Saving Seafood

Gulf Fishing Family Hurting After Hurricane Laura Destroys Cameron, Wrecks Havoc on Surrounding Area

September 1, 2020 — The Gulf fishing fleet docked at or near Cameron, LA bore the brunt of Hurricane Laura as it roared ashore in the early hours of August 27th as a category four storm. In one area alone, ten of the 15 shrimp boats tied-up sank to the bottom of Bayou Contraband after being ravaged by rough waters and constant winds gusting up to 135 mph.  The Gulf Seafood Foundation is calling upon government officials in Louisiana, Texas and Mississippi for an immediate coordinated seafood specific disaster relief effort for fishermen, seafood processors and the extended seafood family.

“We are calling upon both our state leaders and federal representatives to quickly get monetary help for our fishing communities,” said Raz Halli, president of the Gulf Seafood Foundation.  More than 120 miles of Gulf coastline was impacted by the storm, a coastline that is home a variety of commercial fishermen.  Even though Mississippi was not impacted by this storm, we are calling upon their representatives to join our effort because their fisheries still have not received compensation for the fresh water diversion that ravished their fisheries last year.”

Sitting a mere three feet above sea level, Cameron has been an epicenter for hurricanes.  In 2005 Hurricane Rita hit the city, home to just over 6000 residents, with winds clocked at more than 120 mph. Three years later Hurricane Ike leveled Cameron with a 12-foot storm surge.

Read the full story at Gulf Seafood News

Revised Reporting Requirements for Federal Seafood Dealers in Portions of Texas and Louisiana through October 5, 2020

August 31, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

KEY MESSAGE:

  • Hurricane Laura made landfall near Cameron, Louisiana, as a Category 4 hurricane on August 27, 2020.
  • NOAA Fisheries has determined that catastrophic conditions exist in the following Texas counties and Louisiana Parishes:
    • Texas:
      • Orange, Jefferson, Chambers, Harris, and Galveston
    • Louisiana:
      • Saint Tammany, Orleans, Saint Bernard, Plaquemines, Jefferson, Saint Charles, Lafourche, Terrebonne, Saint Mary, Iberia, Vermilion, and Cameron
  • Therefore, for any federally permitted dealer in the affected area who does not have access to electronic reporting, NOAA Fisheries is authorizing, through October 5, 2020:
    • Delayed reporting of trip tickets to NOAA Fisheries; and
    • The use of paper-based reporting forms for red snapper and grouper-tilefish individual fishing quota (IFQ) participants.
    • Dealers are to report all landings through the state trip ticket program as soon as possible.

MORE INFORMATION:

  • Federal dealers in effected areas are released from the weekly reporting requirement of trip tickets to NOAA Fisheries through October 5, 2020, but must report all landings as soon as possible. For questions, contact the Fisheries Monitoring Branch: 305-361-4581.
  • The electronic systems for submitting landings and IFQ information to NOAA Fisheries will continue to be available to all dealers. Participants shall continue to use the electronic systems if it is accessible.
  • NOAA Fisheries has previously provided IFQ dealers the necessary paper forms and instructions for reporting during catastrophic conditions. Paper forms are also available upon request by calling IFQ Customer Service at the phone number listed above or by writing:
            • NOAA Fisheries
              Southeast Regional Office
              Sustainable Fisheries Division
              263 13th Avenue South
              St. Petersburg, Florida 33701-5505
  • The IFQ program functions available to participants in the geographic area affected by catastrophic conditions will be limited for those using the paper-based system. There will be no mechanism for transfers of IFQ shares or allocation for those using the paper-based system during catastrophic conditions.
  • Assistance in complying with the requirements of the paper-based system will be available via IFQ Customer Service 1-866-425-7627 Monday through Friday between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Eastern time.
  • Regulations implementing dealer reporting and the IFQ programs provide for delayed reporting and IFQ paper-based reporting in the event of catastrophic conditions. These regulations require NOAA Fisheries to determine when the catastrophic conditions exist, the duration of the catastrophic conditions, and which participants or geographic areas are affected.
  • NOAA Fisheries will continue to monitor and reevaluate the areas and duration of the catastrophic conditions. A subsequent Fishery Bulletin will be published if additional notice is needed.

Seafood industry navigates rough waters as debts, inventory rise higher

August 4, 2020 — When it comes to business plans during the coronavirus pandemic, the seafood industry has found itself at sea.

“We don’t have a clue,” said Jure Slabic, an oysterman in Galveston, Texas. “We haven’t processed a single oyster since March 23.”

More than most foodstuffs, the seafood industry depends on restaurants that put a premium on freshness. Consequently, the coronavirus shutdowns slammed fishers, leaving boats at the dock, inventory stacked or tossed as debt piles up.

Read the full story at The Washington Times

Gulf Shrimp Fishery to Re-Open Off Texas on July 15, 2020

July 10, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

WHAT/WHEN:

NOAA Fisheries announces federal waters from 9 to 200 nautical miles off Texas will open to shrimp trawling beginning 30 minutes after official sunset, local time, on July 15, 2020, corresponding to the time Texas opens its waters to shrimp trawling.

WHY THIS IS HAPPENING:

  • The waters off Texas are closed to shrimp fishing annually to allow brown shrimp to reach a larger and more valuable size prior to harvest, and to prevent waste of brown shrimp that might otherwise be discarded because of their small size.
  • The fishery closed May 15, 2020.
  • The re-opening date for Texas waters is based on the results of biological sampling by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.
  • In addition, Texas regulations only allow a 60-day closure; the 60 day period expires July 15, 2020.

Read the full release here

Red snapper: A conservation success story

June 26, 2020 — The darkest days are seemingly in the past for red snapper in the Gulf of Mexico.

A restoration of the fishery, decades in the making, has blossomed into one of the most recent success stories in conservation.

“We have more snapper now than in anyone’s lifetime,” said Greg Stunz, director of the Harte Research Institute’s Sportfish Center at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.

“And they’re big snapper.”

A federal plan to rebuild the fishery by 2032 is well ahead of schedule.

The goal is to increase the spawning potential to 26 percent, which means the stock would produce about a quarter of the eggs that an unfished population would. The estimated spawning biomass of red snapper in the Gulf is currently about 20 percent, a long climb from the sub-2 percent low mark of 1990.

Read the full story at the Houston Chronicle

Gulf ‘dead zone’ costing seafood industry, environment $2.4 billion in damage each year, study says

June 9, 2020 — The massive “dead zone” in the Gulf of Mexico is causing up to $2.4 billion dollars in damage to fisheries and marine habitat every year, a new report says.

Covering an area about the size of New Hampshire, the 6,700-square-mile zone of low dissolved oxygen has long been the bane of shrimpers and other fishers off the coasts of Louisiana and eastern Texas. A report released this month from the Union of Concerned Scientists offers the first comprehensive assessment of the dead zone’s economic impact, and warns the root problem — agricultural pollution from the Mississippi River — is likely to grow in severity as the world’s climate changes.

“Gulf Coast communities know that the dead zone impacts their livelihoods, but research has never put a dollar value on its damage to the fishing industry,” said Rebecca Boehm, a UCS economist and the report’s author. “This study quantifies both the amount of nitrogen flowing to the Gulf from farms upstream, and the toll it is taking economically on the foundation of the Gulf fishing industry.”

Read the full story at NOLA.com

‘Another punch in the gut’: Gulf Coast shrimpers navigate the coronavirus crisis

May 1, 2020 — David Chauvin of Dulac has worked in the shrimp business since 1986, the year he graduated from high school. His father, grandfather and great grandfather also fished the waters off Louisiana’s Cajun coast.

Gulf Coast shrimpers, who bring in three quarters of the nation’s catch, have been battered with waves of bad luck. Hurricanes. A flood of cheap imports. The BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010. Fresh water diversions that kill seafood. And now the coronavirus.

“You always wonder how you’re going to die,” Chauvin said. “I always thought it would have been Thailand or India that would have wiped the domestic shrimp out. I never would have dreamed that it could possibly be a virus.”

Restaurants buy 80% of both imported and domestic shrimp, according to the Southern Shrimp Alliance. With restaurants closed or offering only takeout, no one is buying much shrimp. Next month would typically launch the peak of shrimp season as Gulf states begin their annual opening of nearshore waters to shrimping.

The United States caught 289.2 million pounds of shrimp, worth $496.1 million, in 2018, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (a full 2019 report has not yet been released). Louisiana shrimpers, working in both state and federal waters, brought in 90.7 million pounds of that catch, followed closely by Texas with 72.1 million pounds.

Read the full story at Houma Today

The Deepwater Horizon Disaster Fueled a Gulf Science Bonanza

April 23, 2020 — After the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig exploded a decade ago this month, killing 11 workers and spewing a massive black curtain of crude oil across the Gulf of Mexico, thousands of first responders and cleanup workers arrived on the scene. So too did an army of scientists. Aboard seagoing research vessels and wading along beaches and marshes, they came to assess the catastrophe and track it over time. British Petroleum, owner of the rig, agreed to fund a scientific stimulus package of $500 million just a few weeks after the April 20, 2010, blowout.

The 134 million gallons of oil devastated wildlife from Texas to Florida, killing thousands of marine mammals, such as dolphins and sea turtles, according to federal officials, and destroying shoreline and underwater habitats for commercially important fish, crabs, shrimp, and oysters. More than 25,000 fishermen and seafood industry workers were suddenly out of work, with a 10-year price tag of $4.5 billion in total economic losses, according to a 2019 study by a trio of researchers funded in part by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Read the full story at Wired

COVID-19 Is Hurting Texas Fisheries, But Eating Local Seafood Helps

April 20, 2020 — Typically, spring is a high-demand season for commercial fisheries, and many in the industry rely on these peak months to carry their income throughout the year. But, this year the widespread disruption from COVID-19 has caused seafood demand to come to a screeching halt.

Fortunately, there are ways to support these fisheries, and that means consuming more locally sourced seafood.

“One of the best ways to support local economies is to know where your food comes from and support local sources,” said Laura Picariello, fisheries specialist at the Texas Sea Grant program at Texas A&M University.  “Restaurant managers should be able to tell you where they source their seafood. You can call the restaurant in advance, or ask your server to check with the kitchen if it’s not printed on the menu.”

Seafood from the Gulf of Mexico, like shrimp and oysters, are Texas cuisine classics. These foods are rich in vitamins and minerals, low in sodium and a great source of omega-3 fatty acids and protein. Gulf seafood is healthier and more sustainable because of the highly regulated practices implemented by American fisheries, including using safer handling practices and fewer antibiotics.

Read the full story at Texas A&M Today

TEXAS: How a Battle Between Recreational and Commercial Fishermen Spawned a Conservation Movement

April 16, 2020 — On fall and winter nights through the better part of the twentieth century, Rudy Grigar would wade into Galveston Bay and listen to the roar of the redfish. Swimming in schools up to five hundred strong, they sounded to him like freight trains churning through the dark. “The closer they got,” he recalled in a 1997 memoir, “the louder the noise.”

Occasionally, the schools would plow right into Grigar, a pioneer of wade-fishing in Texas, thumping against his legs and chest as he cast in the moonlight, trying his best to land two or three on a silver spoon lure before they swept past. Then he’d wait for another school to come along. “I’d repeat the process until I had a full stringer,” Grigar wrote in Plugger: Wade Fishing the Gulf Coast, a book that remains a saltwater-angling bible long after Grigar’s death in 2001 at age 86.

Grigar, who owned a tackle shop in Houston, had been fishing the state’s shallow bays and estuaries since the Great Depression. In the early seventies, he was still landing countless bounties of redfish, also known as red drum, and up to a hundred speckled trout in a day. By the end of that decade, though, the glory days had come to an end. Trout were in steep decline, and more than half of the redfish had disappeared.

Read the full story at Texas Monthly