Saving Seafood

MAINE: Grant program opens to support seafood dealers and processors

April 11, 2022 — Gov. Janet Mills announced the opening of a nearly $16 million grant program through her Maine Jobs and Recovery Plan to help Maine’s wholesale seafood dealers and processors recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and invest in infrastructure improvements that will make their businesses more resilient to potential future market disruptions, according to a press release.

Applications for the Maine Seafood Dealer and Processors COVID-19 Response and Resilience Program opened April 1 and will close on April 28, 2022. The Maine Technology Institute is administering the program on behalf of the Maine Department of Marine Resources.

“This program will not only help Maine wholesale seafood dealers and processors recover from the significant economic challenges of the past two years, but it will also deliver important and timely investments to support the resilience and future prosperity of Maine’s working waterfront and blue economy,” said Maine Department of Marine Resources Commissioner Patrick Keliher.

Read the full story at the Penobscot Bay Press

 

US House passes USD 42 billion restaurant funding bill

April 11, 2022 — On 7 April, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Relief for Restaurants and Other Hard Hit Small Businesses Act, which would allocate USD 42 billion (EUR 39 billion) for the Restaurant Revitalization Fund (RRF) and USD 13 billion (EUR 12 billion) for other businesses impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The funding bill will now be considered by the U.S. Senate.

Read the full story at SeafoodSource

 

Congress Urged to Fund National Seafood Marketing Campaign

April 6, 2022 — Legislators on Capitol Hill are being urged by those in the Massachusetts seafood industry to fund a nationwide marketing campaign showcasing seafood.

In a letter to the delegation in Congress representing the Bay State, members of major players in the seafood industry such as Gorton’s and North Coast Seafoods called for funding to boost a multi-year marketing effort.

The signatories said that campaign would improve public health, boost the regional economy, and aid a vital part of the workforce within Massachusetts–especially in the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Read the full story at CapeCod.com

NEFMC April 12-14, 2022 Hybrid Meeting – Listen Live, View Documents

April 4, 2022 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:

The New England Fishery Management Council will hold a three-day hybrid meeting from Tuesday, April 12 through Thursday, April 14, 2022.  This will be an in-person meeting coupled with a webinar option for individuals who cannot or prefer not to attend in person.

COVID PROTOCOLS:  The Council continues to follow all public safety measures related to COVID-19 and intends to do so for this meeting.  The Council is encouraging all in-person participants to wear masks in the meeting room except when seated.  Additional spacing between seats will be provided to allow for social distancing.  Please participate remotely if you are experiencing COVID symptoms or do not feel well.  Updates will be posted on the meeting webpage as needed.

START TIME:  1:00 p.m. on Day 1 and 9:00 a.m. on Day 2 and Day 3.  The webinar will end shortly after the Council adjourns each day.

 PUBLIC COMMENT OPPORTUNITIES:  The Council wants to hear from you.  Here’s how you can let the Council know what you think.

  • WRITE A LETTER:  The deadline for submitting written comments for consideration at this meeting is 8:00 a.m. on Thursday, April 7, 2022.  Please note that written comments must address items listed on the agenda for this meeting.
  • TALK TO THE COUNCIL:  You’ll be able to address the Council directly through two different avenues:
    1. By commenting on motions at the discretion of the Council chair (if commenting remotely, raise your hand on the webinar and unmute yourself when called upon); and
    2. By speaking during the open period for public comment.  Here are the Guidelines for Providing Public Comment.
  • OPEN PERIOD FOR PUBLIC COMMENT:  On Thursday, April 14, 2022 at 9:30 a.m., the Council will offer the public an opportunity to provide comments on issues relevant to Council business but not listed on this agenda.  Given the Council’s busy meeting schedule, we ask that you limit remarks to 3-5 minutes.
    • SIGN UP:  Interested in speaking?  If attending in person, fill out the sign-up sheet on the table at the entrance to the Council meeting room.  To speak remotely, email Janice Plante at jplante@nefmc.org to get on the list.

WEBINAR REGISTRATION:  Online access to the meeting is available at Listen Live.  There is no charge to access the meeting through this webinar.

  • Here are instructions in the Remote Participation Guide for successfully joining and participating in the webinar.
  • THIS IS KEY!  If you want to speak during opportunities for public comment, you need to: (1) register for the webinar; and (2) actually “join” the webinar.  People who call in by telephone without joining the webinar will be in listen-only mode.  Those who take both steps – register and then join the webinar – will see the meeting screen and be able to click on a “raise hand” button, which will let the meeting organizer know you want to be unmuted to speak.
  • We have a Help Desk in case you get stuck joining the webinar or have trouble along the way.  Phone numbers are listed on the Help Desk Poster, or just email helpdesk@nefmc.org and we’ll get right back to you.

CALL-IN OPTION:  To listen by telephone without joining the webinar, dial +1 (415) 655-0052.  The access code is 928-040-722.  Please be aware that if you dial in, your regular phone charges will apply.  Remember, you will not be able to speak if you do not first join the webinar as described above.  This phone number provides a “listen-only” option without the webinar component.

AGENDA:  All meeting materials and the agenda are available on the Council’s website at NEFMC April 12-14, 2022 meeting.  Additional documents will be posted as they become available.

THREE MEETING OUTLOOK:  A copy of the New England Council’s Three Meeting Outlook is available HERE.

COUNCIL MEETING QUESTIONS:  Anyone with questions prior to or during the Council meeting should contact Janice Plante at (607) 592-4817, jplante@nefmc.org.

$16 million grant program opens to help Maine’s seafood industry

April 1, 2022 — A $16 million grant could go a long way for Maine’s seafood industry.

The multi-billion-dollar industry took a big hit during the pandemic, but a new grant program could help businesses trying to recover while preparing for the future.

This state grant program is for wholesale seafood dealers and processors, which play a vital role in the state’s overall economy.

For some, like Ray Trombley, this money comes at the perfect time. He has big plans for his small seafood business in Brunswick.

“I want a cooler three times the size of this,” Trombley said. “This whole cooler fills up one to two days.”

Read the full story at WGME

10 fisheries in N.J. may have wrongly received millions in COVID money, state watchdog says

March 25, 2022 — In its first report detailing the waste, fraud and abuse of the distribution of federal COVID funds, a state watchdog agency said nearly $2.4 million in CARES Act funding may have been improperly paid out to fisheries in New Jersey.

The Office of the State Comptroller (OSC), which is tasked with tracking the distribution of federal COVID funding, said 10 marine fisheries in New Jersey received more money than they lost because of the pandemic in 2020.

Guidelines for the program, administered by the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), require that fisheries could not be made “more than whole,” meaning fisheries could not receive more funds than their actual losses in 2020.

“Our report finds that DEP did not take adequate steps to address red flags and protect federal recovery funds from being misspent,” said Kevin Walsh, acting state comptroller. “Getting COVID funding out quickly was important, but more should have been done to protect the funds from fraud, waste, and abuse.”

Read the full story at NJ.com

Hawaii Longline Fishing Recovering from COVID-19

March 23, 2022 — Hawaii’s longline fishery became more active in 2021 as the state began its recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, but the increase didn’t necessarily lead to more fish caught.

Commercial fish catch in Hawaii plummeted in 2020 as the coronavirus forced the closure of hotels, restaurants and other businesses, and along with them the demand for fish.

But Hawaii’s economy has been slowly returning to form, and in 2021 the state’s 146 longline fishing vessels made 1,734 fishing trips, up from the 1,679 in 2020.

Additionally, the vessels set out 63.5 million hooks during their fishing trips — a record number for the industry, said Russell Ito, a fishery biologist for the Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center.

Ito on Wednesday presented an annual report on Hawaii’s longline fishery to the Scientific and Statistical Committee, an advisory body to the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council.

Read the full story at Seafood News

New Jersey opens covid-19 assistance program for seafood processors

March 23, 2022 — New Jersey is using $826,807 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to reimburse the state’s seafood processors for covid-19-related costs that hit them in 2020 and 2021.

The NJ Seafood Processor Covid-19 Assistance Program is funded through USDA Seafood Processors Pandemic Response and Safety Block Grant Program, and follows the federal protocol for qualifying businesses for aid.

Eligible activities for reimbursement include:

• Workplace safety measures;

• Retrofit of facilities for worker and consumer safety;

• Market pivots;

• Medical costs associated with providing or purchasing COVID-19 testing.

The state Department of Environmental Protection’s Marine Fisheries Administration is working with the state health and agriculture departments to provide reimbursement to processors, including processing vessels and dealers, for pandemic-related costs between Jan. 27, 2020 and Dec. 31, 2021.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

 

China’s ongoing COVID lockdowns threaten Maine’s baby eel season

March 22, 2022 — Warm weather this spring may boost catches of lucrative baby eels in Maine, but the ongoing effects of the covid pandemic still could hamper the global availability of the popular seafood item.

An abundance of eels during Maine’s 11-week elver season, which starts Tuesday, may not be able to overcome pandemic-related difficulties in shipping the eels to eastern Asia, where most elvers caught in Maine are raised to adulthood in aquaculture ponds in China and then sold into the enormous Japanese seafood market.

“As of now, the biggest challenge facing the industry this season will be the logistics of getting eels to their ultimate destinations,” said Mitchell Feigenbaum, a major distributor of Maine eels. “A severe COVID outbreak in Hong Kong combined with strict import controls have created great uncertainty in the market as the season prepares to open.”

China has maintained a “COVID zero” policy that in recent weeks has resulted in the country locking down areas where outbreak of the disease are detected, which potentially could inhibit the ability to ship Maine elvers to Chinese aquaculture sites. Because elvers have to be shipped live, the possibility of shipments being delayed and elvers dying en route can make things “very risky” for dealers, Feigenbaum said.

Read the full story at Bangor Daily News