Biloxi Archives - Saving Seafood

Proposed rule: Shrimpers should use safety devices to protect endangered sea turtles

December 16th, 2016 — In an effort to save thousands of endangered sea turtles, the Obama administration on Thursday issued proposed rules that would require U.S. shrimping boats to insert metal grates into their nets to allow the gentle creatures to escape.

By requiring “Turtle Excluder Devices” in the nets of U.S. shrimpers, some 800 to 2,500 sea turtles in the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Ocean could be saved each year, according to the proposal, which will be published Friday in the Federal Register by the Department of Commerce.

If adopted and enforced, the rule would cut the prevalence of what’s known as “bycatch,” the unintended capture of marine creatures by commercial fishing vessels that are looking for different species.

Currently, less than half of U.S. shrimp boats are required to use the Excluder devices, according to Oceana, an international marine conservation and advocacy group. The new rule would require roughly 5,800 additional boats to do so.

David Veal, executive director of the American Shrimp Processors Association in Biloxi, Mississippi, said his organization shares the public’s concern for sea turtles, but he questions Oceana’s claim that shrimpers kill tens of thousands of turtles each year.

He said contact with recreational fisheries, damage from vessels and environmental problems all cause turtle deaths.

“While we’re sensitive to the sea turtles’ (plight) and we’ll do what we have to do to minimize the impact on the turtle population, we continue to believe that it’s unfair to target us as the sole source of these problems,” Veal said.

Read the full story at The Miami Herald

Flavor gives Mississippi wild-caught shrimp competitive advantage

July 8, 2016 — BILOXI, Mississippi — Better flavor gives Mississippi wild-caught shrimp a competitive advantage over imported and pond raised shrimp, experts say.

Dave Burrage, Mississippi State University Extension Service fisheries specialist, said in a news release Thursday consumers who participate in blind taste tests tend to prefer the taste of wild-caught Gulf shrimp over that of pond-raised, imported products.

“Fresh Gulf shrimp get their distinctive flavor from their natural diet, as opposed to the artificial feed given to shrimp raised in captivity,” Burrage said. “If you have ever stood on the beach where waves are breaking and smelled the salt mist in the air, that is what fresh shrimp taste like.

“Mississippi shrimpers have no trouble selling all they catch, as shrimp continue to be the leading seafood item consumed in the U.S.,” he said.

Ben Posadas, Extension seafood marketing specialist at the Coastal Research and Extension Center in Biloxi, said imported shrimp comprise about 90 percent of the total supply in the United States.

“Imports of shrimp have led to the continued decline in shrimp prices over time, since imported shrimp are cheaper,” Posadas said.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at GulfLive.com

MISSISSIPPI: CMR denies Jackson County’s request for 1-mile menhaden fishing limit

April 20, 2016 — BILOXI, Miss. — The Mississippi Commission on Marine Resources denied Jackson County’s request to limit menhaden fishing to at least a mile off the county’s mainland.

The vote was unanimous and came after the commission listened to arguments from both sides of the issue.

On March 7, the Jackson County Board of Supervisors voted 3-2 to ask the state to limit menhaden boats to 1 mile offshore. The move would have closed 22 square miles of the Sound to commercial fishing by the company Omega Protein of Moss Point.

Both the Coastal Conservation Association and Omega Protein went before the CMR.

In the final vote, it came down to science and concern for industry.

Read the full story at the Sun Herald

FDA rejects much imported seafood containing ‘filth’

April 13, 2016 — “Don’t wait until you get sick to start ask questions about where your shrimp is coming from,” cautions David Veal, president of the American Shrimp Processors Association, which is based in Biloxi.

This comes after a new U.S. Department of Agriculture analysis shows the Food and Drug Administration rejects thousands of imported seafood shipments each year because the fish is unfit to eat.

Between 2005 and 2013, nearly 18,000 shipments were refused entry into the United States for containing unsafe levels of “filth,” veterinary-drug residues and salmonella, the ASPA said. “Filth” is used to describe anything that shouldn’t be in food, such as rat feces, parasites, illegal antibiotics and glass shards. Salmonella can make consumers sick, leading to hospitalization and even death.

“The safety of imported seafood clearly continues to be of significant concern, based on the number of shipments refused by FDA,” the USDA said in a summary of its findings.

See the rest of the story at the Sun Herald