Saving Seafood

UK restaurants seek relief as Russian whitefish sanctions loom

May 16, 2022 — The U.K.’s restaurant and hospitality industry is asking for financial help as it faces higher taxes and rapidly rising seafood prices due to inflation and impending Russian sanctions.

The U.K. government issued sanctions against Russian goods – including the installation of a 35 percent tariff on whitefish – in March. In April, a government official said the sanctions had been “delayed while we sort some technicalities,” but noted “we are totally committed to them,” per Politico.

Read the full story at SeafoodSource

 

US fishing haul fell 10% during first pandemic year

May 13, 2022 — America’s commercial fishing industry fell 10% in catch volume and 15% in value during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, federal regulators said Thursday.

The 2020 haul of fish was 8.4 billion pounds, while the value of that catch was $4.8 billion, officials with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said. The early months of the pandemic posed numerous challenges for the U.S. fishing industry, which has remained economically viable despite the difficult year, NOAA officials said.

“It was fishery closures, boats not going out due to COVID, border closings due to COVID, lots of disruption in the flow of goods and services,” said Michael Liddel, NOAA’s commercial fishery statistics branch chief.

NOAA made the announcement as it unveiled its “Status of the Stocks” report, which provides details about the health of the nation’s commercial fishing industry.

The report said there were 51 fish stocks on the federal government’s “overfished list” in 2021. That list includes stocks that have been depleted by excessive fishing and the number was an increase of two from the previous year.

Read the full story from the Associated Press

 

Maine’s commercially harvested marine resources reach historic value

May 12, 2022 — On the heels of a global pandemic, the overall value earned by harvesters in 2021 jumped by more than $365 million to a new historic value, according to data from Maine Department of Marine Resources.

2021 is now a year of historic value for Maine commercial fishermen. Recently released data from the Maine Department of Marine Resources indicates that the overall value earned by harvesters in 2021 jumped by more than $365 million and exceeded the previous overall record of $733,691,455, set in 2016, by $150 million.

The numbers, which reflect the strength of an historic year for lobster and a rebounding elver fishery, reached an all time high at $890,668,873, according to the report now made available. Maine is considered as one of the most important commercial fishing states in the country, because of its lobster fishing industry.

“The hard work of Maine fishermen, aquaculturists and dealers once again resulted in tremendous economic benefit for our state,” said Maine Governor Janet Mills. “On the heels of a global pandemic that has challenged every link in the supply chain, the men and women who harvest, cultivate, process and sell seafood from Maine continue to ensure that the highest quality products find their way to market.”

Read the full story at National Fisherman

US seafood landings in 2020 hit hard by COVID-19, NOAA Fisheries reports

May 12, 2022 — A pair of fishery status updates released by NOAA Fisheries on Thursday, 12 May, 2022, have revealed the profound impact the COVID-19 pandemic had on the U.S. fishing industry, which experienced double-digit percentage decreases in landings and value.

According to an update made to NOAA Fisheries’ “Fisheries of the United States 2020” report, U.S. fishermen reported 8.4 billion pounds of landings for 2020, down 10.4 percent from 2019. The value of those products was reported at USD 4.8 billion (EUR 4.63 billion), down 14.6 percent from the year before.

Read the full story at SeafoodSource

 

US Senator Marco Rubio files bill to ban Russian seafood from entering US

May 9, 2022 — Another U.S. senator has come forward with a bill that would prohibit Russian seafood imports from entering the country.

On 4 May, 2022, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Florida) filed S.4143 in the chamber. Dubbed the Protecting American Food Producers from Russia’s Market Distortions Act, the bill would keep fish and other products out of American ports until Russia meets certain conditions.

Read the full story at SeafoodSource

 

NOAA Announces Projects Recommended for Saltonstall-Kennedy 2022 Funding

May 3, 2022 — NOAA Fisheries has recommended more than $11.8 million for 44 projects under the 2022 Saltonstall-Kennedy Competitive Grants Program. The projects fall into two categories:

  • Promotion, development, and marketing and science
  • Technology that promotes sustainable U.S seafood production and harvesting

For more than 40 years, NOAA has awarded grant funding for projects under the Saltonstall-Kennedy program to individuals, institutions, organizations, tribes and businesses across the country. These funds help address the needs of fishing communities, support economic opportunities, and build and maintain resilient and sustainable fisheries.

The goal of the Saltonstall-Kennedy program is to fund projects that:

  • Address the needs of fishing communities at all scales (local, regional, national)
  • Optimize economic benefits by building and maintaining sustainable fisheries
  • Increase other opportunities to keep working waterfronts viable

These 44 proposals represent the top projects best positioned to meet this goal.

Demand for funding was high again this year. Initially, NOAA received 270 pre-proposals. Out of that number, at least three subject matter experts reviewed 137 full proposals requesting more than $38 million during the technical merit review phase. The top proposals in each NOAA Fisheries’ region were recommended for 2022 funding.

At this point in the selection process, the application approval and recommended funding is not final. Divisions of NOAA and the Department of Commerce, NOAA’s parent agency, must still give final approval before successful applicants receive funding.

Read the full story from NOAA

 

UK seafood sales drop on record inflation

April 28, 2022 — Seafood sales in grocery stores in the United Kingdom dropped 8.3 percent for the quarter ending 20 March, primarily due to the impacts of price increases caused by inflation, according to research firm Kantar.

However, retail seafood sales are holding strong versus meat and poultry, and were up 5.6 percent versus the same quarter in 2021.

Read the full story at SeafoodSource

 

Aquaculture proponents fly in to Washington DC to push for AQUAA Act

April 27, 2022 — Proponents of expanding America’s aquaculture industry began a three-day meeting with lawmakers and their aides in Washington D.C. on Tuesday, 26 April, in hopes of drumming up more support for a bill to create more opportunities for offshore fish farms.

The fly-in sponsored by industry coalition group Stronger America Through Seafood is the first since the COVID-19 pandemic began more than two years ago. The event is drawing representatives from a wide array of companies, including restaurant chain Red Lobster and animal feed producer Cargill.

Read the full story at SeafoodSource

 

COVID, inflation triggering upheaval in European seafood marketplace

April 27, 2022 — New seafood trends are emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic and rapidly rising inflation in Europe, according to a panel of industry leaders and policymakers at the 2022 Seafood Expo Global in Barcelona, Spain on Tuesday, 26 April.

The pandemic has upended Europe’s seafood marketplace, and rising inflation has been exacerbated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, according to Auden Lem, the deputy director of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization’s Fisheries Division.

Read the full story at SeafoodSource

 

Seafood industry investors buying into the blue economy

April 26, 2022 — Public appreciation that oceans provide essential protection to both the planet and humanity is growing, according to Chris Gorell Barnes, co-founder of private equity firm Ocean 14 Capital.

The entrepreneur, marine conservationist, and co-founder of the Blue Marine Foundation said “tremendous trigger-points,” which include documentaries like Blue Planet II and Seaspiracy, as well as reports from the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), have brought unprecedented public interest to the oceans. Additionally, luminaries such as U.S. Presidential Special Envoy John Kerry have been highlighting the role that the ocean plays in mitigating the climate crisis, and the new U.N. Decade of the Oceans platform is drawing attention to the need to reverse the decline of ocean health, Gorell Barnes said.

Read the full story at SeafoodSource