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The pandemic could change U.S. fisheries forever. Will it be for better or for worse?

February 19, 2021 โ€” Not unlike its effect on humans, the pandemicโ€™s impact on the seafood industry has been variable, erratic, often devastating. The first symptoms appeared long before Covid-19 gained a stronghold on U.S. shores, as China went into its first lockdown and a critical export market disappeared overnightโ€”seafood processors and dealers in Maine saw international demand for lobsters temporarily vanish. Then as social distancing rules kicked in here, another major organ of the U.S. supply chainโ€”restaurants, where most seafood purchases are madeโ€”fell limp. Then Covid outbreaks at processing plants caused the system to further buckle, leaving many fishermen with nowhere to sell their catch. Prices for many species plummeted. Some fishers gave up for the season, leaving boats tied up at the docks.

โ€œIt wasnโ€™t worth it,โ€ recalled Brian Pearce, a commercial fisherman based in Portland, Maine, who catches pollock, hake, and cod, and has barely fished since the pandemic started. โ€œThe price was to the point where youโ€™re not going to make enough money.โ€

To many in the food industry, the pandemicโ€™s impact has exposed the fundamental vulnerabilities of a system that has long favored efficiency over resilience.  Like supply chains that draw products from many sources but are ultimately contingent on single outlets (e.g., export markets or restaurants). Or the fact that the majority of U.S.-caught seafood is exported to other countries, butโ€”paradoxicallyโ€”most seafood Americans eat is imported.

Read the full story at The Counter

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