Saving Seafood

COOKE SEAFOOD USA INVESTS IN ITS SUFFOLK, VIRGINIA FACILITY

November 16, 2018 — The following was released by Cooke Seafood:

Cooke Seafood USA has announced additional capabilities, investments, and hires at its Wanchese Fish Company operation located in Suffolk, Virgina. The Wanchese Fish Company facility in Suffolk was purchased by Cooke Seafood USA in 2015 and has quickly become an important asset to the overall company and is providing new growth opportunities with expanded corporate roles and production responsibilities.

Over the next three years, Cooke plans to hire approximately 70 new employees at the Suffolk facility. These new positions include the establishment of the new corporate operations for Cooke Seafood USA and production jobs for new retail seafood production lines. These expansions will include over $2,800,000 in investment at the Suffolk, Virginia location.

“We are excited to further expand our operations here in Suffolk as we solidify our position as a global seafood leader. This new investment will enhance our current capabilities but also provide us with the opportunity for future growth,” said Cooke Seafood USA CEO Ross Butler. He continued, “We would also like to thank the Commonwealth of Virginia and City of Suffolk for its positive business environment that encourages investment.”

Since its acquisition by Cooke Inc. in 2015, Wanchese Fish Company has invested millions of dollars upgrading its facility in Suffolk to be able to process an increased amount of seafood coming into the facility from a variety of the Cooke family of companies around the world. As a result, the company continues to increase its exported products through the Port of Virginia and increased imports into the Port of Virginia from Cooke’s other South American businesses

“Cooke’s investment in Wanchese and in Suffolk generates a tremendous amount of pride for our entire community,” added Mayor Linda T. Johnson. “It is wonderful to see the Suffolk facility and the people employed there become such a valuable asset to Cooke Seafood’s global footprint.”

Cooke Inc. is a family-owned, vertically integrated sea farming and wild fishery corporation. Cooke’s head office is in Blacks Harbour, New Brunswick, Canada, and ships fresh, sustainable seafood products to 65 countries from divisions such as The Wanchese Fish Company. The company has been recognized for its loyalty to employees – who are deeply valued for their hard work and determination. Seafood Source named Cooke as the top-ranked company on the 2018 list of Top Seafood Suppliers in North America, having earned the spot two years in a row. More information can be found at www.cookeseafood.com.

New study: Chesapeake oyster decline not due to overfishing

November 14, 2018 — Warmer winters, rather than overharvesting, caused the steep decline of oysters and other commercially valuable shellfish in the Chesapeake Bay and elsewhere along the Atlantic coast, according to a controversial new study that’s getting pushback from some scientists.

The study, which appeared in Marine Fisheries Review, a quarterly journal of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, says that multi-year stretches of mild temperatures in normally weather months altered the food web in coastal waters. That impaired the growth and reproduction of oysters, quahogs, soft-shell clams and scallops, scientists said. It also led to increased predation on shellfish larvae and outbreaks of diseases.

“The temperatures got warm and that changed the whole environment, so [the oyster diseases] MSX and Dermo could flourish,” said Clyde MacKenzie, Jr., the study’s lead author and a longtime researcher at NOAA’s Northeast Fisheries Science Center at Sandy Hook, NJ. Mitchell Tarnowski, who runs the annual fall oyster survey for Maryland’s Department of Natural Resources, is the co-author.

The paper’s conclusions, especially its dismissal of overfishing as a factor in Chesapeake oyster declines, came under fire from scientists with the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science and Chesapeake Bay Foundation. Its publication comes as the DNR prepares to release a first-ever stock assessment of the oyster population in the Upper Chesapeake, including an evaluation of whether current harvest levels are sustainable.

The scientific consensus has long been that overharvesting, disease and habitat loss over the decades devastated the Bay’s oyster population, with some estimates putting it in recent years at 1 percent or less of historic levels of abundance. From an annual commercial harvest of nearly 17 million bushels in 1880, landings have trended downward, hitting historic lows in 2003-04 of just 50,000 bushels. The harvest has rebounded some since then, though much of the gain has come via private oyster farming, especially in Virginia.

Read the full story at the Bay Journal

 

NOAA drafts habitat maps for wind lease zones

November 1, 2018 — After years of mapping, NOAA, WHOI, UMass Dartmouth, and Howard Marine Research Laboratory researchers have created bottom, or benthic, habitat maps for the eight Wind Energy Areas (WEAs) in the Northeast. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management funded the mapping project, which included areas in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina. A report from the habitat-mapping project titled “Habitat Mapping and Assessment of Northeast Wind Energy Areas” describes concerns with disturbing benthic environment in the process of assembling wind turbines. “Topics range from bottom water temperatures, bottom topography and features, types of sediments and ocean currents,” a NOAA release states, “to animals that live in and on top of the sediments and in the water column in that area either seasonally or year-round.”

Some of the details given in the release covered aspects of Massachusetts wind farm sites.

Read the full story at the Martha’s Vineyard Times

Omega Protein disputes article ‘attacking’ menhaden fishing

October 22, 2018 — US menhaden harvester Omega Protein has disputed the accuracy of recent statements made by a conservation group that wants to end commercial fishing of the species.

Paul Eidman of the group Menhaden Defenders recently wrote an essay, “Trouble comes to town”,  describing a fishing trip that an Omega vessel recently took to New Jersey and New York waters. That trip, Eidman asserted, harvested menhaden that otherwise would have been consumed by whales.

“This event sparked an outpouring of renewed interest in menhaden, and now local folks want to stop the harvest completely since Omega Protein is removing all of the whales’ food from the area,” Eidman wrote.

The company wrote in a Oct. 18 press release that all of its fishing, including the recent trip up north from its usual more southerly fishing grounds, complies with state and federal regulations and that Eidman’s piece got “key facts wrong”.

A limit on menhaden fishing was established by the Atlantic States Fisheries Management Council and Omega is in compliance with this limit, the company, which is owned by Canada’s Cooke Aquaculture, said.

“This limit ensures that the menhaden fishery is not taking a harmful amount of fish from whales’ diets. Last year, an analysis  using data from the 2017 Atlantic menhaden stock assessment found that current management leaves 92% of menhaden in the water to fulfill their role in the ecosystem,” the company said.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

Harris Teeter shoppers may have bought mislabeled and ‘distressed’ crabmeat for years

October 19, 2018 — Harris Teeter is contacting members of its VIC loyalty-card program this week to offer refunds involving crab meat sold between 2010 and 2015.

The crab, supplied by a Virginia company called Casey’s Seafood, is part of a massive federal fraud case over the mislabeling of seafood.

The Washington Post reported Sept. 26 that Casey’s owner James Casey, 74, pleaded guilty in September to relabeling and reselling “distressed” crab meat from other countries as fresh crab meat from the Chesapeake Bay. Distressed crab meat is crab that was recalled, returned or out of date. Casey will be sentenced in January and is facing up to five years in prison, according to the Post.

The charges involved more than 360,000 pounds of crab sold between 2012 and 2015, although prosecutors believe the crab meat switch may have dated to as early as 2010, the Post reported.

The crab meat was valued at millions of dollars, and was sold to stores and restaurants in multiple Southeastern states, including North and South Carolina, Florida, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, the District of Columbia and Tennessee, according to the Associated Press.

Checks by The Observer of other supermarket chains, including Publix, Food Lion, Bi Lo, Earth Fare and Whole Foods, didn’t find other companies in North Carolina involved in the sales of the Casey’s crab meat.

Multiple news reports about the case say that federal agents were notified by a tip and did DNA tests on samples of the product in several states, including North Carolina.

Danna Robinson, communications manager for Harris Teeter, wouldn’t say how many customers were contacted or how much it is providing in refunds.

Read the full story at The Charlotte Observer

What happens to fish and other sea creatures underwater during a hurricane

October 18, 2018 — Hurricanes can be just as deadly for marine life, sometimes stranding them on land or far out at sea. But sometimes marine life benefits or even thrives after these extreme weather events.

Normally when a hurricane is headed for us, we run the other way. But not Isla. She’s a leatherback turtle who was meandering off the coast of Virginia when she accidentally swam straight into Hurricane Florence. Scientists were worried she’d get caught up in the worst of the storm but Isla managed to survive by swimming toward deeper waters.

Turns out, there’s a part of hurricanes we don’t often think about: What happens under the surface. And Isla is just one example.

Far out at sea, fish that live near the surface might feel some turbulence as a storm passes. But most sea creatures — including dolphins, whales, and sharks — avoid the rough surface water and swim to calmer seas. But it’s a different story near shore.

Changes in water temperature and salinity can be catastrophic for marine life. Hurricanes can generate massive waves. Which mix warm surface water with colder, saltier water below generating currents that extend up to 91 meters below the surface. These currents are so strong that they can sweep manatees inland to canals and ponds or away from the coastal waters they prefer, and out into the open ocean. Where they can become disorientated, and even die.

Hurricanes also bring heavy rain, so freshwater often floods coastal regions. And because freshwater is less dense than salt water, it sits on top of the sea water like oil on vinegar. Where it can prevent oxygen from reaching the salty layer below. And disrupt the salinity levels, which can lead to sores, lesions, and ultimately death in whales, dolphins, and porpoises.

Hurricanes also kick up dirt and sand in shallow seas. Which can kill fish by clogging their gills. Experts think this is probably one of the factors that killed an estimated 9.4 million saltwater fish in 1992, during Hurricane Andrew. The dirty, murky water also blocks sunlight from reaching corals and seagrass. In fact, scientists found that coral cover in the Caribbean decreases by 17% in just one year after a hurricane strikes. And that’s in addition to the stress coral already face from human interference.

But it’s not always so bad for sea life. After Hurricane Katrina damaged or destroyed almost 90% of fishing boats in the Mississippi Sound scientists observed a huge increase in dolphin births. Without the fishing boats, dolphins suddenly found themselves with more available prey which helped their populations thrive.

Read the full story at Business Insider

First turbines in federal waters? Va.’s on the way

October 10, 2018 — Dominion Energy Inc.’s request to build a modestly sized — though less modestly priced — wind farm goes before regulators today, as evidentiary hearings begin on the two-turbine, $300 million Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project.

If all goes as planned, the project would come online in 2020, becoming the nation’s second offshore wind farm and the first to go up in federal waters.

Sited 27 miles off the coast of Virginia Beach, the turbines would add 12 megawatts of capacity to the state’s grid. But Dominion, along with its industry allies and Virginia officials, see the demonstration as a steppingstone to the state’s new goal of developing 2 gigawatts by 2028.

“[T]he project needs to be built and studied to determine how the technology works and performs in the Atlantic Ocean 27 miles off the coast, and in potential hurricane force winds,” said David Botkins, a spokesman for the company, which is partnering with Denmark-based Ørsted Energy A/S on the project.

Andy Geissbuehler, advisory director at renewable consultancy BVG Associates, agreed.

“One of the basics in launching the offshore wind industry in the U.S. is transferring the experience from Europe,” he said. “But there are limitations to how much of that experience can be transferred.”

Signed, sealed, delivered?

This week’s hearings at the State Corporation Commission come after a preliminary session Thursday, when lawyers for environmentalists, Dominion and the attorney general’s office attempted to reassure the SCC’s three commissioners that they still enjoyed some semblance of authority over the project.

Read the full story at E&E News

 

1 Person Killed, 1 Injured in Attack Aboard Fishing Vessel Off Nantucket

September 24, 2018 — One person was killed and another injured when a crew member on board a fishing vessel off Nantucket attacked two of his shipmates on Sunday afternoon.

The Coast Guard said they received an emergency call on Sunday afternoon from the Captain Billy Haver, an 82-foot fishing vessel out of Virginia, saying that a member of its crew had attacked several other fishermen.

The Coast Guard would not confirm what weapons were used in the attack.

The fishing trawler was 60 miles east of Nantucket at the time of the incident.

Read the full story at NECN

ASMFC: Atlantic Menhaden Benchmark Stock Assessment Workshops Scheduled for October 9 – 12, in Arlington, VA

September 24, 2018 — ARLINGTON, Va. — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission: 

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Atlantic Menhaden Stock Assessment Subcommittee (SAS) and Ecological Reference Points (ERP) Workgroup will be meeting October 9 – 12, 2018, at the Commission’s office, 1050 N. Highland Street, Suite 200A-N, Arlington, VA.  The SAS will meet October 9 – 10, while the ERP Workgroup will meet October 11 – 12. Both groups will focus on completing a thorough review of all data to be used in both the menhaden single-species and ecosystem-based benchmark assessments. The SAS will also begin to explore modeling approaches, while the ERP Workgroup will continue to explore various modeling approaches to evaluate the health of the stock and inform the management of the species in an ecological context. Both assessments will be peer-reviewed at the end of 2019.

The deadlines for the submission of data and alternate multispecies or ecosystem models have passed. The deadline for submission of alternate single-species models is Thursday, November 1, 2018. For alternate models to be considered, the model description, model input, and complete source code must be provided to Dr. Katie Drew, Stock Assessment Team Leader, at kdrew@asmfc.org by November 1, 2018. Any models submitted without complete, editable source code and input files will not be considered.

View the release in its entirety here

 

First offshore wind farm in federal waters inches closer

September 24, 2018 — What could be the first offshore wind farm in federal waters took a major step forward last month when Dominion Energy applied to the Virginia State Corporation Commission for approval to build two 6 MW wind turbines and the project’s grid infrastructure.

Called the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind Project (CVOW), it would located about 27 miles off the coast of Virginia Beach on 2,135 acres of federal waters leased by the Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy. The two 6 MW turbines will sit in about 80 feet of water and generate wind energy for customers starting in December 2020.

Denmark’s Ørsted has been hired by Dominion Energy to build CVOW. Just this past Sept. 6, Ørsted opened the Walney Extension, the world’s largest offshore wind farm with 87 wind turbines generating potentially 659 MW of power in the Irish Sea.

A demonstration project, CVOW would be the second offshore wind farm in the U.S., following the Block Island Wind Farm in Rhode Island, which began operating in 2015. More importantly perhaps is that CVOW will be the first offshore wind farm to go through the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s (BOEM) approval process.

Read the full story at Marine Log