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December 22, 2014 — A relatively large number of food processors received notices from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the agency’s latest round of warning letters.

Four seafood processors were notified about inadequacies in their Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) plans. A StarKist facility in Ecuador had “significant deviations” from their HACCP plans for canned and pouched tuna, according to FDA, while Van Oriental Food of Dallas, TX, allegedly did not have complete HACCP plans for its egg roll-production process.

Hawaii-based Pacific Hi-Tak had problems with their HACCP plan for vacuum-packed yellowtail, and Yandi New York Trading Co. of Brooklyn, NY, was warned for lacking a HACCP plan for its imported dried anchovies, FDA letters stated.

Read the full story from Food Safety News

SEAFOODNEWS.COM [Inside EPA] By David Reynolds — December 22, 2014 — EPA's children's health advisors are urging the agency to strengthen its draft fish consumption advice for pregnant women and children by adding several species to a "do not eat" list and offering more specific advice on health risks from consuming other species, backing advocates' claims that the draft fails to adequately limit mercury exposures.

In a recent draft letter to the agency, EPA's Children's Health Protection Advisory Committee (CHPAC) recommends that EPA add two species of fish to its list of fish to avoid eating. CHPAC also fears that by failing to advise pregnant women to limit intake of several other fish species, the advice may lead women to consume unsafe levels of mercury.

"CHPAC is concerned that consumers will assume that other fish species high in mercury that are not specifically named in the advisory are safe for pregnant women to eat 2-3 times per week," according to the draft letter outlining recommendations the panel finalized during a Dec. 2-3 meeting in Washington, DC.

CHPAC recommends EPA clarify the guide by using a tiered and color-coded approach to fish consumption used by many states, which would allow federal officials to provide more specific guidance on a broader range of species. Advice based on the color coding of traffic lights would clarify what species pregnant women and children should avoid, limit or consume in order to gain beneficial nutrients from consuming fish while limiting exposure to methylmercury.

The advisors' recommendation backs aspects of criticism from environmentalists who in a report issued this summer argue that EPA's recent draft fish consumption advice — jointly crafted with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) — underestimates risks from mercury exposure and offers inadequate guidance on species that are safe for women of child-bearing age and children to eat.

EPA and FDA are taking comment on the June 9 draft advice that seeks to balance the benefits for neurological development of eating nutrients contained in some fish species with avoiding risks to neurological development from consuming high-mercury fish. In a June 11 Federal Register notice, the agencies say the comment deadline will remain open until 30 days after additional documents supporting the advice are made available.

Announcing the draft, EPA and FDA said the agencies past fish consumption advice has led pregnant women and young children in the United States to avoid eating fish, causing them to miss essential nutrients for growth and development.

The agencies' draft advice includes the novel step of recommending that women of child-bearing age and children eat a minimum amount of eight ounces of fish weekly, while continuing a traditional maximum intake of 12 ounces of fish per week. The agencies' current fish advisory, released in 2004, includes only a maximum weekly limit of 12 ounces. The June draft also lists four high-mercury fish to avoid and suggests nine lower-mercury choices.

Draft Advice

EPA sought CHPAC's input on the draft advice, and in its charge questions asked the panel whether federal officials should include in the draft two additional fish species, orange roughy and marlin, on a do not eat list and whether targeting young children with the draft advice is appropriate given current science. EPA also asked CHPAC how the federal advice should integrate local fish advisories.

In the draft letter replying to the agency, CHPAC recommends advising pregnant women and children to avoid eating orange roughy and marlin because of the fish species' high-mercury content and low omega-3 fatty acids.

But CHPAC also says the agency failed to include grouper and fresh and frozen tuna in a list of species to eat only once a week even though those fish have higher mercury levels than others for which the advice limits consumption to just once a week. Given the inconsistency, CHPAC says the advisory may mislead pregnant women into believing those other species are safe to eat 2-3 times per week.

To clarify the draft advice, CHPAC recommends that EPA adopt the color-coded tiered approach used by many states, and says that EPA and FDA should harmonize their approaches to developing fish consumption advice so that state fish consumption advisories, which often follow EPA's approach, are more consistent.

In the draft letter, CHPAC also recommends that federal officials improve internet navigation from the federal fish consumption advisory web page to state and local fish advisories to improve consumers' access to advice on consuming locally caught fish.

CHPAC's call for EPA to strengthen the joint federal draft fish consumption advisory to address risks from a broader array of species echoes aspects of environmentalists' critical June 25 analysis.

The advocates' review said the federal draft advice fails to account for recent science showing that adverse health effects from mercury exposure occur at far lower levels than previously thought, and that the federal lists of fish to avoid or that are safe to consume are incomplete and misleading.

Environmentalists also raised concerns about the treatment of tuna in the draft federal advice, saying the proposal incorrectly calls canned light tuna low-mercury.

In CHPAC's draft letter, the advisors say tuna composes a large proportion of fish in many people's diet, and so EPA should provide specific guidance about consumption of various types of fresh, frozen and packaged tuna, including cans and pouches.

Fish Consumption

Revising the letter during the Dec. 2-3 meeting, CHPAC members wrestled with how the federal fish consumption advisory should address children's fish consumption given limited scientific evidence showing adverse neurodevelopmental effects in children from post-natal exposures to mercury through fish consumption.

After considering whether federal officials should include distinct guidance for children, the advisors backed targeting children with the advisory, but also urged the agency to support additional research into potential risks from post-natal exposures to mercury through fish consumption.

The advisors' review of the evidence found that best-available studies showed no consistent adverse neurodevelopmental effects in children from fish consumption and a net benefit associated with fish consumption.

"The body of evidence is limited, however, and does not adequately investigate the balance between the risks and benefits of post-natal fish consumption," CHPAC says in the draft letter. "More specifically, the literature does not evaluate whether mercury in commonly consumed fish reduces the health benefits associated with fish consumption in young children as has been demonstrated in prenatal exposure."

The letter also notes recent EPA estimates that just over 2 percent of women of child-bearing age in the United States have blood levels of methylmercury above EPA's safe level of 5.8 micrograms per liter, indicating that more than 1 million women of child-bearing age have blood levels of mercury sufficient to place a fetus at risk of adverse neurodevelopmental effects.

This story originally appeared on Seafood.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission.

 

 

December 19, 2014 — SEAFOODNEWS.COM by Michael Ramsingh — A bill proposed before Congress could have wide-ranging affects on antidumping and countervailing trade regulations. This includes the possibility of tightening laws that would impact shrimp and other seafood import tariffs.

The Leveling the Playing Field Act was introduced last week by Democratic Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown. The legislation was proposed as a way to improve the US's ability to crack down on "unfair foreign competition resulting from violations of trade law," a press release from Brown's office said.

"There are encouraging signs of a comeback in American manufacturing, but that progress could be lost if we don’t have strong trade laws to level the playing field,” said Brown. “Foreign companies who don’t play by the rules are actively trying to undermine the effectiveness of our trade laws. This bill would restore strength to our trade laws and ensure that American companies can compete in a fair marketplace.”

According to the proposal, the Act would take several steps to strengthen US antidumping and countervailing duty statutes.

Highlights of the bill include:

–Maintains Commerce’s discretion to use adverse facts available when a mandatory respondent does not cooperate with an investigation and clarifies that the agency is not obligated to determine what a margin would be if the respondent had participated.   (From an importers standpoint "adverse facts' is one of the most dangerous tools in an investigation, because it frees the agency from using actual sources in certain cases, and allows them to construct whatever margin scenario will support their conclusions.   In the seafood industry, the domestic shrimp lawyers have pushed the DOC to use adverse facts whenever an overseas company fails to understand or comply with an information request.)

–Increases the number of factors and the length of time the ITC should use to evaluate injury or the threat of injury to U.S. producers to ensure a determination is based on a comprehensive assessment of a sector’s situation.  (Again, in terms of the shrimp industry, one of the reasons the latest attempt at shrimp counterveiling duties was thrown out two years ago was that the plaintiffs could not prove any injury in the time period under review.)

–Closes the “new shipper” loophole used by companies to circumvent AD/CVD duties; Increases penalties for failure to provide a country of origin certificate for merchandise covered under AD/CVD orders or for falsifying the information on the certificate

–Clarifies that Commerce has the authority to determine whether to include voluntary respondents in an investigation

–Clarifies that Commerce does not have to conduct an additional investigation to prove that disregarded product values used in non-market economy investigations are subsidized or dumped if the record already shows the product values to be distorted

–Clarifies existing statutory provisions used to assess whether a country’s non-market economy status should be maintained.

Brown's proposal is targeted to help manufactures outside of the seafood sector. His office specifically mentions Ohion-based companies Allied Tube in Hebron, Byer Steel in Cincinnati, JMC in Warren, New Page in Miamisburg, and TMK Ipsco in Brookfield.

But the bill was endorsed by the American Shrimp Processors Association (ASPA) as a means to help domestic shrimp producers.

“The Leveling the Playing Field Act will ensure that American companies have the resources necessary to combat unfair foreign trade practices,” said Dr. David Veal, director for the association. “Dumped and subsidized shrimp imports have seized market share, driven down prices and repeatedly thrown our industry into crisis.” 

According to Trade Attorney Warren Connelly of the law firm of Akin, Gump, Straus Hauer and Feld, since the bill was introduced with Congress already adjourned it will be introduced next year where it is likely to receive attention.

If approved, the measure could tighten tariff laws for shrimp producers and American seafood importers, making them more susceptible to attack by domestic interests through use of anti-dumping and counterveiling duty laws.  Currently domestic headless shell on Gulf shrimp is commanding a nearly $3 premium over imported HLSO white shrimp.  Instead of seeing that as a sign of market success, if this bill were to become law it would likely mean another round of shrimp anti-dumping charges from domestic producers. 

This story originally appeared on Seafood.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission.

 

December 18, 2014 — When the federal spending bill passed on Monday, there were several provisions in it for fisheries-related projects.

This year’s bill includes $72 million in expanded stock assessments and $24 million for survey and monitoring projects within the Fisheries Research and Management Account. This will provide for more consistent funding for keeping an eye on the nation's fish stocks to ensure they're sustainable.

Read the full story at KMXT

December 16, 2014 — A piece of federal legislation, long in the works, passed this month and will give tightly regulated Pacific Coast groundfish fishermen some extra breathing room.

The Revitalizing the Economy of Fisheries in the Pacific Act, or the REFI Pacific Act, received strong bipartisan and bicameral support and passed last week. It is now on its way for President Obama’s signature.

The REFI Act will affect about 120 active vessels and will reduce the percentage remaining fishermen in the Pacific Coast groundfish fleet will have to pay on a federal buyout. Currently, they pay 5% of what they make on a harvest. Once the REFI Pacific Act is signed and implemented, they will pay 3% or even less.

The REFI Pacific Act was introduced in the House by U.S. Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-Wash.03) and Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.02). It was later sponsored in the Senate by another Washington legislator, U.S. Sen. Maria Cantell (D-Wash.)

Read the full story at the Chinook Observer

December 18, 2014 — It went down to the wire, but fishermen were relieved to learn they can continue to hose down their decks without fear of violating the Clean Water Act.

Congress voted unanimously this week to extend a moratorium for three years that exempts commercial fishing vessels 79 feet and under from needing incidental discharge permits from the Environmental Protection Agency for deck wash. The current moratorium, which affects 8,500 Alaska vessels, was set to expire on Dec.18.

The regulation is aimed at preventing fuels, toxins or hazardous wastes from entering the water. That makes sense, said Sen. Lisa Murkowski, but needing permits for hosing down a boat is going overboard — especially when recreational boats, even 300 foot yachts, are exempt from the rule.

“We want to abide by environmental regulations that make sense,” Murkowski said in a phone call from D.C. “But I don’t think any of us believe it should be a requirement for a fishermen who has had a good day out on the water and they are cleaning up the boat and hosing slime and maybe some fish guts off the deck and that then becomes a reportable discharge to the EPA.”

“What are you supposed to do — direct it all into a bucket and keep it in the fish hold and take it to shore to dump it? Let’s use some common sense here,” Murkowski added, saying she will continue to push for a permanent fix.

The discharge exemption is part of the US Coast Guard Act, which also was reauthorized this week with a unanimous and bipartisan vote by Congress.

Read the full story from the Capital City Weekly

 

December 16, 2014 — The EPA and its federal partners, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), have written a report to Congress on the status of Endangered Species Act implementation in pesticide regulation. The EPA and its federal partners are committed to refining their approach to pesticide consultations to protect endangered and threatened species.

This report was required by the 2014 Farm Bill and summarizes actions carried out by the agencies since receiving the April 2013 National Academy of Sciences’ report, entitled “Assessing Risks to Endangered and Threatened Species from Pesticides.”

Read the full story at AG Professional

December 17, 2014 — The following was released by the Gulf Seafood Institute:

Efforts started in January of 2014, when members of the Gulf Seafood Institute (GSI) and the Gulf charter-for-hire community met with congressional leaders from Gulf Coast during a weeklong visit encouraging them to consider properly funding the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) budget to be used for an electronic data collection program for the federally-permitted charter boat fishery in the Gulf of Mexico.

GSI received strong support across party lines on both sides of the Hill for this program. From the outset members of the Gulf Congressional Delegation continued to assure GSI every step of the way that they would make this program a top priority.

“This program has broad support from the charter-for-hire, seafood, conservation, and regulatory communities across all five Gulf States and is ready to roll out immediately once funding is made available,” said Margaret Henderson, executive director of GSI. “It is great to see Congress move forward on this important effort so the Gulf’s charter fleet can start to accurately count catch in 2015.”

The FY 2015 Omnibus Appropriations Act funding covers two priorities: funding the charter-for-hire fleet to purchase the electronic data collection instruments, as well as providing the NMFS with the funding to implement a program to process the information and convert it into landings and estimates data.

Read the full story from the Gulf Seafood Institute

SEAFOODNEWS.COM by John Sackton — December 17, 2014 — Saving Seafood reports that long time staffer for fisheries issues in the House, Dave Whaley, is leaving his position on the House subcommittee on fisheries, wildlife, and Oceans.  He says that with the next Congress, all ocean related issues will be folded into the current Water and Power subcommittee.

It will be called Water, Power and Oceans subcommittee.
 
It seems like Alaska Rep. Don Young will be taking the lead on Magnuson reauthorization through this committee in 2015.
 
In an email to colleagues distributed by Saving Seafood, Whaley writes "For those of you with questions about how the Magnuson-Stevens Act reauthorization will be handled by the Committee, please feel free to contact Todd Ungerecht, who will be staying on with the Committee as the Deputy Staff Director and many of you already know.  My understanding is that Mr. Young will be taking the lead on the reauthorization in the 114th Congress."

This story originally appeared on Seafood.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission.

December 16, 2014 — President Barack Obama announced Tuesday he is indefinitely blocking oil and natural gas drilling in Alaska’s Bristol Bay, a move that drew cheers from wildlife groups and muted reaction from oil and gas proponents.

In a video message posted online, Mr. Obama cited the environmental and economic benefits of Bristol Bay’s natural habitat, including how it provides 40% of the nation’s wild-caught seafood, as reasons why drilling shouldn’t be allowed.

“It’s something that’s too precious for us just to be putting out to the highest bidder,” Mr. Obama said.

The announcement comes just weeks before the administration intends to release its draft plan for what federal waters it proposes to open up to energy development.

Tuesday’s announcement is relatively noncontroversial. There is no oil and gas drilling in the region, which spans about 32.5 million acres of federal waters in Southwestern Alaska.

A portion of the region was leased in the mid-1980s. It was never developed due to litigation, according to the Obama administration, and because of souring public sentiment following the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill that occurred in a separate region of Alaska. Today, few if any companies have expressed interest in developing Bristol Bay.

Read the full story at the Wall Street Journal