Saving Seafood

Agency Must Rebuild Atlantic Cod Stocks, Lawsuit Says

September 1, 2020 — The National Marine Fisheries Service is failing to develop a plan to rebuild Atlantic cod stocks that have been depleted by overfishing, according to a lawsuit filed in a Washington federal court.

The agency’s failure is arbitrary and capricious and violates the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, under which NMFS has a mandatory duty to rebuild fisheries as quickly as possible, according to the lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

Read the full story at Bloomberg Law

NOAA Will Expand Recreational Cod Fishing off New England

August 25, 2020 — The federal government is expanding the recreational fishing season for cod in the Gulf of Maine in the coming year.

Cod fishing is tightly monitored because the fish’s population off the Northeast has dramatically declined in recent decades. However, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said in a statement the recreational fishing rules “can be liberalized somewhat” without risking exceeding fishing quotas.

Read the full story at U.S. News

Alaska on the frontlines

August 17, 2020 — In 2019, Alaska experienced its warmest month, summer, and year on record. This year, it recorded some of the hottest average May temperatures on the globe. America’s northernmost state is warming twice as quickly as the rest of the world—and much more rapidly than the continental U.S.

Warming oceans and melting sea ice also present opportunities for Alaskan fisheries and commercial shipping. Changing water temperatures may introduce new fish species into Alaskan waters; increased access for cargo and tanker ships, tour boats, and government vessels will boost sectors like tourism and shipping. The blue economy, which embraces the idea that sustainable economic growth and ecological conservation can coexist, provides a welcome roadmap for the management of new fisheries and increased shipping traffic.

Similar challenges arise in the fishing and shipping sectors. Although warming waters introduce new fish species, they adversely affect traditional species such as salmon and Pacific cod, which are Alaska food staples and export commodities. Warming waters may push some fish northward into international Arctic waters — raising the possibility of conflict over these resources. The U.S. must promote adherence to international law and preserve freedom of navigation.

Read the full story at the Anchorage Daily News

NOAA Fisheries Sets 2020 Gulf of Maine Cod and Haddock Recreational Regulations in the Gulf of Maine

August 13, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA Fisheries is setting Gulf of Maine (GOM) cod and haddock recreational measures for 2020.

The recreational fishery for GOM cod and haddock is managed under the Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management Plan (FMP). The FMP includes a proactive recreational accountability measure, which allows the Regional Administrator, in consultation with the New England Fishery Management Council, to develop recreational management measures for the fishing year to ensure that the recreational sub-annual catch limits (ACLs) are achieved, but not exceeded. We project that current measures for GOM cod and haddock can be liberalized somewhat without the 2020 recreational fishery’s sub-ACLs being exceeded.

After consultation with the Council, we are making changes to Gulf of Maine cod and haddock management measures as shown in the table below:

Read the interim final rule as filed in the Federal Register and our bulletin.

Read the full release here

BRIAN PERKINS: A new wave of sustainable seafood to feed generations to come

July 6, 2020 — Seafood is having a moment.

Fish, especially canned and frozen options, increasingly have become a go-to choice for Americans during the pandemic as they stock their pantries and freezers; seek out new immune-boosting meal ideas; and look for alternatives to meat due to shortages and health concerns over meat processing. For example, U.S. shelf-stable tuna sales were up 31.2 percent over last year in March, according to Nielsen data.

While increased seafood consumption may be good short-term news for the U.S. seafood industry, it also is combating other major challenges, such as severely decreased foodservice and export business due to the pandemic. We must look at the flexibility and long-term viability of the seafood industry globally to prepare for the long-term implications of the current crisis.

Earlier this month, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) released its “The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2020” (SOFIA) report, which indicates more than a third of fisheries (34.2 percent) globally are operating at unsustainable levels. Compare that to 10 percent in 1990, and it becomes an abundantly clear global issue we must quickly and sustainably address, even as the industry is plagued with pandemic challenges.

While these numbers seem perilous, efforts by the U.N., the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), fisheries and conscious consumers already have led to stock recoveries for skipjack tuna, Alaskan pollock and Atlantic cod. The industry must look to these examples to enact changes that will ensure seafood is around for generations to come.

Read the full opinion piece at GreenBiz

Can New England’s cod fishing industry survive?

July 6, 2020 — It’s said cod were once so plentiful in New England they would throw themselves into a boat. It’s said you could walk across their backs to shore.

Gloucester, Massachusetts, grew up around cod. The waterfront teemed with boats and fishermen, heaps of fish thrashing in wire baskets. Boats were inherited from fathers and shipyards boasted of operating since 1684. As late as the 1980s, the cod were so abundant and large (30-50lb each) that the fishermen still brought in big hauls. Cod remains the state fish of Massachusetts.

Today, you’re unlikely to find fresh Atlantic cod in any American food shop. The vast majority of the cod for sale is frozen, shipped in from Norway or Iceland. New England’s cod population has been diminished by new fishing technology, too many boats and foreign vessels, and poor management decisions. Both major stocks of North Atlantic cod in US waters – the Gulf of Maine and Georges Bank cod – are overfished. With the climate crisis warming waters and disrupting cod spawning behaviour and food sources, many scientists wonder if the stocks will survive at all.

In Gloucester, that has meant regulation to protect the stocks – including catch limits, monitoring and no-fishing zones. These have placed a burden on fishermen, many of whom dispute the scientific data, creating tension between some scientists and fishermen and threatening the identity of person and place in a town where culture and economy were, for centuries, intertwined around cod.

Read the full story at The Guardian

ALASKA: Pandemic slows distribution of relief funds for 2018 Gulf of Alaska cod crash

June 24, 2020 — Upheavals stemming from the coronavirus pandemic have slowed the process of getting relief payments into the hands of fishermen and communities hurt by the 2018 Gulf of Alaska cod crash.

In late February, the secretary of commerce cut loose $24.4 million for affected stakeholders. Then in late March, Alaska Department of Fish and Game Commissioner Doug Vincent-Lang proposed a written timeline for developing a distribution plan and also called for input from communities and fishing groups.

A draft of the initial plan was intended to compile stakeholder comments in April, be revised in May, and go out for a second round of public input in June and July. But that timeframe was derailed a bit by COVID-19.

Now, the state is “aiming” to get the draft distribution plan out for the first round of stakeholder and public comments by the end of June, according to Rick Green, assistant to the Fish and Game commissioner.

Read the full story at the Anchorage Daily News

Restaurant closings, depressed Japan market push halibut, black cod prices down

June 24, 2020 — Crippled ferry service, COVID-19, and flailing Japanese markets have hurt the Alaska halibut and black cod seasons.

Alaska’s halibut fleet fished on allocations of 16.08 million pounds, but deliveries as of early May stood at just 1.46 million pounds, with the brunt of them coming out of harvest area 3A. The season opened on 14 March and will run until 15 November, with supply volumes to market lagging in the early season thanks to crippled state ferry service and the COVID-19 virus.

Read the full story from National Fisherman at Seafood Source

A Seattle fishing company has had more than 100 COVID-19 cases on its ships. They’re heading to Alaska this summer.

June 9, 2020 — As America’s meat producers contend with thousands of COVID-19 cases among processing workers, seafood companies have drafted rigorous plans to ward off similar spread of the disease as their summer season looms in Alaska.

But with that season still gearing up, the industry has already been shaken by its first major outbreak, aboard a huge vessel with an onboard fish processing factory. Last week, Seattle-based American Seafoods confirmed that 92 crew from its American Dynasty ship had tested positive for COVID-19 — nearly three-fourths of 124 people onboard.

Fishing executives had been working long hours to prevent just that type of disaster, and the news hit them hard.

“It was like, ‘Wow, I can’t believe this.’ We had done so much — each company had worked so hard to try to avoid this happening,” said Brent Paine, executive director of United Catcher Boats, a trade group whose members fish for pollock and cod off Alaska and another whitefish called hake off Washington and Oregon. “None of us have ever worked so hard in our lives than we have in the last two months, without a doubt.”

Read the full story at Alaska Public Media

COVID-19 Outbreak In Pacific Northwest Seafood Industry As Season Ramps Up

June 8, 2020 — As America’s meat producers confronted thousands of COVID-19 cases, Pacific Northwest seafood companies drafted rigorous plans to ward off similar spread of the disease in an industry where processors also work in close quarters.

But just a few weeks into the summer season, the industry has been shaken by its first major outbreak aboard a huge vessel with an onboard fish processing factory. This week, Seattle-based American Seafoods confirmed that 92 crew from its American Dynasty ship had tested positive for COVID-19, nearly three-fourths of the 126 people onboard.

“It was like, ‘Wow, I can’t believe this.’ We had done so much. Each company had worked so hard to try to avoid this happening,” says Brent Paine, executive director of United Catcher Boats.

The trade group’s members fish for pollock and cod off Alaska, and another whitefish called hake off Washington and Oregon. “None of us have ever worked so hard in our lives than we have in the last two months, without a doubt.”

Read the full story at Spokane Public Radio