August 17, 2015 — The U.S. Postal Service is ramping up same-day delivery of everything from bottled water to fresh fish as its new postmaster general tries to better compete with FedEx, UPS and even Amazon.com.
Read the full story at the Wall Street Journal
August 15, 2015 — NEW ORLEANS — Recreational fishermen get a greater share of the red snapper catch in the Gulf of Mexico under a rule approved by a governing body.
On Thursday, the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council increased the share of the catch going to recreational fishermen — made up of charter boats and non-commercial anglers. The council met in New Orleans.
The change gives recreational fishermen 51.5 percent of the total catch and commercial fishermen 48.5 percent. Currently the catch is split 50-50. The change needs the approval of the U.S. Commerce Department.
The increase came about after scientists re-examined catch data and discovered they’d underestimated what non-commercial fishermen caught.
Red snapper is a highly prized fish and highly managed. Commercial and recreational fishermen must abide by catch limits and other rules.
Roy Crabtree, regional administrator for the National Marine Fisheries Service, said management of red snapper has helped the stock recover and rebuild.
For instance, red snapper had disappeared off the coast of Florida near St. Petersburg 15 years ago, he said. “They’re back all the way down to the (Florida) Keys now,” he added. “We’ve made huge progress.”
Read the full story from the Associated Press here
August 13, 2015 –ALASKA — On July 31, O’Hara Corporation launched the first American fishing vessel that will be able to chase fish through polar ice off the coast of Alaska.
Now in its fifth generation, the O’Hara family business has shown the ability to adapt as fishing technology, two world wars, and changes in international fisheries laws upended the industry.
“Every generation had its bad thing to deal with,” said Frank O’Hara Jr. from the O’Hara Corporation headquarters on Tillson Avenue in Rockland. Born in 1960, he is actually the fourth Francis J. O’Hara and is the company vice president. One of his three sons is the fifth-generation Frank. His father, who was Frank Jr. and is now Frank Sr., 84, is the company president.
All of the fifth generation is in the family business and working in management.
Frank Jr.’s great-grandfather started the fishing family dynasty in 1904 when he launched a Gloucester sailing vessel, the Francis J. O’Hara, Jr., which fished for cod, haddock, and halibut off of Georges Bank until it was sunk by a German U-boat in 1918.
The vessel’s namesake got a $5,000 family loan to start his own business: the Atlantic and Pacific Seafood Company in Boston.
Read the full story at The Free Press
August 11, 2015 — Three years after a group of Gulf seafood leaders met in the conference room of a downtown New Orleans hotel, the Gulf Seafood Institute (GSI) – the recognized voice of the Gulf seafood community – enters a new year with membership expansion open to businesses, organizations and individuals across the Gulf, as well as around the world.
After a very successful two-year Founding Member period, GSI is now initiating its standing, long-term dues structure recently approved by the Board of Directors. With this new dues structure, GSI will be well positioned to solicit new members as the organization continues to grow in numbers and scope.
GSI members sit alongside other Gulf seafood leaders in a forum where positive solutions to our region’s most pressing challenges are developed with a spirit of unity, transparency and sustainability. GSI continues to recruit leaders from across the spectrum of the Gulf seafood supply chain who share its vision for a successful and sustainable Gulf-wide community
“This new dues structure will allow GSI to recruit the best and brightest leaders from throughout the Gulf seafood community and beyond,” said the organization’s Executive Director Margaret Henderson. “It will allow GSI to continue our work to develop positive solutions to our community’s most pressing challenges.”
Read the full story from the Gulf Seafood Institute
August 11, 2015 — The following was released by the North Carolina Fisheries Association:
MFC BRIEFING BOOK AVAILABLE ONLINE
The briefing book is now available for the MFC Aug. 19-21 business meeting at the DoubleTree by Hilton Raleigh Brownstone University Hotel, 1707 Hillsborough St., Raleigh. The commission is scheduled to:
NOTE: The commission will deliberate on southern flounder issue 8:30 a.m. Friday. Please plan to attend if at all possible.
GOVERNOR MCRORY SIGNS S-374
The legislation repeals the logbook requirement for the for-hire fishing industry and prohibits the Department of Environment and Natural Resources from entering into a joint enforcement agreement with NFMS.
FACT SHEET: 2016 SUMMER FLOUNDER CATCH AND LANDINGS LIMITS
NMFS ANNOUNCES 2015 ACL FOR ATLANTIC BLUEFISH
Annual catch limits for the 2015 bluefish fishery:
Together, the total allowable landings for 2015 is 18.19 million lb. This is a 13.7 percent decrease from the 2014 total allowable landings. Although the bluefish stock is not overfished, and overfishing is not occurring, the most recent stock assessment update indicates the size of the stock has declined, which triggered the reductions. In recent years, states’ landings of bluefish have been below their allocated quota, and the quota reductions may be partially mitigated by the states’ ability to transfer quota. Read the final rule and get more information from the permit holder bulletin.
RECREATIONAL SECTOR EXCEEDS 2015 FOR GOLDEN TILEFISH, NMFS CLOSES FISHERY
Recreational harvest of golden tilefish in South Atlantic federal waters will close 12:01 a.m. on Aug. 11, 2015. Recreational harvest in federal waters will reopen at 12:01 a.m. on Jan. 1, 2016. The recreational annual catch limit for golden tilefish is 3,019 fish. Reports indicate that landings have exceeded the 2015 annual catch limit for the recreational sector for golden tilefish.
AGENCIES SEEKING PUBLIC INPUT ON RESTORING THE CAPE FEAR RIVER NEAR WILMINGTON
State and federal agencies are seeking public participation to identify opportunities to restore natural resources damaged due to decades of contamination from a former wood treatment operation near Wilmington. The agencies will host a public meeting at 6 p.m. Aug. 18 at the Navassa Community Center, 338 Main St., Navassa, N.C., to describe their efforts and solicit restoration ideas from the public. Comments on the restoration scoping document will be accepted through Sept. 4, 2015.
TRADEWINDS
Last week’s email link to Maureen was incorrect. If you’re interested in advertising for the upcoming Sept./Oct. issue – which will be distributed to thousands at Fishermen’s Village and the State Fair – you can contact her at editor@nctradewinds.com.
STATE FAIR/FISH VILLAGE
Fishermen’s Village at the N.C. Seafood Festival and the State Fair will be here before you know it. Fishermen, we need you to come out for both events to tell your story. No one can do it better than you. Fishermen’s Village is Oct. 3 and the State Fair begins mid-October. If you cannot attend, please consider donating seafood. We will be providing samples again this year in Raleigh. It’s a big hit and great way to show people why it’s “Got to be NC.”
REGULATION AND RULE CHANGES:
–Coral Amendment 8 in the South Atlantic Effective Aug. 17
-USCG Mandatory Dockside Inspections Required Effective Oct. 15
DEADLINES:
Aug. 26 – Green Sea Turtles ESA Uplisting Comments
Sept. 1 – SAFMC Snapper-Grouper Draft Vision Blueprint Comments
Sept. 4 – Cape Fear River Restoration Scoping Document Comments
Sept. 10 – NMFS Updated Draft Acoustic Guidelines Comments
Sept. 14 – NMFS Generic Amendment to Snapper-Grouper, Golden Crab and Dolphin-Wahoo FMPs Comments
Sept 21 at 5 p.m. – 2016-2018 Atlantic Herring Research Set Aside Applications
Oct. 2 – MFC Proposed Rules Comments
MEETINGS:
If you are aware of ANY meetings that should be of interest to commercial fishing that is not on this list, please contact us so we can include it here.
Aug. 11-13 – Mid-Atlantic Fisheries Management Council Meeting
Aug. 12 – Correction – SAFMC Snapper-Grouper Regulatory Amendment 16 Public Hearing, Jacksonville, NC
Aug. 13 – Correction – SAFMC Snapper-Grouper Amendment 36 Public Hearing, Morehead City
Aug. 18 at 6 p.m.– Cape Fear River Restoration Public Meeting, Navassa Community Center, 338 Main St., Navassa
Aug. 19 at 1:30 p.m. – MAFMC Spiny Dogfish Advisory Panel Meeting via webinar
Aug. 19-21 – Marine Fisheries Commission Meeting, Raleigh
Aug. 31-Sept.1 – ASMFC Menhaden Ecosystem Management Workshop
Sept. 9 at 6 p.m. – MFC Rules Public Hearing, DMF Central District Office, 5285 Hwy 70 W, Morehead City
PROCLAMATIONS:
SNAPPER-GROUPER COMPLEX – RECREATIONAL PURPOSES
View a PDF of the release here
July 29, 2015 — PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND — “Which one should we try first?,” my husband asked, staring at the three equally enticing kinds of clams before us. The picturesque Gulf of St. Lawrence glistened on a sunny August evening on Prince Edward Island, Canada, and our 6-year-old daughter was running around on the grounds of the resort we were visiting for the afternoon called the Sundance Cottages.
But our attention was on the clams.
There was a raw quahog variety spiked with Tabasco and two soft-shell versions, one sautéed in oil and salted butter and the other puffing with an aromatic chorizo and white wine steam.
We had spent the better part of the afternoon on a beach nearby digging dozens of these shellfish from the sand and raking them from the water with the help of Stephen Flaherty, a handyman at Sundance who takes people clamming, including nonguests like us.
Finding them was only the start. Linda Lowther, a former owner of Sundance who offers cooking classes, had invited my husband and me into her home for a lesson on how islanders like to eat the mollusks, and now we were sitting at her kitchen table looking at the fruits of our half-day’s work.
It was one of several foraging trips we took during our summer break to the 175-mile-long, crescent-shaped province that’s famous for its picturesque setting of more than 90 beaches, rolling hills and sandstone cliffs and the abundant seafood in surrounding waters, including oysters, clams, cod, lobster and mussels. Agriculture, too, is big, with close to 1,500 mostly family-run farms growing a variety of produce and crops.
Restaurants were the obvious way to enjoy this bounty, but I had heard that the island was rife with opportunities to enjoy it through foraging, a tradition that locals practice. Given my primarily pescetarian diet, it was a particularly appealing proposition, and on our visit, we canvassed the area to find nearly everything we ate.
Read the full story at the New York Times
July 28, 2015 — There is still a tiny bit of disputed territory between the US and Canada, and relations on the border are getting frosty.
The northeastern-most part of the US — on the coast where Maine meets New Brunswick — there are two tiny, uninhabited islands in a political gray area. It isn’t because anyone wants the islands — instead, they want the lobster surrounding the islands, and it’s disputed which country has the fishing rights.
During normal times, the dispute seems to be little more than an annoyance. But apparently this year, there are real problems because the price of lobster is so high ($5.50 a pound in that area, compared to $4 the previous year), according to Zane Schwartz in Maclean’s.
Read the full story at Business Insider
July 25, 2015 — Is fishing in your blood? Have you been raised on the ocean with a “fish or die” mentality? Are you a hardworking commercial fishing family determined to keep your way of life alive? If so an award winning production company developing a documentary reality series about multi-generational fishing families is looking for you.
Relativity Media, a global media company engaged in multiple aspects of content production and distribution, including movies, television, fashion, sports, digital and music, is currently in the first stage of developing a documentary series about a multigenerational family-run commercial fishing business which would explore the challenges and triumphs faced in today’s day and age.
“We are open to any kind of offshore fishing, in any area of the US but I’m particularly interested in finding a family in the Gulf coast region”, Andrea McHugh a Development Producer with Relativity Media/Press Start Productions told Gulf Seafood News. “We develop and produce movies, documentaries and TV series for networks like Nat Geo, Discovery Channel, History Channel and many others. In an ideal world, We’d like to find a family commercial fishing business where more than two generations are still actively working.”
According to McHugh, the series will celebrate American fishing families and give a birds eye view into the immense dedication they have to their craft and each other.
Read the full story at the Gulf Seafood Institute
SEAFOODNEWS.COM [SeafoodNews] July 22, 2015 — Oceana has started a campaign to get US officials to clear up seafood nomenclature issues and mandate “one name for one fish” for use on products labels, menus and other packaging.
Currently the FDA only requires the acceptable market name to be used for consumer-facing seafood labels, which Oceana says can cause confusion among consumers about the source and type of seafood they are buying and eating.
“Throughout the supply chain, seafood is often transformed from whole fish to fillet, shrimp to cocktail and crab to cake. The current seafood naming system makes it almost impossible for consumers to make informed choices about what they eat. For example, it’s difficult for seafood buyers to know if their ‘grouper’ sandwich is made with a more responsibly-fished black grouper caught off Florida’s Gulf coast or if it’s actually a vulnerable giant grouper from the Indo-Pacific, or even a critically endangered Warsaw grouper,” said Beth Lowell, Oceana’s senior campaign director.
Seafood labeling has become a point of contention for some domestically managed US fisheries like Alaska-caught walleye pollock. In this case, the acceptable market name for walleye pollock products sold in the US is “Alaska pollock.” This is regardless if the fish is caught in Alaska or Russia. For the Alaskan fishery the issue lies in the large difference between the sustainability and management practices of the Alaskan pollock fishery versus the Russian counterpart.
“As I have previously stressed, this change in nomenclature is necessary to minimize consumer confusion and avoid ongoing misrepresentation of the origin of pollock that is purchased and consumed in the United States,” Sen. Murkowski said in the letter sent to the FDA in May. “This problem has been compounded by the large volume of Russian-harvested pollock, 113 million pounds in 2012, that is sold to U.S. consumers as ‘Alaska pollock.’”
Oceana’s goal would be to eliminate the use of acceptable market names in favor of the scientific name. For pollock this would require all “Alaska pollock” be deemed just “pollock.”
“Requiring the use of species-specific names – one name for one fish – from boat to plate will help deter seafood fraud and illegal fishing. One name for one fish will benefit American consumers as well as the U.S. seafood industry, which is being undercut by illegal and mislabeled products. It will also protect endangered and vulnerable species, decrease the chance of eating seafood with health advisories such as for mercury and allow consumers to source sustainably caught seafood,” Lowell said.
This story originally appeared on Seafood.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission.
SEAFOODNEWS.COM by Michael Ramsingh – July 22, 2015 — Mounting evidence that the 2015-16 scallop harvest in the US is on pace to fall short of expectations, along with lower availability of imported product, has put upward pressure on the US market this summer.
In June US scallop landings out of the Mid-Atlantic were down 13 percent from the same time last year and 36 percent from the five-year-average. Since fishing started in March, US scallopers have hauled in 13.26 million pounds; down 20 percent from this time last year and 44 percent from the five-year-average.
Source: Urner Barry
These figures are counter to some industry expectations that predicted this fishing season’s domestic scallop harvest to range between 41 and 47 million pounds; at least 36 percent over last season’s haul.
Though US scallop boats will continue to fish through February of next year, landings historically tend to decline steadily into the summer and fall, before ultimately bottoming out by the fourth quarter of the year.
“The real numbers do not meet the expectations of what has been printed, discussed, and provided to the industry. The catch will most likely be millions less than anticipated if the catch rate per day continues on the current path,” said Eastern Fisheries’ Commodity Sales Manager Rob Rizzo back in April.
Meanwhile, US scallop imports haven’t fared any better with YTD shipments through May down 33 percent to 21.2 million pounds; over a 10 million pound drop-off compared to this time in 2014.
Major declines from China and Peru have largely been behind the fall in scallop imports. Shipments from China are down 47 percent, with Peruvian imports 67 percent short of last year’s levels. Higher Chinese scallop demand has contributed to the more limited shipments to the US market. In Peru, shipments are down due to production issues with the harvest.
Shipments from Japan–the second largest scallop supplier to the US–are down over 5 percent. Japanese production appears to be in position to dive over the next several months according to a report published last week. Processors in Hokkaido reported more limited access to raw materials from a bout of storms that stirred up farming operations.
“The survey showed that 93.2 percent of the processors in the region underwent impact in one way or another,” the report said. “Asked about the specific contents of the impact, 72.8 percent replied that they saw decrease in production and shipment volume while 63.1 percent said buy orders and sales declined. “
Altogether, there is less scallop supply in US inventories this year, which has started to put upward pressure on the markets. In trading this week, average Urner Barry prices for Dry IFQ 20/30 ct Domestic Sea Scallops shot up 4.5 percent to $12.50 per pound.
“Market prices for domestic products have responded sharp and swift to lower than anticipated landings and stronger auction prices,” reported Urner Barry Seafood Market Jim Kenny in the July 21 Seafood Price Current.
Since historical data suggests the US scallop harvest is likely to fall well under 2015-16 season estimates; and with imported scallop supplies more limited from a year ago, this week’s bump up in wholesale domestic scallop prices from supply concerns is well in line with typical market behavior. What remains to be seen is if this upward pressure will continue to push up the market in the weeks and months ahead.
This story originally appeared on Seafood.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission.