Saving Seafood

Over 100 Maine seafood dealers and processors awarded more than $15 million in grants

June 30, 2022 — More than 100 Maine seafood dealers and processors have been awarded more than $15 million in grants through the Seafood Dealer and Processor COVID-19 Response and Resilience Program.

Businesses in every coastal county received awards, with more than half them coming in at over $115,000.

Gov. Janet Mills made the announcement of $15 million in grants to local seafood dealers and processors at Hollander & de Koning, a six generation, family owned and operated shellfish company in Trenton.

The company is a grant recipient, and has recently purchased a machine that will bag mussels in small quantities, allowing them access to being in grocery stores as well as restaurants.

Read the full story at WABI-TV

MAINE: Gov. Mills announcing more than $15 million for seafood industry

June 29, 2022 — Gov. Janet Mills will be in Trenton Wednesday where she’s expected to announce more than $15 million in grant funding for 107 Maine seafood dealers and processors to help increase the supply of Maine-harvested seafood, strengthen their ability to deliver to markets, and create and sustain jobs throughout Maine’s iconic seafood industry.

The governor will make the announcement at Hollander & de Koning, a grant recipient and owner of the sixth generation, family owned and operated shellfish company in Trenton.

Read the full story at WABI

 

NEW JERSEY: Assemblyman Bob Andrzejczak & Assemblyman Bruce Land Bill to Promote N.J. Aquaculture Industry Heads to Governor’s Desk

October 27, 2016 — TRENTON, NJ – Legislation Assemblymen Bob Andrzejczak and Bruce Land sponsored to promote aquaculture in New Jersey recently gained final legislative approval in the Senate. The bill now heads to the governor’s desk.

Aquaculture involves fish or shellfish farming, and refers to the breeding, rearing and harvesting of animals and plants in all types of water environments including ponds, rivers, lakes, bays and the ocean.

As chair of the Assembly Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee, Andrzejczak led recent tours of aquaculture research centers and farm locations throughout Cape May County, including the Rutgers Aquaculture Innovation Center, the Rutgers Haskin Shellfish Research Laboratory and the Green Creek Oyster Fishery.

The year-long tour series gave members of the committee a first-hand look at the various types of research, farming and food processing that makes up the backbone of the state’s agriculture and agrotourism industries, so that members would gain a better understanding of the specific issues facing New Jersey farmers and the type of legislation that may be necessary to maintain the state’s position as the Garden State.

“New Jersey’s coastal location and its proximity to the largest consumer markets in the nation indicate that aquaculture can and should be a thriving and vital industry in the state,” said Andrzejczak (D-Cape May/Cumberland/Atlantic). “Aquaculture plays an important role in meeting the dietary needs of an increasingly health conscious and growing population, and fish farming can help supplement the harvest of wild caught fish to meet that demand. Aquaculture is also important to the future of the seas, because it can provide reasonably priced, good quality, highly nutritious food while helping to maintain the long-term sustainability of wild caught fisheries.”

Read the full story at the Cape May County Herald

New Jersey senators among group requesting offshore drilling ban

October 7, 2016 — TRENTON, N.J. — Senators Cory Booker and Robert Menendez are among 14 legislators who have called for President Barack Obama to ban drilling off the Atlantic Coast in any areas that have not already been leased.

NJ.com reports the two New Jersey Democrats signed a letter requesting the ban that was sent to Obama on Thursday along with fellow like-minded senators.

The letter also asked that Obama use his executive power to make the Arctic Ocean off-limits to oil drilling.

The senators say drilling in waters off the East Coast threaten fishing and tourism — key economic drivers for coastal states — because of the risk of a spill.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the New Jersey Herald 

Failed polygraph may mean $2.3 million more for New Jersey fishermen

August 30, 2016 — Three New Jersey fishermen could soon be $2.3 million richer thanks to some failed polygraph tests.

Earlier this month, Trenton police sergeant Brian Suschke, Trenton firefighter Rich Kosztyu, and boater Damien Romeo took home $767,091 from the  White Marlin Open in Ocean City, Md., for their 236.5-pound bigeye tuna catch. That fish set records for both weight and payout in the tournament’s tuna category.

Now, as NJ.com reports, that amount could increase significantly, with the tournament announcing last week that the winners of its white marlin category may forfeit their $2.8 million winnings over violating tournament rules. That fish was the only qualifying entrant into the competition’s white marlin category.

To settle the situation, the White Marlin Open has filed a court action in Maryland alleging that fishermen on that $2.8 million-winning boat failed polygraph examinations conducted after their catch. The tournament requires anglers receiving prize money in excess of $50,000 to go through a polygraph examination, and has not taken this type of legal action since 2007, as Delaware Online reports.

If the court decides against the other boat’s fishermen, then Kosztyu, Suschke, and Romeo could collect slightly more than $2.3 million more in prize money thanks to special stipulations from the group’s tournament sign-up. The remaining $500,000 would be split among other winning boats, court documents indicate.

Read the full story at Philly.com