Saving Seafood

News for the Gulf of Mexico Region

Mississippi seafood distributor pleads guilty to decadeslong fish mislabeling scheme

August 28, 2024 — A Mississippi seafood distributor and two managers pleaded guilty Tuesday to conspiring to mislabel seafood and commit wire fraud by marketing frozen imported fish as more expensive local species, federal authorities said.

Quality Poultry and Seafood Inc., the largest seafood wholesaler on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, agreed to forfeit $1 million and pay a $150,000 fine, the Justice Department said. The company’s sales manager Todd A. Rosetti and business manager James W. Gunkel, both of Ocean Springs, Mississippi, also pleaded guilty to misbranding seafood.

The developments Tuesday are the latest in a case tied to a well known Mississippi Gulf Coast restaurant, Mary Mahoney’s Old French House in Biloxi.

In May, the restaurant pleaded guilty to conspiracy to misbrand seafood and wire fraud. A co-owner/manager of Mary Mahoney’s, Anthony Charles Cvitanovich, also pleaded guilty to misbranding seafood.

Read the full article at ABC News

US must do more to protect species from Gulf of Mexico drilling: judge

August 21, 2024 — A U.S. judge at the urging of environmental groups has thrown out an assessment by a federal agency governing how endangered and threatened marine species should be protected from oil and gas drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.

U.S. District Judge Deborah Boardman in Greenbelt, Maryland, on Monday ruled the U.S. National Marine Fisheries Services’ so-called “biological opinion” was flawed and did not adequately address risks species face from oil spills and vessel strikes.

Read the full article at Reuters

Federal court strikes down biological opinion by National Marine Fisheries Service

August 21, 2024 — A 2020 biological opinion on the impact of oil and gas extraction on protected marine life in the Gulf of Mexico has been struck down by a federal court.

The National Marine Fisheries Service, an office of NOAA, produced the opinion. The court ruled the opinion is in violation of the Environmental Species Act and Administrative Procedure Act.

In 2021, five environmental organizations challenged the opinion. Earthjustice filed a lawsuit on behalf of those five organizations. Now those organizations are claiming a victory.

Joanie Steinhaus is the Ocean Program Director for the Turtle Island Restoration Network, which is one of the organizations involved in the suit. She says this has been in the works for years.

Read the full article at NBC 15

ALABAMA: Alabama’s Britt, Tuberville advocating for illegal red snapper fishing bill

August 15, 2024 — U.S. Sen. Katie Britt (R-AL) recently recognized the progress of a bill aimed to protect Alabama’s red snapper industry, relevant news for the No. 2 red snapper fishing spot in the Gulf, according to FishingBooker.

The Senate Commerce Committee has advanced the Illegal Red Snapper Enforcement Act, a bill sponsored by Commerce Committee Ranking Member Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and co-sponsored by Britt and Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), which would strengthen enforcement against illegal fishing activities.

In an article published earlier this year, Gulf Shores and Orange Beach were named the second-best red snapper fishing destination in the Gulf of Mexico for 2024 by FishingBooker, one of the country’s largest platforms for booking fishing trips. The area, known as the “Red Snapper Capital of the World,” boasts the largest artificial reef system in the U.S., drawing anglers to its productive waters during Alabama’s red snapper season, which opened May 24 and runs every Friday through Monday until the private angler quota is projected to be met.

Read the full article at Gulf Coast Media

NOAA confirms above-average Gulf of Mexico dead zone

August 6, 2024 — Following NOAA predictions earlier this summer that the “dead zone” in the Gulf of Mexico would be larger than average, scientists have now confirmed that those predictions have come true.

Created by excess nutrient pollution along the Mississippi-Atchafalaya watershed, the dead zone in the gulf is a hypoxic area roughly the size of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The low oxygen levels within the area are deadly to fish.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Map Reveals Fish-Killing ‘Dead Zone’ Size of New Jersey in Gulf of Mexico

August 5, 2024 — Scientists have announced that the Gulf of Mexico’s “dead zone”—where there is so little oxygen that the ocean becomes unsurvivable—is now the size of New Jersey.

Around 6,705 square miles of potential habitat has been wiped out from fish, sea plants, and other ocean life due to water being “hypoxic.” This makes it the 12th largest dead zone recorded in the past 38 years of record-keeping.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) says its size is larger than predicted for 2024. NOAA and its partners monitor the area annually to track its size and impact, informing mitigation efforts.

“It’s critical that we measure this region’s hypoxia as an indicator of ocean health, particularly under a changing climate and potential intensification of storms and increases in precipitation and runoff,” said Nicole LeBoeuf, assistant administrator of NOAA’s National Ocean Service in a statement.

Read the full article at Newsweek

New Jersey-sized “dead zone” that can kill fish and marine life emerges in Gulf of Mexico

August 2, 2024 — More than 4 million acres of marine life habitat have become a “dead zone” in the Gulf of Mexico, threatening the lives of fish and other marine animals, NOAA said on Thursday. Although this is an annual issue in the Gulf, this year’s is far larger than anticipated, with an area roughly the size of New Jersey.

The dead zone is an area where there is very little to no oxygen, a situation known as hypoxia, that NOAA says can kill fish and marine life. In June, NOAA predicted an area of 5,827 square miles, roughly the size of Connecticut. But on Thursday, the agency said it has grown to roughly 6,705 square miles, equating to more than 4 million acres of habitat and more than 1,000 square miles larger than anticipated.

It’s the 12th-largest dead zone the agency has recorded in 38 years of measurement — and well above a goal set out by researchers to reduce the area.

According to NOAA, scientists have made it a goal to reduce the average area to fewer than 1,900 square miles by 2035 to help improve the health of the marine ecosystem. As it stands, the five-year average is now nearly 4,300 square miles, more than twice as large as that target.

Read the full story at CBS News

Second Fishery Outside of Alaska, Gulf of Mexico Shrimp, Gains RFM Certification

July 17, 2024 — Fifteen years of hard work has paid off for U.S. Gulf of Mexico shrimp fisheries. As of earlier this month, white, brown and pink shrimp in all five Gulf states and federal waters achieved Responsible Fisheries Management certification.

Collectively, it’s the first shrimp fishery certified to the RFM standard, according to the Certified Seafood Collaborative.

RFM Certification requires fisheries meet RFM Standard criteria that evaluate fisheries in four key areas: A) the fisheries management system; B) science and stock assessment activities and the precautionary approach; C) management measures, implementation, monitoring, and control; and D) serious impacts of the fishery on the ecosystem.

Third-party certification body Global Trust awarded the certification after a thorough evaluation of the Gulf of Mexico Shrimp fishery as reported in the Final Assessment Report.

“Congratulations to the American Shrimp Processors Association and the entire Gulf of Mexico shrimp industry for meeting RFM’s comprehensive fishery standard,” the Collaborative’s RFM Board Chair Mark Fina said in a press release. “As the largest shrimp fishery in the U.S., it’s a testament to its sound fisheries management and commitment to the sustainability of their fishery.”

Read the full article at Seafoodnews.com

FLORIDA: Cortez fishers sound alarm on shark depredation

July 16, 2024 — A discussion has surfaced in Cortez where commercial fishers say they are reeling in the consequences of federal legislation aimed at conserving shark populations.

They say a 2011 law created hardships and they now are grappling with depredation issues caused by more frequent encounters with apex predators due to higher populations.

The Shark Conservation Act of 2011 was intended to improve shark conservation in the United States. The law amended the Magnuson–Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act of 1976 and the High Seas Driftnet Fishing Moratorium Protection Act of 1992 and provides, in part, that sharks caught in U.S. waters must be brought to shore with fins naturally attached.

Shark finning, banned in many parts of the world, involves cutting off fins and discarding the fish, sometimes still alive. The fins often are used as an aphrodisiac or for soup that can cost up to $100 per bowl.

With protective legislation and bans in effect for more than a decade, fishers now say there are too many sharks.

“Regulation is good but a complete stop is too extreme,” said Nate Meschelle, a Cortez commercial captain, who spoke to The Islander July 11.

Read the full article at The Islander

Fishing advocates say new Gulf council appointments ‘maintaining a balance’

July 3, 2024 — A Florida commercial fisherman and an Alabama charter operator are newly appointed to the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council, among 22 new and returning members to the six regional U.S. Councils named by the Department of Commerce.

The new Gulf appointments “are a positive step in the right direction by maintaining a balance of interests,” according to the Gulf of Mexico Reef Fish Shareholders’ Alliance.

Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo named  Juan “John” Sanchez of Florida and Troy Frady, a charter captain from Orange Beach, Ala. The appointments “are a positive step in the right direction by maintaining a balance of interests on the Gulf Council, with three of the seventeen members making a living in the commercial or charter/for-hire fisheries under the Gulf Council’s purview,” according to the alliance.

However, the group added, “we still have a long way to go before there is truly balanced representation on the Gulf Council from all fishing sectors – commercial, charter/for-hire, and private anglers.”

Read the full article at the National Fisherman