Saving Seafood

Rep. Golden introduces legislation to make disaster relief funds available to fishermen

June 11, 2020 — In a bipartisan effort, Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine) and Rep. Garret Graves (R-Louisiana) on Thursday introduced legislation to make additional disaster relief available to thousands of fishermen whose businesses are harmed by a pandemic.

The legislation would amend the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation Act to allow fisheries disasters to be declared due to pandemic, such as COVID-19.

“For the last few months, many Maine fishermen and lobstermen have had almost nowhere to sell their catch because COVID-19 has nearly shut down demand for fresh seafood all over the world,” Golden said. “Coronavirus is just as much of a disaster for this fishery as it would be if a Category 5 hurricane hit, and our lobstering and fishing communities deserve the same relief fisheries receive for other disasters. My bipartisan bill with Congressman Graves would make pandemics an allowable reason to declare a fisheries disaster, opening up a process to direct federal relief funds to affected fishing communities. Lobstermen and fishermen need this support right now, and the need will only grow if a second outbreak of COVID-19 happens this fall.”

A fisheries disaster declaration uses an established process for appropriating and distributing federal relief funds to fisheries and fishing communities during an unexpected event that causes significant losses.

To make the disaster declaration, a governor must request a fishery’s disaster declaration from the Commerce Secretary, along with a requested amount of relief funds for their fishery. If the Commerce Secretary agrees with the disaster declaration, in most cases the fishery is awarded the amount requested by the governor.

Read the full story at News Center Maine

JOHN FIORILLO: Offshore aquaculture has Trump’s backing, but that’s just the beginning

June 9, 2020 — When it comes to unprecedented moments in seafood industry history, May’s executive order from President Donald Trump is certainly near the top.

The needs and desires of the US fishing and aquaculture sectors have traditionally not been the focus of Oval Office inhabitants, making Trump’s May 6 proclamation a truly unique moment.

It’s not uncommon for US presidents to use executive orders to unilaterally pursue policy objectives, but that doesn’t lessen the significance or the potential of Trump’s “Promoting American Seafood Competitiveness and Economic Growth” decree as far as its impact on the seafood industry, particularly the US aquaculture sector.

While the order seeks to streamline fisheries regulations and promote more fair seafood trade, much of the value of this executive order will be determined by whether the United States evolves into the aquaculture powerhouse it has been threatening to become for nearly 30 years.

Read the full opinion piece at IntraFish

U.S. Regional Councils Call for Removal of Fishing Restrictions in Marine National Monuments

June 5, 2020 — In a letter to Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross last week, the nation’s eight regional fishery management councils reiterated their recommendation that President Trump restore management of fishing throughout U.S. federal waters, including Marine National Monument waters, to the councils as implemented by the Magnuson-Stevens Act.

In the letter, the councils wrote, “The ban on commercial fishing within Marine National Monument waters is a regulatory burden on domestic fisheries, requiring many of the affected American fishermen to travel outside U.S. waters with increased operational expenses and higher safety-at-sea risks.” They further wrote, “Marine National Monument designations in their present form hinder the Councils’ ability to sustainably manage fisheries throughout their range, and they restrict the Councils and the National Marine Fisheries Service from acquiring invaluable knowledge about the stocks and the marine ecosystem made available through catch-and-effort and observer data.”

The letter also reiterated previous council letters from 2017 and 2016, and the councils’ 2016 Outcomes Statement and Recommendations, calling for fisheries management in all U.S. federal waters to be conducted through the public process of the Magnuson-Stevens Act.

In 2017, the councils wrote, “Designations of marine national monuments that prohibit fishing activities–especially those that did not receive adequate economic and social impact review and did not allow for a robust public review process–have disrupted the ability of the Councils to manage fisheries throughout their range as required by MSA and in an ecosystem-based manner.”

In its 2016 letter, the councils wrote, “We believe fisheries management decisions should be made using the robust process established by the MSA and successfully used for over forty years.”

Last week’s letter was the result of a Council Coordination Committee meeting that brought together leaders of the nation’s eight regional councils by videoconference for the first of their biannual meetings.

Read the full letter here

New report indicates US marine economy worth USD 373 billion

June 2, 2020 — A new joint report put together by NOAA and the U.S. Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) has found that the country’s marine economy contributed USD 373 billion (EUR 334 billion) to the nation’s gross domestic product (GDP) in 2018.

The new report covers a wide range of the ocean economy, from “living resources” in the seafood industry to transportation and warehousing, offshore mining, scientific research, and more. All told, from 2017 to 2018, the marine economy – including economic activity sourced to the nation’s oceans, coasts, and the Great Lakes – grew by 5.8 percent, faster than the 5.4 percent growth of the total U.S. GDP.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

NOAA Fisheries Releases Geographic Strategic Plans for 2020-2023

May 22, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Today, NOAA Fisheries released five geographic strategic plans that tier from the national plan and provide detail of specific areas of increased emphasis for commercial and recreational fishing opportunities and the conservation of marine resources (2020-2023). Read the New England/Mid-Atlantic Plan and the other four geographic plans listed here.

The plans reflect the vision of the Department of Commerce and NOAA to help the American economy grow and a practical approach to managing our fisheries and marine resources by advancing NOAA Fisheries’ three national goals:

  • Amplify the economic value of commercial and recreational fisheries while ensuring their sustainability.
  • Conserve and recover protected species while supporting responsible fishing and resource development.
  • Improve organizational excellence and regulatory efficiency.

Among our high-priority areas of focus highlighted in these plans are to maximize the economic yield of U.S. fisheries, reduce bycatch and entanglement, foster U.S. marine aquaculture, and focus species recovery on the most at-risk ESA-listed species.

These geographic plans help the agency achieve the three strategic goals and act effectively in its priorities around the country. The plans identify some of the key challenges in today’s strategic landscape, which NOAA Fisheries will address by investing in the people, programs, and technology platforms that most advance our highest priorities. The plans also reflect our continued commitment to improving our operations and streamlining our regulatory processes to execute our stewardship mission efficiently.

The plans acknowledge that we must be willing to move in new directions, while choosing what must be phased out, to achieve these strategic goals. We will continue to address our high-priority activities, while minimizing or eliminating efforts on low-priority activities, to provide the best value to the American public.

COVID-19: Trump Administration Takes Actions to Assist U.S. Fishing Industry

May 18, 2020 — The Trump administration recently announced two major actions to assist the U.S. commercial fishing industry. President Trump’s Executive Order on Promoting American Seafood Competitiveness and Economic Growth[1] (Order) aims to increase seafood production by streamlining regulatory permitting processes and reducing burdens on the fishing industry.

In a separate action, the Secretary of Commerce detailed how $300M in CARES Act[2] funding intended to address impacts to the seafood industry caused by COVID-19 will be distributed.

This alert outlines the impacts of the Order on U.S. fishing, as well as describes the initial details for distribution of CARES Act funds to fishing businesses.

Impacts of the Executive Order on U.S. Fishing

While the Order focuses mainly on aquaculture, it also contains several provisions aimed at assisting the U.S. fishing industry. However, important details remain to be worked out, and it is unclear how quickly the fishing industry will see benefits.

Read the full story at The National Law Review

Trump pushing growth of US seafood markets

May 18, 2020 — As we sit to answer the clamor for yet another FishOn magnus opus, we see that the sun is shining, the winds have calmed and the boys, Foster and Willie, are saddled up and waiting imperiously at the door, threatening an indoor magnus opus of their own.

So, time’s a wastin’. Let’s not tempt the fates. To the items!

OK, but where does bleach fit in?

You may have heard that President Donald Trump recently signed an executive order promoting the competitiveness and economic growth of the U.S. seafood industry and you’re probably wondering what it all means.

We don’t have the foggiest notion. So we went directly to the primary source — NOAA Fisheries Assistant Director Chris Oliver —for an explanation.

Oliver, in a statement announcing the order, said it specifically calls for the expansion of sustainable U.S. seafood production through more efficient and predictable aquaculture permitting, cutting-edge research and development, regulatory reform to maximize commercial fishing and enforcement of “common-sense restrictions” on seafood imports that do not meet U.S. standards.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times

Disaster funding granted to Gulf of Mexico fisheries hit by spillway opening

May 18, 2020 — U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross announced the allocation of USD 88 million (EUR 80.6 million) in disaster-relief funding to Gulf of Mexico fisheries in Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi to counter the impacts of the opening of the Bonnet Carre Spillway.

The Bonnet Carre Spillway is a flood control system for the Lower Mississippi Valley, with its opening releasing massive amounts of freshwater from the river into the Gulf of Mexico. In April, the spillway was opened for the third straight year, something that has never happened in the spillway’s history.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Luria demands $10 million in funding to support Virginia fisheries

May 14, 2020 — On Wednesday, Congresswoman Elaine Luria released a letter written to Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross outlining the need for nearly $10 million in relief for Virginia’s fisheries and complete transparency with NOAA’s recent funding distribution.

The CARES Act, Section 12005 directs the Department of Commerce to distribute $300 million to the seafood and fishery industry businesses that have been negatively impacted by the pandemic.

NOAA released its plan last week for distributing these funds throughout each state, of which $4,520,475 is slated to go to Virginia fisheries, which is about 1.5% of the total allocation.

“It is unacceptable that NOAA’s allocation decision does not reflect the dramatic losses Virginia watermen have faced as a result of this pandemic and does not accurately calculate the contribution of Virginia’s fisheries industries to the national seafood industry,” said Luria. “I urge NOAA to immediately revise its allocation formula to provide Virginia at least $10 million in CARES Act fisheries funding.”

Read the full story at WAVY

Maryland seafood industry to receive $4.1M in federal funds

May 13, 2020 — Maryland’s seafood industry is taking a big hit from the coronavirus pandemic, but millions in financial relief is on the way.

Maryland’s congressional delegation announced Tuesday the state fishing industry will receive $4.1 million through the U.S. Department of Commerce.

Tribes, commercial fishing businesses, charter/for-hire fishing businesses, qualified aquaculture operations, processors and other fishery-related businesses are eligible for this relief.

Read the full story at WBAL