Economic Impact

SEAFOOD.COM NEWS [seafoodnews.com] Dec 22, 2010 – At an historic meeting in Seattle earlier this month, representatives from local seafood industry organizations from 24 states met to agree on a plan for a national seafood marketing coalition. In the U.S. there is already a great deal of effort promoting local fish and seafood. Groups such as the Maine Lobster Promotion Council, the Louisiana Seafood Promotion Board, ASMI, the Catfish Institute, the Southern Shrimp Alliance and many others all have been active in promoting domestic seafood with various sources of funding.

Now an effort is underway to form a national seafood coalition that will 'market our nation's seafood..', in a manner that respects regional priorities.

Earlier this month in Seattle, the National Seafood Marketing Coalition (Coalition) crossed industry lines from the Gulf of Mexico to Hawaii, and from the Great Plains to New England and beyond to garner industry-wide support for the development of a National Seafood Marketing Fund (NSMF).

The NSMF will be distributed among five Regional Marketing Boards. The overall goal is to fund the development of broad-based, sustainable marketing strategies within each region that will grow consumer demand for domestic seafood, increase its value, and strengthen the U.S. seafood economy through industry-wide job growth.

So how does this differ from previous national efforts? The key to this proposal is local control rather than that of operational oversight from an agency outside of the region. No one knows the specific marketing and development needs within a region better than those actively involved with that part of the seafood industry. This has been proven by groups such as ASMI and the Louisiana Seafood Promotion Council.

The Coalition is working on national legislation that will direct a long-term, sustainable source of funding to the NSMF that will help finance industry-wide marketing efforts across the nation.

Various funding sources, similar to the Saltonstall-Kennedy Act of 1956, are being explored. This proposed legislation would officially establish five Regional Seafood Marketing Boards to receive, dedicate and manage the funds within each region through a grant process that will provide local control. In some ways, the structure mirrors the concept of decentralized regional management councils.

At a meeting in Seattle, Dane Somers, Executive Director of the Maine Lobster Promotion Council said, The Coalition has the right plan, at the right time, for all the right reasons. It's time the country comes together for a common purpose, to express their strong desires to help each other to create new markets, provide stronger benefits and make sure that all Americans have healthy, safe, sustainable seafood products from local sources.'

The five Regional Marketing Boards proposed are: Western Pacific (Hawaii)/Alaska, Pacific, Gulf/Caribbean, NE Atlantic/Great Lakes and SE/Mid-Atlantic. Members appointed to each of the boards will represent a cross section of all aspects of the U.S. domestic seafood industry in that region. That includes all U.S. seafood producers, mariculture and aquaculture producers, harvesters and other industry support services. Board members will reflect the expertise and interest of the seafood industry within each local region.

At a meeting held in Seattle in early December, industry leaders from 24 states convened to further the development efforts of the Coalition, and to define the aspects of legislation that will benefit the industry across the board. This meeting was historic and made me enthusiastic about the opportunity to work with other fishing families around the nation to tell our story. The NSMF will direct the energies of stakeholders within the U.S. fishing industry to create a more secure future for U.S. fisheries, families and jobs, said Natalie Webster, Executive Director of the American Albacore Fishing Association.

The Coalition was founded by leaders of the Alaska seafood industry and is the direct result of a five-year pilot project, on which the national concept is based. Arni Thomson, President of the United Fisherman of Alaska (UFA), has helped to spearhead the idea of the Coalition. He says: UFA is very pleased to see this coalition expand and prepare important legislation for this next Congress. Attendees at the Seattle meeting demonstrated the will to cooperate and compromise. This synergy will allow them to forge ahead for the overall good of the U.S. fishing and seafood industry.'

This unified effort has been presented and vetted across the country and one thing is clear; the message from the U.S. seafood industry is consistent. Bruce Schactler, Director of the Coalition stated, It's in the best interest of the U.S. to maintain a strong industry for job growth. Industry-wide marketing efforts will grow demand for seafood, increase its value, grow the economy, increase jobs in the industry and increase tax revenues. These economic benefits will also be accompanied by an increase in the health of Americans as consumption of seafood increases.

A steering Committee is being created with three delegates from each of the five regions. The steering committee will continue to work on national legislation, develop specific operational plans and a budget process for moving forward.

In a surprise effort, the Coalition received early funding support from the Alaska Bering Sea Crabbers (ABSC). Jim Stone, who is the ABSC representative the to the Coalition says: In these difficult economic times, promotion of America's domestic seafood production offers clear economic benefits for the country. ABSC wants to show our support for the Coalition and be the first in the industry to write a check. We challenge all industry sectors to come onboard and follow our lead.

To date, 46 letters of support have been sent to Congressional leaders from around the U.S., including a letter from Alaska's Governor Sean Parnell with resolutions from the Florida, Maine and Alaska legislatures, urging Congress to act on legislation to create a National Seafood Marketing Fund. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The New Bedford Harbor Development Commission, chaired by Mayor Scott Lang, had released the following:

NEW BEDFORD, Mass., Dec. 23, 2010 /PRNewswire/ — The Harbor Development Commission in the nation's highest-value fishing port is undertaking an atypical mission this week. They have turned their offices into a collection center for holiday donations for fishing families in need. 

A meeting of New Bedford Mayor Scott Lang's Ocean and Fisheries Council earlier this month put a human face on the economic devastation caused by unnecessarily restrictive Federal policies affecting the fishing industry.

"Our Federal Government has become indifferent to human tragedy.  The regulators at NOAA have enacted draconian policies that include much deeper cuts than what impartial scientists believe are needed to conserve our ocean resources.  With undue influence from powerful lobbies, they have taken actions that environmental extremists think might be marginally beneficial to some fish stocks, but which we know are hurting people," said Mayor Scott Lang.

This economic toll is neither necessary nor justifiable from a scientific standpoint.  A report, prepared by the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries and the University of Massachusetts, used government scientific statistical data to reveal that an additional 14,500 metric tons of ground fish could safely be brought to market without causing overfishing.

Early last month, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick submitted this report to Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, at Locke's request, so he would have the information to justify emergency measures to increase fishing allocations and ease the regulations that have rendered more than half of New England's ground fishing fleet idle.

But nearly two months have passed, and there has been no reply, despite persistent, bipartisan calls from Governor Patrick and from lawmakers including Barney Frank, John Kerry, Scott Brown and John Tierney.

Besides overly-restrictive limits, a unique form of NOAA's "catch share" regulatory system was also enacted in New England this year.  Called "sector management," it has encouraged consolidation of the New England ground-fish fleet into the hands of the largest and wealthiest vessel owners.  To survive, many owners of multiple boats purchased quota from single boat owners to whom Federal regulators did not give enough allocation to break even.  Some of those single boat owners are making ends meet with payments from the "big boys" for their allocations, but their boats are idle, and their crewmembers are now unemployed. 

One of the "big boys" in New England fishing is Carlos Rafael.  His life story is the American dream. A Portuguese immigrant who began with little in 1980, he is now the largest vessel owner in New Bedford, with more than 300 employees and 40 boats. Under the new catch share program, he's had to lay off 80 crew members, downsize to eleven vessels, and borrow more than a million dollars to purchase quota from smaller fishermen.  At the Mayor's meeting he told the crowd "What the government has done… has put me and a couple of other guys sitting pretty … we are making serious money … but, I had to downsize the fleet, I had to get rid of some people…  What's taking place in this city is a horror show.  You've got vessels tied up at these piers and people collecting unemployment. There's no reason whatsoever for these people to be collecting unemployment… There's enough fish in that ocean for these people to fish…without overfishing."

"Transitioning to catch shares is a priority for NOAA," said Monica Medina, senior advisor to NOAA Administrator Dr. Jane Lubchenco in June of 2009 when she headed the task force that created NOAA's policy. Despite mounting evidence to the contrary, in a recent letter to Republican Congressman Walter Jones of North Carolina, Dr. Lubchenco defended her policy, claiming that catch shares are "merely a tool," not an outcome and "not the cause" of job loss. 

The primary advocacy group lobbying Washington for catch share management is the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF). Before President Obama appointed her to the NOAA helm, Dr, Jane Lubchenco was vice chairwoman of EDF's board of directors. Her deputy, Ms. Medina, was a partner at the law firm of Heller Ehrman White & McAuliffe, with EDF among her clients.

"These regulations are having a dramatic adverse impact on fishing families and communities in New England and along the East Coast," Mayor Lang said. "NOAA is acting with cold-blooded indifference, as if they are proofing mathematical equations, not addressing a human crisis."

People like Jim Keding, a now unemployed 27-year veteran fisherman, are finding it difficult to face the holiday season. "When you go home every day, and your kids look you in the eye and say, 'Dad, why are you so miserable?' … What do you say to the kids, 8 and 10 years old … What do you say?" an emotional Keding pondered. "This is going to be the hardest Christmas I've had since I had my first child."

In a December 15 letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Congressmen John Tierney, Barney Frank and Bill Delahunt together with Senator John Kerry and Scott Brown wrote that they have "have responsibly requested reasonable action by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Department of Commerce" but their discussions "have led to little more than speeches and broken promises."

Since the implementation of NOAA's new catch share policy in May, as many as 1,250 jobs have been lost.

In his closing remarks, Mayor Lang spoke directly to the NOAA employees in attendance and told them "This is either a deliberate attempt to contract the industry, which is completely illegal, or it's ineptitude at the highest levels that I've ever seen in government — and I am government."

Watch the mayor's closing remarks directed at NOAA employees

Watch the fishermen and other speakers

Read the story at PR Newswire.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Where does Pew's Peter Baker get the right to pressure our governor to stay out of the lawsuit over the government corruption in the fisheries?

And how can Lubenchco, who's supposed to be intelligent, and a scientist, possibly say the things she does? The catch share program doesn't put people out of work?

How does she get put in a position of authority when she acts and says and does the things she does? How does Obama look the other way with what's going on on his watch?

I'm glad to hear that Gov. Patrick is finally getting involved and hope he can give his buddy a call and put an end to all this devastation going on, with the way our government is killing jobs, when all you hear about is creating jobs.

Read the complete letter at The Gloucester Times.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Using lots of lobster bands and grumbling very little while doing so, Cape Ann's inshore lobstermen say the season was at least on par with 2009's, if not better — and it's given them much to be thankful for.

Many harvesters also received an added bonus in the mail this fall.

The season gave the lobstermen generally good weather except for two big exceptions.

March's storminess and accompanying 14 inches of rainfall, including the 8 inches dropped by a three-day, mid-month nor'easter, spurred strong ocean tides, turbulence and turbidity, made making a dollar out there very difficult.

Read the complete story from the Gloucester Times.

 

 

 

 

 

 

"There are thousands of jobs being lost up and down the coast," Gloucester's Vito Calomo said of U.S. Sen. Scott Brown's community outreach for fisheries. "Sen. Brown understands that every boat that goes to sea creates jobs."

Calomo said Brown, a Republican, intended to maintain the link with Democratic colleagues.

Garth Patterson, who represents Congressman Barney Frank on fisheries issues, also reached across the aisle to acknowledge the efforts of Congressman Walter Jones, a North Carolina Republican, as the House shifts to Republican control in January and the 2-year presidential election begins.

The bipartisan, bi-cameral alliance for the fishing industry was galvanized at the start of the Obama administration by Lubchenco's confirmation as NOAA administrator and her rush to spread the catch share system throughout U.S. fisheries. The approach transforms the common wealth in wild resources into assigned catching rights that attract investors to the nascent market.

The ultra conservative allocations of the 19 stocks of groundfish were cited as principally responsible for demobilizing more than half the fleet just as the mandated catch share system was put into effect beginning last May 1, the start of the fishing year for groundfish.

Richie Canastra, an owner of the main fish auctions in New Bedford and Boston, and Larry Ciulla, whose family owns the Gloucester Seafood Display Auction, issued parallel reports to the Times on the impact of Amendment 16, the framework that includes the catch-share format — a system that sets a total allowable catch, gives fishermen "shares" based on their catch histories, yet encourages them to buy, sell or trade shares among their own numbers, or to outside investors.

"During the first five months of the 2010 fishing year," said Canastra, "two-thirds of the groundfish fleet were inactive while more than half the fleet's 253 vessels had not fished at all. For every vessel not fishing, there is a loss of four jobs."

While the smaller businesses were struggling, Canastra said, the businesses at the top of the scale were enjoying the system.

"In addition to an increase in the number of inactive vessels, the number that earned more than $300,000 for this period in 2010 increased from 21 to 41 vessels," Canastra said.

Ciulla said he has seen similar impacts in Gloucester, which is the nation's 10th leading port in value of landings; New Bedford is number one owing largely to the scallop fishery that is based there.

"About two-thirds of the small day boats have been kept inactive," said Ciulla.

The half dozen off-shore boats have been working, but he said it would be a mistake to think of them as prosperous, as distinct from working.

 

 

 

 

Kevin Scola, a Marshfield fishermen summed up the industry's frustration by complaining that the National Marine Fisheries Service is not held accountable for its actions.

"But we are held accountable for their actions," he said. "My best friend dropped dead on October 28th. He died too young, of a heart attack. But he was squeezed, he was pushed, he lost his allocation and they took his days.

"He went to another fishery that was less productive. He didn't like it but we're fishermen. It's what we do. It's all we know. I don't want to do anything else."

In summing up, a heated Lang addressed his remarks directly to the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration.

"You have put the entire industry at risk," he said. "Try this headline: 'NOAA sends $1 billion industry overseas.' A bureaucratic agenda has decided to collapse the fleet. It's wrong and it's immoral, quite frankly."

The mayor is now seeking an investigation of the regulatory process by the office of the inspector general, which recently uncovered systemic abuse by members of NOAA's Office of Law Enforcement.

NEW BEDFORD, Mass — December 10, 2010 — At a crowded and highly charged meeting on the city's waterfront Thursday, commercial fishermen, boat owners and representatives from shoreside businesses slammed the federal government's seeming indifference to the growing crisis in the Massachusetts fishing industry.

Since Nov. 5, when Gov. Deval Patrick wrote to U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gary F. Locke asking him to "move expeditiously to protect the economic viability of our fishing ports," fishermen have anxiously awaited some response from Washington.

But five weeks later, there has been only silence.

Industry members gathered to express concern, anger and frustration with a government policy that Mayor Scott W. Lang says appears to have been designed to put most of them out of business.

"People who haven't thought about the consequences are trying to implement a management system that they have no idea how it will affect the fish but it will collapse the people in the industry. This is a human crisis and it gets bigger with every day that goes by," Lang told a crowd of more than 100 gathered at the Waterfront Grille.

According to statistics from the mayor's office, 253 boats from a fleet of 500 are no longer fishing at all, leading to severe industry consolidation. With 55 boats now realizing 61 percent of the revenue, the remaining 192 vessels account for only 39 percent of total revenue.

"Every day I look at my boat rusting away," said Tony Pereira, who has been fishing on his vessel, Blue Seas 2, for the past 25 years. His dragger is now tied up.

"I laid off my three crew members," Pereira said. "One of them has made two trips since April, another only six. I sold my quota to my friend Manuel from the Sea Siren, but it's sad that a man now has to pay to go to work in the United States."

 

 

Commercial scalloping has been a dicey proposition since the East Coast scallop population inexplicably crashed between 1984 and 1987. No one has been able to explain why the scallop fishery collapsed or why, in a given year, like 2009, the scallop harvest rebounds to glut the market.

Achieving a consistent harvest from year to year is the goal for fisheries managers.

The Island and Nantucket have fared better than most East Coast scallop shell fisheries. Long-time Island managers of the persnickety shellfish believe management practices they've had to learn over the past 25 years help the Island to avoid the peaks and valleys.

"We'll have 1,000 bushels maybe 1,200 bushels, in Oak Bluffs this year, about the same as last year," Oak Bluffs shellfish constable David Grunden estimated in a recent interview. "We've evened out the bouncing around of ten years ago where harvests could fluctuate from 500 to 1,500 bushels from year to year," he said.

Read the complete story from The Martha's Vineyard Times.

 

 

 

 

 

Boats searching for menhaden – also called pogy - were hampered by this summer's Gulf fishing closures, reducing the year's catch of that lucrative meal-and-oil species. The late-April start of the menhaden fishing season coincided with BP's rig explosion, and the jury's still out as to whether crude oil and the chemicals used to disperse it caused big kills of fish, including pogy, in September or trimmed the spe­cies' long-term numbers.

Fishing closures around Plaquemines Parish this summer sent menhaden boats speeding west and far beyond their traditional grounds. "There are only so many hours in the day and week, and boats spent much more time traveling and less time fishing, affecting the size of this year's catch," Gaude said.

At Daybrook Fisheries, executive vice president W. Borden Wallace said that, of the Gulf's menhaden-processing facilities, "our plant located in Empire was closest to the spill and was the one most affected by it. We normally fish on both sides of Plaquemines Parish, but because of closures from mid-June into Septem­ber our catch this season was down by more than 30 percent -based on historic levels."

Read the complete story from The Louisiana Weekly.

 

 

 

 

 

In its barely disguised campaign to tear a chunk from the hides of watermen under the guise of conservation, the Maryland Saltwater Sportfishermen’s Association is asking the governor and Department of Natural Resources officials to slash the annual commercial striped bass harvest from 42.5 percent of the state’s total take to 10 percent.

The MSSA’s letter reminds Maryland’s leaders that “the social and economic impacts of recreational fishing on our state are irrefutable” while “the value for the fish on the commercial market has been stagnant at best.” The value of recreational fishing, according to the letter is “over a $1 billion.”

Recreational angling, one billion bucks—that sounded familiar. So I Googled those terms and it seems we, in Maryland, are not alone. Turns out there are lots of fishy billionaires around:

Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries: “Louisiana anglers generate approximately $1 billion in retail sales related to recreational fishing activity every year.”

Read the complete piece from the Baltimore Sun.

 

 

 

 

 

PORTLAND, Maine—Whether it's East Coast swordfish, Alaska king crab or Louisiana shrimp, seafood sellers have their own hook to pump up sales: a celebrity.

For swordfish this fall, sellers didn't turn to an actor, athlete or chef to push their product. Instead, it was the boat captain who caught the fish.

Swordfish sales soared at the Hannaford supermarket chain when the fish was promoted as being caught by Linda Greenlaw, a well-known Maine boat skipper featured on the Discovery Channel reality show "Swords: Life on the Line."

Seafood hawkers say using the names of well-known fishermen or fishing boats is a powerful marketing tool, especially in these days of oil spills, food-borne illness and increasing consumer awareness.

Read the complete story by the AP at The Boston Globe.