Saving Seafood

Connecticut Lawmakers Want More COVID Relief for Shellfish Farmers

July 27, 2020 — Connecticut’s political leaders want shellfish and aquaculture farmers to be included in the next round of COVID-19 economic relief. In a letter to the leaders of the House and Senate, the state’s representatives asked for $500 million in fisheries assistance.

Specifically, the politicians wanted funding to target producers who did not receive sufficient assistance from the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP), or from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Section 12005 funds.

Read the full story at Seafood News

Connecticut Lawmakers Push For Expanded Assistance to Shellfish Farmers in Next COVID-19 Economic Relief Package

July 24, 2020 — The following was released by The Office of Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT):

U.S. Senators Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and U.S. Representatives John Larson (CT-01), Rosa DeLauro (CT-03), Jim Himes (CT-04), and Jahana Hayes (CT-05), joined a letter led by U.S. Congressman Joe Courtney (CT-02) to House and Senate leadership to urge them to provide support for shellfish and aquaculture farmers as they negotiate the next COVID-19 economic relief package. In a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Minority Leader Charles Schumer, the Connecticut delegation asked that $500 million be provided in fisheries assistance, which would include shellfish farmers.

The lawmakers asked that the new funding be specifically targeted towards producers who were ineligible, or did not receive sufficient assistance from the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP), or from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Section 12005 funds. They note that many aquaculture businesses in Connecticut, including all molluscan shellfish and marine algae, were not made eligible by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) for CFAP assistance, and that available assistance for this industry from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) amounts to only $450,000.

“In our State of Connecticut, fisheries and aquaculture producers will receive $1.8 million in total funds from NOAA, divided between commercial fishing, recreational fishing, and wholesale and shellfish aquaculture. After these resources have been distributed, the entire shellfish industry in Connecticut will receive approximately $450,00 in assistance, a woefully inadequate sum which will be spread thinly throughout our State’s $30 million industry.

“Providing $500 million in additional NOAA fisheries assistance targeted to the most affected industries – especially shellfish – will be a lifeline to our nation’s shellfish farmers during this economically challenging time.”

The delegation went on to urge the House and Senate leaders to provide additional funding for USDA’s Section 32 purchasing program, with a focus on aiding the shellfish aquaculture sector:

“[…] USDA’s Section 32 program to purchase surplus commodities has provided significant assistance to agricultural enterprises to prevent steep price declines. We believe that shellfish aquaculture are an appropriate candidate to this purchase program. USDA has failed to avail Section 32 purchases to the shellfish industry, and we request additional funds for Section 32 purchases, with an emphasis on sectors that did not receive a purchase thus far in 2020, including shellfish aquaculture.

“We urge you to support this targeted assistance in any future COVID-19 package.”

To read the delegation’s full letter, click here.

How Rhode Island’s Shellfish Industry is Innovating During Coronavirus: RI Sea Grant on LIVE

July 16, 2020 — The Rhode Island aquaculture industry has been hit hard by the coronavirus — loss of sales, but also forced to reinvent their business models fast.

Azure Cygler, Fisheries and Aquaculture Extension Specialist at the RI Sea Grant at the University of Rhode Island appeared on GoLocal LIVE, and talked about how the aquaculture industry in the state is adapting due to coronavirus restrictions — and innovating.

Cygler joined GoLocal LIVE as part of an ongoing partnership between the Rhode Island Food Policy Council and GoLocal.

“In terms of our seafood industry, we have some of the best and most amazing innovators you could imagine,” said Cygler. “So at the University of Rhode Island, I work with Rhode Island Sea Grant and the Coast Resources Center — I’ve been working with these folks for years and I just wanted to kind of zero in on the shellfish industry, which is part of the bigger seafood system.”

Read the full story at Go Local Providence

MAINE: Shellfish lab proposed on Gouldsboro shore

June 22, 2020 — A town-owned parcel on Prospect Harbor’s eastern shore is the proposed site for a small shellfish resilience lab.

Baby clams would be raised in ocean-based nursery trays, brought ashore to overwinter in an indoor seawater tank at the facility and used to re-seed local flats come spring.

Endorsed by Gouldsboro selectmen last fall, the clam restoration project is a partnership between the town, Schoodic Institute and local schools. The proposed ¾-acre, shorefront parcel lies in a limited residential area and the lab’s proponents are proposing that the land be rezoned commercial fisheries/maritime to allow the clam cultivation.

The Planning Board will hold a related public hearing tentatively set for Tuesday, July 21, at the town office.

Pending the public hearing and the Planning Board’s consideration of the proposed amendment to the town’s shoreland zoning map, the zoning change could be put on the warrant for the annual Town Meeting, which has yet to be scheduled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Read the full story at the Ellsworth American

MAINE: Shellfish direct sales

April 8, 2020 — The Maine Department of Marine Resources’ Bureau of Public Health published guidelines Monday for shellfish harvesters and growers selling directly to consumers. 

Bivalve shellfish are closely managed and monitored, even during a pandemic, because the state agency must continue to make sure the product is safe from biotoxins and other hazardous materials. 

Harvesters may sell directly from their homes — customers must pick up, no delivery — or directly from a standard aquaculture lease site (not a limited purpose lease site). 

Read the full story at the Mount Desert Islander

New report explores the future of alternative aquafeed ingredients

April 6, 2020 — A new report from Lux Research explores the future of alternative aquafeed ingredients, evaluating insect protein, single-cell protein, and algae protein as potential replacement options in fishmeal.

The FAO estimated in 2018 that aquaculture production would reach 201 million metric tons (MT) by 2030, in line with a 10 percent annual increase in demand for fish protein. However, according to IFFO, global annual fishmeal production from marine organisms – including fish, krill, shellfish, and algae – has remained at 5 million MT in recent years, with one third of the world’s fishmeal production coming courtesy of byproducts from wild-capture fisheries and aquaculture.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

RHODE ISLAND: Virus puts freeze on demand for shellfish

April 3, 2020 — Jody King’s hands usually dry out from salt water after a day of work on Narragansett Bay, where he rakes quahogs for a living from the sandy bottom around Prudence Island.

Now, King’s hands dry out from using too much Purell.

His last day of steady quahogging was more than a week ago, when his dealer called to say he couldn’t buy any more clams. These days, King sits at home, waiting for a call to return to work.

With restaurants shuttered and fish markets in Boston, New York and other East Coast cities closed because of the spread of coronavirus, quahoggers like King have been left with no demand for their product.

“The bay is open, and I can’t go to work,” said King. “This is an absolute first.”

Andrade’s Catch in Bristol usually buys 4,000 to 6,000 clams a day from quahoggers, but after the wholesale business collapsed the shop could only move 1,000 pieces a day selling retail to locals.

“We could make it another month, a month and a half like this, but the fishermen are really at risk,” said Davy Andrade, a part-time owner of the shop. “It takes about $200 a day to run a boat and pay the bills and feed their family, and these guys are pulling in $100 a day if they’re lucky.”

Read the full story at the Warwick Beacon

Federal stimulus not too soon for Massachusetts fish, shellfish industry

March 30, 2020 — Stimulus funds made possible by the signing of the phase three coronavirus bill can’t come fast enough for finfish and shellfish harvesters and dealers in the US state of Massachusetts, the Cape Cod Times reports.

The newspaper on Friday, the day the bill was passed by the House of Representatives by voice vote and signed by president Donald Trump, recounted how multiple seafood sectors were being affected by the virus. COVID-19 has now infected over 143,000 and killed over 2,500 in the US and caused the closing or partial closing of foodservice establishments all over the country.

Industry leaders had informed Daniel McKiernan, acting director of the state’s Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF), in a March 20 conference call that 70% of all seafood sold in Massachusetts is consumed in restaurants. Especially hard-hit are “luxury” seafood species, such as lobster, scallops, swordfish and tuna, the newspaper noted.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

The best places to buy fresh seafood online in 2020

March 25, 2020 — With much of the country practicing some form of social distancing and attempting to keeping indoors whenever possible, delivery services have become all that more useful. From booze to groceries, butcher meats and even fully-prepared meals , these services are providing a level of safety the public, especially for those at high risk of becoming sick. The following is our pre-COVID-19 list of the best seafood delivery services in 2020 to keep a steady flow of healthy fish coming, even in these unnerving times. Be sure to check that the services listed are accepting new customers and deliver to your area.

There are lots of reasons to buy more seafood. Generally speaking, fish and seafood (wild caught in particular) are healthier both for our bodies and the planet than beef, chicken, pork and other meats (all now largely factory-farmed, often using growth hormones and other dubious practices). But for every reason to eat more fish and seafood, there seems to be an obstacle in the way — cost and access to name a few.

It might sound counterintuitive to order seafood online but a bevy of new members of the online seafood industry are proving that fish and seafood delivery might just be the best way to get fresh and affordable seafood into your home, especially when living far from fished waters. “Fresh seafood delivery” is not an oxymoron. A reliable seafood market (or seafood restaurant) with a consistently fresh bounty of salmon, halibut, crab and other shellfish is a treasure, to be certain, but not every town or neighborhood has one, and if you live far from the ocean things get even dicier.

This score of online ordering seafood delivery companies offer everything from high-quality salmon, jumbo shrimp, gulf shrimp, clams (and clam chowder), oysters, cape porpoise lobster and crab legs to harder-to-find fish species like monkfish and grouper, all flash-frozen, expertly packaged and delivered right to your door as a one-time order or recurring subscription. The new players are finding innovative ways to ensure maximum freshness and accountability and supporting sustainable seafood, with many now providing detailed records about exactly where the fish and seafood came from, when it was caught, how far it traveled and what sorts of fishing practices have been employed.

Read the full story at CNET

Alaska shellfish farmers and divers object to paying for federally required lab tests

March 18, 2020 — Alaska shellfish farmers and divers fear they won’t be “open for business” much longer if they’re forced to pick up the tab for federally required lab tests as outlined in Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s budget.

The Department of Environmental Conservation has proposed shifting the cost to the harvesters, which last year totaled almost a half million dollars.

Geoduck clam divers in Southeast Alaska, for example, pay about $150,000 each year to collect samples that are sent to the single federally approved laboratory in Anchorage and tested for paralytic shellfish poison and other toxins. Divers also pay $20,000 for water quality samples twice a year, and $8,000 to test for inorganic arsenic.

“And then we pay the Alaska Department of Fish and Game about $25,000 a year for them to do the management and assessment of the geoduck resource,” said Phil Doherty, co-director of the Southeast Alaska Regional Dive Association.

The geoduck divers also tax themselves 7% to cover SARDFA’s $50,000 administrative costs. In all, Doherty said it adds up to $266,00 a year.

Read the full story at the Anchorage Daily News