Saving Seafood

Senator Collins Calls for Swift Release of $300 Million to Support Fishermen During COVID-19 Pandemic

April 6, 2020 — The following was released by The Office of Senator Susan Collins (R-ME):

U.S. Senator Susan Collins wrote to Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, urging him to quickly release the $300 million for assistance to fishermen and related businesses that was included in the Phase 3 coronavirus emergency package.  As a senior member of the Appropriations Committee, Senator Collins worked to ensure that this critical relief provision was inserted in the final legislation.

“The seafood and aquaculture industries are experiencing severe financial harm from disruptions to supply, demand, and labor caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Those who make their livelihoods harvesting, transporting, processing, distributing, and preparing the bounty of our oceans have incredibly complex and inter-reliant business models,” said Senator Collins.  

“I am pleased that, as a result of my and other coastal state members’ advocacy, the Assistance to Fishery Participants provision was included in the CARES Act to provide relief that is targeted specifically for these iconic and essential engines of Maine’s economy,” Senator Collins continued.  “It is critical that the $300 million in fishery-related assistance reach those who need it expeditiously in order to manage this period of uncertainty and emerge as strong as before.”

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) will be responsible for releasing this funding.  Senator Collins requested that:

  • NOAA work with regional fisheries management commissions to distribute the funds to coastal states;
  • Each state is given reasonable flexibility to distribute money in the ways that will best benefit fishermen and their communities;
  • NMFS use comparative methods and averages that span multiple years—as is common with other fisheries disaster calculations—to allocate funding; and
  • NMFS continue to move quickly to get relief funds out to the states, and require states to submit a spending plan to achieve accountability.

Click HERE to read Senator Collins’ letter to Secretary Ross.

Statement from U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross on Earl Comstock

March 4, 2020 — The following was released by the U.S. Department of Commerce:

I would like to thank Earl Comstock for honoring his commitment to serve for three years as Director of Policy and Strategic Planning at the Department of Commerce. I value his wise counsel, his deep policy expertise, his innovative thinking and leadership, and I thank him for his service to the American people. I know he will excel in whatever new role he takes on and wish him the very best.

Read the statement here

US Commerce Department allocates $35 million for Alaska fisheries disasters

March 2, 2020 — Fishermen affected by the 2018 Pacific cod and Chignik sockeye disasters will soon have access to about $35 million in relief funding.

Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross allocated about $65 million to fisheries disaster relief, about $35 million of which is for Alaska, according to a Feb. 27 announcement from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Within Alaska, about $24.4 million will go to the Pacific cod fishery disaster and about $10.3 million to the Chignik sockeye fishery. The funding was appropriated when Congress passed the 2019 Consolidated and Supplemental Appropriations Act.

Fisheries disasters can be declared under the Magnuson-Stevens Fisheries Management and Conservation Act when natural disasters or management actions significantly negatively impact stakeholders’ ability to participate in a fishery.

In the case of the Pacific cod fishery in the Gulf of Alaska, scientists are linking the decline in stock abundance to environmental causes; in Chignik, the salmon decline seemed to be linked to poor environmental conditions for sockeye that summer.

Both disaster requests had already been granted, but the amount of funding that the fisheries would have allocated to them was yet to be determined. The National Marine Fisheries Service determines how much funding to allocate to fisheries based on commercial revenue loss information.

Affected fishermen will be able to apply for funding to help with infrastructure projects, habitat restoration, state-run vessel and fishing permit buybacks, and job retraining, according to the announcement from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Read the full story at the Anchorage Daily News

NOAA: Secretary of Commerce allocates $65 million for fishery disasters

February 27, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA:

Today, Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross announced the allocation of $65 million to communities in Alaska, California, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida and the Yurok Tribe (California) that suffered fishery disasters between 2017 and 2019.

“These funds help impacted fisheries recover from recent disasters and make them more resilient to future challenges,” said Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross. “This allocation supports the hard-working American fishing communities suffering from impacts beyond their control.”

Fisheries play a critical role for coastal economies, providing jobs for fishermen, fish processors, and other related maritime industries. However, fisheries can experience natural disaster events and other circumstances beyond the control of fishery managers, resulting in sudden and unexpected losses within the fishery and leading to serious economic impacts to those who rely on them.

NOAA Fisheries used commercial revenue loss information to allocate funding among the eligible disasters. NOAA Fisheries also took into consideration traditional uses that cannot be accounted for in commercial revenue loss alone.

The allocated funds can be used to help the fishing community including commercial fishermen, recreational fishermen, charter businesses, shore-side infrastructure, and subsistence users, as well as improve the fishing ecosystem and environment. These funds will improve the long term economic and environmental sustainability of the impacted fisheries. Activities that can be considered for funding include infrastructure projects, habitat restoration, state-run vessel and fishing permit buybacks, and job retraining.

In addition, some of the affected fishing communities may be eligible for assistance from the Small Business Administration or other Federal agencies.

NOAA Fisheries report: 2018 production down, but value up

February 24, 2020 — NOAA Fisheries has released the “Fisheries of the United States 2018” report, and it indicates that the production of both wild-capture and aquaculture was down in the U.S. in 2018, while the value of both sectors increased.

U.S. commercial fishermen combined to land 9.4 billion pounds (4.3 million metric tons) of seafood, a 5.3 percent decrease of 531 million pounds over the 2017 total. The value of those landings, however, increased by 2.8 percent, or USD 150 million (EUR 138 million), to USD 5.6 billion (EUR 5.1 billion).

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Cape May Fishermen, Processor Sues NOAA’s At-Sea Monitoring Rule

February 21, 2020 — Cause of Action Institute, on behalf of six trawlers and a processor based in Cape May, NJ, filed a lawsuit yesterday against Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross and NOAA Fisheries to block a new rule forcing them to pay for third-party “at-sea monitors.”

The plaintiffs claim that NOAA Fisheries and the Department of Commerce violated the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) when designing and implementing the final rule.

Read the full story at Seafood News

NOAA finds new liquified natural gas pipeline in Oregon will not jeopardize species

January 13, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA:

NOAA Fisheries has issued a final biological opinion on construction and operation of the Jordan Cove terminal in Coos Bay, Oregon, and the associated 229-mile long Pacific Connector Liquid Natural Gas pipeline. After conducting a thorough review, NOAA scientists determined that the proposed action does not jeopardize protected species or adversely modify their critical habitat.

“NOAA’s opinion on Jordan Cove will pave the way for more American jobs and vastly expanded exports of domestically sourced liquified natural gas to prized Asian markets,” said Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross. “The speed of this decision was only made possible by recent reforms to the infrastructure permitting process, while still allowing the relevant authorities ample time to determine that no species or critical habitat would be jeopardized.”

The pipeline would connect the terminal to other major pipelines in the West, linking it to gas supplies across the United States and Canada. The terminal in Coos Bay would be capable of liquefying up to 1.04 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day for export to markets around the world.

This biological opinion considered the effects of construction and operation of the terminal and pipeline on 17 species listed under the Endangered Species Act and their critical habitats. The affected species include whales, sea turtles, salmon and other fish species. NOAA Fisheries determined that impacts on the species and their habitat would occur only in the short-term or on small scales, and would be dispersed broadly across about 250 miles.

The biological opinion fulfills requirements under the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act, known as FAST-41, and Executive Order 13807, which sets a goal of speeding environmental reviews.

The company, Pembina Pipeline Corporation, committed to important best management practices that would reduce effects on listed species, and proposed mitigation measures that will benefit species in the long-term.

The measures include restoration of at least 72 acres of tidelands and 2.7 acres of freshwater floodplain that provide important habitat for protected salmon and other species. The company would also establish at least 2.7 acres of eelgrass habitat. Additional measures would restore and improve freshwater habitat at 60 sites along the pipeline route, including placement of large wood in streams, riparian vegetation planting and fencing, fish passage improvement, and road improvements that will reduce delivery of fine sediment to streams.

Omega Protein says it will cooperate on Chesapeake menhaden cap

December 20, 2019 — Omega Protein said it will cooperate with interstate menhaden managers, after the Department of Commerce set a June 17, 2020 deadline for Virginia to come into compliance with the Chesapeake Bay cap on its reduction fishery or face a moratorium.

Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross formally concurred with the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission finding of non-compliance, after the commission in October voted to insist the Reedville, Va.-based Omega Protein must adhere to the commission’s 51,000 metric tons bay cap.

Chris Oliver, the NOAA assistant administrator for fisheries, notified the commission Thursday of Ross’ decision.

“NOAA Fisheries also finds that this management measure is necessary for the conservation of the menhaden resource,” Oliver wrote in a letter to the commission. “The best available information shows that menhaden in the Chesapeake Bay are an important component of the overall health of the stock, and further that their role as forage for predator species in the Chesapeake Bay is critical to the marine environment.”

Omega officials, who faced off with critics for months before the commission vote, pledged Thursday to work toward solutions.

“Omega Protein will work with both the ASMFC and the Commonwealth of Virginia to lift the moratorium and bring the fishery back into compliance,” the company said in a prepared statement. “The company looks forward to working with the commission in the coming months as we move toward ecosystem-based measures, and will continue to support science-based fishery management and a healthy menhaden fishery.”

Read the full story at National Fisherman

US commerce secretary Ross hands Virginia menhaden fishery its first moratorium

December 19, 2019 — Wilbur Ross, secretary of the US Department of Commerce, has agreed with Virginia governor Ralph Northam and placed the first-ever moratorium on the commonwealth’s menhaden fishery in the Chesapeake Bay — one of the two largest in the US — delivering a potentially nasty blow to Omega Protein.

But the moratorium doesn’t go into effect until June 17, 2020, giving the Houston, Texas-based division of Cooke Inc. plenty of time to work with the state to get into compliance.

The ruling follows Omega Protein’s admission in September of violating a federal cap set by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission in the area. The ASFMC cut the bay cap by 41% in 2017, in what it described as a precautionary measure, but without a finding of overfishing.

In October, during its week-long meeting in New Castle, New Hampshire, the ASMFC voted unanimously (15-0) to advance its finding of noncompliance against the state of Virginia to Ross.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

Read Omega Protein’s Statement Here

Read the letter from NOAA here

Secretary of Commerce Finds Commonwealth of Virginia Out of Compliance with Atlantic Menhaden Amendment 3

December 19, 2019 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission received notification today that the Secretary of Commerce concurs with the Commission’s finding that the Commonwealth of Virginia is out of compliance with Amendment 3 to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Atlantic Menhaden. Specifically, the Commonwealth has failed to implement the 51,000 mt Chesapeake Bay reduction fishery cap (cap). In accordance with this finding, the Secretary has declared a moratorium on the Atlantic menhaden fisheries in Virginia waters, effective June 17, 2020. In order to avert the moratorium, the Commonwealth must effectively implement and enforce the cap prior to June 17th. This action was taken pursuant to the provisions of the Atlantic Coastal Fisheries Cooperative Management Act (Atlantic Coastal Act) of 1993.

“I am grateful for the Secretary’s support of the Commission’s fisheries management process and, in particular, our efforts to manage Atlantic menhaden, an important forage species, in a precautionary manner,” stated ASMFC Chair Patrick C. Keliher of Maine. “The Secretarial backstop is a key provision of the Atlantic Coastal Act.”

In today’s letter from NOAA Fisheries transmitting its determination of noncompliance, it stated, “NOAA Fisheries also finds that this management measure is necessary for the conservation of the menhaden resource. The best available information shows that menhaden in the Chesapeake Bay are an important component of the overall health of the stock, and further that their role as forage for predator species in the Chesapeake Bay is critical to the marine environment.” The letter explains that the June closure was selected “to give Virginia the time necessary for its legislature to bring these regulations back into compliance.”