Saving Seafood

How Fish-Recognition Tech Is Assisting Demand for Canned Tuna

October 28, 2020 — The pandemic is forcing marine protection observers to adopt technology that monitors fishing boats remotely instead of getting on the vessels and risking infection.

Commercial fishing fleets are facing a jump in demand for canned tuna, but the coronavirus outbreak has prevented industry watchdogs and environmental groups from sending people onto boats to monitor whether the catches are sustainable. Traditionally, those observers spend months on vessels collecting data and watching for illegal activity.

Instead, some vessels are installing video cameras, sensors and systems that use algorithms to detect different types of fish and marine life, similar to the way Facebook Inc identifies people tagged in photos, said Mark Zimring, large scale fisheries program director at The Nature Conservancy, a U.S.-based environmental nonprofit organization.

The goal is to make sure boats don’t misreport the contents and volumes of their catches and ensure at-risk species like turtles and sharks are safely released when they’re caught by accident. Satellite imagery, machine-learning tools and artificial intelligence are also used to detect practices such as illegal shark-finning and labor abuses.

Read the full story at Bloomberg

Bluefin Tuna in Focus as Japan Seeks Boost to Catch Limits

October 21, 2020 — Countries involved in managing bluefin tuna fisheries are set to face-off over a Japanese proposal to raise its catch quotas for the fish, highly prized for sushi and sashimi.

At an online meeting that began Tuesday, Japan is seeking to raise its catch limits for both smaller and larger bluefin tuna by 20%.

A slight improvement in the spawning population for the fish has raised confidence that it can recover from decades of overfishing. But conservation experts worry that the capture of small fish used for farming bluefin tuna is may be putting the recovery of the species in peril.

The Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission includes more than two dozen countries that collaborate to manage fisheries on the high seas and curb illegal and unauthorized fishing and other activities that endanger highly migratory species such as the Pacific bluefin.

Read the full story at the Courthouse News Service

International Panel Omits Pacific Bluefin Tuna Quota Hike Again

October 13, 2020 — An international panel failed to adopt a Japan-proposed plan to increase catch quotas for Pacific bluefin tuna at an online conference on Thursday, in the same outcome as last year’s meeting, Japan’s Fisheries Agency said.

The Northern Committee of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission reached the decision, as the United States argued that tuna stocks continue to be scarce in the Pacific and objected to the proposal. At the committee, approval from all members is required for a proposal to be passed.

Read the full story at Seafood News

ISSF Position Statement Outlines Top Asks for Indian Ocean Tuna Commission, Including More Robust Rebuilding Plan for Yellowfin Tuna

October 9, 2020 — The following was released by the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation:

The International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF) published its position statement in advance of the 24th Session of the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC), which will take place virtually November 2-6.

The impacts of COVID-19 have challenged regional fisheries management organizations (RFMOs) in conducting their meetings in 2020. IOTC cancelled its in-person annual Commission and Working Party meetings, which are now taking place online.

Even under these historically unique, pandemic-caused circumstances, ISSF believes IOTC must press forward on collaborative discussions and take decisions to ensure the uninterrupted, sustainable management of tuna stocks and marine ecosystems under its purview. Several critical measures and issues that require immediate attention and action by IOTC this year into 2021 are detailed in ISSF’s statement.

As in 2019, given the serious risk of further declines in the status of the stock, ISSF’s highest priority for IOTC is that it adopts this year an effective rebuilding plan for yellowfin tuna aligned with recommendations from IOTC’s own Scientific Committee. If implemented effectively, this would imply a 15%-20% reduction from the 2017 yellowfin catch levels. The interim-rebuilding plan adopted last year in Resolution 19/01 did not fully incorporate the Committee’s yellowfin advice, and it allowed for growth in some fishery sectors. In addition, reported over-catches in contravention of the Resolution is further eroding its effectiveness.

“Yellowfin stock status in Indian Ocean fisheries remains a clear concern,” said ISSF President Susan Jackson. “To rebuild the stock, IOTC must adopt a measure in 2020 that fully incorporates the recommendations of its own Scientific Committee, ensures all gears and fleets harvesting yellowfin are included and addresses non-compliance with the interim rebuilding plan. For fisheries management, COVID-19 presents many obstacles, but the Commission is responsible for this critical resource and should take immediate action to conserve it.”

ISSF’s other top “asks” of IOTC for its upcoming meeting agenda are:

  • Urgently monitor and manage catches of skipjack to ensure catches in 2020/2021 do not exceed the limit set by the adopted Harvest Control Rule in Resolution 16/02
  • Conduct management strategy evaluation (MSE) for albacore, bigeye, skipjack and yellowfin tuna stocks, and adopt species-specific management procedures, particularly for yellowfin
  • Request the Scientific Committee provide science-based limits on FAD deployments and/or FAD sets; develop recommendations in 2021 and adopt, by 2022, FAD marking guidelines, including the requirement to mark both the buoy and the FAD structure
  • Develop and adopt minimum standards for electronic monitoring systems (EMS) and an e-reporting information system both for logbooks and observers for all gears in 2021 so that large-scale purse seine vessels — and all vessels engaged in at-sea transshipment, regardless of gear type — are required to have 100% observer coverage within five years

Read the full IOTC Position Statement on the ISSF website.

Tuna value dropping, industry must plan ahead: report

October 7, 2020 — Tuna is holding steady as a $40 billion-a-year business, but commercial fisheries worldwide are hauling in bigger catches of dwindling value, threatening the long-term survival of some species, according to a new report.

“Fisheries caught 500,000 more metric tons in 2018 than in 2012, but were paid $500 million less in dock value,” study co-author Grantly Galland, an officer with The Pew Charitable Trusts’ international fisheries group, told AFP.

Unless governments that regulate the industry through regional management bodies adopt long-term strategies, everything from supermarket tuna to $100-a-portion sashimi could wind up in short supply, the report warned.

Crashing populations of skipjack, bigeye, yellowfin and bluefin would also jeopardise livelihoods and disrupt ecosystems in which the top-level predators play a critical role.

Read the full story at Yahoo! News

IOTC data indicates tuna still overfished

September 23, 2020 — The Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) has published its 2019 nominal catch data, indicating that multiple species of tuna are being overfished.

The IOTC data indicates that 16 percent more Indian Ocean skipjack was caught than provided by the commission’s harvest control rule. At the same time, the data shows the Indian Ocean yellowfin, that is already overfished, exceeded 100,000 metric tons (MT) on top of the quantity “required to rebuild the stock in two generations.”

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Council Focuses on Dolphin and Wahoo Management Measures During Meeting Week

September 18, 2020 — The following was released by the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council:

Bullet Mackerel and Frigate Mackerel aren’t likely to show up on a dinner plate, but they are the preferred meal for prized game fish such as Wahoo and Blue Marlin and to a lesser extent Dolphin and other apex species found along the Atlantic coast. Members of the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council took action during their meeting this week via webinar to acknowledge the importance of Bullet and Frigate Mackerel, sometimes referred to as tuna, as forage fish by adding the two species to the Dolphin Wahoo Fishery Management Plan as ecosystem component species

The Dolphin Wahoo Plan is administered by the South Atlantic Council and management extends along the entire Atlantic Coast. The designation, through Amendment 12 to the Dolphin Wahoo FMP, comes at the request of the Mid-Atlantic Council and has been largely supported by both scientists and fishermen. The Council received 117 written public comments, the majority in favor of the designation. “Bullet tunas can be protected for the benefit of our offshore marlin, tuna, and wahoo fisheries without harming any existing commercial or recreational fisheries by designating them as Ecosystem Component species,” said Heather Maxwell, tournament director for the annual Pirate’s Cove Billfish Tournament held out of Oregon Inlet, North Carolina. “The management of these species is paramount to the future success of our tournaments,” said Maxwell, noting the economic importance of the tournaments to the area’s economy.

Concerns about Bullet and Frigate Mackerel began to emerge following the targeting of Chub Mackerel, another important forage fish, by commercial fishermen in the Mid-Atlantic following a downturn in the squid fishery in 2013. Commercial landings increased substantially in a single year, prompting the Mid-Atlantic Council quickly develop a plan to manage Chub Mackerel and protect other forage fish in the region from uncontrolled harvest. Bullet and Frigate Mackerel were included in the initial plan but were removed when the plan was reviewed by NOAA Fisheries. There isn’t currently a directed commercial fishery for Bullet or Frigate Mackerel and recreational fishermen occasionally target the two species as bait. If approved by the Secretary of Commerce, the addition of the of these species to the Dolphin Wahoo FMP would provide an avenue to address management issues should they arise.

The Council continued work on other measures affecting the Dolphin and Wahoo fishery, including modifications to current annual catch limits, accountability measures, allocations, and recreational bag and vessel limits in draft Amendment 10 the Dolphin Wahoo FMP. The Council will continue work on the amendment in December and public hearings are currently scheduled to be held in early 2021.

Council members received written comments and heard from fishermen during public comment, primarily charter captains in the Florida Keys expressing concerns about the Dolphin fishery in South Florida, with fishermen catching fewer fish and the absence of larger “bull” Dolphin being captured. The fishermen expressed concerns about the commercial longline fishery for Dolphin and possible impacts. The annual catch limit for Dolphin is currently allocated 90% recreational and 10% commercial.

Council members received a presentation from Dr. Wessley Merton with the Dolphinfish Research Tagging Program showing the distribution of Dolphin based on the program’s tagging studies, noting the majority of the commercial fishery occurs outside of U.S. waters in the Caribbean, South America, and international waters. The Council will consider an additional amendment to the Dolphin Wahoo FMP addressing the longline fishery in the future.

Other Business:

The Council also developed a list of recommendations in response to the President’s Executive Order to Promote American Seafood after reviewing input from stakeholders and advisory panel members. The recommendations include modernization of the Individual Transferable Quota (ITQ) program for the Wreckfish fishery, modifications to the Oculina Bank Habitat Area of Particular Concern, commercial electronic logbooks and commercial permits for the snapper grouper fishery. Recommendations will be provided to NOAA Fisheries for further consideration.

In response to a recent stock assessment for Red Porgy, the Council began work on an amendment for management measures to address overfishing, rebuild the stock and revise allocations. The stock has not rebuilt despite management efforts, with a rebuilding plan currently in place. Under the Magnuson Stevens Conservation and Management Act, the Council has two years to implement new measures.

The Council held elections during its meeting, electing Mel Bell, former Vice Chair and representative for the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources Marine Resources Division as its new Chair. Steve Poland, Council representative for the North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries was elected Vice Chair. Council members acknowledged Jessica McCawley for her service as Chair over the past two years, noting her effective leadership through the challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Additional information about this week’s meeting, including a meeting Story Map, committee reports, and briefing book materials is available from the Council’s website at: https://safmc.net/safmc-meetings/council-meetings/. The next meeting of the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council is currently scheduled for December 7-11, 2020 in Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina.

Hawaii’s fishing industry faces lasting impacts as pandemic drags on

September 18, 2020 — With restaurants and hotels shut down, Hawaii is seeing a shortage of fish that is impacting the price of popular products like ahi and could have lasting effects on the industry.

“The boats are going out on fewer trips. They are carrying a lot less weight than usual because of all that’s happening,” said Long Tran, as he watched a load of tuna come off the boat Tuesday morning at Pier 38.

Tran buys fish for Poke by the Pound and says the price fluctuates naturally with the seasons.

He said the pandemic will likely have lasting consequences for the industry.

Ultimately, those changes will affect his bottom line.

“The fish is going to continue to be in shortage, but we will be running in the red all the time, so we will basically have to call our fish vendors out to do what they can for us,” Tran said.

Fresh Island Fish owns their own vessels and their fish goes directly to their plant. That product goes straight to the restaurants and to the customers.

Read the full story at Hawaii News Now

What’s driving ahi costs up? And when will they go back down?

September 17, 2020 — Yellowfin tuna, or ahi, is harder to find right now, and when you do catch it at the market or your favorite poke shop, it is going to cost more– at least for another month or so. There are a number of reasons for the current ahi shortage.

Whether you like it sashimi style, blackened or with shoyu and onions in your poke, ahi is a local favorite. But according to United Fishing Agency Auction Fishing Manager Mike Goto, “Supply is not meeting the demand.”

“Today’s auction was still a little bit light on volume comparatively to a normal time, pre-COVID. And that’s kind of been the trend lately over the past two or three weeks,” Goto said.

Several factors come into play. The first is that catch rates are typically lower this time of year as ahi move closer to the West Coast–driving up the cost for fishing vessels.

Mike Lee, VP of Sales and Operations of Garden and Valley Isle Seafood, said the added costs of vessels having to travel farther for fish make fishermen think twice about going out.

Read the full story at KHON

Population of prized tuna species decline as protections ease in the Gulf of Mexico

September 14, 2020 — The recent easing of tuna protections in the Gulf of Mexico and fishing restrictions elsewhere in the Atlantic Ocean may be contributing to rapid and widespread declines for one of the most highly prized but critically threatened tuna populations.

A new report by an international tuna conservation commission indicates the stock of Atlantic bluefin tuna has plummeted to just 13% of its levels 70 years ago. The fish, one of the most valuable seafoods in the world, had shown signs of recovery in recent years, thanks partly to robust protections the U.S. enacted five years ago in the Gulf – the only major spawning area for western Atlantic bluefin. Those protections were eased this year by President Donald Trump’s administration.

“These are big concerns,” said Grantly Galland, a marine biologist with Pew Charitable Trusts. “We had early signals of recovery but raising the fishing quota and now getting rid of the protections in the Gulf of Mexico means the western population of bluefin is under threat again.”

Read the full story at NOLA.com