International & Trade

A new law signed yesterday by President Obama will lead to more equitable catch limits in fishing grounds shared with Canada, members of Maine's congressional delegation say.

Maine's congressional delegtion is applauding legislation that they say will lead to more equitable catch limits in fishing grounds shared with Canada.

New England fishery managers have been hamstrung in their efforts to negotiate with Canada on catch limits by a provision in U.S. law that requires a stock rebuilding period of 10 years. No such provision exists in Canada. That means that stock rebuilding efforts there can be spread out over a longer period, allowing Canadian fishermen higher catch limits.

Read the complete story from The Maine Public Broadcasting Network.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A giant bluefin tuna fetched a record 32.49 million yen, or nearly $396,000, in Tokyo on Wednesday, in the first auction of the year at the world’s largest wholesale fish market.

The price for the 754-pound (342-kilogram) tuna beat the previous record set in 2001 when a 445-pound (202-kilogram) fish sold for 20.2 million yen, a spokesman for Tsukiji market said.

“It was an exceptionally large fish,’’ said the official, Yutaka Hasegawa. “But we were all surprised by the price.’’

The massive tuna was bought and shared by the same duo who won the bidding for last year’s top fish: the owners of Kyubey, an upscale sushi restaurant in Tokyo’s Ginza district, and Itamae Sushi, a casual, Hong Kong-based chain.

Reporters thronged Hong Kong entrepreneur Ricky Cheng after his big win, which reflects the growing popularity of sushi around the world, particularly in Asia.

Read the complete story by The Associated Press at The Boston Globe.

 

 

 

 

 

 

WASHINGTON—A California company has recalled several thousand pounds of frozen capelin because of fears the fish is contaminated with bacteria that could cause life-threatening botulism.

JFC International Inc. of Los Angeles said consumers shouldn't eat the product even if it doesn't look or smell spoiled. The recall affects about 540 cartons of capelin, averaging 8 pounds apiece, that were sold nationwide in restaurants and retail stores between September and December.

The risk of contamination was discovered after routine testing by New York state authorities, who found the fish wasn't properly eviscerated prior to processing, a company statement said.

Read the complete story from The Boston Globe.

 

 

 

 

 

Re-flagged EU fleet activities in developing countries lack transparency and operate outside EU fisheries laws or official Fisheries Partnership Agreements.

Oceana, the international marine conservation organisation, strongly opposes fishing subsidies for capacity enhancing and the construction of new vessels. Currently, 80 percent of the world’s fish stocks are overexploited, fully exploited, significantly depleted or recovering from overexploitation. Yet last week, companies from Vigo (Spain) asked the Galician and central Spanish government for financial aid. The shipowners want to construct new vessels in Galicia for their industrial fleet that operates mainly in developing countries.

“European waters have already been drastically overfished. EU taxpayers’ money must not now be used to increase fishing capacity and overfishing in third countries”, says Xavier Pastor, Director of Oceana Europe “Subsidies for new vessel construction are strictly prohibited under the rules of the European Fisheries Fund as the fishing fleet is already overcapacity. Oceana is therefore urging the EU Commission and Spanish officials to prevent the request from being considered."

Spanish companies boast a 460 vessel strong industrial fishing fleet that operates under foreign flags, mostly in developing countries. This fleet, which operates outside EU fisheries laws and Fishing Partnership Agreements, catches around 500,000 tonnes of fish annually for the EU market.

Read the complete story from Oceana.

 

 

 

 

 

 

WASHINGTON – Dec. 21 (Saving Seafood) – U.S. Fishing industry interests and their supporters on Capitol Hill praised House approval today of the International Fisheries Clarification Act as a boon to Northeast fishing industry by allowing fairer regulation of domestic catch limits in waters shared with Canada.

In the works since 2006, the bill will allow regulators to negotiate higher catch limits with Canada for domestic fisherman under the Magnuson-Stevens Act. The result will be better management of certain fish stocks – including Georges Bank yellowtail as well as cod and haddock – that are fished by U.S. and Canadian interests in waters along the Northeastern United States.

Although the bill directly affects only the regulation of groundfish, scallopers are expected to benefit as well.  Because they live together on the ocean bottom, it is not generally possible to catch scallops without taking some yellowtail. With less-restrictive maximum catch levels on yellowtail, scallopers will have greater ability to harvest scallops.

The move was championed by a bipartisan team of lawmakers led by Massachusetts Rep. Barney Frank and Maine Senator Olympia Snowe. Massachusetts Senators John Kerry and Scott Brown ensured the provision with attachment to a broader bill aimed at ending shark finning in the Pacific Ocean that was co-sponsored in the House by Massachusetts Rep. John Tierney.

Vito Giacalone, policy director of the largest fishing industry group on the East Coast, the Gloucester-based Northeast Seafood Coalition, told Saving Seafood that the move will have a “profoundly positive impact on the industry” from both an economic and conservation standpoint.

“What this will do is create the ability to bilaterally manage the stocks that are on Georges Bank because the stocks are truly transboundary,” said Mr. Giacalone, whose group pushed for the move. “Unless both countries are managing the same way you have the possibility of the two sides managing unilaterally like we used to in the past and possibly creating an overfishing situation.”

Under The Magnuson-Stevens Act, “international agreements” are allowed to include stock rebuilding periods that exceed the 10-year timeline imposed in the United States. Since Canadian law doesn’t impost such a timeline,  fishermen from the north have been allowed much higher catch limits than U.S. concerns. The change allows for them to fish on an even regulatory footing.

Rep. Frank called the win good news for the industry at the time when it is, “under siege from arbitrary and unfair restrictions” by allowing the government to act where it was restricted before.

“What might look just technical to some people is much bigger than they realize,” Rep. Frank told Saving Seafood. “When we asked for relief, this was one of those things where they (Commerce Department officials) said we can’t do it because the law won’t allow it.”

“People in the fishing industry … have told me that it’s one of the most important things Congress could do to increase fishermen’s ability to fish and I’m very proud that we were able to accomplish it.”, the Congressman continued. “Achieving something this important in the lame duck session required a great deal of bipartisan effort, with Senator Snowe in the lead on the Republican side.  I am confident that the fishing industry in greater New Bedford does not mind that we continue to work so close to Christmas.”

Richie Canastra, an owner of the fish auctions in New Bedford and Boston, said that the changes will mean that U.S. fisherman will have access to more fish that would have otherwise been caught by Canadian competitors.

“What this does with the sharing agreement is that we are no longer being limited two fold,” said Mr. Canastra. “We owe thanks to Senator Snowe and Congressman Frank for drafting this bill and to other members from the Northeast who helped make this happen.  It’s going to give us more fish to fish on. If we didn’t fish for them, Canada would be taking them anyway.”

Sen. Snowe echoed the sentiment from industry about the unfair restrictions on U.S. fishermen under the outgoing regulatory regime.

“For too long, our fishery managers have been placed at a competitive disadvantage in negotiating catch limits with their Canadian counterparts because of an erroneous interpretation of the law,” Senator Snowe said in a statement. “I am grateful for the efforts to facilitate passage of this legislation to level the playing field for U.S. negotiators and ultimately for the hard-working members of the New England groundfish industry.”

Sen. Brown noted the job-saving aspect of the move, calling it an “important step.”

“This legislation finally levels the playing field between American and Canadian fishermen, and I’m pleased Congress has taken this action,” Sen. Brown said in a statement. “During this tough economy, we need to create an environment that helps our hardworking fishermen.”

Rep. Tierney also echoed the comments of the other lawmakers who backed the measure.

"For too long the current system has been breeding inequities amongst our respective fishing communities," said Congressman John Tierney. "This legislation is a step in the right direction toward leveling the playing field and strengthening the local fishing economy in Cape Ann and across Massachusetts.”

James Odlin.  Owner Atlantic Trawlers Fishing, Inc. and member of the New England  Fisheries Management Council, noted that the change has the benefit of not only putting more fish caught by domestic fisherman on the table, it will help save the existing bilateral agreement

“It enabled the U.S.-Canadian agreement to stay in place,” said Mr. Odlin. “ It would have been in jeopardy if we didn’t have this agreement.”

With industry and government backers united in praise of the move, Northeast Seafood Coalition Executive Director Jackie Odell said that the win was a long time coming. She praised the years of effort by Rep. Frank, Sen. Snowe, the late Sen. Ted Kennedy and their staff along with that of industry proponents and, more recently, National Marine Fisheries Service officials who have all searched for a way to fix the problem.

“It’s been a good collaborative effort,” Ms. Odell told Saving Seafood. “There is no one person who can take credit for this.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BRUSSELS—European Union nations are trying to find ways to protect fish stocks in once-bountiful fishing grounds in the Atlantic but without killing off fishermen's jobs.

EU fisheries ministers began a two-day meeting Monday to consider a recommendation by the European Commission that the allowable catch of cod, whose numbers are declining quickly, be cut by as much as to 50 percent. The traditional year-end haggling between the fishing industry and environmentalists over the limits usually dilutes the recommendations.

"We will try to find an agreement, of course," said Belgian fisheries Minister Kris Peeters, who is leading the meeting. "But it is not going to be easy."

The ministers hope to reach a compromise Tuesday.

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Acting Board of the American Bluefin Tuna Association has submitted an article to Saving Seafood in which they accuse NOAA Administrator Dr. Jane Lubchenco of supporting the agendas of environmental groups in effort to destroy the traditional tuna fishery, and of ignoring historical stock  recovery commitments.

The board noted that before the ICCAT meeting began, Senator John Kerry, along with Senator Olympia Snowe, Congressman Barney Frank and other elected officials had urged Dr. Lubchenco to advocate for the highest Western total allowable catch possible.

The board has asked Senator Kerry, in his capacity as Senior Senator from Massachusetts and Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, to call upon Dr. Lubchenco to explain why she ignored his "reasonable request" and instead chose an action that they say "can only be called punitive to American fishermen and advocated for a destructive ICCAT negotiation and agreement."

They also ask why, upon arrival in Paris, Dr. Lubchenco chose to make her first meeting with environmental groups before she met with her own US delegation.

At the November meeting of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) in Paris, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Administrator Dr. Jane Lubchenco, ordered the US delegation and NOAA staff to abandon the current rebuilding plan for western bluefin tuna and to fight for reductions in the Total Allowable Catch (TAC) for U.S. fishermen. In doing so, she ignored numerous members of Congress, an unprecedented coalition of commercial and recreational fishermen, and the proven success the current plan has achieved. Most importantly, she ignored the hard sacrifices fishermen in the western Atlantic have endured in order to rebuild the stock over the last two decades. 

ICCAT is the international body charged with the management of bluefin tuna and other highly migratory species in the Atlantic, such as swordfish and sharks. The body meets once a year to review science and set catch levels. ICCAT met on November 17^th through November 28^th, in Paris. Heading into the meeting, the US bluefin industry was optimistic that after years of TAC cuts, that they would actually see an increase in Paris.

“The science was pretty clear in our opinion,” said Rich Ruais, Executive Director of the American Bluefin Tuna Association (ABTA).“There was no doubt in our mind that the recent stock assessment report from SCRS (Standing Committee on Research and Statistics, the scientific arm of ICCAT) spoke loudly in favor of a modest increase in the size of the TAC for the western Atlantic bluefin fishery,” he said.

Steve Weiner, a bluefin fisherman out of Perkins Cove, ME, and a director for ABTA said, “It is pretty upsetting how U.S./NOAA leadership decided to change course 12 years into the successful rebuilding plan. I do not believe this policy change was warranted or fully vetted within the U.S advisory bodies.”

The current rebuilding plan went into effect in 1998. The U.S. and other nations specifically chose to base the plan on the so-called “two-line scenario”, which is a scientific strategy based on recruitment potential. The US and other nations have subsequently affirmed this plan, and therefore the two-line scenario, at every ICCAT bluefin discussion ever since.

According to the 2010 SCRS report, under the chosen scenario, the western stock is successfully rebuilt.  Technically, the western Atlantic biomass is rebuilt to 1.1 of the biomass necessary to produce Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY), or the highest level of catch possible that is   sustainable over time, of 2,585 metric tons (mt) with a 78% probability- a level far above the 50% level required by the plan. According to Paragraph 5 of the 2008 western bluefin agreement, “At such time as the SCRS determines the stock size has achieved the level that would produce MSY, TAC levels up to the level of MSY will be considered.”

This scientific recognition of improved stock status is confirmed anecdotally by observations of commercial and recreational fishermen up and down the east coast and off Canada who are seeing the fruits of this successful rebuilding plan. Reports of more fish of more year classes in more areas, despite the ongoing concern over baitfish levels off New England, have been widespread in recent years, and catch rates in many places this past season were as high as any fishermen alive can remember.

“And we are not talking about massive fleets of enormous purse seiners here, our fleet is essentially a hand gear, hook and line fleet,” said Ralph Pratt, a bluefin fisherman from Green Harbor, MA, and also an ABTA director. “I think some people in the U.S. read about the large fleets of purse seiners (large boats that use large nets to encircle fish) in the Mediterranean and think that is what our fleet is like. But we have an artisanal fishery- most of our boats are less than 40 feet long, and use inefficient gear like hand-thrown harpoons and rods and reels. If we can catch them, there are a lot of them!”

Adding to the frustration of U.S. fishermen is the fact that they have always led the way at ICCAT in an effort to conserve the stocks. This has meant one drastic TAC cut after the other, despite uncontrolled fishing in the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean by African and European fleets up until 2008. US fishermen believe it is on their backs that the stocks have been rebuilt.

But, despite the improved science, the sacrifices of western Atlantic fishermen, and the ability to raise the TAC from the current level of 1,800 mt to as high as 2,585 mt, NOAA went into ICCAT with the hopes of achieving a cut in the TAC for its own fishery.  As has become this administration’s modus operandi, once the scientific target has been realized, they simply switch the target. Displaying an arrogance that is all too familiar, Lubchenco decided that the agreements of prior U.S. delegations were insufficient and pushed hard for a cut. She once again chose loyalty to the powerful and wealthy environmental community rather than the fish and those who rely on them.

This well known relationship between the head of NOAA, PEW Charitable Trusts and environmental groups was shown all too clearly early on in Paris: Lubchenco’s first meeting in the U.S. delegation room was held not with the U.S. delegation, but with a large number of representatives of the NGOs attending ICCAT. To many this was a sign of where the Administrator’s priorities were at. Besides being an obvious slap in the face to the US Commissioners and delegation, it shocked other nations attending ICCAT and showed all to whom our Administrator was really accountable.

Initially, Lubchenco was pushing for a very large cut in the western bluefin fishery. Reliable reports put this cut at a staggering 450 mt from 1,800 mt down to 1,350 mt. This original proposal was based on new NMFS scientific analysis and biomass targets that were not authorized or reviewed by SCRS. If this unauthorized analysis had been accepted, the U.S. share of the western bluefin quota would have been under 700 mt, resulting in a gutting of the important bluefin fishery. There is little doubt that the Commerce Department approved this plan, leading some fisherman to question how Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, formerly governor of a state with a significant fishing industry, could let this happen.

“While we have seen some mistreatment by our government in the past, what they tried in Paris is at the top of the list,” exclaimed Ruais. “They basically chose to ignore the gains that have been made and went into this meeting hoping to put in place a new plan that would have caused economic hardship for thousands of people involved in this fishery. Every government at the ICCAT table is looking out for their fishermen and fishery- except ours!”

Despite strong efforts by the U.S./NOAA leadership in Paris, their extreme proposal was eventually weakened by other delegations. The Canadian government, which believed the SCRS science was clear and that an increase in TAC was more than warranted, was one of the main opponents of the U.S. proposal. While the Canadians eventually relaxed their stance in the face of U.S. pressure, they did not want to go anywhere below status quo, or 1,800 mt. But Lubchenco was not willing to accept anything but a reduction and the eventual proposal included a token cut of only 50 mt per year.

“It seems pretty obvious that our government wanted to appease the environmental groups and therefore pushed for a small cut, just to say they got a cut,” said Ruais.

In deciding to force a cut in the western Atlantic TAC, Lubchenco ignored strong advice from a bi-partisan group of Senators and Representatives, led by Senator Olympia Snowe and Representative Barney Frank that had asked her to push for a modest increase in the western TAC. In a letter dated November 18^th, the group stated that because of the long history of use of the two-line model and the “clear indication of stock growth shown in the most recent SCRS report” that “a modest increase in the TAC is warranted.”

And adding further insult to injury, the U.S./NOAA leadership in Paris, in an effort to convince Canada and Mexico to agree to a cut in the overall TAC, were willing to give away U.S. TAC. This was done by first adding Mexico to the nation-by-nation allocation table, thereby giving them a permanent allocation of western Atlantic TAC. Then, since Mexico does not even have a directed fishery, they included a clause in their proposal that would allow Mexico to give this TAC directly to Canada.

“In other words, the U.S. government was willing to take quota from U.S. fishermen and then funnel it through Mexico to Canada, in order to convince both nations to agree to the overall TAC proposal. In the end, the U.S. fishery is taking the biggest hit here, and all because of their own government,” said Ruais.

There is widespread anger along the coast in the wake of the U.S. actions taken at ICCAT. While most are angered at the cut, however small, it is the more basic feelings of betrayal that have most fishermen upset. “They threw us under the bus,” said one fisherman, no doubt echoing the feelings of countless others.

And while the TAC reduction was relatively small, combined with other factors it will cause issues of the U.S. fishery as soon as this coming season. Due to the TAC reductions seen in 2009 and 2010 (100 mt each year), and the reduction of the amount of underage that can be rolled over from year to year (which limits the amount of quota that can be carried forward from year to year), the US fishery will see a reduction from roughly 1,250 mt in 2010 to 950 mt in 2011. This new reduction chosen last month will only exacerbate the hardship for the fleet.

Given the extent of what happened in Paris, many tuna fisherman are now joining their colleagues in other fisheries around the country in calling for a change in leadership at NOAA.

“It has become increasingly clear that this agency has it out for U.S. fishermen and that it will bend the science whenever necessary to achieve its goals. We believe that if we are to have viable fisheries in the future, that the only solution is an immediate change in policy at NOAA,” said Weiner.

On November 22, Senator John Kerry said, “The health of the Massachusetts fishing industry is critical to our economy. As we work through this month’s meeting with the international fishery community, I will continue to work with the Obama Administration and our global partners to advocate for the highest Western total allowable catch possible.”

“We therefore ask Senator Kerry, once a friend of the bluefin industry, in his capacity as Senior Senator from Massachusetts and Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, to call upon Dr. Lubchenco to explain why she ignored his reasonable request and instead chose an action that can only be called punitive to American fishermen and advocated for a destructive ICCAT negotiation and agreement.” said Brian Higgins, bluefin and groundfish fisherman from Gloucester, Massachusetts.

ABTA would also like Congress to fully consider and recommend taking a formal reservation to the agreement. Any decisions made at ICCAT can be reviewed by Congress with Hearings before it is accepted by NOAA and Department of State, and they can choose to recommend U.S. disapproval by by urging the Administration to take a formal  “reservation” to the agreement with the ICCAT Secretariat. “Our Congress needs to truly understand what happened in Paris before it allows this agreement to become permanent,” said Ruais.

“We would also like to know why, upon arrival in Paris, Dr. Lubchenco decided to make her first meeting with environmental groups before she even met with her own US delegation, Ruais asked.”

 

 

For more information on the US bluefin fishery, the ICCAT meeting, ABTA’s future efforts to protect the US bluefin tuna traditional fisheries, future meetings and how to support the efforts of ABTA please visit our website at: www.theabta.com  or contact us at: info@theabta.com

 

 

 

(Dec. 02, 2010 – Paris, France) A negotiating team from the United States, which included The Billfish Foundation (TBF), successfully defended existing conservation measures for white and blue marlin and swordfish during 12 days of annual negotiations of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), which concluded in Paris, November 27.

ICCAT is an inter-governmental fishery organization responsible for the conservation of tunas and migratory species in the Atlantic Ocean and its adjacent seas which includes the Gulf of Mexico and the Mediterranean Sea. The 40-year old commission includes nearly 50 member nations.

As the negotiations opened, intense media attention was directed at the U.S. and Dr. Jane Lubchenco, Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Lubchenco’s presence was a clear indication that the U.S. was increasing its visibility at ICCAT. She delivered the U.S. conservation message as one, supporting science-based management for sustainable stocks and long term fishing opportunities and jobs for both the recreational and commercial fisheries.

Read the complete story from Fishing World.

 

 

 

 

 

The international commission charged with managing the highly migratory, high-priced Atlantic bluefin tuna has pulled back in setting 2011 catch limits for both sides of the ocean — the overfished and under-regulated coasts of Europe, and the more lightly fished stable west, along America's East Coast.

On this side, bluefin are caught throughout the Gulf of Maine and Georges Bank and landed in Gloucester and New Bedford, among other ports, primarily with longlines and harpoons.

On the other side, bluefin are herded like cattle, ranched and farmed after capture.

The quota levels after a week of face-to-face but closed-door deliberations in Paris by delegates from the 48 member nations of ICCAT — the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tuna — hardly distinguished between the two stocks despite dramatically different sizes, strengths, fishing methods, techniques and degrees of commitment to conservation of the most prized of the of all protein foods.

Read the complete story from The Gloucester Times.

 

 

 

 

 

Bundaberg's fishing industry is “on its knees” as more than a quarter of its trawler fishermen consider quitting in the next year, according to an industry member.

Australian Fisheries Bundaberg manager Sid McKeown said ever-tightening government regulations meant keeping their boats in the water was just not viable for many fishermen.

“There are fishing families out there who are tying up their boats,” Mr McKeown said.

“Two fishermen in Bundaberg have done it already, and there are at least 12 fishermen that I know (of about 40) in this port, who won’t be fishing this time next year unless there is some urgent government intervention.”

Mr McKeown said the industry was “grossly over-regulated”, with no concern for its economic viability.

“The fishermen have been screwed and screwed with never-ending government regulations in the past, and they’re looking at more to come,” he said.

“The government needs to do some real consultation with the fishing industry.”

Mr McKeown said the increasing number of commer

cial fishing exclusion zones were devastating the industry.

“There’s plenty of prawns, sea scallops and other seafood out there, but you can’t catch them. They’re dying of old age off our coast,” he said.

While prices have not yet jumped, Mr McKeown said the writing was on the wall.

“Prices will go through the roof — prawns have already risen about $6 per kilo at retail outlets, coming into Christmas,” he said.

“(Australian) seafood will become unaffordable for ordinary Australians, and they will be forced to use inferior imported products rather than the fresh, green seafood they have become used to.”

Read the complete story from News Mail.