Saving Seafood

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

US FDA, NOAA release DNA barcode library to identify fish

July 13, 2023 — A team of researchers from NOAA, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and other partners have released the first batch of fish DNA barcodes, curated DNA sequences that can be used to identify and authenticate seafood.

Identifying seafood after processing has removed any identifiable features is difficult – fillets of one species can look identical to another. DNA testing offers one solution and can provide concrete identification, but full genetic sequencing can be time-consuming. With DNA barcodes, scientists can sequence a short, standardized section of the DNA and compare it to a library of similar sequences to determine its species quickly and efficiently.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

FDA to conduct survey testing mercury levels in seafood

June 9, 2023 — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) wants a better understanding of the mercury levels in seafood products available to American consumers, and it’s conduct an extensive survey to gather that data.

The agency is looking for a contractor to execute the survey on behalf of its Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, testing approximately 600 seafood products for mercury and methyl mercury, according to a 7 June notice.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

US FDA discovers PFAS in cod, shrimp, tilapia, salmon samples

June 1, 2023 — Out of 186 samples recently tested by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) were discovered in two cod samples, two shrimp samples, one sample of tilapia, and one sample of salmon.

PFAS – so-called “forever chemicals” that don’t degrade and that are known to cause a variety of health issues if ingested – have become an increasingly concerning issue for seafood purveyors.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

 

 

MAINE: A Lasting Grudge: FDA’s Closure of the Historic Maine Smokehouse

June 1, 2023 — John McCurdy of Lubec, Maine, holds the distinction of having run the last herring smokehouse in the USA. Sit down to talk to him about it, and you’ll find that at age 92, he is still mad about the US Food and Drug Administration shutting him down in 1991. “What happened is, some people in New York City got botulism from smoked whitefish out in the Great Lakes. So, they made a law that all smoked fish had to be eviscerated before they were salted. Well, you know we bought over 100 hogsheads [120,000] at a time, and those boats wanted to unload fast and get back out fishing. There’s no way we could gut those fish.”

McCurdy’ smokehouse was already a labor-intensive business, with 24 people doing everything from brining the fish, loading the smokehouse, moving fish upward in the smokehouse over the course of an 8-week curing process, and then skinning, boning, and packing it. And it was all hand work, “Artisanal” it would be called today. The workers made the boxes for packing, carefully laid the fish in, and nailed the lids on. Nothing in the entire operation was automated; it relied on human beings using their judgment as to how much brine to soak the fish into when the fish were ready. “If they rattle when you bring them down, they’re ready,” says McCurdy. “We sold 15,000 boxes a year. We sold to Mom & Pop stores, 100 boxes here, a hundred there.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

Seafood to get front-of-the-pack label boost under 2024 US FDA guidance

May 23, 2023 — New food-labeling draft guidance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) aiming to further clarify the nutritional value of food products to consumers is coming into effect in 2024.

The draft guidance provides food manufacturers with recommendations on how and when to use dietary guidance statements on food product labels “to ensure the label statements promote good nutrition, provide greater consistency in labeling, and assist consumers in making informed choices,” the FDA said in a press release.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

US FDA refuses more shrimp shipments due to presence of antibiotics and banned drug residue

April 10, 2023 — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced on 3 April, 2023 that 83 seafood entry lines to the U.S. were refused in February. Two of those lines were shrimp from India and Vietnam refused due to banned antibiotics and veterinary drug residues.

The India shipment was from Kerala-based Mangala Seafoods, which has been under an import alert. The company was added to Import Alert 16-129, Detention Without Physical Examination of Seafood Products Due to Nitrofurans for its shrimp exports on 1 March, and Import Alert 16-124, Detention of Without Physical Examination of Aquaculture Seafood Products Due to Unapproved Drugs from chloramphenicol in its shrimp 25 January.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

FDA has added over 20 seafood companies to import alert list so far in 2023

March 26, 2023 — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has added more than 20 seafood companies to its import alert list so far in 2023.

The import alerts, which range in type from non-compliance with HACCP to a suspicion there is a high chance for botulism, allow the FDA to detain all seafood products shipped from the companies at the border without any physical examination of the product.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource