Saving Seafood

News for the Western Pacific Region

US includes Taiwan on forced labor list due to fishing industry abuses

October 1, 2020 — The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has released its 2020 “List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor,” and has included Taiwan for the first time for its issues related to forced labor in the fishing industry.

The inclusion comes after 19 NGOs and businesses urged the DOL to include the nation on its list after discoveries of forced labor on fishing vessels in Southeast Asia. A damning Greenpeace report accused 13 foreign distant-water fishing vessels of using forced labor.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Indonesia’s new intelligence hub wields data in the war on illegal fishing

September 30, 2020 — In late July, a high-speed chase stirred the waters northeast of Indonesia’s Natuna Islands, as patrol officers pursued a Vietnamese vessel suspected of illegal fishing.

Having fled when authorities approached it for questioning, the Vietnamese crew tossed a fishing net to purge implicating evidence, burned tires to cloud their sight, and zigzagged across the water to evade capture, according to the Indonesian side’s account of the incident. Indonesian officers ordered the sailors to stop. Instead, they tried to ram into the patrol boat.

A visit, board, search and seizure team fired a warning shot into the air, but the Vietnamese attempted to escape. It was only after the team shot the fishing vessel’s platform that it slowed down and yielded to inspection, which uncovered two tons of fish.

The Indonesian Maritime Information Center (IMIC), launched days earlier, on July 22, had helped detect the Vietnamese boat by pooling high-quality surveillance data from several government bodies, according to Demo Putra from the Indonesian Coast Guard (Bakamla), which oversees this initiative.

Read the full story at Mongaby

The Impacts of Ghost Nets on Coral Reefs

September 28, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Ghost nets are silently drifting through the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, snagging on coral reefs and entangling wildlife. Scientists in the Pacific Islands have observed ghost nets tumbling across expansive coral reef environments. They break, shade, and abrade coral, preventing them from healthy growth. These lost or abandoned fishing nets are a persistent threat that accumulate over time, but we know little about the damage nets inflict upon corals.

In 2018, our marine debris team quantified the damaging effects of ghost nets on coral reefs of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands for the first time. They found that regardless of net size or algae growth, corals were lost. They recently published their findings in Marine Pollution Bulletin.

The Northwestern Hawaiian Islands stretch for more than 1,243 miles northwest of the main Hawaiian Islands. They contain 124 mostly uninhabited small islands, atolls, reefs, and submerged banks. They are recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and are encompassed by the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument. Within these protected waters, far from human inhabitants, ghost nets are leaving their mark on reefs. But how much of an impact are these nets having on corals?

Read full release here

WPRMFC gives Trump Administration suggestions to promote seafood

September 28, 2020 — The Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council (WPRMFC) has suggested actions to the Trump Administration in order to “promote seafood competitiveness and economic growth and to provide regulatory relief to support economic recovery for the offshore fisheries of Hawai’i, American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and eight Pacific Remote Islands (PRIAs),” according to a WPRFMC press release.

Two parties voted against the proposals: the council member representing the Hawai’i State Department of Land and Natural Resources, as well as the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) Pacific Islands Regional Administrator.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Seafood Expo Asia moves online with Seafood Expo Asia Reconnect

September 24, 2020 — Seafood Expo Asia, an annual seafood trade show produced by Diversified Communications, has announced its 2020 event will take place online as a three-day “Seafood Exo Asia Reconnect” experience 17 to 19 November, 2020.

Seafood Expo Asia, which has taken place in the past in Hong Kong, was set to move to Singapore this year, but the coronavirus pandemic put a pause on those plans. Instead, Diversified Communications said it has created “a digital solution to connect seafood buyers throughout Asia with suppliers from around the world.”

Read the full story at Seafood Source

US-China fight over fishing is really about world domination

September 22, 2020 — China’s aggressive, sometimes illegal fishing practices are the latest source of conflict with the United States.

China has the world’s largest fishing fleet. Beijing claims to send around 2,600 vessels out to fish across the globe, but some maritime experts say this distant-water fishing fleet may number nearly 17,000. The United States has fewer than 300 distant-water ships.

According to the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, nations control marine resources within a 200-mile “exclusive economic zone”; beyond that are international waters. While the U.S. never signed the treaty, it has declared a 200-mile offshore exclusive economic zone.

Read the full story at Yahoo News

More Measures Proposed for Western Pacific Longliners as Managers Agree to Electronic Reporting

September 22, 2020 — The Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council concluded its 2020 third-quarter meeting recently with actions related to electronic reporting for Hawaii longline fisheries, annual catch limits for grey snapper (uku) for years 2022-2025 and more.

Hawaii longliners and those greater than 50 feet long in the American Samoa longline fleet will have to use electronic logbook reporting by the middle of next year, the Council approved in an amendment to the fishery management plan. Under the amendment, vessel operators must record and submit logbook data within 24 hours after completion of each fishing day using an electronic logbook application certified by the National Marine Fisheries Service. In the event of technology malfunction, vessel operators would be required to submit the logbook data by paper or electronically within 72 hours of the end of each fishing trip. The recommended date for implementing mandatory electronic reporting is by July 1, 2021; the regulatory amendment is pending approval by the Secretary of Commerce.

Read the full story at Seafood News

Fishermen struggle amid COVID, lockdown

September 21, 2020 — Ken Concepcion and Mariano Torres busily packed their equipment into a loaded pickup truck late Friday morning, preparing to leave the Hagåtña boat basin after having spent the early morning fishing. Concepcion had just made a $27 sale at the Guam Fishermen’s Co-op. It was his second sale for the week. On Wednesday, the last time he’d gone fishing, Concepcion managed to make about $60.

“That’s $30 for gas … then you got the bait, the ice and drinks. It comes down to just break even or at a minus,” Concepcion said.

Fishing has essentially become Concepcion’s main source of income since he was furloughed from his job at the Sheraton Laguna Guam Resort. It has proven difficult, however, as pandemic restrictions have made selling his catches more challenging.

Smaller markets are no longer as easy to sell to, since a lot of them have shut down, either due to safety concerns or financial issues, Concepcion said. There’s also competition from other fishermen to consider. Concepcion said he counts himself lucky that the co-op is still buying.

Read the full story at The Guam Daily Post

Chinese Customs finds traces of COVID-19 on Indonesian, Russian seafood packaging

September 21, 2020 — China’s Customs authorities have announced the discovery of traces of COVID-19 on the packaging of seafood originating from Indonesia and Russia.

A shipment of frozen hairtail shipped by Medan City, Indonesia-based Pt. Putri Indah was held by the General Administration of Customs after its packaging was found to contain traces of the novel coronavirus. In response, China has announced that imports from the firm will be barred for a week, according to the Announcement No. 103 from the Chinese Customs Administration.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Hawaii Court Hears Case On Legality Of Foreign Fishing Labor

September 21, 2020 — The Hawaii Supreme Court heard arguments Friday on the legality of granting licenses to foreign workers in Hawaii’s longline commercial fishing fleet, which for years has been under scrutiny after an Associated Press investigation revealed claims of human trafficking and questionable labor practices.

The case involves the issuance of Hawaii state commercial fishing licenses to individual foreign fishermen who are not “lawfully admitted” to the United States.

State law says only those legally in the country can get licenses to catch and sell marine life, but the workers do not have visas to enter the U.S. so they are ordered to live onboard the fishing boats by federal officials. They must eat, sleep and work on the boats, often for years at a time, and are subject to deportation.

Friday’s hearing stems from a petition that was filed by a Native Hawaiian fisherman who sought to have the state enforce a statute that declares only people who are in the U.S. legally can acquire commercial fishing licenses.

The petition was denied by the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources, which issues the permits, and a lower court upheld the ruling before the Supreme Court agreed to hear the case.

Read the full story at Hawaii Public Radio