Saving Seafood

News for the Western Pacific Region

HAWAII: Fish prices plummet as coronavirus pandemic cripples industry and idles boats

March 27, 2020 — As the coronavirus pandemic ripples through Hawaii’s economy, the state’s fishing industry is taking a severe hit.

But the downturn has provided consumers with an unexpected benefit: Lower fish prices.

Since the city and state banned sit-down services at restaurants, fishing boats have been idle on the docks as the wholesale price of ahi and salmon has plunged from about $4 a pound to as little at 20 cents a pound.

Many of the boats won’t go back out because the price for fish won’t even pay for fuel costs.

“We’re sitting side-tied waiting for about a four or five day wait to offload. I have 12,000 pounds of fish right now,” said Mike Wild, captain of the longline vessel the Kilauea.

“It’s going to hurt all the owners in their pockets and it’s hurting the crews. It might put a few guys out of business.”

Skip Gallimore, who owns three fishing boats, thinks the pandemic’s impact on the fishing industry is even more severe. “It’s a shame. I don’t think anyone has realized what’s happened to our fishing industry. It’s gone.”

Read the full story at Hawaii News Now

Women’s History Month: Talking with Jui-Han Chang

March 26, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Can you tell us about your science journey, your career in science?

My journey to science was not the shortest, but it was the luckiest. I grew up in Taiwan, a small but beautiful island country about 100 miles off the coast of southeastern China. It’s surrounded by spectacular oceans and full of rugged mountains. My dad is an amateur ecologist and my mom is an environmental advocate. It seemed all the cards were lined up for a career in the natural sciences, but nothing particularly inspired me until later.

When I was young, I was lost. I struggled in schools because I couldn’t find anything interesting enough to make me want to study hard, but I went to college anyway. I was a business major at Aletheia University in Taiwan. It was not my choice, but was the only option based on my scores on the test Taiwanese students take to get selected for colleges and majors. During college I went scuba diving, which was part of a swimming coach training. It was love at first sight, my first glimpse into the mystery of the ocean. At the time, I didn’t know what I was looking at, but I knew I loved this different but beautiful world. That’s when I knew I should change my career path.

After barely finishing with a business degree, I decided to go to graduate school. I wasn’t sure if this was the right thing to do because of my poor grades, but it was the best decision I ever made. I applied to the National Taiwan Ocean University’s Institute of Marine Resource Management and was accepted. I lucked out because they were looking for students with a multidisciplinary background.

Read the full release here

Why marine protected areas are often not where they should be

March 26, 2020 — There’s no denying the grandeur and allure of a nature reserve or marine protected area. The concept is easy to understand: limit human activity there and marine ecosystems will thrive.

But while the number of marine protected areas is increasing, so too is the number of threatened , and the health of  is in decline.

Why? Our research shows it’s because marine protected areas are often placed where there’s already low , rather than in places with high biodiversity that need it most.

Not where they should be

Many parts of the world’s protected areas, in both terrestrial and , are placed in locations with no form of manageable human activity or development occurring, such as fishing or infrastructure. These places are often remote, such as in the centres of oceans.

And where marine protected areas have been increasing, they’re placed where pressures cannot be managed, such as areas where there is increased ocean acidification or dispersed pollution.

Read the full story at PHYS.org

Fishers, brewers, distillers: What aid do they need to survive Covid-19?

March 25, 2020 — As the spread of the novel coronavirus disrupts business as usual across the country, food producers of all kinds are turning to the government for the help they say they need to stay afloat through the pandemic. From fishermen to produce growers to brewers, companies and organizations are lining up for federal aid as policymakers argue about the coming stimulus for small businesses.

In the fish sector, the closure of scores of restaurants and the destabilization of exports to China has forced the seafood supply chain to adapt to primarily servicing retail stores where possible. Yet even if some fishermen are able to shift to retail, the existing disruptions could be ruinous to many independent producers.

Take the Maine fishermen who catch elver eel. Roughly 1,000 fishermen in the state catch the baby eels and mostly send them to China, to the tune of about $20 million in revenue each year. Yet now they must wait at least two additional weeks to begin harvesting due to officials’ concerns about the spread of coronavirus. State policymakers say the nature of the fishing operations “makes it impossible to follow social distancing recommendations, including maintaining six feet from other people to reduce the spread of this disease,” according to Patrick Keliher, commissioner of Maine Department of Marine Resources.

Read the full story at Fern’s AG Insider

Vietnam Seafood Enterprises Propose Financial Solutions During Pandemic

March 24, 2020 — Domestic seafood enterprises have proposed many financial solutions to help them overcome difficulties in production and business during the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, according to the Vietnam Association of Fisheries (VASEP).

They have a large inventory of seafood products while customers have delayed payment for many of their export batches. Meanwhile, the export value has also decreased significantly. Those have had a great impact on payment for their loans in March, April and May, VASEP said.

Read the full story at Seafood News

Warmest Oceans Ever Force Tuna Titan to Start Protecting Fish

March 24, 2020 — Helping the canned tuna industry cope with climate change tops an already lengthy to-do list for Darian McBain, chief sustainability officer at the Thailand company that owns the Chicken of the Sea and John West brands.

In a business long accused by activists of abusing workers and killing dolphins, McBain’s responsibilities at Thai Union Group Pcl typically focused on improving labor rights in the supply chain and reducing the abandoned fishing gear on the high seas.

“Climate change hasn’t been the No. 1 topic,” she said. “Now, the climate emergency has to be a lot stronger part of the dialogue.”

The industry hasn’t yet confronted the magnitude of the problem, McBain said.

Read the full story at Bloomberg

Keep fishermen fishing: Food producers are essential to our health and survival

March 23, 2020 — Food production and delivery are crucial systems for society. The covid-19 virus is causing severe economic and social disruptions worldwide. The president has made it clear to the U.S. population that grocery stores and pharmacies will remain open. However fishermen, farmers and processors need to be able to continue their work to provide consumer with food.
Seemingly without a plan, parts of the world are demobilizing the food supply chain when they should be trying to secure and protect it.

Every day we learn more that fishermen in the United States and in some European countries are increasingly unable to sell their products. These harvesters have come to the docks with fresh food and there are either no buyers, or price offers are so low that fishermen won’t return to sea do a second trip.

With the information we have thus far, the best way to combat covid-19 is to keep immune systems healthy. Everyone needs nutritious food to maintain their underlying health. Seafood is a vital part of a healthy diet. Consumers expect to go to the store to find milk for their coffee and spinach for a salad. Not surprisingly, if dairy and market farmers stop farming, or a seafood processor stops processing, or a shipping company stops driving, there will be nothing left in stores.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

Rep. Amata Urges Fishing Access For National Food Security

March 20, 2020 — The following was released by The Office of Congresswomen Aumua Amata (R-American Samoa):

Thursday, Congresswoman Aumua Amata is urging President Trump to reopen fishing access as a matter of national food security during the worldwide economic and health crisis.

“At this time of global re-evaluation of world health and economics, I simply write to say that food security equals national security. Please use your Executive Order to immediately reopen the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument (PRIMNM) to commercial fishing,” Aumua Amata states in her urgent letter to the President.

“American Samoa is home to the largest tuna cannery in the Country and the cannery needs restored access to the Monument to keep up with demand which has spiked over 30 percent in the past week alone for this key healthy, shelf-stable and staple product for American consumers,” she continues.

“Now is the time to reopen American waters to ensure an American supply chain with American boats fishing American waters and having American manufacturing plants processing essential staple foods for the American people,” says Congresswoman Amata.

She supports her request with prior communications from herself and Governor Lolo Moliga, including one cosigned by House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Rob Bishop of Utah. The Congresswoman closes with appreciation to the President for ongoing bold action in the effort to protect our country and his continued optimism.

Read the full release here

As Canned Tuna Fly Off Shelves, Operations of U.S. Boats Are Compromised

March 19, 2020 — Consumers bracing against Covid-19 have raised demands not only for health and safety products but also for many food staples, including tuna. According to a recent National Public Radio report, tuna sales were up more than 31 percent last week compared to the same time last year.

StarKist Samoa, located in the U.S. Territory of American Samoa, supplies tuna for the U.S. market.

Read the full story at Seafood News

StarKist, fleet lament US fishing restrictions amid surge in canned tuna demand

March 19, 2020 — US tuna canner StarKist & Co and the fleet that catches its tuna are lamenting fishing restrictions in the American Samoa region they say will make it difficult to continue to supply tuna at a time when shelf-stable product sales are up sharply due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

StarKist, according to a press release published by the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council, is seeing higher demand for its products, which is creating more work for its StarKist Samoa plant in American Samoa.

“The StarKist Samoa operation relies on the US tuna fishermen, and direct fish deliveries to the cannery are a major component of our business model,” the company said. “We have seen an increase in sales that has been attributed to the Covid-19 impact, and we are doing our best to keep up with the demand. It’s important to note that the global impact of Covid-19 highlights the importance of keeping US suppliers and producers in business to ensure we can sustain the tuna supply for US consumers.”

Read the full story at Undercurrent News