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Fishers urged to register for $1M given for Guam fisheries

June 2, 2020 โ€” Of $300 million set aside from the CARES Act for fisheries throughout the U.S. and territories, Guam will be receiving $1 million.

The Guam Department of Agricultureโ€™s Division of Aquatic and Wildlife Resources is in communication with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration working on guidelines for the money.

Once the guidelines are developed, the money will be given to a fisheries commission that will oversee the dispersal of the money to individual fishers on Guam, according to the agency. That commission will work with the Agriculture division to develop a plan for Guam and in anticipation of this, the division has already written a draft plan based on general guidelines already provided and will submit this for approval once the guidelines are ready.

Read the full story at KUAM

US pollock, haddock harvesters threatened by advice against seafood aid double dipping

June 2, 2020 โ€” Any fisheries thatโ€™ve benefited from other relief efforts should get lower priority when it comes to any future benefits awarded to the seafood industry, the president Donald Trump administrationโ€™s top fishery policy advisors have recommended.

While the advice doesnโ€™t appear to interfere with the $300 million awarded the seafood industry as part of the earlier passed $2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act, it threatens other assistance to the Alaska pollock and New England groundfish fisheries as well as US catfish farmers, one longtime fishing industry professional argues.

Also, it doesnโ€™t mesh with lawmakersโ€™ original intent, the source maintains.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

US restaurant sector receives some help, but trade group says more is needed

June 2, 2020 โ€” Representatives of the Independent Restaurant Coalition (IRC) recently met with U.S. President Donald Trump and key administration officials to make their case for a proposed USD 120 billion (EUR 107 billion) stabilization fund for the U.S. restaurant industry.

More government relief is needed for the sector, which has struggled through lockdowns over the past two months that have effectively closed most U.S. restaurants to dine-in customers, the trade group told the president, according to a press release.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Autonomous Vehicles Help Scientists Estimate Fish Abundance While Protecting Human Health and Safety

June 2, 2020 โ€” The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Scientists are capitalizing on existing technological capabilities and partnerships to collect fisheries data. This will help fill the information gap resulting from the cancellation of FY20 ship-based surveys due to the COVID-19 pandemic. NOAA Fisheries plans to use autonomous surface vehicles to collect some critically needed data to support management of the nationโ€™s largest commercial fishery for Alaska pollock.

โ€œExtraordinary times require extraordinary measures,โ€ said Alex De Robertis, NOAA Fisheries fisheries biologist and project lead for the Alaska Fisheries Science Center. โ€œWe knew there was a possibility that surveys may be cancelled this year, so we worked on a contingency plan to collect some data just in case. We were able to capitalize on our previous experience working closely with Saildrone and NOAA Researchโ€™s Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory to get things off the ground quickly.โ€

This effort supports NOAAโ€™s broader strategy to expand the use of emerging science and technologies including unmanned systems, artificial intelligence, and โ€˜omics to advance ocean research. NOAA released its strategy in February.

โ€œThe Alaska Fisheries Science Center has been engaged in research and development efforts to test new technologies to both improve our operating efficiencies and enable us to quickly respond when situations like this arise,โ€ said Robert Foy, Alaska Fisheries Science Center Director. โ€œProviding the best available science to support management decisions is at the heart of our mission to ensure the health of marine ecosystems while supporting sustainable commercial and recreational fisheries and strong local economies.โ€

Read the full release here

Fishery Council Leaders Discuss COVID-19; NMFS Touts โ€˜New Normalโ€™ for US Seafood at CCC Meeting

June 1, 2020 โ€” The Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council hosted leaders from the eight regional fishery management councils this week by video conference.

The first of the Council Coordination Committeeโ€™s biannual meetings spanned time zones from New England to American Samoa as the members and NMFS representatives discussed issues relevant to all of the Councils.

Read the full story at Seafood News

Collapse in Myanmar Seafood Exports Puts 1 Million Jobs At Risk

June 1, 2020 โ€” About 1 million people may lose their jobs in Myanmarโ€™s fisheries industry, with almost all exports ceasing since February as the spread of Covid-19 prompted major buyers, led by China and the U.S., to halt orders.

Processing plants wouldnโ€™t have been able to deliver anyway, as factory closures were part of the governmentโ€™s measures to stall the pandemic. Before the outbreak, the Myanmar Fisheries Federation forecast record exports of $1 billion this year, up about 40% from 2019. Thatโ€™s been slashed to $350 million.

The fisheries sector employs about 3.5 million people in Myanmar, roughly 6% of the Southeast Asian nationโ€™s workforce. In some coastal regions, one in three workers earns a living from seafood and marine products, according to a World Bank report in June 2019.

Read the full story at Bloomberg

Eighty-six workers aboard American Seafoodsโ€™ trawler test positive for COVID-19

June 1, 2020 โ€” Eighty-six workers for American Seafoods have tested positive for COVID-19 after an outbreak onboard the companyโ€™s American Dynasty trawler.

The company announced over the weekend that one crew member had tested positive for the virus, prompting testing of all 124 employees onboard the vessel. American Seafoods spokesperson Suzanne Lagoni told SeafoodSource that nine tests were still pending as of Monday morning.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

FDA allows more flexibility in food labels

June 1, 2020 โ€” For the fifth time since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is allowing flexibility in food labeling.

In the agencyโ€™s new guidance, the FDA said that food manufacturers making minor formulation and ingredient changes to their products due to scarcity of ingredients related to COVID-19 do not have to make corresponding changes to their labeling.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

JOHN SACKTON: The Winding Glass: The Changing Face of Seafood Distribution

June 1, 2020 โ€” Like so many other businesses, the core business of major U.S. seafood distributors has been upended by the COVID-19 pandemic.

We all know how restaurants, hotels and casinos, and amusement parks shut down. And foodservice seafood sales have fallen anywhere from 30% to 98%, depending on the type of venue and offering.

Read the full opinion piece at Seafood News

COVID-19 Impacts on Fisheries and NOAA Surveys among the Concerns Addressed by the Nationโ€™s Fishery Management Councils

May 29, 2020 โ€” The following was released by the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council:

Leaders of the nationโ€™s eight Regional Fishery Management Councils concluded the first of their biannual meetings in 2020 today by videoconference. The Council Coordination Committee (CCC) meeting provides the Councils and heads of the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS, also known as NOAA Fisheries) an opportunity to discuss issues relevant to all of the Councils. The meeting is open to the public. Nearly 200 persons attended the two-day meeting. Among the top concerns of the CCC were impacts of COVID-19 on the nationโ€™s fisheries.

The CCC expressed its appreciation to Chris Oliver, NOAA Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, for his unwavering support of fishing-related industries and his efforts to work with the President and his administration on the Executive Order (EO) Promoting American Seafood Competitiveness and Economic Growth. The EO asked the Councils to identify and make recommendations regarding regulatory burdens on domestic fisheries. In advance of individual Council recommendations regarding the EO, the CCC will send a letter to Secretary of Commerce Wilbur L. Ross Jr. collectively reiterating their recommendation to remove existing monument fishing prohibitions and to restore authority over fisheries throughout the U.S. exclusive economic zone (EEZ), including marine national monument waters, to the Councils and the Department of Commerce under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA).

The CCC noted that the CARES Act included $300 million to address impacts of COVID-19 on the nationโ€™s fisheries. It recommended, if additional funds are provided to mitigate the impacts on the industry, that distribution of those funds should take into account the use of other relief programs, such as those offered through the Small Business Administration, US Department of Agriculture and Paycheck Protection Program. The CCC said, as a general principle, entities that receive support from other programs should be given a lower priority than those that do not. It also said funding allocations should consider loss directly related to COVID-19.

โ€œThe biggest impact to US commercial fisheries in the Western Pacific Region and our ability to provide food to the nation is our inability to fish in 83 percent of the US EEZ waters around Hawaii and 52 percent of the US EEZ in our region due principally to marine national monument fishing restrictions,โ€ noted Taotasi Archie Soliai, chair of the Western Pacific Council, which hosted the meeting.

Francisco (Cisco) Werner, PhD, NOAA Fisheries chief science advisor and director of its Scientific Programs, reported that NOAA has cancelled approximately 55 surveys (includes multiple legs of individual surveys), involving NOAA vessels, partner vessels (e.g., academia, states, etc.) and commercial charters. To date, these surveys account for approximately 1,380 lost planned days-at-sea (DAS) between March 20 and July 20, 2020, due to COVID-19.

The CCC requested that NMFS provide more information on its plans and strategies to deal with the delays in the NOAA ship and chartered surveys and on any alternative use of the unused portion of NMFS funds allocated for surveys and mission DAS for FY2020.

Offshore wind energy projects concerned several Councils. The CCC discussed the need for a process for Councils to weigh-in on and verify impacts of wind energy projects to fisheries in their region. It was noted that, although NMFS efforts are largely focused on assessing impacts, the New England and Mid-Atlantic Councils have not had much response to their recommendations to minimize those impacts through their proposals on where and how the turbines should be placed in the ocean. The Western Pacific Council expressed concern that offshore wind areas would take away fishing grounds and act as fish aggregating devices and could affect seasonal migrations of fish and attract juvenile fish and protected species. It was also concerned about the impacts from undersea cables on benthic habitats and bottom substrate. The Pacific Council had concerns about the use of short data sets not reflecting the expected effort patterns in fisheries that are being rebuilt and will be reopened soon.

The CCC made several additional recommendations to better coordinate Council and NMFS actions, including the following among others:

  • Continue the development of an approach and implementation plan to openly track the status of all Policy Directives,
  • Procedural Directives, and associated Supplements (such as regional implementation plans).
  • Provide sufficient time for Councils to review and comment on the draft Procedural Guidance for Changing Assessed Stock Status from Known to Unknown.
  • Provide statutory assistance for clarifying aquaculture authorities.

The CCC approved a habitat partner engagement letter and sending it. The CCC further approved conducting a Fisheries Science Center Engagement Webinar.

The CCC expressed concern that NMFS guidance on data poor stocks and alternative management approaches may not provide adequate guidance on MSA National Standard 1 to resolve conflicts that arise between scientific advice and the constraints imposed by current laws and policies. It was also concerned that the guidance may not adequately address the need for status determination criteria for model-resistant stocks.

The CCC supported the recognition of functional equivalency in the proposed National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) procedure revision. It believed that MSA actions fulfill NEPA requirements because the development of fishery actions is inherently an environmental review process and provide ample opportunities for public review. The CCC said it looked forward to working with NMFS and the White House Council on Environmental Quality to develop agency guidance for determining functional equivalence and implementing the functional equivalency provision. It encouraged NMFS to initiate the process for applying the provision to MSA actions as soon as possible, in coordination with the Councils.

For more information on the CCC meeting, go to http://www.fisherycouncils.org/ccc-meetings/may-2020.

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