Saving Seafood

MASSACHUSETTS: FDA issues warning on oysters potentially contaminated with Campylobacter jejuni

August 7, 2024 — The Food and Drug Administration is asking businesses to avoid either selling or buying certain oysters from Lewis Bay, Massachusetts, over fears that the seafood could be contaminated with Campylobacter jejuni.

The advisory affects restaurants and retailers in California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, New Hampshire, New York, and Pennsylvania who purchased the oysters from July 1 to July 18.

The move comes after the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries closed an oyster site after an outbreak of Campylobacter jejuni illnesses associated with consumption of oysters from two lease sites in Lewis Bay.

Two certified dealers, Chatham Shellfish Co. and Island Creek Oysters, recalled the oysters.

Read the full article at FOX 4

US FDA warns retailers, restaurants about contaminated Maine oysters

July 26, 2024 — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is advising restaurants and food retailers not to serve or sell, and consumers not to eat, recalled oysters from Recompense Cove in Freeport, Maine, U.S.A., because they may be contaminated with Campylobacter bacteria.

“These oysters have been associated with a Campylobacter illness outbreak in Maine,” the FDA said in a press release.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

US FDA issues import alert guidance on PFAS contaminants

March 27, 2024 — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration does not currently detain imported seafood products contaminated with per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), which can cause damage to human immune systems.

However, on 19 March, it released a document to guide the industry through a crackdown on PFAS that will likely lead to import alerts and detentions in the near future.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

MASSACHUSETTS: State closes shellfish areas in Buzzards Bay after public health concerns

March 14, 2024 — The state is issuing a shellfish closure in parts of Buzzards Bay in an area, following guidance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Officials concluded a bigger buffer zone is needed between the outflow from the New Bedford and Fairhaven Wastewater Treatment plant and the area where shellfishermen are growing and harvesting.

Bob Glenn, deputy director of the Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF), said as filter feeders, bi-valve shellfish are highly vulnerable to contamination from polluted waters, which can create health issues if consumed.

“Because municipal waste — even treated municipal waste — has a fair amount of E.Coli in it, it basically can lead to a whole host of different gastrointestinal illnesses,” he said.

According to officials, the closure will impact some recreational shellfishermen, the city of New Bedford, which had hoped to open up an aquaculture industry within the Clark’s Cove area, and two quahog harvesters — effective immediately.

Read the full article at CAI

Software enables tracing seafood from catch to sale

March 7, 2024 — The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a rule back in January 2023 on seafood traceability “requiring these entities [in the seafood supply chain] to maintain records containing information on critical tracking events in the supply chain for these designated foods, such as initially packing, shipping, receiving, and transforming these foods.” Seafood dealers and processors have until Jan. 20, 2026, to comply with the new rule, and tech developers around the world are working to develop the software and apps that will track almost all seafood from the boat to the table.

An important part of traceability will be the cost. “Traceability needs to be a byproduct of improved efficiency, rather than a tax on the industry” says Chip Terry, president of BlueTrace, a Maine-based software developer that started off creating tracking systems for oyster farmers, and is now expanding into other seafood supply chains.

Terry expresses concern that the new FDA rule will be harder for small-scale operations to comply with than for large, vertically-integrated seafood companies. “What we’re looking at are ‘key data events’, KDEs, and ‘critical tracking events’, CTEs. We identify data such as the date and time of landing, location, weights, vessel, and create a unique traceability lot code that follows that product through the CTEs.”

The CTEs largely represent the consolidation and transfer of various lots of seafood. “Oysters and other mollusks are exempt, since they are covered by the National Shellfish Sanitation Commission rules which resemble the new FSMA (Food Safety Modernization Act) rules,” says Terry. “For various reasons, scallop adductor muscles, and catfish, are also excluded. Lobsters, crabs, squid, shrimp, fish and other seafood all fall under the new rule. A lot of the tracking is currently done by writing the information down on a clipboard. The challenge is that you have so many boats and locations, it’s hard to scale that up. When you put all that information into an app, it can be accessed by a company’s accounting department, shipping department, or shared with business partners and regulators.  An easy-to-use system increases efficiency and creates the digital record that the FDA requires.”

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

Shucked Atlantic Sea Scallop Meats are Safe to Eat

January 11, 2024 — The following was released by the Fisheries Survival Fund and the American Scallop Association:

It is important to avoid confusion, and for the public to understand, that the scallops referenced in a recent advisory from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are not the type of scallops typically available in markets and restaurants across North America, and that the adductor muscle of the Atlantic Scallop (placopecten magellanicus), commonly referred to as the “scallop meat,” is not a threat.

The FDA is advising consumers not to eat, and restaurants and food retailers not to sell or dispose of, certain whole, live scallops received from an unlicensed harvester. These scallops are believed to have been harvested from prohibited state waters in Massachusetts and were incorrectly labeled. They were distributed to restaurants and food retailers in Illinois (IL), Massachusetts (MA), New Jersey (NJ), New York (NY), and Pennsylvania (PA).

Scallops are rarely sold live or whole in North America, and they are most often harvested offshore in federal waters, not in state waters. In the United States and Canada, consumers generally purchase just the adductor muscle, which is the white, meaty part seen in market displays and seafood dishes. This part of the scallop is prized for its delicate texture and sweet flavor.

Scallops are typically ‘shucked’ (opened and cleaned) at sea immediately after they are harvested. The scallop is removed from its shell, and the adductor muscle is separated from the rest of the body. Since this process is done at sea, what lands at the dock as ‘scallops’ are the shucked muscles.

The FDA advisory stated, “It is not uncommon for shellfish to be consumed raw and whole.” While this is true for some shellfish such as oysters and clams, it is not true for scallops. It is very uncommon for U.S. Atlantic sea scallops to be consumed raw and whole. In North American cuisine, scallops are typically consumed as just the adductor muscle, not the whole scallop including the roe (or coral).

The Atlantic sea scallop is one of the more sustainable seafood choices available, and much of the fishery has been certified as sustainable by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC). The U.S. Atlantic sea scallop fishery is subject to strict regulations and management practices implemented by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). These include measures such as limiting the total allowable catch, rotating fishing areas to allow for recovery, and using gear that minimizes environmental impact. Regular stock assessments are conducted to monitor the health and size of the scallop population.

Consumers may continue to buy and enjoy with confidence the shucked, white, meaty, and sustainable scallops familiar to them in grocery cases and on restaurant menus.

About the Fisheries Survival Fund
The Fisheries Survival Fund (FSF) was established in 1998 to ensure the long-term sustainability of the Atlantic sea scallop fishery. FSF participants include the vast majority of full-time Atlantic scallop fishermen from Maine to North Carolina. FSF works with academic institutions and independent scientific experts to foster cooperative research and to help sustain this fully rebuilt fishery. FSF also works with the federal government to ensure that the fishery is responsibly managed.

About the American Scallop Association
The ASA was founded in 1992 to foster a better public understanding of the importance of the scallop industry and to represent and promote the interests of the domestic, U.S. wild-caught, Atlantic sea scallop industry. Our aim is to support ASA members and all other affiliated interests to ensure a viable and long term future for the Atlantic sea scallop fishery through effective dialogue, consultation, collaboration and partnerships.

US lobster project to use tracking data to avoid right whale entanglements

January 10, 2024 — A group of seafood processors and sellers, working in collaboration with fishery NGOs and fishery experts, have developed a fishery improvement project (FIP) to reduce North Atlantic Right Whale entanglements in the US lobster fishery.

The plan involves using data from the New England Aquarium’s publicly available WhaleMap web application, which pinpoints the location of right whales during their annual migration, according to a statement released Wednesday (Jan. 10).

“This fishery improvement project will give participants in the lobster fishery the information they need to avoid setting traps in areas where whales are known to be or expected to be,” said Northern Wind founder and chief executive officer Ken Melanson in the press release. “This puts our industry ahead of the curve to maintain lobster harvesting while addressing entanglement concerns.”

Melanson said the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Food Modernization Act mandates electronic traceability, and this project will address that.

“The approval of this project will provide buyers and processors with a pathway to develop internal sustainability policies, and to develop programs and procedures that foster and encourage sustainability,” he said. “It will allow large retail and food service buyers to continue to source from the fishery while the fishery is working to add additional protections beyond management measures in the overall effort to protect the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale.”

Read the full article at Undercurrent News

US House, Senate jousting over FDA, NOAA funding

November 3, 2023 — The U.S. Senate passed a package of appropriations bills in late October that included funding for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

The legislation includes key provisions for the domestic seafood industry and brings Congress one step closer to providing funding for fiscal-year 2024 and avoiding a government shutdown. Congress agreed to a last-minute deal in September to avert a partial shutdown, but that agreement expires 17 November.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Ending government primate tests is great news for animals and humans; Atlantic menhaden sustainably harvested

September 25, 2023 — Thanks to Sen. Chris Van Hollen and his bipartisan colleagues for helping curtail cruel government experimentation on primates.

Van Hollen and other Maryland lawmakers have supported legislation directing federal agencies like the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to reduce testing on primates and retire them to sanctuaries where, my research shows, they can recover and thrive.

Last month, the FDA confirmed to nonprofit White Coat Waste (WCW) Project that the agency’s National Center for Toxicological Research (NCTR), “does not currently have an NHP [nonhuman primate] program. It was retired in December 2022.” Previously, NCTR used more monkeys than any other FDA laboratory.

Thanks to Sen. Chris Van Hollen and his bipartisan colleagues for helping curtail cruel government experimentation on primates.

Van Hollen and other Maryland lawmakers have supported legislation directing federal agencies like the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to reduce testing on primates and retire them to sanctuaries where, my research shows, they can recover and thrive.

Last month, the FDA confirmed to nonprofit White Coat Waste (WCW) Project that the agency’s National Center for Toxicological Research (NCTR), “does not currently have an NHP [nonhuman primate] program. It was retired in December 2022.” Previously, NCTR used more monkeys than any other FDA laboratory.

Read the full article at the Capital Gazette