September 4, 2018 — The fishing industry says the U.S. government is crushing them with regulations.
Senate Panel Told Nation’s Algae Woes Will Worsen If Not Addressed
August 29, 2018 — WASHINGTON — The spread of toxic algal blooms in the nation’s waterways – largely caused by a combination of warming water, contaminant run off and “supercharged bacteria” – won’t stop anytime soon, one scientist told lawmakers Tuesday.
During a Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation subcommittee hearing, scientist Donald Anderson of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts, told lawmakers that after 40 years of study on toxic blooms, he is convinced that the outbreaks will only persist and worsen if left unaddressed.
The blooms vary greatly in composition and color; some are red, some green, and others gold.
In freshwater, the blooms are typically caused when simple algae collides with cynobacteria, or blue-green algae.
While some algae growth can be beneficial and the exact causes for emergent blooms vary in both fresh and marine water, Anderson said, it is climate change which will “almost certainly” continue to influence the pervasiveness of dangerous algal build up.
Read the full story at Courthouse News Service
US senator from Alaska speaks out against Trump tariffs
August 27, 2018 — If the Trump administration is serious about putting “America First,” then it must consider what the proposed 25 percent tariff on Chinese products will do to the Alaskan seafood industry. That was the message U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan delivered last week at a public hearing held by the U.S. International Trade Commission.
The Alaska Republican testified his state is currently caught in the crossfire as the world’s two largest economies consider hiking levies on goods imported from each other.
Sullivan said nearly USD 1 billion (EUR 859.4 million) in U.S. seafood ultimately destined for American consumers is being targeted by these tariffs. That’s because frozen fish, after it’s initially processed in the States, is sent to China to be filleted because it is more cost-effective. Most of that is caught by Alaskan fishermen.
Sullivan likened the fish to an American car made in the U.S. by local workers, only to have the final detailing performed in China before its sent back to dealerships here. The Trump administration wouldn’t consider increasing tariffs on those automobiles, Sullivan said.
Read the full story at Seafood Source
Sportfishing Industry Applauds Bill to Help Enhance Fish Habitat Conservation
August 10, 2018 — The recreational fishing industry today expressed its appreciation to Rep. Rob Wittman (R-Va.) for introducing H.R. 6660, the National Fish Habitat Conservation Through Partnerships Act. This legislation will authorize a national program to conserve, restore and enhance fish habitat across the country for the benefit of recreational fishing.
“America’s 49 million recreational anglers and the 800,000 jobs supported by recreational fishing depend on healthy fisheries resources,” said Mike Leonard, Conservation director for the American Sportfishing Association. “The sportfishing industry is grateful to Rep. Wittman for his continued commitment to fisheries conservation by introducing the National Fish Habitat Conservation Through Partnerships Act. This legislation will authorize and improve upon a successful partnership-based program that unites anglers, industry, state and federal agencies and other partners to help restore fish habitat in Virginia and throughout the nation.”
The foundation for the National Fish Habitat Conservation Through Partnerships Act is the National Fish Habitat Partnership, a voluntary, non-regulatory and locally-driven program housed within the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
The National Fish Habitat Partnership program is currently comprised of 20 individual Fish Habitat Partnerships that focus on specific regions or habitat types. These partnerships include representatives of federal, state and local agencies, conservation and sportsmen’s organizations, private landowners and the business sector. To date, more than 600 successful conservation projects have been carried out through these partnerships, benefitting fish habitat and anglers throughout the country.
Trump’s Offshore-Drilling Plan Is Roiling Coastal Elections
August 7, 2018 — Carteret County sits in a region of North Carolina known as the Crystal Coast. It’s celebrated for its charming lighthouses, sun-bleached beaches, and relaxed atmosphere. The population is 89.9 percent white and staunchly Republican.
Donald Trump won the county in 2016 with 71 percent of the vote. But he has touched off an insurrection among the GOP faithful here on the issue of offshore drilling, which the county almost universally views as a threat to tourism. In that, Carteret is typical of areas up and down the Eastern Seaboard, where opposition to the Trump administration’s proposed plan to allow offshore drilling in nearly all U.S. coastal waters has become a top issue in the 2018 midterms. While coastal Republicans’ support for Trump remains strong, their opposition to drilling underscores the limits of that support when local pocketbook and quality-of-life issues are at stake.
“We’re very conservative here,” said Tom Kies, the president of the Carteret County Chamber of Commerce. It’s “a very Republican county.” But people are very aware “how important tourism, and the quality of life, is for our market,” he continued. “That really is our lifeblood.”
Florida Congressman’s Billfish Legislation Would Take a Toll on Western Pacific Commercial Industry
August 6, 2018 — SEAFOOD NEWS — A freshman Florida Congressman’s bill is expected to have dire repercussions thousands of miles away in the Western Pacific — and to American consumers.
The Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council said consumers may soon be deprived of sustainably harvested domestic marlin products if President Trump sign legislation to prohibit interstate commerce of billfish (not including swordfish) landed in Hawaii, American Samoa, Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. The bill, introduced by Rep. Darren Soto, D-Fla., passed the House on June 26 and the Senate on July 30 and is now headed to the president.
“It is upsetting, in this era of tackling illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing and the $12 billion U.S. seafood trade deficit, that highly monitored U.S. Pacific Island fishing and seafood communities may suffer hardship should this legislation become law,” Council Executive Director Kitty M. Simonds said in a press release.
Under current law, billfish caught by U.S. vessels that are landed in Hawaii or other U.S. Pacific Islands may be sold to markets on the U.S. mainland. More than 550,000 pounds of American-caught billfish landed in the Pacific Islands are annually marketed in the continental U.S. The billfish was worth approximately $830,000 in 2017 dockside value. When the dockside value is expanded through wholesale and retail markets, the estimated annual value is approximately $2.5 million.
The commercial harvest of Atlantic billfish has been prohibited in the United Sates since 1988 because several Atlantic billfish species are overfished and/or subject to overfishing (e.g., blue marlin, white marlin and East Atlantic sailfish). By contrast, Pacific and Western Pacific billfish populations are not overfished nor subject to overfishing, with the exception of striped marlin, due to international fishing, the Council said in the statement. A Billfish Certificate of Eligibility (COE) is required to accompany billfish to any dealer or processor who subsequently receives or possesses the billfish. The COE documents the vessel, homeport, port of offloading and date of offloading and ensures the fish is not from the Atlantic or foreign fisheries.
NOAA Assistant Administrator for Fisheries Chris Oliver said in December 2017 he has “full confidence in these existing management processes to sustainably manage billfish populations.”
Congresswomen Colleen Hanabusa, D-Hawaii; Madeleine Z. Bordallo, D-Guam; and Aumua Amata Coleman Radewagen, R-American Samoa, in an Additional Views statement on H.R. 4528, said the legislation “will negatively impact the livelihoods of fishermen in Hawaii, Guam and the Pacific Insular Areas by closing off the only off-island market for U.S.-caught billfish.” Acknowledging that several Atlantic billfish species are subject to overfishing, the Congresswomen said, “We support needed-conservation efforts in the Atlantic, but do not believe that Pacific fisheries need to be targeted in order to achieve these goals.”
The Council and Pacific Island lawmakers also have the support of Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross.
In a June 5 letter to the Council, Ross said, “We believe the legislation would not advance the conservation of billfish significantly, and would block a small amount of sustainably harvested domestic product from entering commerce on the U.S. mainland.”
However, Soto’s bill demonstrates the sportfishing industry’s influence in the Southeastern U.S. and furthers the divide between sport and commercial fishermen that has become prevalent in some regions of the country. The bill, titled the Billfish Conservation Act, was supported by primarily sportfishing interests including the American Sportfishing Association, Coastal Conservation Association, Center for Sportfishing Policy, and more.
“We’re grateful to have received overwhelming congressional and external support for our legislation to help protect sharks and billfish,” Soto said in a statement. “These creatures are fundamental to recreational fishing in parts of Florida, but they are often exploited by commercial fishing, that’s why we must do our part to protect them.”
NMFS estimates the United States imports more than 80 percent of the seafood consumed in the nation (www.fishwatch.gov/sustainable-seafood/the-global-picture), the Council said. According to NMFS data, the United States imported more than 6 billion pounds of seafood valued at more than $21.5 billion in 2017, which is more imported seafood than at any point in the nation’s history.
This story was originally published on SeafoodNews.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission.
Whose Fish Is It? Who’s in Charge Here?
August 6, 2018 — Restaurant owners may know that open-faced sandwiches are regulated by the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA), part of the Department of Health and Human Services. But if a second piece of bread is added on top, it is regulated by the Department of Agriculture (USDA). That’s because the USDA has a very specific definition of a sandwich: two slices of bread with the meat in the middle. So, is a hot dog a sandwich? The National Hot Dog and Sausage Council says no, but the State of California says yes. How about a burrito? Massachusetts ruled that a burrito is not a sandwich, but New York says it is. A cheese pizza is regulated by the FDA, but add pepperoni and it becomes a USDA matter. When you make an omelet, FDA regulates the eggs you crack, but if you pour liquid eggs from a carton, it’s USDA.
Regulations can be confusing, sometimes because of vague wording, but often because of overlapping jurisdictions. It is not always obvious who is in charge. Clean water rules are under the jurisdiction of the EPA, but projects that might affect stream water require permits from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. A salmon or sturgeon swimming in the ocean is under the jurisdiction of the National Marine Fisheries Service, part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce. But if the same fish swims upstream into a river, it becomes province of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, part of the Interior Department.
Pundits have made fun of such regulatory silliness for years. Hillary Clinton joked about the sandwich rules when running for the Senate 18 years ago. At least two presidents have cited the weird pizza rules, yet nobody did anything about the regulatory mess.
Trump leans in on SNAP work requirements
August 3, 2018 — President Donald Trump on Thursday jumped into the farm bill debate once again — on Twitter, of course — in an effort to tip the scales toward House Republicans ahead of conference negotiations.
“When the House and Senate meet on the very important Farm Bill – we love our farmers – hopefully they will be able to leave the WORK REQUIREMENTS FOR FOOD STAMPS PROVISION that the House approved,” the president wrote on Thursday afternoon.
The U.S. seafood industry is starting an education campaign to convince Trump and other policymakers that American workers would be hurt, not helped, by his proposed new tariffs on China. The National Fisheries Institute, which represents the seafood industry, has rebranded its AboutSeafood.com website to tell the stories of American seafood workers threatened both by the proposed tariffs, as well as the retaliatory tariffs that China has already imposed in response to U.S. duties on more than $34 billion worth of Chinese goods.
“To understand the negative impact these tariffs will have on American workers, you have to go see them, you have to talk to them, you have to hear their concerns,” National Fisheries Institute President John Connelly said in a statement. “We’re bringing those stories to policymakers so they understand; this is not a theoretical, economic chess game. These tariffs have the potential to do a lot of harm to the seafood community and that community’s jobs are right here in the U.S.”
Political opposition: Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) both raised concerns about the impact of China’s retaliatory duties on their states’ lobster exports during a hearing last week with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer.
Their complaints were echoed by Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), who told Lighthizer China’s actions have “clearly rattled my state.” The increased duty affects about 40 percent of the state’s salmon exports and 54 percent of its cod exports that went there last year, she said.
Senate approves spending bill allocating 26 percent more funding for FDA import inspections
August 3, 2018 –The U.S. Senate earlier this week approved a funding bill that an includes an amendment to increase the budget for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s imported seafood inspection program. H.R. 6147, the Interior, Environment, Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act for 2019, passed by a 92-6 margin on Wednesday, 1 August.
Last week, the Senate added USD 3.1 million (EUR 2.7 million) for FDA inspections for the 2019 fiscal year, which starts on 1 October. That increase, approved by an 87-11 vote, represents a 26 percent rise in funding from this year.
U.S. Senator John Kennedy (R-Louisiana) offered the amendment after meeting with shrimp industry representatives from his home state earlier this year. Inspections of seafood imports have been a point of concern for American seafood producers, who note that imports raised in foreign fish farms can be treated with antibiotics and other drugs not approved by the FDA.
“Shrimpers are proud to provide American families with healthy, wholesome, sustainably harvested seafood and we are grateful by our representatives’ insistence that everyone play by the same rules,” said John Williams, the executive director of the Southern Shrimp Alliance, in a statement after the Senate added the amendment on 24 July. “The Senate’s action yesterday demonstrates that shrimpers’ voices are heard in Washington DC.”
Trump tariffs sting farmers, businesses from sea to shining sea
August 3, 2018 — As President Donald Trump prepares to continue ratcheting up tariffs, the duties he has already imposed on $34 billion worth of goods from China and around $50 billion worth of steel and aluminum exports from around the world are causing pain across the United States.
That’s already prompted Trump to promise $12 billion in assistance to help farmers who have been hit with retaliatory duties on their exports to China, the European Union and other key markets. The aid package has been popular with voters, particularly in rural areas, according to a new POLITICO/Morning Consult poll. But the same poll also showed that most voters in farm states prefer free trade and better access to markets over subsidies.
Moonlight Meadery, a small business based in Londonderry, N.H., “had a deal effectively killed by the retaliatory tariffs on American wine,” Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) said. “This is a deal that would have doubled their output. For a small business that meant a lot. But what’s happened, they’ve had to lay off employees and they’ve also been hit by the increased cost of aluminum because of the tariffs on steel and aluminum.”
A New Hampshire business, Little Bay Lobster Company, that previously sold 50,000 pounds of lobster to China each week “can no longer find a buyer,” Shaheen added. After the Trump administration slapped a 25 percent duty on $34 billion worth of Chinese exports, China retaliated with a 25 percent tariff that priced New Hampshire lobsters out of the market, Shaheen said.
China’s 25 percent retaliatory tariff on U.S. seafood has “clearly rattled my state,” Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) said. The increased duty affects about 40 percent of the state’s salmon exports and 54 percent of its cod exports that went to China last year, she said.
“So this is, this is very, very significant to us. We’re still trying to figure out exactly what this means, not only to our fishermen but to the processors, the logistics industry, all aspects of the seafood supply chain,” Murkowski said.
In addition, Trump’s threat to impose a 10 percent duty on another $200 billion of Chinese exports could boomerang back on Alaska.
“Many of our fish and shellfish that are harvested in the state are then processed in China before re-importing back to the United States for domestic distribution. So in many ways, [Trump’s additional proposed tariffs would impose] a 10 percent tax on our own seafood, which is just a tough one to reconcile,” Murkowski said.
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