Saving Seafood

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

Hawaii Longline Association Launches Partnership with Hawaii Foodbank

April 23, 2020 — The following was released by the Hawaii Longline Association:

The Hawaii Longline Association (HLA) has collaborated with members of Hawaii’s fishing industry in donating 2,000 pounds of fresh seafood to Hawaii Foodbank. The donation, done in coordination with United Fishing Agency (Honolulu Auction), Hawaii Seafood Council, Nico’s Pier 38, and Pacific Ocean Producers, is the beginning of a new pilot program with the Hawaii Foodbank.

Through the partnership, Hawaii Foodbank plans to purchase $50,000 worth of seafood landed by Hawaii longline vessels. The purchase will ensure that Hawaii Foodbank will be able to meet the needs of Hawaii residents  facing hardship as a result of COVID-19. It will also support Hawaii’s longline fishermen, who, like many other fisheries across the nation, have suffered devastating losses in revenue within the last 4 weeks.
“We’re pleased to partner with Hawaii Foodbank on this important initiative supplying high-quality fresh fish to community members in need during this COVID-19 situation,” said Eric Kingma, PhD, executive director, Hawaii Longline Association. “The face of hunger is changing every day and our nearly 140 vessels operating out of Honolulu Harbor are ready and able to make critical contributions to Hawaii’s fragile food supply.”

The Hawaii longline fishery lands around 30 million pounds of fish per year, and generates  more than $100 million in landed dock-side value, placing Honolulu Harbor 6th in the Nation in terms of fisheries port value.

Fish caught by HLA, including ahi, marlin, and opah, will, according to Hawaii Foodbank, “be distributed through [Hawaii Foodbank’s] network of food partner agencies at distribution sites across Oahu. United Fishing Agency will break down the fish into filets and package into insulated boxes for distribution.”

For more information on the work being done by Hawaii Foodbank to support those in need during the current crisis, visit hawaiifoodbank.org.

HAWAII: Fishing boat captains face an impossible choice: Lose money at sea or lose money at home

April 20, 2020 — Hawaii’s fishing industry is far from a comeback after the price of fish plummeted and the market crashed in mid-March due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Many fishing boat captains have been forced to lay off crew members and keep their vessels docked until it is financially viable to return to the sea.

Each trip out costs money and the price of ahi is so low, many crews are actually losing money when they operate.

Prices have rebounded slightly, but they are nowhere close to what they used to be.

Read the full story at Hawaii News Now

Hawaii’s fishing industry financially impacted by COVID-19

April 2, 2020 — The state’s fishing industry has been financially impacted by COVID-19 but it provided an unexpected benefit for consumers. United Fishing Agency runs the auction at Pier 38 every morning. The manager says they started to feel the effects around mid-March when restaurants were ordered to go take-out only. At one point, ahi dropped to about $1 per pound, that’s about a 500 percent drop from normal prices.

As expected, sales at restaurants and hotels have gone down during the coronavirus outbreak and the fishing industry is adapting to a new normal by changing up the way they do business.

“You see a lot of businesses selling retail, slabs of fish that normally wouldn’t have done in a regular market,” Michael Goto, United Fishing Agency auction manager, said. “It really hurts everybody. It hurts the vessels, it hurts us here at the auctions.”

Goto believes how well his industry does depends on how tourism is doing so he’s unsure when numbers will go back to normal.

Read the full story at KITV

Whole Foods drops Hawaii fish auction until it proves fair boat labor

September 14, 2016 — Whole Foods has suspended buying fish from the Hawaii fish auction amid concerns over the labor practices of some fishing vessels.

It’s an issue Always Investigating first reported on back in 2013 and is now getting national attention.

Fishermen describe horrid working conditions, rock bottom pay, and even allegations of international crew captivity aboard some of the boats that dock at Honolulu Harbor.

Industry watchers say the Whole Foods move could be just the first of many, and the fish auction is already working on a system to weed out vessels with unfair labor practices.

Telling Always Investigating they have “zero tolerance for human rights abuses,” Whole Foods said Tuesday: “We have suspended purchases of the small amount of fish we source from the Hawaiian seafood auction until we can ensure the working conditions on these boats align with our core values.”

Whole Foods may call it “small,” but it’s a big deal down on the docks.

“We’d hate to lose such a prominent customer as Whole Foods,” said United Fishing Agency’s auction manager Michael Goto. “To rekindle that relationship, to get them back on board saying we respect the Hawaii fleet enough that we can bring their product back into our stores and sell it to our customers with confidence, that’s our goal.”

Sources say other major retailers are weighing the same move.

“We hope that Whole Foods’ action to directly address the labor abuses will start a domino effect,” said Kathryn Xian of the Pacific Alliance to Stop Slavery.

Read the full story at KHON