Saving Seafood

Development at historic D.C. fish market drives wedge between businesses

October 31, 2015 — On a cool Saturday morning, Sunny White was where he has spent most of the past 45 years, at the fish market on Washington’s Southwest Waterfront, selling crabs to anyone he could persuade to buy.

“Hey, King! What you looking for?” White barked at a stranger in a Los Angeles Kings cap, pushing a crab at the man and his girlfriend before they could slip around the corner to check his competitor’s prices.

Anything was better than losing a customer to Jesse Taylor Seafood, owned by the Evans clan, otherwise known as White’s chief rival in the hurly-burly of peddling crabs.

“If you haven’t sold it in the first minute,” White said, reciting his own first law of fish market survival, “you’re not getting nothing.”

After four decades in the market’s trenches on Maine Avenue SW, White, 67, and his brother Billy, 60, owners of several business there, including ­Captain White Seafood City, are long accustomed to the open-air, over-the-counter hustle that has drawn customers since the early 1800s.

Slashing prices, shouting salesmen, loudspeakers and bullhorns — the Whites and Evanses have, over the years, tried whatever it takes to beat one another.

Yet their rivalry has grown more acrimonious as a developer seeking to transform the waterfront into another luxury Shangri-La has targeted two of the Whites’ businesses for eviction while forging an alliance with the Evanses.

Read the full story at the Washington Post

Congress cracks down on seafood fraud

October 28, 2015 — Local watermen of the Chesapeake Bay have come under attack from knowingly imported and mislabeled foreign seafood. Consumers are also at risk because safety standards for seafood in other countries of origin differ from those in the United States. “Consumers should protect themselves with knowledge about these issues and get to know local seafood companies they can trust,” said Paula Jasinski, executive director of Chesapeake Environmental Communications.

Crabbers from Virginia’s Blue Crab Industry Panel highlighted this significant problem for their industry several years ago.

Read the full story at Northern Neck News

 

Spiny dogfish gets a marketing makeover

October 27, 2015 — When Steve DeLeonardis, the owner of the Corner Store restaurants on Cape Cod, heard about the new FDA-approved name for spiny dogfish, he immediately created a new menu item — “SharkRito.”

“Cape shark” has been an alternative moniker for the Cape’s ubiquitous groundfish for some time, but it gained local popularity when the Cape Cod Commercial Fishermen’s Alliance adopted it last year.

“We’re on the Cape, and there’s been all this buzz about the great whites down here,” said DeLeonardis, who operates restaurants in Orleans and Chatham.

“We have a younger, hip demo here that responds well to what we’re doing.”

He debuted the SharkRito at his Orleans location in mid-June and, despite the fact that the fish-filled burrito is available only on Fridays, he’s already selling 20 to 30 pounds a week.

The SharkRito is just the latest in ongoing efforts by New England seafood interests to expand the culinary taste of Americans. Their goal is to support the ecological management of aquatic life while stabilizing the income of fishermen and others who work in the field.

 

Read the full story at the Boston Globe

 

Congressman Young Takes Up Misleading Pollock and Crab Labeling Fight in U.S. House

October 22, 2015 — WASHINGTON – The following was released by the Office of Congressman Don Young:

Alaska Congressman Don Young and Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-WA) today introduced bipartisan legislation to change the market name of “Alaska pollock” to “pollock.” The bill would amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to eliminate confusion for consumers, and stem the flood of mislabeled fish from less sustainable fisheries that harms U.S. pollock fishermen and the businesses they support.

Under current Food and Drug Administration (FDA) labeling standards, pollock caught in any part of the world can label be labeled as “Alaskan pollock.” Approximately 40% of the fish labeled “Alaskan pollock” available to American consumers is caught in the Russian pollock fishery.

“The U.S. fishing industry and the American consumer deserve this commonsense change to the pollock name,” said Congressman Don Young. “There’s no reason why foreign caught pollock should be disguised as Alaskan, especially given the significant management efforts we’ve taken in the North Pacific to create the most sustainable fishery in the world. No other nation can replicate the quality and care we put into Alaskan seafood and the FDA’s labeling standards should reflect that. Unfortunately, an Act of Congress is the only immediate way to keep foreign caught pollock from degrading our U.S. seafood markets.”

“Americans want to know where their food is coming from. This bill will give American consumers more transparency by closing this FDA loophole that allows Russian pollock from Chinese processors to flood our markets under the label ‘Alaskan pollock,’” said Rep. Herrera Beutler. “If a mom in Vancouver wants to purchase fish caught sustainably and packaged truthfully, she should have that choice. With this legislative fix, we’re also ensuring that pollock fishing and processing businesses located in Southwest Washington and throughout the U.S. aren’t having to compete with deceptively labeled products from far less sustainable fisheries.”

A consumer survey conducted by GMA Research revealed that:

  • 77% of participants said that if they saw seafood labeled as “Alaska Pollock,” they would think the seafood is harvested in Alaska.
  • 81% of participants said they would feel misled if they purchased seafood labeled as “Alaska pollock” and found out it was harvested from somewhere else.

The Alaskan pollock fishery is the nation’s largest food fishery in the United States, producing 1.3 million tons annually and accounting for 11 percent of American fresh and frozen fish intake. The Alaskan pollock fishery is carefully managed for sustainability, safety and environmental impact.

The bipartisan legislation also works to resolve an outstanding nomenclature petition to the FDA, filed by the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute (ASMI) and the Alaska Golden King Crab Coalition in 2014, to change the Brown King Crab name (considered obsolete and sometimes confusing in U.S. markets) to the acceptable market name of Golden King Crab.

Companion legislation was introduced in the U.S. Senate by Senators Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Maria Cantwell (D-WA).

Read the release here

 

The next food revolution: fish farming?

October 25, 2015 — Sanggou Bay looks like a place where the pointillism movement has been unleashed on an ocean canvas. All across the harbor on China’s northeastern coast, thousands of tiny buoys – appearing as black dots – stretch across the briny landscape in unending rows and swirling patterns. They are broken only by small boats hauling an armada of rafts through the murky waters.

For centuries, Chinese fishermen have harvested this section of the Yellow Sea for its flounder, herring, and other species. Today the area is again producing a seafood bounty, though not from the end of a fisherman’s rod or the bottom of a trawler’s net. Instead, the maze of buoys marks thousands of underwater pens or polyurethane ropes that hold oysters, scallops, abalone, Japanese flounder, mussels, sea cucumbers, kelp, and garish orange sea squirts. They are all part of one of the world’s biggest and most productive aquaculture fields. Sanggou Bay is a seafood buffet on a colossal scale.

The buoys here extend for miles out to the horizon, offering, on an aluminum-gray day, the only clue to where the ocean stops and the sky begins. Hundreds of migrant workers – many from as far away as Myanmar (Burma) – pilot the fishing boats zigzagging around the floats, shuttling fish to shore, checking the lines for mussels and oysters, and voyaging farther out to sea to harvest seaweed.

Read the full story at The Christian Science Monitor

 

 

Commercial and Charter Fishermen Send Opposition Letter to Congress on Eve of Red Snapper Hearing

October 22, 2015 — Later today, the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water, Power and Oceans will hold a hearing on the Gulf States Red Snapper Management Authority Act (GSRSMA) – H.R. 3094. The bill, sponsored by Representative Garret Graves (R-LA) and originally introduced this summer, transfers management authority from the public and transparent federal process to the five Gulf states. This sets a dangerous precedent to unravel the success of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, a landmark piece of legislation.

Read the full story at The Outdoor Wire

View a PDF of the Official Statement of the Gulf of Mexico Reef Fish Shareholders’ Alliance

View a PDF of the testimony of Robert F. Zales from the National Association Charterboat Operators

How Restaurants and Fisheries Are Saving Edible Seafood From the Trash

October 22, 2015 — As demand for seafood rises, chefs have their seafood supplier on speed dial. And while species like tuna, cod, and halibut are popular, these days, the daily catch on the blackboard might be something unfamiliar — squirrel fish or the banded rudderfish. Don’t be scared off. Most likely it’s bycatch or trash fish. While perfectly edible and quite tasty, these fish are so named because they might otherwise be thrown overboard or ground into fishmeal because they aren’t the intended catch on commercial fishing boats.

If they had a choice, fisherman would rather not have to deal with bycatch, but fishing nets aren’t particular about what they scoop up. Bottom trawlers have little discretion when they drag along the seafloor. Longlines with baited hooks extend for 50 miles or more, which attracts anything that swims by — including unwanted edible fish as well as sea turtles, sharks, and other sea mammals. Opportunistic seabirds flock to longlines in hopes of an easy meal, often getting snagged.

All in all, it’s an inefficient way catch fish, and even the fisherman dislike it. The most recent tally from Johns Hopkins University estimates that in United States-controlled waters, 573 million pounds of fish are lost due to fisherman bycatch every year. This pales in comparison to the even-more striking fact that 51-63 percent of seafood is wasted at the consumer level.

Read the full story at Eater

 

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