Saving Seafood

Cooke confirms deal for shrimp farmer Seajoy is close to completion

December 3, 2018 — Glenn Cooke confirmed the Canada-based, global seafood group that carries his family name is close to a deal for a shrimp farmer in Latin America, which Undercurrent News has previously reported is Honduras’ Seajoy Group.

Speaking at a roundtable in Saint Andrews, New Brunswick, he said Cooke is in the final stages of acquiring “one of the largest” Latin American shrimp farming companies, the Telegraph-Journal reported.

“We are in the process of getting everything approved, but we have basically bought one of the world’s largest shrimp operations,” he said at the event, which was attended by the heads of other divisions from around the world and Karen Ludwig, a member of the Canadian Parliament representing the New Brunswick Southwest district.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

Good Luck Finding Maine Shrimp This Winter

November 28, 2018 — Shrimp from Maine is certainly less well-known than its crustacean cousin, Maine lobster. One of the primary reasons is that over 80 percent of American lobsters caught in the U.S. are from the state; meanwhile, even in a good year, Maine accounted for just a sliver of U.S. shrimp production, which as a whole only accounts for a sliver of the shrimp consumed in America, most of which comes from Asia. But another reason you may not hear much about shrimp from New England is that, this year, literally none will make it to market at all.

According to the Associated Press, the situation for Northern shrimp, also known as Pandalus borealis, is so dire that the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) is even shutting down a research program that had previously allowed a limited amount of shrimp from the Gulf of Maine to make it to market.

Though the shutdown should assure that what little supplies of Northern shrimp were being sold will no longer be available, it’s not like the supply has suddenly collapsed. After years of restrictions, the commission shut down all but the “research set aside” program since the 2014 season. Now, even that program for New England shrimp fishing reportedly won’t be allowed until 2021 when the moratorium is set to end. Even then, extensions of the closure are possible as stocks will be reevaluated year by year.

As recently as 2011, ASMFC data shows that landings were near 15 million pounds, the highest they’ve been since 1997. And Northern shrimp stocks have collapsed and rebuilt before: In 1978, the fishery was closed due to a stock collapse, but grew steadily throughout the ‘80s. However, this time around, the ASMFC appears to worry that things are different due to climate change. No previous closure has ever lasted anywhere near this long, and the commission has noted that “long-term trends in environmental conditions have not been favorable for” Northern shrimp. As Portland, Maine’s Press Herald reported last year, waters in the Gulf of Maine are warming faster than 99 percent of the world’s oceans, according to the Gulf of Maine Research Institute. The gulf already has the warmest waters these cold water-thriving shrimp can survive in; the even warmer winter waters are making it difficult for the species to spawn.

Read the full story at Food & Wine

Shrimp still shuttered: Northern shrimp moratorium extended 3 years

November 28, 2018 — New England’s fishing industry wasn’t expecting a bountiful shrimp harvest this winter, as the fishery has been shuttered since 2014. But the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission went above in beyond in its November meeting, shutting the shrimp fleet down not only for 2019, but for ’20 and ’21 as well.

A 2018 benchmark assessment published in October showed a bleak future for the fishery. The report indicated the northern shrimp population remains severely depleted. Spawning stock biomass remains at the same low levels that have kept the fishery shuttered since the 2013 season.

Commissioners from New Hampshire and Massachusetts supported the closure, while Patrick Keliher, commissioner of the Maine Department of Marine Resources, reportedly wanted only a one-year closure.

The closure does not allow for any research quota in the next three years, a deal that has kept a small portion of Gulf of Maine shrimp in the marketplace each year.

“The stock is so low, biomass is so low and recruitment is so down — the 2018 recruitment was 2 billion. And while that sounds like a lot, that’s even below the median,” said Tina Berger, the commission’s director of communications. “Their rationale was, ‘Let’s close the resource for three years, and that way if we have a good year for recruitment, it would give that class time to grow into a fishable resource.’”

Read the full story at National Fisherman

Shrimp harvested in New England won’t be available for sale this year

November 27, 2018 — Platters filled with shrimp are traditional during the holiday season. Just don’t expect your host to serve shrimp from New England waters.

Schermerhorn’s Fish Market owner Michael Fitzgerald has plenty of shrimp from the Gulf, but federal restrictions have prevented shrimping from off the coast of Maine. If some small supplies of Maine shrimp were available, he believes the price would be astronomical.

Michael Fitzgerald said, “We’ve got some good pricing on it, it’s just unfortunate we just can’t get Maine shrimp. There are people that want Maine shrimp but we can’t get it. We will have shrimp. Our shrimp will be decent, not Maine shrimp, but good shrimp.”

Read the full story at WWLP

Overboard death rate falls for fishermen

November 26, 2018 — So, welcome back. We hope you had a fine Thanksgiving, whether you shared it with friends, family or that prickly tribe that inhabits North Sentinel Island out in the Andaman Sea. Though if it were the latter, it’s hard to imagine you’d be around to read this.

So, let’s open this week with some good news: Overboard deaths of commercial fishermen have declined by almost half to 204 in the period between 2000 and 2016, with credit going to better training, awareness and equipment.

According to studies by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, the decline is a product of major safety initiatives by the U.S. Coast Guard in the wake of a series of accidents that killed 10 fishermen off the East Coast in 1999.

The most dangerous fisheries for overboard deaths, however, include the East Coast (particularly the Maine lobster fishery), the Gulf of Mexico shrimp fishery and Northwest salmon gillnetters.

The studies show overboard deaths have declined 47 percent since 2000, but remain the second leading cause of death among fishermen after vessel disasters.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times

New England shrimp won’t be available at all this year

November 26, 2018 — A small amount of New England shrimp has been available to the public despite a fishing shutdown in recent years, but that will not be the case this winter.

The next few years of a shutdown of the New England shrimp industry will extend to a limited, research-based fishery that has helped provide a small amount of the shrimp to retailers in the past, interstate fishing regulators have said. The managers recently decided to extend a moratorium on Northern shrimp fishing until 2021.

In some previous years of the moratorium, New England’s shrimp trawlers and trappers have been able to bring some of the popular winter seafood item to market via a program called the “research set aside.” The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission has ruled that the population of the shrimp, which is jeopardized by a warming ocean, is so low that even the research program isn’t going to be implemented this time around.

Canadian fishermen harvest the same species, but their product is difficult to find in the United States, rendering the shrimp essentially off the market for U.S. consumers.

The shutdown has been a pain for consumers and fishermen, said Joe Leask, a shrimper out of Portland who previously participated in the research fishery. Many fishermen harvest different species during different times of the year, and the loss of shrimp has hurt them economically, he said.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at ABC News

No research fishery for shrimp this year, either

November 26, 2018 — This winter there will be no Mayor Sefatia Romeo Theken and other local northern shrimp lovers trooping down to the dock with buckets to try to buy the cold-water delicacies.

This winter will be no little different from the last four years when local shrimp disappeared from seafood retail shops as the shrimp fishery has been closed.

The shutdown of the New England shrimp industry has been extended to a limited, research-based fishery that helped provide a small amount of shrimp to the public in the past, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission recently decided.

That means Joe Jurek,a Gloucester-based groundfisherman, who held the rarified position as the only Massachusetts fisherman allowed to fish for northern shrimp in the Gulf of Maine, will likely sticking to his specialization in yellow-tail flounder on most fishing days

The regulators have extended the moratorium on northern shrimp fishing until 2021. In some previous years of the moratorium, shrimp trawlers and trappers had been able to bring some of the popular seafood item to market via a program called the “research set aside.”

Besides Jurek, owner and skipper of the 42-foot FV Mystique Lady, last year’s study also included eight trawlers from Maine and one from New Hampshire.

Each participating boat was allowed to shrimp once a week for eight weeks. Each vessel was allowed to catch and sell up to 1,200 pounds of northern shrimp per week at a price to be determined by the market. There was no other compensation.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times

October was record low month for US wild-caught shrimp in Gulf of Mexico

November 23, 2018 — It’s no wonder US wild-caught shrimp have been a little harder to find of late.

The 10.4 million pounds of shrimp caught by US commercial harvesters in the Gulf of Mexico during the month of October was the lowest for that month since records have been maintained, going back to 2002, reports the Southern Shrimp Alliance (SSA), a trade association that represents the harvesters.

Based on data provided Wednesday by the fishery monitoring branch of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Southeast Fisheries Science Center, total landings for the month were about 30% below the prior 16-year historical average (14.8m lbs).

In particular, the low volumes were driven by a lack of reporting of any shrimp landings from the west coast of Florida, as well as only 3.6m lbs reported as landed in Louisiana – by far the lowest total for any October going back to 2002 and less than half of the prior 16-year average (7.7m lbs) for the state, according to SSA.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

 

It’s not SIMP, but new rules are stopping US imports of Mexican shrimp

November 23, 2018 — Importers of Mexican shrimp are seeing their trucks stopped at the US border by what seems like a surprise, early version of the new National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) seafood import monitoring program (SIMP) rules for shrimp, Undercurrent News has learned.

But it’s not SIMP.

Mayan Seafood, a Canadian company that imports Mexican shrimp into the US, has had two refrigerated trucks containing a combined total of 55,000 pounds of both farm-raised and wild-caught shrimp sitting in Nogales, Mexico, since Nov. 15 — a week — Rod MacDonald, the general manager, told Undercurrent Wednesday.

The problem: US Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) wouldn’t allow the trucks entry because Mayan, like a number of other exporters of Mexican shrimp to the US, had not filled out “certificates of admissibility”, a newly required form that must identify, along with other information, the exact time and location of each shrimp catch, the weight of each catch, the name of the boat that made each catch and the type of fishing gear used.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

 

Shrimp fishery moratorium extended through 2021

November 20, 2018 — The Northern Shrimp Section of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission extended a moratorium on commercial fishing of Gulf of Maine shrimp through 2021.

According to the commission’s news release, the three-year extension was set in response to low shrimp populations and the fact that, even with increasing juvenile populations, it would still take several years for the shrimp to be commercially harvestable.

A 2018 stock assessment update indicates the Gulf of Maine northern shrimp population remains depleted. “Spawning stock biomass,” referring to the shrimp that are capable of reproducing, has steadily declined to what the commission said was “extremely low levels.” In 2018, it was estimated at 1.3 million pounds, compared with 2017’s 1.5 million pounds.

“Recruitment,” the number of shrimp surviving to reach spawning status, has also been low in recent years.

The commission said that high levels of natural mortality and low levels of recruitment are hindering recovery of the stock. Natural mortality is caused by predation and unfavorable trends in environmental conditions due to increasing ocean temperatures.

“With ocean temperatures predicted to continue to rise, this suggests an increasingly inhospitable environment for northern shrimp in the Gulf of Maine,” the release says.

Fishing for shrimp has been banned for the past five years, and yet the stock has not improved, the release says.

Read the full story at MaineBiz