Saving Seafood

Pacific Meeting to Target Control of Tuna Fisheries

December 5, 2019 — SEAFOOD NEWS — Researchers are calling for the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission to better address its fisheries management challenges.

The commission – responsible for managing the vast ocean waters – meets in Papua New Guinea this week.

The Pew Charitable Trust has said due to the high volume of fishing vessels, trans-shipment (transfer of catch between fishing and carrier vessels) and port activities in the region, the Commission had been unable to increase its observer coverage.

The Trust said the commission needed to strengthen oversight of fishing vessels at sea, and in port, and modernise management for long-term sustainability.

Jamie Gibbon, of the Trusts’ international fishing team, wrote in an article for Pew that illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing was a major threat to the sustainability and profitability of the world’s fisheries.

He said sound fisheries control also required clear rules regarding how much fish could be caught and with what gear.

Mr Gibbon said that would help fishing levels become sustainable.

To achieve that, the commission should strengthen port controls, increase observer coverage and improve monitoring of trans-shipment.

The commission also needed to advance harvest strategies and protect the sharks, mantas and mobula rays.

Meanwhile, Fisheries Minister Semi Koroilavesau will lead the Fiji delegation at the meeting and said he would discuss crew policies to ensure Fijian nationals were protected on local and foreign fishing vessels.

He said the supply of tuna from several of its neighbours would also be high on the agenda for Fiji at the meeting.

“I think PNG, Solomons and Vanuatu would be ready to discuss the details of it. We have been working with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the last year in trying to achieve this.”

Mr Koroilavesau said Fiji would also push for a quota system given the number of foreign fleets on the high seas.

That, he said, would protect smaller and developing Pacific states.

Mr Koroilavesau urged Pacific governments to improve control over their fisheries to protect their value.

The Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission meeting starts on Thursday in Port Moresby.

This story was originally published on SeafoodNews.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission.

Bumble Bee’s Chris Lischewski convicted of fixing prices of canned tuna

December 4, 2019 — Christopher Lischewski, the former president and CEO of Bumble Bee Foods, was convicted on 3 December, 2019, of helping to orchestrate a price-fixing conspiracy between Bumble Bee, Chicken of the Sea, and StarKist, the so-called “Big Three” players in the U.S. canned tuna sector.

Lischewski was found guilty of one count of price-fixing by a jury in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California and faces up to 10 years in prison and a fine of USD 1 million (EUR 900,000). His sentencing has been set for 8 April, 2020. Lischewski’s conviction may also open him up as a target of civil lawsuits filed by parties who overpaid for canned tuna as a result of the price-fixing, according to Eric Snyder, chairman of the bankruptcy practice at Wilk Auslander, a New York City-based law firm.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

ICCAT lowers catch limit, reduces FADs for bigeye tuna

November 29, 2019 — At its annual meeting earlier this week, the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas took steps to reduce fishing effort for bigeye tuna.

The regional fisheries management organization lowered the total allowable catch for bigeye tuna in 2020 and 2021 from 62,500 metric tons (MT) to 61,500 MT, and reduced the allowed maximum number of fish aggregating devices (FADs) from 500 to 350 in 2020 and to 300 2021. It also implemented a FAD fishing closure period for the entire Atlantic area for two months in 2020 and three months in 2021. In addition, ICCAT increased coverage by its observer program from 5 percent to 10 percent and moved to develop minimum standards for electronic monitoring.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Inside Bumble Bee’s long summer of selling itself

November 29, 2019 — On 21 November, the same day it filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, Bumble Bee Foods announced it had entered into an agreement with FCF Co., its primary supplier of tuna, which agreed to acquire the company’s assets for approximately USD 925 million (EUR 836 million).

In a statement accompanying the announcement, Bumble Bee President and Chief Executive Officer Jan Tharp said she “anticipates that the transaction will move swiftly and close within 60 to 90 days.”

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Bigeye tuna get ‘modest’ reprieve as fishing nations cut quotas

November 27, 2019 — The world’s major fishing nations have agreed “modest” quota cuts for the under-pressure Atlantic Bigeye tuna but critics say more should be done to protect an important food resource.

Scientists warn that unless the catch is reduced, stocks of Thunnus obesus—especially prized for sashimi in Japan and canned worldwide—could collapse within years.

A scientific report prepared for last year’s failed meeting of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) showed numbers had plummeted to less than 20 percent of historic levels.

This is only about half what is needed to support a “maximum sustainable yield”—the largest catch that can be taken without compromising the long-term stability of a species.

Going into the meeting in Majorca, Spain, ICCAT had a headline  of 65,000 tonnes, allocated to the seven groups, including Japan and the EU, with the largest catch.

When smaller members were included, this rose to around 77,000 tonnes, pushing the Bigeye further into the , according to NGOs.

Read the full story at PHYS.org

Bumble Bee tuna has filed for bankruptcy

November 27, 2019 — Something fishy is going on.

Bumble Bee Foods, LLC — renowned as for its Bumble Bee canned tuna products — filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Thursday, years following a Department of Justice investigation which found evidence of a massive price-fixing scheme by the San Diego-based company.

Taiwanese fish supply chain company FCF Co. plans to put in a $925 million bid for the assets in a deal to be completed within 90 days, CNN reported.

“It’s been a challenging time for our company but today’s actions allow us to move forward with minimal disruption to our day-to-day operations,” Bubble Bee president and CEO Jan Tharp said in a statement.

A staple of American kitchen for over a century, the Bumble Bee brand has been in troubled waters over the past few years.

Read the full story at The Daily News

Latest ISSF Participating Tuna Company Compliance Report Shows 99 percent Conformance with ISSF Conservation Measures

November 26, 2019 — The following was released by the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation:

The International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF) has released its fourth annual Update to ISSF Conservation Measures & Commitments Compliance Report, which shows a conformance rate of 99 percent by 25 ISSF participating companies with all 27 ISSF conservation measures in effect as of 2018.

As part of its commitment to foster transparency and accountability in the fishing industry, ISSF engages third-party auditor MRAG Americas to assess ISSF participating seafood companies’ compliance with ISSF conservation measures according to a rigorous audit protocol.

The November 2019 report is based on updates to the initial annual audit results published in April 2019, wherein some companies had “minor” or “major” non-conformances with conservation measures in 2018:

  • The April 2019 annual report showed that one company had a major non-conformance, which had been remediated as of the November 2019 report’s release.
  • There were no other instances of major non-conformance in 2018.
  • ISSF also noted in the November 2019 report that eight participating companies had at least one minor non-conformance, for a total of nine minor non-conformances.

MRAG Americas defines a minor non-conformance as: “Company does not fully comply with a particular conservation measure or commitment, but this does not compromise the integrity of ISSF initiatives.”

Read the full release here

Everybody knows to avoid tuna when pregnant, right? Not so fast. Eating tuna might actually yield better results, says a large new study.

November 26, 2019 — Eating ocean fish is good for you, but some fish have significant levels of methylmercury which is bad for you, so you should avoid those fish, right? Wrong, says a new study.

Mothers who ate seafood, even when it contained high levels of methyl mercury, had smarter kids than those who didnʻt eat seafood, says the comprehensive, peer-reviewed study.

“Moderate and consistent evidence indicates that consumption of a wide range of amounts and types of commercially available seafood during pregnancy is associated with improved neurocognitive development of offspring as compared to eating no seafood,” it said.

This flies in the face of conventional wisdom, and some medical wisdom. Both the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration recommend against pregnant women eating ahi, over concerns about methyl mercury exposure.

There is no question that thereʻs methylmercury in yellowfin, bigeye and bluefin tuna, and that the amount has been increasing in recent years. There are also significant amounts of mercury in blue marlin and other species.

The Hawai`i Department of Health warns against pregnant women eating any blue marlin, swordfish and shark and recommends severe limits on consumption of tunas.

Read the full story at Raising Islands

MAINE: Dutch company chooses Down East town as home for its multimillion-dollar fish farm

November 21, 2019 — A Dutch company has reportedly selected the Washington County town of Jonesport for a multimillion-dollar, land-based aquaculture facility to grow yellowtail, a type of fish beloved by chefs and sushi aficionados.

Kingfish Zeeland settled on the historic fishing community roughly 20 miles from Machias after exploring other potential sites along the Maine coast, according to reports in local and seafood industry media. Kingfish Zeeland’s envisioned yellowtail facility is at least the fourth major land-based aquaculture operation proposed in recent years in Maine, which is experiencing a surge in “farming” for fish, shellfish and other marine products.

Company representatives were expected to discuss their plans Wednesday night during a special town meeting in Jonesport. The company did not respond to a request for additional information Wednesday, and a member of the Jonesport Board of Selectmen said town officials are waiting for Wednesday’s meeting before commenting.

“We are anxious to hear their presentation,” Selectman William Milliken said.

Read the full story at The Portland Press Herald

‘Stalking horse’ bidder lined up for Bumble Bee as part of likely bankruptcy filing

November 20, 2019 — A “stalking horse” bidder, said to be an industry player, is lined up for Bumble Bee Foods if — or when, according to some executives — the company goes into US Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, sources told Undercurrent News.

A Chapter 11 filing is seen as highly likely for the beleaguered shelf-stable seafood giant, driven by the lack of a settlement with the litigants in the civil lawsuits against the Lion Capital-owned company over its tuna price fixing, sources said. This comes as Chris Lischewski, the long-time CEO of Bumble Bee, is on trial in San Francisco, California for allegedly leading the price-fixing.

Undercurrent was unable to identify the stalking horse bidder, but Bolton Group International, Canadian Fishing Company (Canfisco), Cooke and Mitsubishi Corp. are four trade players who are said to have looked at all or parts of the business before.

Fong Chun Formosa Fishery Company (FCF), the Taiwanese tuna giant, is already a 22% shareholder in Bumble Bee and Itochu, the Japanese trading house, was also tipped by some tuna sector sources as a possible interested party.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News