Saving Seafood

Pacific shrimp: Biologists keep an eye on warmer water

January 31, 2020 — Oregon pink shrimp trawlers wound up with a harvest of 26.85 million pounds for their 2019 season. Those are the preliminary numbers from PacFIN, and at ex-vessel prices of 74 cents per pound, fleet revenues crunch out to $19.94 million.

As predicted, the 2019 season came in with lower production than the 2018 season, in which the fleet of 64 trawlers put in its third best season on record with 35.8 million pounds and ex-vessel revenues of $26.9 million. Ex-vessel prices averaged 68 cents per pound in 2018.

The mix of age 1 and age 2 shrimp dovetailed in the 2018 fishery and drove the number of harvestable shrimp upward. Biomass modeling had predicted a strong showing of age ones, and they came through.

This year, it was a strong representation of 2-year-olds that drove the fishery, according to Scott Groth, the pink shrimp and south coast shellfish project leader with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, in Charleston.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

Reminder: Public Hearings to AddressTransit Provisions for Shrimp Fishery

January 28, 2020 — The following was released by the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council:

At the request of penaeid shrimp fishermen, the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council is considering measures to modify current transit provisions for cold-weather closed areas. The Council will hold a joint meeting of its advisory panels as well as public hearings to get input on proposed changes.

Public Hearings

  • Amendment 11 to the Shrimp Fishery Management Plan (via webinar)
  • Wednesday, February 5, 2020
  • Thursday, February 6, 2020
  • Hearings begin at 6:00 p.m. Additional details, including a public hearing summary document and overview are now available at: https://safmc.net/safmc-meetings/public-hearings-scoping-meetings/. Links for the webinar registration are also available.

The Council created the cold-weather closures and associated transit provisions to protect over-wintering white shrimp if the abundance of white shrimp decreases by 80% or water temperatures dip below 48 degrees Fahrenheit for at least one week. The current provisions, implemented in 1994, require that trawl gear be stowed below deck when transiting the closed areas. Fishermen have expressed concerns that changes to vessel design over the years make it more difficult to store the gear.

Council members will review recommendations from its advisory panels and input from the public hearings before considering final approval of Shrimp Amendment 11 during their March 2-6, 2020 meeting in Jekyll Island, GA.

NOAA finalizes TED rule for shrimp skimmer trawls

January 21, 2020 — Three years after it was proposed, NOAA has adopted a rule to expand sea turtle excluder requirements in the U.S. shrimp fishery – but has decided to spare about 80 percent of shallow water fishermen who could have been affected.

Turtle excluding devices, or TEDs, have been required for years on shrimp otter trawls, and the new rule will impose that on boats 40 feet and over pulling skimmer nets.

Read the full story from National Fisherman at Seafood Source

Southern Shrimp Alliance wants Labor Department agency to close slave labor loophole

January 16, 2020 — The Southern Shrimp Alliance is requesting the U.S. Department of Labor to revise policies the trade group claims allow certain seafood imports to avoid being associated with child and forced labor practices.

SSA Executive Director John Williams sent the letter to the department’s Bureau of International Labor Affairs on Monday 13 January. For more than a decade, the bureau has been responsible for producing a list of products that are produced through exploitative labor practices. That does include some seafood products, like shrimp harvested in such countries as Bangladesh, Cambodia, and Thailand.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

SAFMC to Address Transit Provisions for Shrimp Fishery

January 13, 2020 — The following was released by the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council:

At the request of penaeid shrimp fishermen, the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council is considering measures to modify current transit provisions for cold-weather closed areas. The Council will hold a joint meeting of its advisory panels as well as public hearings to get input on proposed changes.

Joint Advisory Panel Meeting

  • Deepwater Shrimp, Law Enforcement, and Shrimp Advisory Panels (via webinar)
  • Friday, January 17, 2020 at 10:00 a.m.
  • Details, including a meeting agenda with a link to webinar registration, briefing book materials, and an online comment form is available at: https://safmc.net/safmc-meetings/current-advisory-panel-meetings/.

Public Hearings

  • Amendment 11 to the Shrimp Fishery Management Plan (via webinar)
  • Wednesday, February 5, 2020
  • Thursday, February 6, 2020
  • Hearings begin at 6:00 p.m. Additional details, including a public hearing summary document and overview will be posted online as they become available at: https://safmc.net/safmc-meetings/public-hearings-scoping-meetings/. Links for the webinar registration are now available.

The Council created the cold-weather closures and associated transit provisions to protect over-wintering white shrimp if the abundance of white shrimp decreases by 80% or water temperatures dip below 48 degrees Fahrenheit for at least one week. The current provisions, implemented in 1994, require that trawl gear be stowed below deck when transiting the closed areas. Fishermen have expressed concerns that changes to vessel design over the years make it more difficult to store the gear.

Council members will review recommendations from its advisory panels and input from the public hearings before considering final approval of Shrimp Amendment 11 during their March 2-6, 2020 meeting in Jekyll Island, GA.

1 dead, 2 missing after shrimp boat sinks off North Carolina coast, Coast Guard says

January 8, 2020 — The Coast Guard rescued two crew members from a shrimp trawler when it went down in the Pamlico Sound on Tuesday, officials said.

One of them was pronounced dead at the hospital, and two others are still missing.

“This is a rough case and as we continue to search, our thoughts are with the families of the mariners,” search and rescue coordinator Matthew Brooks said in a news release.

The Coast Guard received a distress signal Tuesday night and sent rescuers by boat and helicopter from Hatteras Inlet and the Elizabeth City Air station, according to the release.

Two crew members were located by the aircrew and taken to Sentara Albemarle Hospital in Elizabeth City. One was hypothermic and the other, who required CPR, was pronounced dead at the hospital, according to the release.

Read the full story at The Charlotte Observer

Rule aimed at saving more sea turtles from shrimp boats gets mixed response

December 27, 2019 — A new federal rule aimed at protecting sea turtles from shrimping nets is getting mixed reactions from conservation groups.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has finalized a new rule that requires special metal grates known as TEDs, or turtle excluder devices, in more than 1,000 additional shrimping vessels in the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Ocean. The TEDs create an opening in shrimp nets to allow trapped turtles to escape before they drown.

The rule requires all vessels longer than 40 feet to install the special metal grates by April 2021. NOAA estimates the rule will save nearly 1,160 threatened or endangered sea turtles each year along the U.S. coast from Texas to North Carolina. The additional metal grates will also reduce the bycatch of sharks, sturgeon and other fish, NOAA said.

The conservation group Oceana praised the rule as “a step in the right direction.” The rule was developed in response to a 2015 Oceana lawsuit alleging the federal government was violating the Endangered Species Act by failing to monitor the shrimping industry’s impact on sea turtles and set limits on the number of sea turtles that can be killed.

Read the full story at NOLA.com

Building consumer trust: Wholechain pilots blockchain traceability tech

December 12, 2019 — The journey of the Fair Trade USA-certified shrimp harvested from Altata Bay in Mexico to Portland, Oregon, U.S.A. is tracked and documented using one of the most cutting-edge traceability technologies: blockchain.

Part of a pilot project between Fair Trade USA and blockchain solution provider Wholechain, the Del Pacifico-distributed shrimp in the frozen section of New Seasons Market demonstrate the promise of blockchain to ensure full transparency for a seafood sector rife with obscure supply chains and, sometimes, fraud.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

USD 226 million in Deepwater Horizon settlement funds to fund marine restoration projects in Gulf of Mexico

December 11, 2019 — Around USD 226 million (EUR 234.3 million) in funding from the Deepwater Horizon disaster settlement will be used to fund eighteen projects to restore the Gulf of Mexico’s marine environment.

Among the projects gaining funding as part of the Final Open Ocean Restoration Plan 2, which was formally announced on 10 December after a 6-month review period, is an effort to reduce fish and turtle bycatch in the Gulf’s shrimp fishery, which received more than USD 17 million (EUR 15.3 million) in funding, and programs to encourage greater adoption of devices to prevent barotrauma in fish caught by recreational anglers, which received USD 30 million (EUR 27.1 million).

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Shutdown of New England Shrimp Fishery to Continue in 2020

December 10, 2019 — New England’s shrimp fishing industry will remain shut down next year and likely beyond.

Interstate regulators met on Dec. 6 to consider the future of the industry, which has been shut down since 2013 and is under a moratorium until 2021. A regulatory panel with the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission briefly discussed the possibility of reopening the fishery, but members said that might prevent the shrimp population from recovering.

The shrimp population in the Gulf of Maine is suffering due to the impacts of warming waters. Recent surveys show the species’ abundance at or near all-time lows, according to materials provided by the fisheries commission.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at U.S. News