Economic Impact

June 7, 2012 – If the Quincy City Council gives its blessing, the vision of turning Southern Artery’s Souther Tide Mill into a tourist-drawing seafood operation may come true for two Quincy businessmen.

Submitted by Tide Mill Partners LLC — consisting of John Urbanus – owner of the Commonwealth Site Works of Quincy, and Steve Curran, owner of the Fox & Hound restaurant in Quincy — the design includes 30 boat slips, a packaging station, a retail store, and a boardwalk, and would be used for commercial fishing and industrial purposes.

Although the proposal was made to the city in 2010, difficulties determining proper use for the “Designated Port Area” put things on hold. Under that designation, only marine and industrial uses are allowed on the property.

The city had been trying to reach an agreement with Thayer Academy for a rowing facility, but the state’s Department of Environmental Protection eventually denied the permit, citing the designation.

While Thayer’s plans went underwater, the existing proposal from Tide Mill Partners has remained in place.

Quincy city councilors briefly discussed the plans at their meeting last Monday and referred the subject to committee. There, councilors will vet the proposal and discuss leasing the land.

According to Mike Cheney, a former Quincy city councilor and project manager for the development, the development would create a seafood-processing plant on the South Shore, a rarity outside of Boston.

Read the full story at the Boston Globe.

 

 

ELLSWORTH, Maine — 1 June 2012 – Elver fishing for 2012 came to a close at noon Thursday, but not before the price for the juvenile eels again soared to unprecedented levels.

The going price this week for the small, transparent eels was $2,600 per pound. That’s approximately three times the $891 per pound that fishermen were paid on average for their catch in 2011, which at the time was considered an astronomically high price.

Before last year, the highest average annual price elver fishermen had received for their catch was in 2007 when they earned $346 per pound, according to state statistics. The total statewide value to fishermen of the elver harvest in 2011 was $7.6 million.

Read the complete story from Bangor Daily News.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

May 27, 2012 – New England groundfishermen have been invited to participate in a new business and model for selling part or all of their catch through a system similar to commodity market contract sales.

The term used by the founders of Open Ocean Trading is "forward market contracts."

Keith Flett of Duxbury, who comes from a Montauk, N.Y,. fishing family, introduced the commodity approach last week at the Cape Ann Seafood Exchange on Harbor Loop in Gloucester, which has agreed to offload fish sold in contracts brokered by Open Ocean Trading.

In his briefing, Flett said the new system would provide an option to sellers (fishermen) and buyers to agree in advance to virtually any transaction — small or volumes single or multiple species, daily or monthly or even longer, depending on the desires and matches of the two sides.

The approach was said to provide price stability to a market that has been plagued by wild swings of landings and price fluctuations.

The "market volatility," Flett told the attending fishermen, "was caused by "lack of market information."

Read the full story at the Gloucester Times.

 

 

“I haven't been judged by this many people since I forgot my canvas bags at Whole Foods.”
                                                                         — character of Mitchell Pritchett, ABC’s “Modern Family”


by Bob Vanasse and John Cooke
Saving Seafood staff

WASHINGTON — May 24, 2012 – For some time, Whole Foods Market has used green issues as part of its marketing effort, appealing to the legitimate concerns of its customers for environmental protection and sustainability.  On a recent episode of ABC’s hit series “Modern Family”, the character of Mitchell Pritchett, played by Jesse Tyler Ferguson, delivered a punch line about shopping-bag sanctimony in the store’s check out lines.  On Earth Day of this year, Whole Foods extended the sanctimony to their fish counters, announcing they would no longer allow their customers to buy fish rated “red” by the Monterey Bay Aquarium and the Blue Ocean Institute.

Since that policy was introduced on Earth Day, industry leaders, environmental advocates, fisheries scientists, and lawmakers have gone on record either directly opposing – or presenting information raising serious questions and doubts about – the “red” sustainability ratings.  In addition, information made public by the federal government, through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), directly contradicts many of the Monterey Bay Aquarium and Blue Ocean assertions.



In the Boston Globe, Johanna Thomas and Emilie Litsinger of the Environmental Defense Fund wrote that purchasing New England cod was “the right thing.” They added, “The fish is being carefully managed and local fishing families need your business now more than ever."

Thomas and Litsinger went on to praise the current management of cod in the Gulf of Maine. “You have probably heard that cod stocks in the Gulf of Maine appear to be lower than previously thought, and consequently, fishery managers have cut the amount that fishermen can harvest,” they write. So why would EDF advise that it is OK to buy locally caught cod now? Because the sector management program provides the greatest assurance that cod stocks will stabilize and ultimately recover. The cuts are necessary to rebuild the fishery but they are taking a toll on fishermen. Consumers can and should help.”

Michael Conathan of the Center for American Progress wrote, “Whole Foods’ decision to cast its sustainability lot with national organizations that fail to account for the localized impacts of their policy pronouncements also speaks directly to the broader problem of the consolidation of our food-purchasing decisions. Policies set at a corporate level will inherently be made in the best interests of the company. Environmental health or animal cruelty issues may play a role, but at the end of the day the decision will come down to what’s best for the company’s bottom line.”

The decision was also criticized by political leaders, including New England Senators Olympia Snowe (R, ME) and Scott Brown (R, MA). In his letter to the co-CEOs of Whole Foods, Sen. Brown wrote, “aside from being based on uncertain science, this decision will hurt Massachusetts fishermen and their families at a time when they are already struggling to survive.”

Sen. Snowe was equally critical, writing in an op-ed that appeared in several Maine papers, “our nation’s fish stocks are managed to the highest conservation standards, and our fishermen deserve to be rewarded for both their labors and their sacrifices. Regrettably, with this action, Whole Foods undermines the significant efforts of our fishermen to rebuild fish stocks to healthy levels.”

In the New Bedford Standard-Times, Richie Canastra of BASE New England, which runs seafood display auctions in New Bedford, Boston and Gloucester made similar criticisms. He wrote, “the problem is that Whole Foods is buying fish based on the on often-biased and frequently out-of-date rankings from Monterey Bay Aquarium and the Blue Ocean Institute. That ignores information from credible universities and institutions, as well as the latest government statistics”

Ray Hilborn, professor of Aquatic and Fisheries Sciences at the University of Washington and author, along with his wife Ulrike Hilborn, of Overfishing: What Everyone Needs to Know, published in 2012 by Oxford University Press, is highly critical of the science behind Monterrey Bay Aquarium and Blue Ocean Institute’s ratings. In an op-ed in the New York Times, the Hilborns write that the ratings “are based on a misunderstanding of what constitutes a sustainable fishery. The fact is that we can harvest a certain fraction of a fish population that has been overfished, if we allow for the natural processes of birth and growth to replace what we take from the ocean and to rebuild the stock.”

They go on to write that American fisheries are some of the best managed in the world, and that in the last 11 years NOAA has declared 27 species rebuilt to healthy levels. They note that even species that are considered overfished are governed by catch limits to ensure sustainability, and “there were no apparent conservation benefits from the refusal of consumers to buy those overfished species.”

The Hiborns’ claims are backed up by data from NOAA’s Fish Watch, a program by NOAA Fisheries to provide seafood consumers with the most up-to-date information on seafood sustainability. According to NOAA, several of the red-rated (“avoid”) seafood species on Monterrey Bay Aquarium and Blue Ocean Institute’s seafood list are not as threatened as their ratings would suggest. Rather, these species are heavily regulated to ensure their conservation and rebuilding.

Trawl-caught Atlantic cod, one of the species Whole Foods will stop selling because of its “avoid” ranking, is heavily regulated to minimize the impact of commercial fishing on the environment and the cod population. According to NOAA, these include restrictions in the size of fishing gear to reduce the impact on marine habitats, area closures to protect cod spawning, and mesh size restrictions and bycatch limits to reduce unwanted catch. The cod fishery has also changed gear and fishing practices to avoid contact with marine mammals as much as possible. These are among the reasons that the EDF recommended purchasing cod as an environmentally-friendly choice.

Cod is one of several species, along with grey sole, monkfish, and skate that received a red rating because of their use of trawl gear. Monterrey Bay Aquarium and Blue Ocean Institute justify this by writing, “dredges cause significant habitat damage when dragged along gravel and rocky bottoms,” but the environmental impact of the gear is much more limited than the ratings suggest. Cod, sole, skate, and monkfish are all found in habitats that are mainly composed of sand and gravel, areas that can quickly recover from the effects of trawling. This was confirmed by a 2006 study by the School of Marine Science and Technology (SMAST) at the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth, which studied the effect of scallop trawls on the seafloor on Georges Bank. They found that the seafloor of Georges Bank, which is also home to groundfish species like cod and skate, could recover from trawling in a matter of weeks.

Some species that are red-rated are no longer considered to be overfished, such as Atlantic-caught spiny dogfish. According to the rankings, dogfish gets the “avoid” rating due to “concerns about population status and bycatch” and claims that dogfish is among the shark species that are in decline “due to severe overfishing.” But according to NOAA, the spiny dogfish fishery was declared to be rebuilt in 2010. On May 23 of this year, NOAA increased the dogfish catch limit by 5 million pounds.

Skate, which was also red-listed by Monterrey Bay Aquarium and Blue Ocean Institute due to overfishing concerns, has seen a population increase in recent years. Winter skate, one of the two species of skate that are sought after, has grown abundant, exceeding its target population level in 2010.

Atlantic bluefin tuna is similarly red-listed due to overfishing concerns, with the rakings stating, “All populations of bluefin tuna are being caught faster than they can reproduce.” However, the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tuna (ICCAT) strictly regulates the bluefin tuna catch, and the limits that are set are designed to rebuild the stock while maintaining the fishery. US fishermen have stayed within the limits set by ICCAT. NOAA’s Fish Watch concludes, “the most recent catch levels set for 2011 and 2012 are expected to support continued growth and recovery of the stocks.”

Red snapper from the Gulf of Mexico is currently described in Monterrey Bay Aquarium’s ratings as “overfished and still undergoing overfishing,” and that “fishing pressure on the species is excessive.” For this, snapper is given a red rating. However, according to US government data, the opposite is true, and, “population rebuilding and overfishing is no longer occurring – commercial catch has been kept below prescribed levels.” Similarly, vermillion snapper is rated “red” for overfishing, but Gulf of Mexico-caught vermillion snapper is considered by NOAA to be “abundant,” not overfished, and fished at a sustainable rate.

When all available information and perspectives are considered, many of these red ratings do not appear to be warranted. The legitimate questions raised – from government, industry, environments, and scientists – cast doubt on just how comprehensive the ratings system devised by Monterrey Bay Aquarium and Blue Ocean Institute actually is.  The primary result of this policy may well be to send Whole Food customers through the checkout counters feeling sanctimonious not only about their canvas bags, but also about their seafood.  But by accepting questionable ratings as the sole determinant of whether species are available at fish counters nation-wide, Whole Foods is inflicting real economic pain on America’s fishing communities, while the environmental benefit to our oceans is uncertain. 

 

Tazewell Jones and TJ Reifenberger contributed to this report 

May 23, 2012 – Since the introduction of the catch share system to manage groundfish stocks, each fisherman is given a fixed amount of fish to catch and most active fishermen have to buy or lease additional quota from other fishermen to stay in business.

In effect, Mirarchi now has to buy fish to go fishing.

"It's like working in quicksand because the price of quota is incredibly volatile," he said. Quota bought at the start of the fishing year can lose its value if the price of a particular stock tanks.

But these days Mirarchi is getting some business help from an unlikely source. The Environmental Defense Fund has provided him with a business consultant along with the analytical tools he needs to determine how much he should pay for the quota he needs to stay on the water.

The program identified what he can expect to get for fish in a given year and what he can afford to pay for quota.

"It's not a Ouija board, but it's been a huge help," he said. More importantly, after years of just fishing, he now views his boat as a business.

"All businesses have to control costs," he said.

EDF, along with other environmental groups like the Conservation Law Foundation, has been viewed with suspicion by many in the fishing industry for its advocacy of catch shares as a management system. But the organization is working to change the perception of its motives, according to Emilie Litsinger, EDF's groundfish project manager.

"We care about the fish but we also care about the fishermen," she said. "We want them to succeed so we hired business consultants to look at the problems facing fishermen like Frank and to help them, not only with prices, but also to develop new marketing initiatives."

EDF is also working with two fishermen in Point Judith, R.I., Litsinger said, and is open to working with fishermen in New Bedford.

Knowing when to buy quota and how much to pay for it had complicated his life enormously, Mirarchi said. "If you don't know what you're doing you can lose money by going fishing," he said. That uncertainty was compounded by daily fluctuation in the prices fishermen receive for their catch at the dock, he said.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard Times.

 

 

May 21, 2012 – CHATHAM — If the English navigator Bartholomew Gosnold ventured into Cape waters in 2012 instead of 1602, he might have come up with a different name for our peninsula. Something like Cape Skate or Cape Dog. Nowadays, it's not cod that sustains many local fishermen but the small sharks known as dogfish, or winter skates, large winged creatures listed in the same family as sharks that glide along the bottom in shallow waters eating worms, amphipods and fish.

That's a good thing, because cod fishery has not responded well to nearly 20 years of tough fishing regulations. Its recovery from historic low population levels in the 1990s seems to have stalled or is drifting in the wrong direction, with fishery regulators looking at even tougher measures to get it back on course.

Dogfish and skates, once discarded as trash fish, have become valuable. They are also experiencing a population boom, and this spring federal fish regulators decided to allow much larger catches of both stocks. The spiny dogfish was declared rebuilt to healthy levels in 2010, a decade after it was found to be overfished and placed on a fishery management plan. This year quota jumped by nearly 6 million pounds from 30 million to 35.6 million pounds. After its data showed significant improvement in the skate population, the National Marine Fisheries Service increased the annual skate quota last year from 31 million to 48 million pounds.

"It almost seems out of balance, there are that many," Chatham fisherman Leo Maher said. When he goes out fishing for haddock or cod, setting out long lines with thousands of baited hooks, the dogfish seem to be everywhere, and gobble up whatever is on the line.

"We have to stay away from dogs. We set gear for haddock and when we pull up the lines all we come up with is heads. It didn't use to be like that," Maher said.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard Times.

 

 

WASHINGTON — As the 2012 fishing year got under way May 1, New England fishermen faced an uncertain future — with reductions in the catch limits for important stocks, such as Gulf of Maine Cod and Georges Bank yellowtail flounder, underscoring the industry's economic vulnerability, while reopening questions about how the fishery is managed.

Meanwhile, pleas to the federal government for relief have yet to be answered.

Concerned about the possible economic collapse of his state's fishing industry, Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick wrote to Commerce Secretary John Bryson last fall requesting $21 million in economic disaster assistance for the Bay State's multi-species groundfish fishery, due to the "impact caused by the implementation of and transition to catch shares."

Six months later, Bryson has yet to respond to Patrick's letter.

"The Massachusetts disaster request is still under review," said Monica Allen, a spokeswoman for the Commerce Department's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. She was unable to provide further details on the reason for the delay or to give a time frame in which a decision would be made.

Read the complete story at The SeacoastOnline.com

 

 

 

 

 

May 2, 2012 – Contributions from seafood processors allowed Catholic Charities North in Massachusetts to help 10 additional families over the winter heat and housing bills.  This was in addition to the five families who received Catholic Charities aid via Sailors Snug Harbor grant money.

With the way federal regulations keep making it tougher for Massachusetts’ commercial fishermen to eke out a living these days, it only makes sense that their need for financial help would be growing. That’s why it’s great to see the state’s fish processing industry stepping in to offer assistance to fishermen in need.

Catholic Charities North has typically helped out each year by distributing $10,000 in grant funds (courtesy of the Sailors Snug Harbor foundation) among the neediest Gloucester fishermen for heat and housing bills. But Sarah Bartley, the charity’s development coordinator, tells me the grants have been falling short of the need lately.

Things went a little differently last year. Mark Leslie, a vice president at High Liner Foods in Danvers, had just joined the board of Catholic Charities North. When he heard about the need, he recruited a wide range of other seafood processors in the region to help. He started making calls in September. By winter’s end, he had tallied up another $10,000 in matching funds, all donated from about 20 processing companies.

Read the full story here.

 

 

May 2, 2012 — SEAFOOD.COM NEWS by John Sackton — A buyback ballot has approved by a good margin the Southeast Seiners buyback scheme, in which the industry will take out a loan to purchase 64 permits identified in the buyback reduction plan.

Ballots were mailed to 379 permit holders, and NMFS received 269 votes, of which 215 votes were affirmative. This is sufficient to approve the buyback, which needed a minimum of 190 votes.

With the vote, NMFS says the relinquished contracts are now in full force and effect.

NMFS is now preparing to tender and disburse reduction payments to the selected bidders. NMFS will be publishing a notice in the Federal Register later this week listing the names of the permit holders and the permit numbers being relinquished. We will then be mailing reduction payment tender instructions to each of the 64 permit holders along with a copy of the notice.

NMFS will begin disbursing payments to the selected bidders in June upon completion of the 30 day period for any parties with secured interests in the relinquished permits to take any necessary action.

NMFS plans to begin fee collection on salmon landings immediately thereafter, likely around July 1, 2012.

The Southeast Seiners association has worked for years for a successful buyback. Last year an earlier effort was voided on a technicality.

 

 

May 2, 2012 – This week, commercial fishermen began trawling the seafloor off New Hampshire for cod and other signature New England catches. But Ed Eastman, who has been groundfishing off the coast for 31 years, was not among them. Regulations governing groundfishing became too burdensome, he says, and he could no longer earn a living wage.  Last year, Eastman sold his groundfishing permit and moved on to other fisheries, like shrimping.

It was a decision years in the making.

EXPLORING AN ALTERNATIVE ECONOMY

In 2009, when Eastman was still groundfishing, his wife Carolyn pushed the family into a community-supported fishery. CSF’s are modeled after community-supported agriculture.  That’s a system in which farmers sell local customers a farm “share” at the beginning of the growing season, and in return, they get weekly batches of fresh produce. Fishermen in Port Clyde, Maine, borrowed the idea in 2007, and since then about a dozen CSF’s have popped up in New England.

This system inverts traditional fishery economics. Instead of selling his catch to the local cooperative for a non-negotiable price, Eastman says, he was charging a premium to 500 shareholders. The couple’s income tripled–but so did their expenses and workload. They could no longer rely on the market to process, distribute, advertise and sell the catch.
“We had to go to a bigger scale or stop,” Eastman says. “We couldn’t do it anymore.”

Nowadays, Carolyn Eastman does her best to ensure that her husband squeezes every penny he can from every pound of seafood he catches. “My wife can sell anything,” he says of the woman he named his boat, Sweet Carolyn, for. Though they quit the CSF last year, Carolyn kept the contact information of the 1,000 shareholders and customers she met at farmers markets. So while Ed is out on the ocean, Carolyn lures customers to meet him at the dock after sunset and sells the catch directly to the public for a higher price than they could get wholesale.

 Read the full story here.