Saving Seafood

COVID-19 Leaves Fisheries Observers in the Dark

October 5, 2020 — The COVID-19 pandemic does not appear to have hindered the distant-water fleets of China and other major fishing nations, but it has largely sidelined the fishery observers and port officials who monitor illegal fishing.

“In most of the South Pacific, fishery inspectors cannot come onboard the vessel to do inspections before authorising” the transfer of catch, known as transshipment, says Francisco Blaha, a New Zealand-based fisheries adviser.

The presence of independent observers on trawlers is a frontline deterrent to illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing. A 2016 study found that a third of the world’s fish catch is not reported.

“The absence of observers will bring a level of uncertainly on reporting” catch, adds Blaha. “The biggest issue we have in the South Pacific is misreporting and underreporting by the licensed fleet.”

This absence comes as the World Trade Organisation (WTO) resumes negotiations in Geneva this month in the latest attempt to reach a consensus on a long-delayed agreement to eliminate harmful subsidies. These promote the IUU and over-fishing that is decimating global fish stocks.

Read the full story at The Maritime Executive

New Oceana Report Suggests Shady Fishing Practices By Large Fleet Near Galápagos

October 5, 2020 — In August, the world turned its attention towards the tiny Galápagos archipelago when nearly 300 Chinese-flagged vessels were found fishing near the Ecuadorian EEZ that encompasses the biologically-significant islands, raising concerns about illegal and unregulated fishing. A new report by environmental non-profit Oceana claims that the vessels, now moving south through Peru, may be purposefully turning off their satellite trackers to avoid detection.

Prompted to investigate by past illegal fishing in the same area in 2017, Oceana analyzed data from satellite transponders on the squid-fishing vessels over a one-month period to track vessel movements and map fishing activity.

Automatic Identification Systems

Automatic Identification Systems (AIS) on commercial vessels were originally used by ships to avoid collisions. A vessel’s identity, speed and location are automatically transmitted to satellite and terrestrial receivers at regular intervals. This publicly-available information is used by Global Fishing Watch, a public mapping tool developed by Oceana in collaboration with Google and SkyTruth, to visualize where vessels stop to fish, allowing for more scrutiny of potentially-illegal fishing activity.

Read the full story at Forbes

US includes Taiwan on forced labor list due to fishing industry abuses

October 1, 2020 — The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has released its 2020 “List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor,” and has included Taiwan for the first time for its issues related to forced labor in the fishing industry.

The inclusion comes after 19 NGOs and businesses urged the DOL to include the nation on its list after discoveries of forced labor on fishing vessels in Southeast Asia. A damning Greenpeace report accused 13 foreign distant-water fishing vessels of using forced labor.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Indonesia’s new intelligence hub wields data in the war on illegal fishing

September 30, 2020 — In late July, a high-speed chase stirred the waters northeast of Indonesia’s Natuna Islands, as patrol officers pursued a Vietnamese vessel suspected of illegal fishing.

Having fled when authorities approached it for questioning, the Vietnamese crew tossed a fishing net to purge implicating evidence, burned tires to cloud their sight, and zigzagged across the water to evade capture, according to the Indonesian side’s account of the incident. Indonesian officers ordered the sailors to stop. Instead, they tried to ram into the patrol boat.

A visit, board, search and seizure team fired a warning shot into the air, but the Vietnamese attempted to escape. It was only after the team shot the fishing vessel’s platform that it slowed down and yielded to inspection, which uncovered two tons of fish.

The Indonesian Maritime Information Center (IMIC), launched days earlier, on July 22, had helped detect the Vietnamese boat by pooling high-quality surveillance data from several government bodies, according to Demo Putra from the Indonesian Coast Guard (Bakamla), which oversees this initiative.

Read the full story at Mongaby

In A New Initiative, The U.S. Coast Guard Targets Illegal Fishing

September 28, 2020 — After a long absence, fish and fishery patrols are back as a U.S. Coast Guard priority. In a little-noticed event earlier this month, the U.S. Coast Guard announced a new focus on “Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated Fishing,” sketching out a broad plan to track and, in time, start rolling back the systemic—and often State-based—depredation of seas worldwide.

While the announcement was crafted to reflect a mere status-oriented “Outlook” on the scourge of illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, the rollout at the U.S. Coast Guard headquarters in Washington had all the trappings of a fully committed, “all-of-government” strategy. Flanked by Admiral Craig S. Faller, head of Southern Command, Tim Gallaudet, the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and Dr. Benjamin Purser, a Deputy Assistant Secretary at the State Department, the Commandant of the Coast Guard, Admiral Karl L. Schultz, put rogue fishing fleets on notice.

The “Outlook” itself heralds another foresighted Coast Guard effort to focus attention on complex but easily-ignored maritime challenges. To maritime observers, the pattern, by now, should be familiar, as the U.S. Coast Guard is using the same successful template it used to raise awareness of emerging national security issues in the Arctic and the Western Hemisphere. In essence, the Coast Guard, through its latest “Outlook,” is affirming that large-scale economic encroachment at sea and other resource-extraction activities inconsistent with international norms is a destabilizing influence that needs to be controlled. It is signaling that Coast Guard resources will begin putting their “arms around” the problem. But rather than try to do it all, America’s racing-stripe Navy has set out a compelling case for any interested party—both inside and outside of the U.S. government— to join the fight against illegal fishing.

Read the full story at Forbes

USITC to Host Virtual Roundtable on Impacts of Imports and Illegal Fishing

September 25, 2020 — The following was released by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council:

Dear fishermen, seafood dealers, processors, and other fishing industry stakeholders,

This message is about an important discussion you may want to participate in. A flyer for the event is available here.

WHAT’S THIS ABOUT: The U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) will host a virtual roundtable to gather input from New England and Mid-Atlantic fishing industry stakeholders on two topics: (1) the impacts of illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing on the U.S. fishing industry; and (2) the impacts of seafood imports on U.S. products and markets.

WHEN WILL THIS HAPPEN: The roundtable is being held alongside the New England Fishery Management Council’s next meeting. The roundtable itself will take place on Tuesday, September 29, 2020 at 6:00 p.m. or shortly following the close of Council business that day.

WHO CAN PARTICIPATE: All stakeholders are encouraged to join the discussion. Anyone who fishes for, sells, or processes seafood in New England or the Mid-Atlantic region may be able to provide helpful information to the USITC as it works to brief Congress on IUU fishing and impacts of imports on U.S. fisheries.

HOW DO I JOIN THE ROUNDTABLE:  To participate:

  • Visit this link and select “join from your browser.” You will be asked to provide your full name and an email address.
  • If you are accessing the videoconference via a Webex application, copy and paste 199 705 4058 into the box for the meeting number/access code and Y7Byi8h6Hu2 for the password.
  • Also, if you think you may join the roundtable discussion, email the USITC’s Daniel Matthews at daniel.matthews@usitc.gov to let him know you’re interested.

WHAT DOES THE USITC WANT TO KNOW FROM ME: Anything related to impacts on U.S. fishermen from seafood imports or illegal fishing! Here are some examples of questions the commission is interested in.

  • Competition with Imports: How is the squid fishery off the East Coast impacted by squid imports?
  • Demand Trends: Have groundfish buyers, whether sourcing supply for U.S. markets or key export markets, required increased traceability in recent years?
  • Pricing Trends: Do imported scallops directly compete with U.S. markets and influence the price U.S. fishermen receive for their product?
  • Substitutability: Do Atlantic cod and haddock imports reduce demand for U.S.-caught cod and haddock?
  • Supply Chains: Do U.S. squid processors process both domestic and imported product?

QUESTIONS: Email the USITC’s Dan Matthews at daniel.matthews@usitc.gov with any questions you have about the upcoming roundtable. He is happy to help.

MORE USITC INFORMATION: At the request of Congress, the USITC is conducting the following investigation. All related documents are available at the links below.

Seafood Obtained via Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated Fishing: U.S. Imports and Economic Impact on U.S. Commercial Fisheries (332-575)

Coast Guard, Bahamas military intercept illegal fishing vessels

September 24, 2020 — U.S. Coast Guard watchstanders coordinated with a Royal Bahamas Defence Force team to apprehend two Dominican Republic flagged vessels illegally fishing the Grand Bahamas Bank Sept. 24, a week after the Coast Guard issued its new strategy to internationally combat illegal fishing.

Watchstanders at the Coast Guard’s Bahamas and Turks and Caicos operation center coordinated the effort as a Bahamas boarding team interdicted the vessels El Ship and Angel Gabriel, with 83 crew in all on board fishing off Diamond Point.

Bahamas authorities seized more than 12,000 pounds of fish and lobster, and the vessels were escorted to New Providence, Bahamas, for further enforcement action, Coast Guard officials said.

They noted the incident as an example of the Coast Guard working with international partners as outlined in a document released Sept. 17, defining what the service calls “a new strategy to enhance global safety, security, and stewardship of the maritime domain by combating Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) fishing.”

Read the full story at National Fisherman

Past illegal activity dogs Chinese fleet that fished squid near Galapagos

September 24, 2020 — In early June, a fleet of around 260 boats from China reached the limits of Ecuador’s exclusive economic zone around the Galápagos Islands to fish for Humboldt squid (Dosidicus gigas). For months, the fleet skirted this area, drawing outrage among Ecuadorans as well as scientists and conservationists around the world.

The fleet remained in international waters and no ship crossed the country’s maritime limits, according to the Ecuadoran authorities, who detected no illegal actions. However, scientists and fishery analysts say the volume of fishing is so high as to potentially overexploit the squid. Moreover, the boats could be capturing species threatened with extinction. Beyond that, vessels within this fleet have a history of illegal fishing, according to Milko Schvartzman, a marine conservation specialist with the Argentine organization Circle of Environmental Policies, who has studied the fleet for years.

Experts say the presence of these ships is not only a problem for Ecuador but for other countries in the region, too. Every year they travel a route that goes from the South Atlantic off Argentina to the South Pacific near the Galápagos, passing through Chile and Peru. According to Schvartzman, at least two boats that have been caught illegally fishing in Argentine waters and were pursued by that country’s navy were fishing south of the Galápagos in August.

Read the full story at Mongabay

NORTH CAROLINA: That Seafood May Not Be What You Think

September 21, 2020 — Jeffrey Styron sold a lie.

Hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of lies neatly packaged for buyers — primarily small seafood retailers and restaurants — who trusted they were buying crabmeat harvested in the United States.

After all, that’s what the labels on crabmeat from Garland Fulcher Seafood Co. Inc. said.

Earlier this month, Styron, treasurer of the corporate board of officers for Garland Fulcher in Oriental, pleaded guilty to falsely labeling crabmeat as “Product of USA.”

Glenn Skinner, executive director of the North Carolina Fisheries Association, warns consumers to stay away from imported seafood “since you don’t know what you’re getting.”

“To me whether it’s local or not shouldn’t determine whether they should buy seafood,” he said. “I would try to get domestic, whether caught or farm raised, either way.”

Read the full story at Coastal Review Online

Hawaii Court Hears Case On Legality Of Foreign Fishing Labor

September 21, 2020 — The Hawaii Supreme Court heard arguments Friday on the legality of granting licenses to foreign workers in Hawaii’s longline commercial fishing fleet, which for years has been under scrutiny after an Associated Press investigation revealed claims of human trafficking and questionable labor practices.

The case involves the issuance of Hawaii state commercial fishing licenses to individual foreign fishermen who are not “lawfully admitted” to the United States.

State law says only those legally in the country can get licenses to catch and sell marine life, but the workers do not have visas to enter the U.S. so they are ordered to live onboard the fishing boats by federal officials. They must eat, sleep and work on the boats, often for years at a time, and are subject to deportation.

Friday’s hearing stems from a petition that was filed by a Native Hawaiian fisherman who sought to have the state enforce a statute that declares only people who are in the U.S. legally can acquire commercial fishing licenses.

The petition was denied by the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources, which issues the permits, and a lower court upheld the ruling before the Supreme Court agreed to hear the case.

Read the full story at Hawaii Public Radio