a healthier America by promoting a nutrient-rich diet that includes seafood.”

As part of the campaign launch, SNP is making available a white paper, “Breaking Barriers: Empowering America’s Underserved with Resources and Access to a Healthy Diet,” highlighting the health crisis among Americans, and particularly the underserved, who too often lack access to healthy foods, including seafood.

Read the release here

 

What Americans do with fish is shocking

September 28, 2015 — There are plenty of fish in the sea. Plenty, also, in the trash.

Of all the food that Americans waste — and Americans waste a lot of food — it’s the seafood that never gets eaten that should trouble us most. Few sources of nutrition, after all, are as coveted as fish. They’re high in protein, and low in fat. Eating them is associated with all sorts of beneficial health outcomes. And yet, few foods are discarded so frequently.

Between 2009 and 2013, as much as 47 percent of all edible seafood in the United States went to waste, according to a new study from the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future (CLF). And the majority of that is thanks to consumers, who buy fresh and frozen fish but never end up eating it. 

In order to put the scale of seafood loss in the United States in perspective, consider what curbing it could mean for our collective diets. Conservative estimates suggest the 2.3 billion pounds of seafood squandered each year would be enough to provide enough protein for more than 10 million men or 12 million women — for an entire year. The calories, meanwhile, would be enough to feed 1.5 million adults for that long.

“It is critical and urgent to reduce waste of seafood,” said David Love, a researcher with the Public Health and Sustainable Aquaculture Project at the CLF, and the study’s lead author.

Read the full story at the Washington Post

 

Global Fisheries Scientists Join new CFOOD Initiative

SEATTLE — September 28, 2015 — The following was released by the Collaborative for Food from Our Oceans Data (CFOOD):

International experts in fisheries management have come together as part of a new initiative, called CFOOD (Collaborative for Food from Our Oceans Data.) The coalition will gather data from around the world and maintain fisheries databases while ensuring seafood sustainability discussions in the media reflect ground-truth science.

The CFOOD project, headquartered at the University of Washington’s School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences (SAFS), is made up of a network of scientists whose mission stemmed from a frustration with erroneous and agenda-driven stories about fisheries sustainability in the media. The CFOOD project will maintain a website and social media channels that provide a forum for immediate feedback on new seafood sustainability reports and studies.

“The CFOOD website allows us to offer independent scientific commentary to debunk false claims, support responsible science, or introduce new issues based on recent research,” said Dr. Ray Hilborn, Professor at University of Washington’s SAFS and founder of the CFOOD initiative.

“The ocean is a remarkably abundant source of healthy protein,” said Hilborn. “And while sustainability challenges exist, particularly in areas lacking sufficient fishery management infrastructure, many fisheries around the world are well-managed and sustainable. The message doesn’t always seem to resonate with consumers because of misinformation they continue to hear in the media.”

By reviewing and providing scientific analysis on relevant studies, papers, and media reports the CFOOD network hopes to use science to set the record straight for consumers, so they can have confidence the seafood they purchase is harvested in an environmentally responsible fashion.

Other scientists on the editorial board for CFOOD include Robert Arlinghaus, Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries and Humboldt at Universität zu Berlin; Kevern Cochrane, FAO Retired, Cape Town, South Africa; Stephen Hall, World Fish Center, Penang, Malaysia; Olaf Jensen, Rutgers University; Michel Kaiser, Bangor University, UK; Ana Parma, CONICET Puerto Madryn, Argentina; Tony Smith, Hobart, Australia; Nobuyuki Yagi, Tokyo University.

“Exaggerated claims of impending ecological disaster might grab attention, but they risk distorting effort and resources away from more critical issues.  I hope this initiative will help provide the balance we need,” said Dr. Stephen Hall, Director General, World Fish Center, based in Malaysia.

Website: http://cfooduw.org/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/cfoodUW

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cfooduw?fref=ts

 

Fish like a girl: This 23-year-old lobsterwoman from Maine is her own boss

September 24, 2015 — Only about four percent of the 5,000 lobster licences granted by the state of Maine are currently owned by women. Of the 205 women who make up that four percent, 73 of them are under the age of 35.

“It’s frustrating, but I don’t care,” Samuels said. “The more I do it, the more people get it. The guys at the harbor are really nice. It’s mostly older men, yacht people and people at the farmer’s market where I sell on Fridays who are surprised that I’m a woman running my own boat.”

Samuels’ father, Matt, has fished out of Rockport for nearly 40 years. Samuels was born at a hospital down the road, and before she ever went home, Matt brought her down to the wharf. By the time she was seven years old, she had her student lobster fishing license. By 13, she’d fished the 200 hours necessary to get her commercial licence. A year later, at 14, she got her first boat.

“I called it the Miss Understood,” she said. “I thought I was really clever.”

Samuels is still living with her father in Searsmont, a town about 17 miles inland from Rockport Harbor, while she saves money to buy land and build her own place.

“I always knew I wanted to fish,” she said. “Though I went through a phase at 15 or 16 where I was like, ‘This is so much work, I don’t understand why I do this.’ It was one of those things where everyone would come back to school after the summer and talk about going to water parks and stuff and I’d be like, ‘I baited bags.’”

Lobstering is hard, physical work, and requires at least two people. The sternman baits the traps and measures the lobsters as the captain drives the boat and pulls up the buoys. Sadie’s sister, Molly, is her sternman—woman, rather—during the summer when she’s not at college.

Read the full story at the Boston Globe