Saving Seafood

MASSACHUSETTS: Seafood auction plans to reopen Tuesday

September 5, 2018 — The Cape Ann Seafood Exchange expects to resume landing fish Tuesday, almost two weeks after the U.S. Labor Department effectively shuttered the business by seizing its bank accounts because of unpaid court-ordered damages.

Kristian Kristensen, the owner of the fish auction on 27 Harbor Loop, said Thursday night that he had received final paper work from Labor Department officials that unfroze his business and personal bank accounts.

“Now we can start putting things back in order, pay some people and hopefully start landing fish again on Tuesday, the day after the holiday,” Kristensen said. “That’s the plan.”

Kristensen credited the assistance of U.S. Rep Seth Moulton’s office, state Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr and state Rep. Ann-Margaret Ferrante in helping mediate a new consent order and payment schedule with the Labor Department.

“I’d have to say they’re at least 70 percent responsible for getting this done,” Kristensen said. “Without their help, this probably wouldn’t have happened.”

The seizure of the bank accounts stemmed from a 2016 lawsuit filed by the Labor Department against Kristensen and his two businesses, Cape Ann Seafood Exchange and Zeus Packing Inc., both at 27 Harbor Loop. The lawsuit sought $407,996 — $203,998 in unpaid back wages owed about 130 employees and an equal amount in liquidated damages.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times

Dems seek tariff relief for fishing industry

August 1, 2018 — The Trump administration announced last week that it would provide up to $12 billion in emergency relief funding for farmers whose businesses are suffering from an escalating trade war.

Now a group of Democratic U.S. representatives is pressing for similar emergency relief for the fishing industry, which is expecting a significant financial hit from a series of increasing export tariffs imposed by China.

H.R. 6528, introduced last Wednesday by Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.), would amend a provision in the Magnuson-Stevens Act that allows the federal government to provide funding to harvesters affected by natural or man-made disasters, such as hurricanes and oil spills. The bill would add cases of “unilateral tariffs imposed by other countries on any United States seafood” as events warranting emergency relief.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

 

Five US House Democrats get behind tariff-relief bill for fishermen

July 30, 2018 — In the same week that President Donald Trump announced his plan to offer land farmers in the US $12 billion to help compensate for losses suffered as a result of his trade scuffles with China and other nations, a small group of Democrats in the House of Representatives have put forth a plan to help fishermen.

HR 6528, introduced Wednesday by Massachusetts representative Seth Moulton, would amend a provision contained in the Magnuson Stevens Act that allows for the government to make money available to harvesters in the case of a natural or man-made disaster. It would add language that clarifies that such funds can also be used in the case of “unilateral tariffs imposed by other countries on any United States seafood.”

Co-sponsors of the bill include representatives Chellie Pingree of Maine, Stephen Lynch and William Keating, both of Massachusetts, Jared Huffman of California, and Raul Grijalva of Arizona.

Pingree, an organic farmer, has been particularly vocal about the president’s tough trade stance, writing letters to the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) and US Trade Representative.

“Farmers haven’t been the only ones to suffer the consequences of the Trump administration’s sloppy trade actions,” she said in a statement issued this week.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

 

Rep. Seth Moulton: Fishing industry also needs relief from trade war

July 27, 2018 — President Donald Trump is sending $12 billion in emergency aid to American farmers to mitigate the damaging impact of the escalating trade war with China and U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton says the nation’s fishing industry also should receive compensation.

As the primary author of the letter to Trump and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, as well as in introduced legislation, Moulton made the case that restricting the emergency aid to the agricultural sector ignores the parallel economic pressure being foisted on fishing stakeholders by the Chinese reaction to Trump’s imposed tariffs.

“Farmworkers are not the only Americans that are losing out in this trade war with China,” Moulton and other members of Congress wrote in the letter. “We respectfully request you give the same consideration to the hardworking fishermen and women of America who are being hurt by your policies and direct the U.S. Department of Commerce to provide emergency assistance to working families of the water.”

The letter pointed out that “American fishermen and women are getting hit on both ends by your trade policies,” including U.S. tariffs on imported Chinese steel and aluminum imports and the retaliatory 25 percent tariffs — in addition to the 7 percent tariffs already in place — imposed by the Chinese on 170 imported U.S. seafood products.

The letter also pointedly states the emergency assistance only is necessary because of the detrimental impact of Trump’s trade policies.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times

Democrats Press Trump for Tariff Relief for Fishing Industry

July 26, 2018 — Democratic members of Congress are pressing the Trump administration for compensation for fishermen hit with losses as a result of President Donald Trump’s escalating trade disputes with China and other countries.

The group, led by Rep. Seth Moulton of Massachusetts, points to the administration’s announcement Tuesday that it will provide $12 billion in emergency relief to help American farmers hurt by foreign retaliation to Trump’s tariffs.

The five members of Congress said Wednesday in a letter to Trump the fishing industry is getting hit by administration tariffs on steel and aluminum imports needed for boats, fishing hooks, and lobster and crab traps — and by the 25 percent retaliatory Chinese tariff on 170 American seafood products.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at U.S. News

Sen. Markey pushes for $5M in grants to save right whales

July 12, 2018 — U.S. Sen. Edward Markey is co-sponsoring Senate legislation mandating the U.S. Department of Commerce appropriate $5 million in grants annually over the next decade to help rebuild the populations of the imperiled North Atlantic right whales.

The Senate bill co-sponsored by Markey and other senators closely mirrors a bill U.S. Rep Seth Moulton has filed as a primary sponsor in the House of Representatives.

If voted into law, the legislation would require the U.S. commerce secretary to provide competitive grants for projects aimed at the conservation of the endangered right whales. Marine scientists estimate there are fewer than 450 of the marine mammals left alive.

Both the House and Senate bills carry a non-federal matching requirement of 25 percent for successful applicants. They also authorize in-kind contributions as part of the matching requirement.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times

SAVE Right Whales Act Could Provide $50 Million Grant For Ropeless Fishing Technology

June 15, 2018 — SEAFOOD NEWS — The SAVE Right Whales Act of 2018, filed in Congress on June 7, could provide a $5 million annual grant program to allow fishermen, shippers and conservationists to collaborate to protect North Atlantic right whales.

Introduced by U.S. Reps Seth Moulton and William Keating, and by U.S. Senator Cory Booker, the SAVE Act stands for Scientific Assistance for Very Endangered North Atlantic Right Whales. If it becomes law, the act would provide a total of $50 million dollars in federal funds, distributed as $5 million over 10 years, to aid conservation programs with rebuilding the North Atlantic right whales. Projects would include developing, testing or using technology or other methods to reduce entanglements and vessel collisions, which is the leading cause of right whale deaths. This could include developing and testing more ropeless fishing gear technology, which would remove thousands of ropes from the water.

“If we don’t take immediate action, the storied North Atlantic right whale could go extinct in our lifetime,” Booker said while introducing the SAVE Right Whales Act. “We have a responsibility to find and implement solutions that will help protect endangered species for generations to come.”

The bill needs to garner more support from members of Congress in order to be signed into law. Currently the population of the North Atlantic right whales is estimated to be at about 450.

This story originally appeared on SeafoodNews.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission.

Legislators act to save right whales

June 14, 2018 — A $5 million annual grant program is proposed for fishermen, shippers and conservationists to collaborate to protect North Atlantic right whales but the state’s lobstermen are still considering it.

“We’ve read it,” Massachusetts Lobstermen’s Association Executive Director Beth Casoni said of the SAVE Right Whales Act of 2018, filed in Congress June 7. “We have not had a chance to discuss it as an organization.” At a regularly scheduled monthly meeting Wednesday, the association’s elected delegates are expected to discuss and possibly determine whether to support the measure, Casoni said.

The filing of the SAVE Act comes a week after a report of the second right whale carcass this year, both off Virginia, based on preliminary analyses, according to the North Atlantic Right Whale Consortium. The decomposed carcass was reported May 31 on Metompkin Island, Virginia. After a review of the photos, the carcass was tentatively identified as a North Atlantic right whale, and bone samples will be submitted for genetic verification.

The SAVE Act itself, which stands for Scientific Assistance for Very Endangered North Atlantic Right Whales, was introduced by U.S. Reps. Seth Moulton and William Keating, both Democrats from Massachusetts, and House members from Arizona and California, and by U.S. Sen. Cory Booker, D-New Jersey, with co-sponsors from New York, New Jersey, Florida and Delaware.

Read the full story at the Cape Cod Times

Rep. Seth Moulton bill aims to protect right whales

June 11, 2018 — U.S. Rep Seth Moulton is a primary sponsor of a House bill that would appropriate $5 million in grants annually over the next decade to help in the conservation of the endangered North Atlantic right whales.

The bill, if made law, would require the U.S commerce secretary to provide competitive grants for projects related to the conservation of the right whales. It caps administrative expenses at 5 percent of the appropriated funds or $80,000, whichever is greater.

The bill carries a non-federal matching requirement of up to 25 percent for successful applicants. It also authorizes in-kind contributions as part of the matching requirement and “allows for the waiving of the match requirement if necessary to support a project identified as high-priority,” according to the proposed bill.

“The waters off Massachusetts are home to one of the planet’s most endangered species, the right whale,” Moulton said in a statement. “By providing competitive grants from right whale conservation projects, we can generate innovative solutions for saving an entire species. Let’s preserve some of earth’s greatest animals for future generations, rather than be a generation responsible for their irreversible demise.”

Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times

Solons shaking sabers over right whales

May 7, 2018 — The plight of the North Atlantic right whales certainly remained in the news last week, as a group of U.S. senators from New England, including Edward Markey of Massachusetts, hinted at a possible trade action against Canada if our neighbors to the north don’t impose stricter protections for right whales.

Then U.S Rep. Seth Moulton and other members of the Massachusetts congressional delegation got in on the rattling of cutlery with a letter to Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and Treasury Secretary Steven T. Munchin urging them to require Canada to “apply for and receive a comparability certificate” for any of their commercial fisheries implicated in the incidental killing of North Atlantic right whales.

Or else.

“If Canada cannot secure a comparability finding for those fisheries then the (Marine Mammal Protection Act) requires the National Marine Fisheries Service, in cooperation with the Department of the Treasury and Department of Commerce, to impose a ban on the importation of commercial fish or products from fish harvested in those fisheries,” the letter stated.

The diplomatic grumbling served as a backdrop to the seasonal return of the right whales to Massachusetts — including a feeding fest on Friday off the rocky cliffs that separate Long Beach from Good Harbor Beach chronicled in the Saturday pages of the GDT and online at gloucestertimes.com.

(And thanks to Marty Del Vecchio for generously sharing his great images with us for that story.)

Residents and workers in the area reported seeing up to about a dozen of the imperiled marine mammals, with some of them venturing within 25 feet of the rocks in a galvanizing display of nature in the raw.

The best line of the morning belonged to Anthony Erbetta of Marblehead, who was working with his buddy Nick Venezia, also of Marblehead, on restoring and renovating a cliffside home on High Rock Terrace.

Told that they were right whales, Erbetta said: “Right whales, left whales. I really don’t think we should get into whale politics.”

Actual good news on whales

It may not involve the right whales, but according to a piece in the New York Times, humpback whales are forging a comeback in the southern oceans near Antarctica.

The piece reported a new study shows that humpback whales that live and breed in those waters have been hard at work making little humpbacks, “with females in recent years having a high pregnancy rate and giving birth to more calves.”

The higher levels of whale recruitment represent a stark contrast to the condition of the humpback populations in the 19th and 20th centuries, when they were hunted nearly to extinction.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Times