February 24, 2020 — On average, Americans consumed 16.1 pounds of seafood in 2018, a slight uptick from the year before, according to the latest “Fisheries of the United States” report released by NOAA Fisheries on 21 February.
U.S. consumers ate more fresh and frozen seafood in 2018, contributing to the highest seafood consumption level seen since 2007, NOAA Fisheries found.
January 22, 2020 — A group of Alaskan pollock industry officials, in China for a 10-day trade visit to explore opportunities in the country, met with senior U.S. Foreign Agricultural Service officials at the United States’ Embassy in Beijing last week.
The tour, sponsored in large part by a grant from the Emerging Market Department of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service, also included stops in Qingdao and Shanghai.
January 9, 2020 — It should come as no surprise to anyone who follows Maine’s fisheries that the state’s aquaculture industry is growing in value and number of producers.
The U.S, Department of Agriculture 2018 Census of Aquaculture, released shortly before Christmas, paints a slightly different picture of the industry on a national basis.
According to the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service report, in 2018 sales of U.S.-grown aquaculture products totaled $1.5 billion, an increase of 10.5 percent over 2013, the last year for which a comprehensive census was compiled. Though sales were up, the number of producers was down.
In 2018, there were 2,932 aquaculture farms with sales in the United States, down 5 percent from 2013. Five states — Mississippi, Washington, Louisiana, Virginia, and California — accounted for 51 percent of the sales and 37 percent of the farms.
“The 2018 Census of Aquaculture updates important information about the industry that we last produced in 2013,” said NASS Administrator Hubert Hamer. “These valuable data tell the story of U.S. aquaculture, following and expanding on the Census of Agriculture. The information in the report helps trade associations, governments, agribusinesses and others learn about aquaculture and make informed decisions that have a direct impact on the future of the industry.”
December 12, 2019 — The Gulf of Maine Research Institute (GMRI) – located in Portland, Maine – has obtained a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture in order to improve local access to seafood in New England.
The grant totals USD 480,000 (EUR 432,216), which is being matched by GMRI with USD 125,000 (EUR 112,556) in funding and staff time. That money will be invested back into smaller ports in New England in order to improve supply-chain logistics, boosting the quality of the seafood landed there.
October 18, 2019 — More than 9 million acres of Southeast Alaska’s 16.7 million-acre Tongass National Forest could lose clearcutting protections with a proposed repeal of the 2001 Roadless Rule.
The U.S. Forest Service will publish its draft environmental impact statement in the Federal Register this week with a preferred alternative to remove all protections for the roadless acres. A 60-day comment period will follow publication.
The statement provides analysis of six alternatives related to the management of the Tongass.
The alternatives range from no action to the removal of the Tongass from the 2001 Roadless Rule (details below). The Department of Agriculture has identified Alternative 6, which is a full exemption, as its preferred alternative. A final decision is expected in 2020.
“As an Alaska salmon troller, I am increasingly dependent on coho salmon reared in the watersheds of Southeast Alaska. Coho live at least a year in fresh water and need the habitat provided by old growth forests,” said 2007 NF Highliner Eric Jordan of Sitka, Alaska. “Meanwhile, the forest service still has a huge list of salmon habitat restoration projects needing funding from the previous era of Industrial clear cut logging in Southeast Alaska. “
September 23, 2019 — More than a dozen seafood-loving scientists are working to make the message contained in the US’ next update of its “Dietary Guidelines for Americans” even stronger when it comes to encouraging consumption by pregnant mothers and young children.
Their lengthy research paper, which cites some 40 studies that paint a very positive picture of seafood, is expected to be published within weeks in a peer-reviewed journal. Immediately after, the group plans to share its meta-study with the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee, another 20 academics that make recommendations to the US departments of Agriculture and Health and Human Services (USDA and HHS), about what should go into the document that has the most influence when it comes establishing nutrition policy in the country.
The hope: USDA and HHS altogether strike the current document’s mercury warnings and also the suggestion that seafood consumption be limited to 12 ounces per week from the language.
August 21, 2019 — The United States government continues to support Alaska’s wild fisheries with a USD 3.1 million (EUR 2.8 million) purchase of wild salmon and a bid for nearly 400,000 pounds of Alaska pollock.
The United States Department of Agriculture awarded its most recent wild salmon contract to Trident Seafoods, for federal child nutrition and other domestic food assistance programs.
July 29, 2019 — Recalls of imported catfish continue in the United States as some importers say they are unaware that the United States Department of Agriculture is now overseeing catfish imports.
In the latest case, Premium Foods USA in Woodside, New York, is recalling approximately 76,025 pounds of various frozen catfish products that were not presented for import re-inspection into the U.S, the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service said in a press release.
July 25, 2019 — Louisiana shrimpers say a bill introduced in the Senate that would provide a safety net for commercial fishermen to help in difficult years like 2019 is a long time coming.
For decades, shrimpers and others in the commercial fishing industry have advocated for the federal government to either move them under the U.S. Department of Agriculture or provide them the same insurance and benefits as farmers.
Sen. John Kennedy, R-Louisiana, joined with Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, R-Mississippi, to introduce the legislation, which would provide revenue-based relief to producers to assist with losses after natural disasters and changes in water salinity.
This year, all of Louisiana’s fisheries have seen losses due to flooding that lasted for several months and required the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to open the Bonnet Carre Spillway twice for the first time in its history.
Freshwater inundated the normally brackish waters that support shrimp, causing population decreases by up to 86 percent in some basins.
While commercial fishermen are also looking for immediate aid through a disaster declaration, the bill would establish a relief program that wouldn’t require a declaration for future events.
July 24, 2019 — U.S. Sen. John Kennedy, a Louisiana Republican, is calling for a permanent taxpayer-supported safety net for the fishing industry.
The Commercial Fishing and Aquaculture Protection Act of 2019, introduced by U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, R-Mississippi, does not carry an explicit price tag. Kennedy’s statement in support of the bill compares the proposal to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s “well-established” disaster programs for farmers.
“The shrimp and oyster seasons produced significantly lower yields on average this year due to disastrous freshwater intrusions in the Gulf,” Kennedy said in a prepared statement. “We need to give our fishing industry a break. This legislation will establish a program to help fishermen cope with disaster conditions like these.”
USDA reportedly is preparing an open enrollment for a $3 billion aid package for farmers and ranchers. Enrollment is expected to begin by late August or early September.
“Farmers and ranchers who experience serious losses have access to well-established USDA programs to help them survive down years,” Hyde-Smith said. “Commercial fishermen, including aquaculture operations, do not have that option.”