ASMFC Atlantic Herring Area 1A Days Out Meeting Notice
August 24, 2015 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:
Atlantic Herring Section members from the states of Maine and New Hampshire and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts are meeting via conference call on August 26, 2015 at 2:30 p.m. to discuss “days out” effort control measures for the 2015 Area 1A (inshore Gulf of Maine) fishing season from June 1 to September 30 (Trimester 2).
The 2015 Area 1A sub-annual catch limit is 30,290 metric tons (mt) after adjusting for the 2013 carryover, 3% Herring Research Set-Aside awarded in 2015, and 295 mt fixed gear fishery set-aside. The Section set the seasonal split as 72.8% allocated from June 1 – September 30 and 27.2% allocated from October 1 – December 31. As of August 13, the cumulative catch for 1A has reached 12,597 mt, representing 41.59% of the quota.
Fishermen and other interested parties are welcome to listen in and participate at the Chair’s discretion. Join the conference call by dialing 1.888.394.8197 and entering the passcode 499811 when prompted and register for the webinar at https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/5681527693678231297 .
Please contact Ashton Harp, Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, at 703.842.0740 or aharp@asmfc.org for more information.
International Experts to Review Innovation, Trade Relationships at World Seafood Congress
August 24, 2015 — GRIMSBY, UK — Innovations in processing technology and global supply chain solutions will be revealed by a panel of international speakers at next month’s World Seafood Congress (WSC).
The programme, which includes speakers from the US, Brazil, Vietnam and Australia, will discuss how developments in technology and trade relationships can improve the catch and supply of seafood products globally.
Innovation in seafood testing and processing technology
Cristiane Neiva from the Fishery Institute of Brazil will discuss the benefits of investing in new technologies for the fish filleting process. The presentation will give the industry a first look at how technology could generate higher yields and help boost consumption.
From the US, Dr Keith Cox from Seafood Analytics, will explain how emerging technologies can give more accurate readings on the quality and freshness of seafood, in comparison to traditional sensory testing techniques.
Nguyen Van Minh, from the Faculty of Food Technology at Vietnam’s Nha Trang University, will also provide insight into how the industry can produce more accurate sensory test results by adjusting the way fish is prepared for freezing.
Recycling old fishing nets is catchy concept
August 23, 2015 — A Bay State native’s upcycling firm is turning discarded fishing nets — a significant source of ocean pollution — into skateboards and sunglasses, with the backing of the New England Aquarium.
“We had been all around the world and we had seen the global issue of ocean pollution,” Buero Inc. co-founder Ben R. Kneppers said, adding that fishing nets account for about 10 percent of marine pollution. “We wanted to see if we could create an innovative solution to prevent this material from entering the ocean.”
Patagonia has partnered with Kneppers and his partners, David M. Stover and Kevin J. Ahearn, to put the “Minnow” skateboard on the shelves of more than 90 stores across five continents, and the skateboards are now available for purchase in the aquarium gift shop as well.
The company, based in Chile, started two years ago and Kneppers said the New England Aquarium and Northeastern University, his alma matter, were two of the biggest initial backers.
Read the full story at the Boston Herald
‘The Long Haul’ looks at the future of Cape Cod fishing
August 23, 2015 — PROVINCETOWN, MA — Eight years ago, Pedro Verde, captain of the dragger F/V Blue Ocean, stood on MacMillan Pier and blasted scientists and fisheries regulators for allowing him to fish only 52 days the previous year. He was talking to Sean Corcoran, a reporter at public radio station WCAI who was investigating the decline of the Provincetown dragger fishery.
“We catch tons and tons of the dogfish here,” Verde told Corcoran. “So the guys close up the dogfish for 17 years. Endangered species. The guys don’t even know what they are talking about.”
Eight years later, the dogfish fishery is not just open but is booming, and it is a sustainable local species of whitefish, though you will be unlikely to find it in many local markets or on local tables.
The complex issues surrounding the decline of the Cape Cod fishing industry, the tensions between fishermen and regulators, changing people’s attitudes about which fish they want to eat, and the future of fishing here were the subjects of a gathering at the Provincetown Public Library last week. Corcoran, now news director at WCAI, and Heather Goldstone, the station’s science editor, presented some of the findings of a series of reports broadcast over the last two years.
Maine shrimp fishery may allow fewer fishermen in future
August 22, 2015 — Maine shrimp might come back on the market eventually but there could be fewer fishermen catching them.
Regulators are considering putting a limit on the number of fishermen who can participate in the Gulf of Maine’s beleaguered shrimp fishery in an attempt to revive the shuttered industry.
A board of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission is developing a proposal to control the number of fishermen who can fish for the shrimp that are prized for their sweet, tender meat. The plan will likely be the subject of public hearings next year, and could apply as soon as the 2017 fishing year, said commission spokeswoman Tina Berger.
The winter fishery, which formerly took place in the early months of the year, is currently shut down over concerns about low population, and fishermen haven’t been able to catch shrimp there since 2013.
It’s been a roller coaster season for salmon
August 21, 2015 — Fishermen say it will be a stretch for total catch to reach forecasted 221 million fish
Alaska’s salmon season so far has been characterized by ups and downs, and it will be a stretch for the total catch to make the forecasted 221 million fish.
“It just depends on how these late returning pink salmon at Prince William Sound perform, and whether or not pinks pick up at Southeast.
It’s possible, but we would still have to harvest around 30 million more salmon,” mused Forrest Bowers, Deputy Director of the state’s Commercial Fisheries Division.
One of the biggest fish stories of the season, of course, was the surprising double runs of sockeye salmon (reds) to Bristol Bay. As soon as a slow going first run petered out and the fishery was declared a bust, a surge of late reds caught everyone by surprise and pushed the catch to nearly 36 million fish.
Alaska’s sockeye salmon fishery sometimes accounts for almost two-thirds of the value of the total salmon harvest. A statewide tally of 51.5 million by August 14 makes it unlikely the sockeye harvest will reach the projected take of 58.8 million fish.
Read the full story at the Arctic Sounder
A New York City Legacy: Louis Rozzo and a Century’s Worth of Fish Dealing
August 21, 2015 — On a gleaming summer morning, Louis Rozzo steps out the door of a four-story stuccoed building on Ninth Avenue in Chelsea. The neighborhood has since transformed from its mid–19th-century beginnings as the epicenter of the city’s meat, produce and dairy industries, and today the street, lined with apartment buildings, coffee shops and restaurants, seems an unlikely location for a wholesale seafood operation. But this exact spot has been the headquarters of F. Rozzo and Sons since Rozzo’s great-grandfather Felix moved his eponymous business here in 1924.
On the sidewalk just outside, Rozzo greets neighbors by name as they pass by on their way to work, and when two elderly women wander onto the wet cement floor in the front workroom, curious about buying some fish, he urges them inside.
A few guys, wearing yellow floor-length plastic aprons and waterproof boots, are still at work cleaning, scaling and portioning salmon into heavy-duty brown cardboard boxes. It’s close to 10 a.m. but Rozzo and his crew are nearing the tail end of a full day’s work, one that started in the wee hours of the morning. “I love what I do,” Rozzo tells the Voice, “but the hardest part of my job is getting out of bed.”
Read the full story at the Village Voice
Justice Department Cracks Down on Fish Fraud
August 21, 2015 — WASHINGTON, DC – A North Carolina seafood processor and wholesale distributor faces a felony conviction, a $100,000 fine, forfeiture of more than 20,000 pounds of shrimp and three years’ probation after Federal prosecutors exposed the company’s shrimp mislabeling scheme.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Office of Law Enforcement, the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina joined forces to investigate and prosecute Alphin Brothers Inc., in a case that saw the company admit to falsely labeling tens of thousands of pounds of shrimp.