Saving Seafood

More diversity begets better innovation, seafood leaders say

April 25, 2022 — Atlantic Sea Farms CEO Briana Warner is a believer in the direct, cyclical relationship between diversity and innovation.

“I think some of the people who are innovating and doing innovative stuff, you’re going to see new people come into [the industry] because it goes back to a circular thing – if we get more diversity in the industry, they’re going to be coming up with more-diverse ideas that break out of the mold, and then we’ll attract more diversity,” Warner said.

Read the full story at SeafoodSource

 

MSC: Sustainable fishing and ocean conservation receives close to $1 million funding boost from sustainable seafood ecolabel

April 20, 2022 — The following was released by the Marine Stewardship Council:

Satellite tagging stingrays, translocating sea urchins and developing deep-sea cameras are among the 22 projects and fisheries to have been awarded funding by the internationally recognised sustainable seafood certification and ecolabelling program, the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) announced today. 

 Now in its third year, the MSC’s Ocean Stewardship Fund (OSF) redirects 5% of its annual royalties from the sales of MSC certified sustainable seafood to accelerate the sustainability of fisheries globally.

 The fund is also expanding in scope and reach this year, as it opens up to third-party donations from funders.   

Amid global concerns about the depletion of ocean biodiversity, this year’s grants focus in part, on driving improvements that better protect endangered, threatened, or protected species or vulnerable marine ecosystems – with projects in Argentina, Greenland, Australia, the United Kingdom, and France. 

A total of US$936,000 in the form of 22 grants ranging from $6,500 to $68,000 each, are awarded to fisheries, scientists, NGOs and students from 12 countries to aid international efforts in marine conservation and sustainable fishing.

 At least half of the grants ($459,000) are supporting fisheries in developing economies that are transitioning to sustainable practices, including Indonesia, Mexico and India.   

Harnessing satellite tagging technology in the Mediterranean, the MSC certified SATHOAN artisanal bluefin tuna fishery will use the funding to understand better how stingray populations may be affected by fishing activity. The fishery releases any stingrays accidentally caught on longlines back into the ocean but needs more data to understand how the population is impacted long-term.  

Automated, illuminated, and underwater camera monitoring systems are being designed with funding received by the Western Australian government. The cameras will be used to map overlaps between the MSC certified West Coast crab fishery and remote deep-sea habitats. The unique system will be designed to withstand high pressure down to 1,000 metres deployment to collect habitat data which will be used to apply relevant management measures. 

Another grant will also support an investigation into whether translocating red sea urchins to areas with higher densities of kelp will help stocks to recover. Local marine heatwaves, resulting in a decline in kelp forests which the urchins rely on for food, alongside overfishing have led to a localised decline in sea urchin populations.

The research, led by Autonomous University of Baja California (UABC) in Mexico hopes to understand whether translocations are improving sea urchin condition or in fact, doing more damage than good to the wider ecosystem. Fishers hope that by moving the urchins to an area with an abundance of algae to eat, the population may improve. 

Rupert Howes, Chief Executive of the Marine Stewardship Council said:

“Congratulations to all of the Ocean Stewardship Fund awardees this year. Our focus on marine biodiversity will help push forward scientific understanding of how improvements can be made in fishing practices to minimise ecosystem impacts. Without doubt, our collective efforts can help to ensure our oceans remain productive and resilient in the face of the growing pressures and demands placed on them but much more needs to be done and urgently if we are to deliver the UN Strategic Development Goals by 2030.” 

Dr Keith Sainsbury, Fisheries Assessment Scientist and member of the Technical Advisory Board to the Marine Stewardship Council said:

“I’m delighted to have been part of the panel reviewing these fascinating Ocean Stewardship Fund projects. All promote cross-sector collaboration between scientists and fishers to solve ocean challenges, with many using the traditional knowledge of fishers to encourage successful outcomes. Our ocean faces a multitude of threats from overfishing to climate change and biodiversity decline but we’re still in the window of opportunity to safeguard our oceans. Sustainable fisheries management can lead to incredible turnarounds, especially when fishers are viewed as being part of the solution.”   

Since the establishment of the Ocean Stewardship Fund in 2019, the fund has issued 64 grants to a total sum of USD$2.8 million. 

 

On The Hook launches external review of Marine Stewardship Council

April 19, 2022 — On The Hook announced it is launching an external review of the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) to offer recommendations on measures the MSC should implement to creating lasting sustainability in the fisheries it certifies.

Launched in August 2017, On The Hook was originally focused on MSC certification of the world’s largest tuna fishery, controlled by the Parties to the Nauru Agreement. Initially, On The Hook criticized the PNA’s MSC recertification despite recorded incidents of shark fishing, and the fishery being “compartmentalized” into certified and non-certified fishing methods, including using the same vessels to catch tuna caught with and without the use of fish-aggregating devices.

Read the full story at SeafoodSource

 

China’s middle class increasingly choosing seafood as pork consumption declines

April 18, 2022 — A structural decline in China’s pork consumption, being driven by the country’s changing demographics as well as health concerns and rising incomes, will benefit the seafood industry, according to Bu Rui Ke (which also trades as China Brick), a research consultancy focused on agricultural commodities and publicly listed agricultural and food firms.

However, the firm found seafood is facing a battle with beef to become the protein of choice among the fast-growing, higher-spending Chinese middle class.

Read the full story at SeafoodSource

 

Environmental NGOs form new partnership to combat bycatch

April 18, 2022 — The Sustainable Fisheries Partnership (SFP), Whale and Dolphin Conservation (WDC), and Birdlife International have formed a new partnership to protect marine wildlife from bycatch.

The new partnership intends to work directly with major retailers, brands, and foodservice companies in order to conduct bycatch audits. The audits are to identify the level of threats to endangered, threatened, and protected (ETP) species in fisheries that are supplier to the retailers and brands, allowing companies to identify and prioritize actions to take in the seafood supply chain in order to reduce overall bycatch.

Read the full story at SeafoodSource

 

Despite war ban, Russian seafood could enter the US anyway

April 15, 2022 — Fishing is big business in Russia, one closely linked to the Kremlin and President Vladimir Putin’s projection of power at sea.

The country is one of the world’s top seafood producers and was the eighth-largest exporter to the United States last year, with more than $1.2bn worth of sales, the bulk of it king crab.

But it is unknown exactly how much manages to land in the US by way of China, which sent another $1.7bn in fish to the US last year. Nor does the Biden administration’s ban require companies importing from China to find out.

Among Russia’s biggest seafood exports is Alaska pollock. A cousin of cod, Alaska pollock is the most harvested fish in the US, showing up in everything from imitation crabmeat to McDonald’s Filet-O-Fish sandwiches. Every year, giant, floating factories in the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska catch 1.5 million tonnes of fish, the equivalent of more than four times the weight of New York’s Empire State Building.

Read the full story at Al Jazeera

Russia forced to reshape fleet-renovation project due to sanctions

April 14, 2022 — A month and a half into Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a clearer picture of the challenges the Russian seafood sector will be facing as a result of international sanctions is coming into focus.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine immediately caused turmoil in global seafood markets, and the consequences on trade caused ripple effects that still haven’t subsided. Multiple rounds of economic sanctions imposed by the European Union, the U.K., and the U.S. have already impacted the seafood industry.

Read the full story at SeafoodSource

 

US House passes USD 42 billion restaurant funding bill

April 11, 2022 — On 7 April, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Relief for Restaurants and Other Hard Hit Small Businesses Act, which would allocate USD 42 billion (EUR 39 billion) for the Restaurant Revitalization Fund (RRF) and USD 13 billion (EUR 12 billion) for other businesses impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The funding bill will now be considered by the U.S. Senate.

Read the full story at SeafoodSource

 

US Senate moves to end normal trade with Russia, but seafood ban “unenforceable”

April 7, 2022 — The U.S. Senate voted unanimously on 7 April to end normal trade relations with Russia, at the same time as a hearing of the U.S. House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water, Oceans, and Wildlife attempted to address what members called an “unenforceable” ban on Russian seafood imports.

The Senate vote, coming in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, effectively gives Russia the same trade status as other “pariah” states like North Korea, and will allow U.S. President Joe Biden to continue tightening trade with the country and allow for tariffs of up to 25 percent on Russian seafood – if and when the recently enacted seafood ban is lifted. The decision by the Senate, which according to ABC News is likely to be supported by the House and later signed by Biden, also impacts Belarus and effectively ends “most-favored nation” trading status between the U.S. and Russia.

Read the full story at SeafoodSource