Saving Seafood

China demanding safety guarantees from trading partners, food exporters

June 23, 2020 — The General Administration of Customs China (GACC) has written to the food safety agencies of most of its main trading partners to officially request assurances that food processing establishments eligible to export to China follow measures to prevent any COVID-19 contamination of food products during food production.

Additionally, U.S. seafood companies have gotten a form from customers in China requiring them to sign a declaration stating their compliance with Chinese laws, regulations, and standards and the COVID-19 guidance for food businesses published by the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Health Organization to ensure that food imported into China is not contaminated with the COVID-19 virus. The FAO and WHO have both declined to make any link between COVID transmission and seafood.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

National Fisheries Institute Statement on the Safety of Seafood from the United States

June 22, 2020 — The following was released by the National Fisheries Institute:

Seafood from America is safe.  The World Health Organization, United National Food and Agriculture Organization, and all major national food safety agencies report there is no connection between seafood and COVID-19.  Simply stated, people cannot get COVID-19 from eating seafood.  Specific to imported seafood that Chinese families enjoy, experts at the Chinese National Health Commission stated, “There’s no evidence so far showing salmon are the origin or intermediate hosts of the coronavirus.”

Consumers in China and in other countries should be aware that seafood portioned and prepared in America must comply with the rules and regulations of the United States Food and Drug Administration to ensure safe food.  Importantly, the systems that seafood companies in the United States have implemented for more than 20 years now serve as a model for other countries and foods.  Companies must also keep their workers safe by following the directives of the United States’ Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
 
Since the onset of COVID-19, members of the National Fisheries Institute, the major seafood trade association in the United States and many of whose members export American seafood to China, have also implemented the laws of numerous states, and the guidelines of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, industry  best practices, CODEX Alimentarius, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, and the World Health Organization, and the recommendations of academics and other public health experts. 
 
NFI member companies have strict protocols in place to prevent, detect, and isolate any spread of COVID-19 on their boats or in their processing plants, and follow sanitary transport rules to prevent contamination of seafood being exported to China.  American seafood remains safe and healthy for Chinese families.

International Fishery Experts Agree on Key Area-Based Management Concepts

June 22, 2020 — The following was released by the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council:

Area-based management has become a an international focal point for fisheries management with the United Nations advocating for some form of protected area in 30% of the ocean by 2030.

In response to this initiative and other issues, 34 fishery science and management experts from intergovernmental and nongovernmental agencies, regional fishery management organizations and academia convened by teleconference June 15-17 as a first step toward the development of a “Roadmap to Effective Area-Based Management of Blue Water Fisheries.” The workshop addressed emerging issues in national waters and in areas beyond national jurisdiction and called for clarity in objectives, monitoring and area-based selection. It also stressed comparing static vs dynamic area-based approaches.

The participants agreed that simply closing large sections of the ocean is not a silver bullet for managing blue water fisheries and their ecosystems and that marine protected areas (MPAs) are merely a single element within the tool box of area-based management.

“Area-based management tools are not exclusively MPAs or closures,” noted Ray Hilborn, professor at the School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences, University of Washington.

Convened by the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council and co-chaired by Hilborn and Vera Agostini (UN Food and Agriculture Organization), the workshop included participants from the Americas, Australia/Oceania and Europe. Workshop contributors addressed the application of area-based management tools to reach objectives pertaining to sustainable food production (local and global), employment (local and global), economic health and welfare, communities and culture, protected and non-target species, ecosystem integrity and resilience to climate change and other stressors.

Area-based management may be static in nature (i.e., have a fixed spatial delineation) or dynamic, whereby portions of the ecosystem closed to fishing can change in space and time. The workshop called for clarity in objectives, monitoring and area-based selection and comparing static vs dynamic area-based approaches.

Participants pointed out that with rapidly emerging technologies to collect data and monitor fisheries, area-based management can be adaptive and more precise in its implementation. But these objectives and management capabilities are also linked with specific need for empirical evidence and research.

“We can’t really predict the impacts of many actions because of information gaps,” Hilborn said.

Stakeholders and leading scientists cautioned for clear planning on the use of area-based management tools in blue water ecosystems rather than strictly opportunistic or “set it and forget it” implementation. Highly migratory fish movements are dynamic and their distributions are often moving, so scientific evaluation in planning is critical.

“Economic, cultural and social objectives need to be considered thoroughly prior to implementation of area-based management, and industry engagement is critical,” noted Craig Severance, professor of anthropology emeritus, University of Hawai’i at Hilo.

Alternative management measures should be explored and evaluated alongside any area-based management measures considered, including take MPAs, the participants agreed.

The workshop will produce the “Roadmap” document by the end of 2020 for publication as peer-reviewed literature.

June National Oceans Month: Marine Stewardship Council Encourages Consumers to Look for the Blue Fish Label to Protect Our Big Blue Future

June 19, 2020 — The following was released by the Marine Stewardship Council:

The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), a non-profit whose sole mission is to make sure wild seafood is around forever, celebrated UN World Oceans Day (June 8) by kicking off its ‘Little Blue Label, Big Blue Future‘ campaign. Through aspirational messages and a compelling video, the MSC campaign runs the duration of June US National Oceans Month and demonstrates how daily decisions as simple as meal planning impact the ocean and its inhabitants.

High levels of concern for our ocean are driving a new wave of consumer activism, new research for the MSC reveals, as consumers increasingly, ‘vote with their forks,’ to safeguard our ocean. Conducted by independent research and strategy consultancy, GlobeScan, the MSC recently conducted the largest survey of its kind involving more than 20,000 people across 23 countries. The survey revealed 65% of Americans believe supermarkets should remove all unsustainable fish and seafood products from their shelves.

“More than ever, we see an increased passion from consumers and companies alike to take steps that protect the ocean, including choosing sustainable seafood,” said Brian Perkins, regional director for the Americas at the MSC. “The MSC has been on a mission to end overfishing for more than 20 years. In honor of World Oceans Day and National Oceans Month this year, we’re asking Americans to keep our ocean healthy for future generations by shopping sustainably when buying seafood and other products. The little choices we make have a big ripple effect.”

The ocean contains up to 80% of life on Earth.1 However, a third of fisheries around the world have been fished beyond sustainable limits, and a further 60% are fished to their maximum capacity.2 Because seafood provides an important source of protein to more than 3 billion people on our planet, it’s crucial to adopt habits that ensure the ocean and seafood will be around for generations to come.

Read the full release here

The deep sea could hold the key to a renewable future. Is it worth the costs?

June 18, 2020 — For humanity to kick its fossil fuel habit, we’re going to need a lot more wind turbines, solar panels, and batteries. Building all of that green energy infrastructure will likely require billions of tons of metals and minerals, raising the question of where we’re going to get them. One surprising possible answer? The bottom of the sea, where key green energy metals, including nickel, cobalt, and rare earth minerals, can be found in abundance.

But as companies inch closer to actually mining the ocean’s depths, a growing chorus of scientists and environmental advocates are pushing back, warning that such activity could cause irreversible harm to ecosystems we’ve barely begun to understand. Last month, the NGO MiningWatch Canada, along with the Ocean Foundation’s Deep Sea Mining Campaign, published a report calling for a moratorium on regulations that would permit companies to begin mining the Pacific seafloor until the risks are better understood and until all alternatives have been “fully explored and applied.” The International Seabed Authority — a U.N. body with a mandate to oversee resource extraction on the ocean floor — is scheduled to issue draft regulations later this year.

Mining regulations on land “are tailored to our understanding of how the ecosystem works,” said MiningWatch Canada’s Catherine Coumans, who served on the editorial team for the report, which summarizes the findings of more than 250 peer-reviewed studies. In the deep ocean, Coumans said, “we’re creating regulations for an ecosystem that we don’t understand.”

Read the full story at Grist

FAO: COVID has highlighted seafood supply chain vulnerability

June 15, 2020 — COVID-19 has affected the fishing and aquaculture food supply chains like no other shock before, according to an addendum to the recently launched Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)’s SOFIA 2020 report.

“The protection measures taken by governments to contain the spread of the disease, while necessary, have impacted each step of the seafood supply chain, from fishing and aquaculture production to processing, transport, wholesale and retail marketing,” it said.

The addendum also claims that global fishing activity may have declined by around 6.5% and that more than 90% of small-scale fishers in the Mediterranean and Black Seas were forced to stop due to an inability to sell their catches — often exacerbated by falling prices — as a result of restrictions and labor shortages due to COVID-19.

On a webinar held by the organization on June 8, FAO’s director-general Qu Dongyu confirmed those findings and said the pandemic has also shown the need for accelerated efforts “to achieve sustainability at all levels, where fishery management is critically important”.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

Disputes with NGOs over science overshadow EU achievements on reducing overfishing

June 12, 2020 — The world is unlikely to meet a United Nations sustainable development goal on ending overfishing, according to the U.N. Food and Agricultural Organization’s recent report on the state of the world fisheries.

But the U.N.’s blunt admission that the world’s failing to meet SDG Target 14.4 – to end overfishing of marine fisheries by 2020 – has not prevented the European Union from declaring a victory of sorts in ending overfishing in its own territories.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

FAO predicts lasting negative effects for seafood from COVID-19

June 11, 2020 — The biannual Food Outlook report from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, released earlier this month, is predicting that seafood will see lasting impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic, including reduced demand and pricing.

The report had a special focus this year in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has disrupted supply chains, forced the cancellation of industry trade events, and lead to widespread restaurant closures. This year’s report contains a special feature, analyzing whether or not the COVID-19 disruptions to supply chains will result in a global food shortage.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Small boats and female workers hardest hit by Covid-19 fisheries impact

June 10, 2020 — Small fishing boats, fish markets and female workers are among the categories worst affected by the economic impact of the coronavirus crisis on the world’s fisheries, research has found.

Supply chains around the world have been disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic, and artisanal fishing – small boats – has borne the brunt, according to the annual report on fisheries by the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO). While industrial fishing fell only by about 6.5% in April, a large proportion of small vessels around the world have been in effect confined to port, and their markets are uncertain.

In parts of the Mediterranean and the Black Sea, more than 90% of small-scale fishing fleets have had to stop fishing owing to a lack of markets and falling prices.

The closure of restaurants, hotels and catering has cut off markets for small boats and led to falling prices, and the resulting disruption has led to an increase in waste, according to an appendix to the annual report, published on Monday for World Oceans Day.

Read the full story at The Guardian

Sustainable Seafood Could Feed A Billion People A Day, Says Oceana

June 10, 2020 — It might come as a surprise to hear that Oceana, the world’s largest international advocacy organization dedicated solely to ocean conservation, would be advocating for seafood consumption, especially given that overfishing is a major driver in the decline of ocean wildlife populations. But while overfishing has caused a decline in 34.2% of the world’s fish stocks, potentially leading to the depletion of a quarter of all fish by the end of the century, sustainable fisheries, on the other hand, are beneficial for fish populations, the environment and people.

The premise of sustainable fisheries lies in the belief that fishing practices that adapt to the reproductive rate of fish and maintain the health and productivity of wild fish stocks are not only critical to the sustainable growth of fish species, but also to the health of the surrounding marine ecosystem, coastal communities and the planet.

“Seafood eaters who choose sustainably managed wild seafood can feel good about their choice,” says Jacqueline Savitz, Chief Policy Officer at Oceana. “A healthy, fully restored ocean could feed a billion people a seafood meal every day, forever.”

Read the full story at Forbes