March 20, 2023 — The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is buying pollock, haddock, and ocean perch fillets worth USD 28.8 million (EUR 26.8 million) in its latest round of purchases for its child nutrition and domestic food assistance programs.
The purchase, split between two providers – New Bedford, Massachusetts, U.S.A.-based Blue Harvest and New Bedford, Massachusetts, U.S.A.-based Pier Fish, fulfills part of the USDA’s promise to purchase U.S. East Coast seafood for food bank donations.
March 2, 2023 — A bipartisan effort is underway to provide relief to local fishermen, seafood processors, and those facing food insecurity across the country.
Last month, lawmakers including Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden sent a letter to U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) requesting the purchase of West Coast seafood products for the USDA’s Section 32 program.
Section 32 began in 1935, purchasing surplus food products from farms and fisheries to go to food assistance programs and the National School Lunch Program.
February 24, 2023 — The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has simplified the process for USDA food vendor approval by eliminating a participation barrier, it announced.
The Agricultural Marketing Service’s Commodity Procurement Program (CPP) has altered its financial assessment responsibility for interested suppliers to the USDA in order to reduce barriers to the program, the USDA said.
February 14, 2023 — The U.S. Department of Agriculture will buy Atlantic haddock, pollock, and perch from domestic fisheries on the U.S. East Coast to supply food banks.
The purchase comes as part of a USD 1 billion (EUR 937 million) plan to supply emergency food providers through the U.S. Commodity Credit Corporation, according to a statement from U.S. Senator Edward Markey, U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, U.S. Representative Seth Moulton, and U.S. Rep. Bill Keating, all Democrats representing the U.S. state of Massachusetts.
January 19, 2023 — The U.S. Department of Agriculture is continuing its purchase of U.S. seafood products this year, awarding salmon contracts worth more than USD 8 million (EUR 7.4 million) in early January 2023.
Seattle, Washington, U.S.A.-based OBI Seafoods will supply the USDA with nearly USD 6.4 million (EUR 6.9 million) in canned pink salmon and frozen salmon fillets, while Sitka, Alaska, U.S.A.-based Silver Bay Seafoods will supply nearly USD 1.7 million (EUR 1.6 million) the USDA said in a notice.
July 13, 2022 — American seafood harvesters play a vital role in supplying healthy, high-quality food to people across the United States and around the world. But they also face serious challenges caused by market disruptions, competing ocean uses, environmental change, and fishing regulations.
Selling seafood directly to consumers, or direct seafood marketing, has become an increasingly common way for harvesters to sell their catch. A forthcoming national survey aims to strengthen the domestic seafood economy by understanding direct marketing practices of American seafood harvesters.
Surveys of direct marketing practices have been beneficial to the agricultural sector. The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) surveys American farmers engaging in direct marketing of agricultural products through the Local Food Marketing Practices Survey (LFMPS). Data from these surveys helped the USDA develop grant programs and technical assistance to support small- and mid-sized farming operations.
June 22, 2022 — Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan, both R-Alaska, have announced the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s approval of up to $52 million in Pacific and Alaskan groundfish purchases.
The USDA will buy cod, haddock, pollock, and flounder to supplement the federal government’s food-assistance programs as part of its Section 32 program.
Section 32 of the Agricultural Adjustment Act authorizes a percentage of customs receipts to be transferred to the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture to support the prices of surplus domestic commodities and to distribute those commodities through various USDA programs designed to feed hungry Americans.
June 14, 2022 — The U.S. Department of Agriculture is aiming to buy another significant amount of Alaska pollock, after already making several purchases earlier this year.
The USDA is asking suppliers to bid on 7.6 millions pounds of pollock for its National School Lunch Program and other federal food and nutrition assistance programs. The deadline for bids is 21 June, 2022.
Read the full story at SeafoodSource
May 11, 2022 — A group of Democratic U.S. senators and representatives from West Coast states have written a letter to U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack calling on his agency to spend more on seafood purchases from producers in their states.
The letter notes that California, Oregon, and Washington state produce more than USD 500 million (EUR 473.6 million) worth of seafood annually, more than an eighth of total domestic production in the U.S., and 25 percent of the country’s processing and wholesale jobs are located in the three Pacific Coast states.
Read the full story at SeafoodSource
May 9, 2022 — The following was released by the New England Young Fishermen’s Alliance:
As a response to the national phenomenon called the “graying of the fleet” former GM of NH Community Seafood, Andrea Tomlinson sets out to organize, train and advocate for the next generation of northern New England fishermen and women
In response to an increasing decline of younger generation fishermen and women entering the commercial fishing industry in northern New England, former GM of NH Community Seafood, Andrea Tomlinson, has collaborated with Yankee Fishermen’s Cooperative, the UNH NH Food Hub Network, Gorhan Public Health Consulting and the Rockingham Economic Development Center to develop the New England Young Fishermen’s Alliance
(NEYFA). The development of the long-awaited Alliance is made possible by a USDA LAMP Farmer’s Market Promotion Program grant, awarded in late 2021, with funding secured in February of this year. In addition to forming the New England Young Fishermen’s Alliance into a nonprofit entity, the USDA grant also supports three annual Deckhand to Captain Training programs, which will be sponsored by the Alliance.
In a series focus groups called Dock Talks: Next Generation, held in 2019, with collaboration from NH Sea Grant, NH Community Seafood and NH Food Alliance, young fishermen expressed that the major barriers to entering the industry as a Captain were capital requirements necessary for a boat and a permit, complex and restrictive regulations within the industry, lack of reliable and knowledgeable labor and consumers misinterpretation of the commercial fishing industry. As an entry level Captain in the commercial fishing industry today, the initial capital requirement is $250,000 minimum, to purchase a boat, permit and equipment.
Experienced deckhands and sternmen, with a minimum of 5 years’ experience in the industry working on either groundfish, charter and/or lobster boats will be eligible to apply for a free 10 -month training program to get more of the next generation of young fishermen and women into the Captain’s wheelhouse. The cohort of 6 trainees for the 2022 training have been chosen and range in age from 27-38 years old. The Deckhand to Captain training program is a first of its kind in New England, where experienced young fishermen and women will receive instruction on business management and training, collaborative marketing, industry standard and regulations, permitting and compliance, public speaking and pairing with a veteran Captain as a mentor.
There has been a drastic reduction in succession within commercial fishing industry nationwide with the average age of both groundfish and lobster Captains in New Hampshire and much of northern New England, currently averaging 55 years old. Similarly, the amount of 600-trap lobster permits in NH, the most common permit in the state, has declined by almost 66 % from 2000 to 2021 (NH Fish and Game, 2022). More concerning is the dramatic decrease in groundfish vessels currently fishing in NH and northern New England. In NH alone, 104 groundfish vessels were licensed to harvest groundfish in 2000, but by 2021, a mere 18 vessels obtained groundfish licenses and of them, only five vessels are currently commercially fishing for groundfish from our NH shores. Within the last two years, NH has seen four veteran groundfish Captains retire with no younger generation Captains to take their place.
The Deckhand to Captain Training Program, intends to assist entry level Captains in transitioning from the back of the deck to the Captain’s wheelhouse. The development of the organization as a nonprofit will be assisted through a recent acceptance into the Portsmouth-based nonprofit incubator called GoodWork. With a team of skilled and experienced coaches, professional partners and mentors, the GoodWork nonprofit incubator program helps facilitate learning and guide incubator participants on the path towards success. The program builds on participant’s strengths to assist them to be more effective, collaborative, adaptive, and better prepared to achieve their mission.
Once developed, the NEYFA plans to offer resources and networking opportunities, relevant speakers as well as ongoing training programs designed to benefit the young fishing industry in southern Maine, NH and northern Massachusetts. The Alliance also intends to increase young industry participation at both state and regional regulatory meetings that encourage industry input when developing regulations and industry standards at public hearings.
“This is a project I have been trying to develop for over four years. Through my years of direct interaction with the commercial fishing community in northern New England, it has become painfully evident that our area is suffering from the “graying of the fleet”. There are far too many deterring obstacles in the path of an entry-level Captain in this industry and we need to change that scenario in order to preserve the heritage and culture of our working waterfronts in northern New England. The New England commercial fisherman is becoming an endangered species and we need to fix that, “says Founder/Executive Director, Andrea Tomlinson.
David Goethel, veteran fisheries advocate, and recently retired commercial fisherman also sits on the Yankee Fishermen’s Cooperative Board of Directors. “I am very pleased to see six qualified people selected for training in starting their own commercial fishing businesses. Commercial fishermen feed America and I am glad to see young people stepping forward to replace those of us aging out of the fishery,” said Goethel.
Yankee Fishermen’s Cooperative is the grant applicant and administrator. General Manager and Authorized Organizational Representative (AOR) on the grant, Linda Hunt feels “We at Yankee Fishermen’s Cooperative are so happy to see this program in our area. We are so excited to support this.”