Saving Seafood

Omega Protein Upholds ‘Gentlemen’s Agreement’, Avoids Fishing Near Virginia Beach

January 29, 2016 — The following was released by the Menhaden Fisheries Coalition:

In July of last year, Menhaden Fisheries Coalition member Omega Protein met with recreational fishermen from the Virginia Beach area to discuss and resolve potential issues arising from menhaden fishing in the area. At the summer meeting, the two groups reached an informal agreement, whereby Omega Protein would not fish within three miles of shore of an area extending from Cape Henry Lighthouse to the Sandbridge fishing pier, some of Virginia Beach’s most popular tourist areas (See the image below, taken from this WAVY report).

 

Since then, Omega Protein has kept its promise to avoid these areas. The images below are maps of menhaden fishing activity in the Virginia Beach area, provided by the Beaufort Laboratory of NOAA’s National Marine Fishing Service.

Press accounts in December 2015 referenced sightings of Omega Protein vessels fishing offshore in the vicinity of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel in Virginia Beach as evidence that the agreement was violated. In fact, any sightings of fishing vessels in that locale would have been outside the agreed-upon area, and well within legally regulated fishing zones.
The image on the left shows fishing activity through July 2015, before the agreement was reached. The image on the right shows activity from the end of July through remainder of the 2015 fishing season. Since the agreement was entered into, there has been no menhaden fishing in the Virginia Beach three-mile buffer zone; all menhaden fishing activity in southern Virginia has taken place outside of the agreed-upon off-limits area. As shown in these maps, Omega Protein vessels adhered to the “Gentlemen’s agreement” for the remainder of the fishing season.

Sunken sanctuary: Former Omega Protein WWII-era vessel becomes artificial reef

December 15, 2015 — For much of the last decade, the MV Shearwater caught menhaden by the ton but in its new life, as part of the Del-Jersey-Land reef 26-miles off the coast, it will become a fish habitat and diving destination in the state’s artificial reef program.

The ship didn’t go easy into the deep last week. The stern sank first and the ship started to turn leaving just the bow out of the water. It took about six hours to fully sink after the seacocks opened and the interior compartments flooded.

The 176-foot-long vessel went down in 120 feet of water. It lays about one-half nautical mile from the 568-foot long USS Arthur W. Radford, a former Navy destroyer. The Radford was sunk at the artificial reef site in 2011 and has become a popular destination for divers and anglers.

“About three weeks ago, a state-record bluefish was caught there,” said Jeff Tinsman, the state artificial reef coordinator.

“These old freighters make ideal reefs because of the voids and cavities in them – they’re really the perfect sanctuary for fish,” Tinsman said. “But not long after this ship sinks, the fish will start to come ‘outside’ it to feed. Within a few weeks, blue mussels, sponges, barnacles and soft corals will attach themselves to the structure, and in about a year, the reef will be fully productive, for fish and fishermen alike.”

Read the full story at Delaware Online

VIRGINIA: Special Investigation: Big fight over little fish

November 12, 2015 — REEDVILLE, Va. – Small business owners along the Chesapeake Bay are concerned that commercial fishing by Omega Protein is hurting their livelihood. Both rely on catching menhaden, a small bony fish that is valuable to Omega for its oil and bone meal, as well as for bait to charter boat captains and crabbers.

Omega has fished for menhaden out of Reedville since the 1870’s. It hauls in millions of them each weekday during a fishing season that is quota-based and runs roughly from May to November.

10 On Your Side visited the Reedville operation and spoke with several employees about the company’s importance to the community. We also met with a charter boat captain who is convinced that Omega’s large hauls are hurting his business along with hundreds of others – marinas, crabbers, tackles shops, etc.

“Used to be these creeks would just be chocked full of menhaden flipping all over the surface,” said Chris Newsome, owner of Bay Fly Fishing in Gloucester. Newsome’s charter clients fish for striped bass, bluefish, speckled trout and redfish, and they feed on menhaden. “They’ve definitely become a lot harder to find over the years.”

Read the full story at WAVY

Aquaculture And Marine Ingredients Video Premieres At IFFO Annual Conference

October 7, 2015 — After decades of growth, the aquaculture industry continues to expand as a crucial segment of the global seafood market, and sustainably harvested fish meal and fish oil are fueling this growth. In a new video produced by Saving Seafood and released in partnership with IFFO, the trade association representing the marine ingredients industry, and Omega Protein, aquaculture industry leaders and experts discuss the future of fish meal, fish oil and farmed seafood. The video, which premiered on 28th September at IFFO’s Annual Conference in Berlin, is also being made available to the public.

View the video, “A Closer Look at Aquaculture and Marine Ingredients,” here

“People talk about fish meal replacements; there really aren’t fish meal replacements, because no one ingredient is going to have everything that fish meal has,” said Dr. Rick Barrows, a Fish Nutritionist at the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service Fish Technology Center in Bozeman, Montana.

Fish meal and fish oil are irreplaceable because they are some of the best sources of the proteins and essential nutrients that are vital to healthy farmed fish. Some of these nutrients, especially omega-3 fatty acids, are an increasingly important part of human diets as well, having been linked to improved heart health and better brain function.

“You and I, like fish, need 40 essential micronutrients,” says Dr. Michael Rubino, Director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Fisheries Office of Aquaculture. “Forage fish, in the form of fish meal and fish oil happens to be the perfect combination of those micronutrients.”

Read the full story at IFFO

 

 

VIDEO: Sustainable Aquaculture Takes Center Stage at International Conference

  • There are no replacements for fish meal and fish oils in aquaculture feeds
  • Fish meal and fish oil are supplied from sustainable marine ingredient fisheries
  • Government labs are studying how to put sustainable supplies to best use
  • Just 5 million tons of fish meal and fish oil help produce 300 million tons of food for humans

WASHINGTON (Saving Seafood) – September 28, 2015 – After decades of growth, the aquaculture industry continues to expand as a crucial segment of the global seafood market, and sustainably harvested fish meal and fish oil are fueling this growth. In a new video produced by Saving Seafood and released in partnership with IFFO, the trade association representing the marine ingredients industry, and Omega Protein, aquaculture industry leaders and experts discuss the future of fish meal, fish oil, and farmed seafood. The video, which premiers today at IFFO’s Annual Conference in Berlin, is also being made available to the public.

 

“People talk about fish meal replacements; there really aren’t fish meal replacements, because no one ingredient is going to have everything that fish meal has,” said Dr. Rick Barrows, a Fish Nutritionist at the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service Fish Technology Center in Bozeman, Montana.

Fish meal and fish oil are irreplaceable because they are some of the best sources of the proteins and essential nutrients that are vital to healthy farmed fish. Some of these nutrients, especially omega-3 fatty acids, are an increasingly important part of human diets as well, having been linked to improved heart health and better brain function.

“You and I, like fish, need 40 essential micronutrients,” says Dr. Michael Rubino, Director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Fisheries Office of Aquaculture. “Forage fish, in the form of fish meal and fish oil happens to be the perfect combination of those micronutrients.”

Marine ingredient fisheries, like the menhaden fishery in the U.S., provide a steady supply of fish meal and fish oil to meet the needs of the aquaculture industry. Dr. Jeffrey Silverstein, the USDA National Program Leader of Aquaculture notes in the new video that these fisheries have “been very sustainable over the last 30 years,” and that the ingredients they provide will continue to be valuable as aquaculture expands.

“Aquaculture growth has been about 8 percent per year for the last 25 years,” says Dr. Silverstein. “Today, about 50 percent of the seafood consumed by humans is coming from aquaculture, and that’s slated to continue growing. So we’re going need to produce more and more seafood through aquaculture.”

With growing global demand for marine ingredients, the aquaculture industry is also looking toward the future, adapting and innovating to make the use of fish meal and oil more efficient. While new formulas and substitute ingredients will become increasingly common, fish meal and fish oil will remain irreplaceable components of aquaculture.

“Aquaculture will, over time, be able to grow, but fish meal will still be at the base of aquaculture, and if you took fish meal away, this would have a very serious effect on the aquaculture industry in the world” says Dr. Andrew Jackson, Technical Director of IFFO. Dr. Jackson was awarded the Seafood Champion Leadership Award the at the 2015 SeaWeb Seafood Summit in New Orleans, Louisiana, in acknowledgement of his work to promote sustainability in the marine ingredient and aquaculture industries.

Dr. Jackson also notes that marine ingredients are an increasingly important component of the global food supply. According to Dr. Jackson, 15 million tons of fish are used annually to produce 5 million tons of fish meal. That 5 million tons goes to feed 35 million tons of aquaculture, and goes into the animal feed that produces around 300 million tons of food. Dr. Jackson sees this as a reasonable tradeoff, “so long as things are being done in a proper, responsible, sustainable way.”

The interviews with industry leaders and experts were conducted at the 2015 Seafood Expo North America in Boston and the 2015 SeaWeb Seafood Summit. Featured in the video are Drs. Silverstein, Rubino, Barrows, and Jackson, as well as Andrew Nagle, a member of the Seafood Sales and Purchasing team at the John Nagle Company, located in Boston, Massachusetts.

Saving Seafood is a Washington D.C.-based non-profit that conducts media and public outreach on behalf of the seafood industry.

IFFO is an international non-profit that represents and promotes the global fish meal, fish oil, and marine ingredients industry. 

Omega Protein Corporation is a century old nutritional company that develops, produces and delivers healthy products throughout the world to improve the nutritional integrity of functional foods, dietary supplements and animal feeds.

View the video, “A Closer Look at Aquaculture and Marine Ingredients,” here

View a PDF of the release here

VIRGINIA: Omega Protein vessel sunk for artificial reef in secret spot 20 miles south of Pascagoula

June 10, 2015 — MOSS POINT, Mississippi — Omega Protein’s retired fishing vessel Barataria Bay was sunk approximately 20 miles from the mouth of the Pascagoula River today for use as an artificial reef.

The nearly half century-old ship will now benefit ecosystems and sport fishermen in its new life.

Its exact location will be kept secret for one year to allow the reef to develop undisturbed.

This is the latest collaboration between the company, which is the largest harvester of menhaden in the Gulf of Mexico, the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources, and nonprofit organization Mississippi Gulf Fishing Banks in creating new marine habitats in the Gulf of Mexico.

The Barataria Bay was first stripped of all parts and any hazardous materials in preparation for its final voyage, accompanied by a convoy of local fishermen, business leaders and state legislators.

Read the full story at Gulf Live

 

VIRGINIA: Meeting could lead to truce over menhaden

July 26, 2015 — Decades of animosity don’t disappear overnight. But a conversation is a good place to start.

Officials from Omega Protein met with recreational charter captains Tuesday night to discuss the conflict between two groups that depend on the same waters to earn a living.

Reedville-based Omega is the East Coast’s only menhaden reduction fishery. Recreational anglers often have blamed the company for harming certain fisheries. Omega reduces the small, oily fish to produce Omega 3 fish oil supplements and pet food.

There also are small fleets that catch menhaden to sell as bait for commercial and recreational fishermen. In Virginia, Omega often gets blamed for just about any problem caused by the bait industry.

The menhaden fishery is highly regulated by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission and must report its catches and mishaps. Omega even employs a Norfolk-based company to take care of spillages or beachings of spilled fish.

Menhaden also are a vital food source for a vast majority of game fish targeted by anglers. And they are considered a filter feeder that is vital to the health of the environment.

Read the full story at the The Virginian-Pilot