Ahab's Journal

Process: How Horseshoe Crab Blood Helps Save Lives

Chances are you owe your life to the horseshoe crab. In the 1950s, scientists discovered that LAL (Limulus amoebocyte lysate), a clotting agent found in the critter's powder-blue blood, binds to fungi and endotoxins, coagulating into a thick gel around such invaders. The result: a simple, surefire way to detect impurities in pharmaceutical drugs and medical supplies. Here's how drug developer Charles River, one of five companies licensed by the FDA to produce and sell LAL, harvests crabs and turns their blood into tests that can detect bacteria and other contaminants at less than one part per trillion—without killing the creatures.

Read more

Chefs go eye-to-claw with crabs

Sobel is one of dozens of chefs taking field trips to see watermen and seafood processors at work, part of a Department of Natural Resources initiative to reconnect the restaurant industry with the water and to do a better job promoting Maryland seafood.

Chefs have gone out oystering, crabbing and fishing for yellow perch and rockfish.

"We understood that there's a need to reconnect the chefs and the watermen," said Steve Vilnit, the new outreach and marketing specialist at DNR's Fisheries Service. "There's a huge disconnect there. Chefs don't really realize exactly where their product is coming from and that's unfortunately kind of detrimental to the watermen."

Read more

CSF Website

LocalCatch.org is an online network that links consumers to community supported fisheries (CSFs). The network seeks to increase the visibility of CSFs and it aims to provide assistance to individuals and organizations that need support envisioning, designing, and implement locally-relevant businesses that work towards a triple bottom line.

Visit website

Website tracks seafood dinners back to fishermen

A Canadian group is pioneering a high-tech web system that allows diners around the world to track their seafood back to the person who caught it.

Participating fishermen tag their catch and the information is entered intoThisfish.info.

Earlier this week, Nova Scotian Gordon Beaton caught a lobster in the Northumberland Strait, tagged it and sold it on. A couple of days later, Toronto diner Lynn Patterson ordered lobster at the Royal York Hotel.

She pulled out her iPad, went to Thisfish and entered the code.

Read more

CNN Money: Is sourcing food locally a sustainable biz?

Watch Video

Scallop industry flourishing in Newport News

A scallop harvester from North Carolina is setting up shop in the city's Seafood Industrial Park, increasing the number of scallop operators in the city's harbor to five.

"We will have a record number of scallop operators here," said Doreen Kopacz, Newport News' port development administrator. The city owns the industrial park, and collects rent from businesses operating there.

Kopacz said with waterfront property in such high demand by developers along the East Coast, locations like Seafood Industrial Park become more valuable for the seafood industry.


Meanwhile, the scallop business is lucrative, said Bill Mullis, owner of B&C Seafood, a scallop operator that's also located in Seafood Industrial Park. He said scallops are selling for record high prices. To prevent overfishing, the federal government limits the number of scallop permits.

Chesapeake Atlantic Seafood Harvest is moving four scallop vessels from Oriental, N.C., to Newport News next month, Kopacz said, locating at a one-acre site at the industrial park. They will also have use of a 43,000 square-foot building.

Read more

Locally caught catches on

When chef Derek Wagner buys local fish, he knows where it was caught and who landed it.

Wagner, who owns Nicks on Broadway, prizes his close relationship with several Point Judith fishermen for two reasons. He buys fresh seafood from fishermen he trusts. And he can tell his customers where their meals were caught — sometimes how many miles offshore.

“That information has never been out there before,” said the 34-year-old restaurateur.

The relationship is one example of how chefs, fishermen and suppliers can work together, said experts Monday at the 10th annual Ronald C. Baird Sea Grant Science Symposium at Johnson & Wales University’s harbor campus.

“Rhode Island is a seafood factory and the stocks are roaring back,” said Barry A. Costa-Pierce, director of Rhode Island Sea Grant, a sponsor of the three-day gathering.

“This conference is all about how we can work together” to boost the state’s $100-million fishing industry, one that includes not only fishermen and suppliers, but some of the finest restaurants in New England, he said.

Read more

Life long commercial fisherman invites tourists along for the ride

To help offset his investment costs Massey has started the next reality Alaskan adventure: crewing on board a working Alaskan Halibut fishing vessel.

“I needed to do something,” Massey said. “I had to spread that poundage out to make it a viable interest, or just get out of it. I have to fish my pounds anyway; I may as well try to make some money at it. I just had to build a better mouse trap.”

An Alaska Legislative House Bill that passed in 2005 allowed the purchase of 7-day crew licenses to allow visitors an affordable way to engage in a sort of extreme tourism adventure by actually participating in the fishery as a crewmember. The bill also forbids a wage, thus combating illegal or unethical hiring practices.

By Alaska statute a resident or non-resident can purchase a multiple-day commercial crew license, however, they cannot sport fish from the vessel, nor can commercial vessels allow sport fishing on board.

Massey is marketing a six- to eight-hour day. He will license clients at the boat. Clients sign on as crew and learn to bait, set and haul gear and “experience what it’s like fishing with 200 hooks instead of just one.”

Read more

O'Neal's Sea Harvest finds new market for delicacy

"Everything from soft-shell crabs to swordfish, tuna, dolphin, king mackerel, Spanish mackerel, sea mullet, flounder, blue crab and shrimp -- basically any kind of fish or seafood native to our waters - we've got it," said O'Neal.

That list now includes Oyster Toadfish.

The fish, which grows up to about a foot long, looks like a monkfish and is prized for its tail meat, which has been compared with lobster tail for flavor.

Read more

Nova Scotia brings plan to encourage people to buy fish operations from retirees

HALIFAX — Nova Scotia has introduced a financing program in an effort to encourage young people to buy a commercial fishing operation from someone who's retiring.

The Nova Scotia Fisheries and Aquaculture Loan Board will lend the deposit on a licence package and help arrange payments by a new fisherman to a retiring fisherman.

Read more

The global food crisis: ABCD of food – how the multinationals dominate trade

By mid-morning snack you will certainly have encountered their products several times already wherever you are in the world, whether it is the corn in your flakes, the wheat in your bread, the orange in your juice, the sugar in your jam, the chocolate on your biscuit, the coffee in your cup. By the end of the day, if you've eaten beef, chicken or pork, consumed anything containing salt, gums, starches, gluten, sweeteners, or fats, or bought a ready meal or a takeaway, they will have shaped your consumption even further.

And yet, the four giant transnationals that dominate the raw materials of the global food system have largely stayed below the radar of European consumers. Known as the ABCD group for the alphabetic convenience of their initials, ADM, Bunge, Cargill and (Louis) Dreyfus, account for between 75% and 90% of the global grain trade, according to estimates. Figures cannot be given with confidence, however, because two of the companies are privately owned and do not give out market shares.

This extraordinary concentration of power and money in the global food trade has been identified by Oxfam in a new report this week as one of the structural flaws of the system. At each stage a handful of players dominate, not just in primary agriculture but in food manufacturing and retailing. The result, according to Oxfam, is that "they extract much of the value along the chain, while costs and risks cascade down on to the weakest participants, generally the farmers and labourers at the bottom".

Read more

How a Country of Fishermen Lost Its Favorite Fish

Turkey's mackerel used to be Turkish—but now they're Norwegian. A case study in the rise of the global seafood economy.

Read more

McDonald’s to Serve Sustainable Fish in Europe

PARIS — McDonald’s, the world’s biggest fast-food company, said Wednesday that it had reached a deal under which a nonprofit organization would certify as sustainable the catch used for each of the 100 million fish sandwiches the chain sells in Europe every year.

Beginning in October, the blue eco-label of the Marine Stewardship Council will appear on the wrappers of McDonald’s Europe’s Filet-o-Fish sandwiches, which are made from fried white fish, tartar sauce and a slice of cheese served on a steamed bun.

Read more

OB Catch Meets Monday, June 13

The Outer Banks Catch executive committee will meet at 6 pm, Monday, June 13, at the Dare County Administration Building in Manteo.

A mean season for Carolinas shrimpers

An unusually cold winter that decimated native shrimp has robbed the Carolinas of a spring delicacy. Below-normal water temperatures killed virtually all the white shrimp that overwinter in South Carolina's estuaries, and N.C. officials also report dead crustaceans. The cold heaped more trouble on Carolina shrimpers, whose numbers are also dwindling. Shrimpers are already being undercut by cheaper, farm-raised imports and, more recently, rising fuel costs.

Read more

B.C. fishing industry can't hook young

Young people are shunning the commercial fishing industry, seeing it as a high-cost, dead-end career full of perplexing and vexing rules.

Industry veterans are worried that no one is stepping in to take over.

So, with help from the provincial government, the industry is commissioning a study on how to fix things.

A request for proposals for the project says the goal is to "help the B.C. commercial fisheries industry quantify, understand and work towards solutions to the labour market challenges in the fish harvesting industry."

Read more: http://www.timescolonist.com/business/fishing+industry+hook+young/4909164/story.html#ixzz1OmOZ3dmN

Despite rise in seafood harvests, those in the business feel squeezed

The state's commercial fish harvest was up by 4 percent in 2010, but the fishermen didn't necessarily notice a difference.

Read more

Watermen learning how to add 'tourist trap' to their fishing gear

On a stormy day in April, the bright, tidy room in the back of the Neavitt United Methodist Church was filled with watermen who, temporarily, weren't on the water.

They clustered instead around tables and note pads, discussing how they might catch an occasional group of tourists along with their more traditional harvest of oysters and crabs.

These watermen, along with some family members, were participating in a new program called Watermen's Heritage Tourism Training. The training was organized by the Chesapeake Conservancy in partnership with the Maryland Watermen's Association, Coastal Heritage Alliance and Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum.

Read more

Maine Fishermen go Back to School--to the 'Cod Academy'

A handful of Down East Maine fishermen will soon become graduates of the nation's first ever, so-called "Cod Academy." That's the name of a program run by the Maine Aquaculture Association set up last year with the help of more than $180,000 in federal funding. The plan is to train fishermen to be fish-farmers and it's specifically designed to help commercial fishermen, or ex-fishermen, find a new way to make a living on the water.

Read more

At work with Barry L. Marple

I've been doing this for 27 years, putting fresh seafood into restaurants. I got started in Norfolk. I was in the restaurant business for about 10 years. I worked in a place in Norfolk called Courtney's. There was a seafood place around the corner. I had to get out of the restaurant business because we had a child, and I wanted to be home at night. This little seafood place offered me a job. Part of what they did was sell fish to restaurants.

That was in the mid-'80s. Then, I worked with a half-dozen seafood companies in the area and in (North) Carolina. Some of them don't exist anymore.

Sam Daniels hired me to do the same thing for Wanchese Fish Co., which they hadn't done before that - cutting fish specifically for restaurants. What I do is just a small part of what happens at Wanchese, but it's a big part of our food-service division. Wanchese is worldwide, actually. We have offices on three continents.

Read more

Turning Fish waste into Gardening Gold

JOHNS ISLAND, South Carolina -- Fish waste may be messy and smelly, but Dale Snyder and his business partner, George Taylor, have a hunch that it would make great organic compost. And they have just received a Southern Sustainable Agriculture Research & Education (SARE) Producer Grant to test their theory.

Read more

The Seafood Dilemma: Does it Matter Where We Get Our Seafood?

The program will explore whether the US should adopt policies to change the way the nation procures its seafood supply. Currently the US imports more than 80% of its seafood, about half of it farmed in countries ranging from Asia to South America.

“The US trade deficit related to seafood last year was approximately $10 billion,” Hauke Kite-Powell, a research specialist in WHOI’s Marine Policy Center. “There are economic, health, and environmental ramifications to the import of cultivated fish, as well as questions about the future stability of the supply. Seafood consumption is rising more quickly abroad than it is here in the United States. Should we take active steps to prepare for a future when international supplies may not be as readily available as they currently are? Our program will explore all of these issues.”

Read more

Program to bring fresh seafood direct to consumers

The concept of community supported agriculture, in which consumers purchase a subscription or membership to a farm to receive seasonal produce boxes, has been transported from soil to sea in community supported fishery programs that have been popping up along the coastal United States. Now the first one in Northern California is set to begin on Friday at none other than Google.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/05/20/FD2P1JHR99.DTL#ixzz1NAIMhqyE

Fishermen targeting local market

NARRAGANSETT - A bevy of fluke flop around the lobster tanks inside The Local Catch, the fishermen-run seafood processing, wholesale and distribution company Richard Cook started in hopes of providing Rhode Islanders with the freshest possible seafood.Cook opens the door to a walk-in freezer, where fresh tautog awaits pickup by a local restaurant.  

"Super quality local products" is how Cook describes the long list of Rhode Island-fresh seafood he sells from his 1,200-square-foot space along the docks in Galilee.

"What we're trying to do is bring the bounty of the waters to the people who want to eat it," said Cook, a 30-year fishing veteran in Point Judith.

Though some Rhode Islanders are unaware, the reality is this: Most of the fish caught in local waters is passed along to centralized wholesalers, who then market it through out-of-state auctions in places like New Bedford and New York. Most of the seafood consumed in Rhode Island is shipped in from out of state.

Read more

R.I. fishermen look for ways to market local catch

 

 

Most of the fish caught in Rhode Island’s waters is sold out of state, or even out of the country. Very little of the catch shows up in local restaurants, markets or on dinner plates.

Rhode Island fishermen think that’s a missed opportunity, both for them and for consumers who want to eat fresh, locally caught fish.

A group of Ocean State fishermen, legislators and state officials is organizing to find ways to market and sell fish locally. One model the group may adapt is the one used by local produce, dairy and meat producers, who are taking advantage of the movement in the food community toward using local products.

Read more

Federal officials visit Seabrook for conference on fishing regulations

SEABROOK — Representatives from the Economic Development Assessment team, an agency within the U.S. Department of Commerce, held the first of three days of conferences with local businesses and officials Monday, with added emphasis on the plight of local fishermen as that industry continues to experience declines in revenue.

At the Seabrook Public Library Meeting Room, the location of the three-day event, close to two dozen people sat at the table for discussion of the region's economic development in general, with representatives of the fishing industry high up on the agenda.

George Bald, commissioner of the New Hampshire Department of Revenue and Economic Development, said while the state's fishing industry is small when compared to other components of the state's economic resources, fishing by itself is an important industry with great cultural significance.

Read more

Lawmakers advance seafood-incentive program

BATON ROUGE — Private restaurants that buy Louisiana agricultural products, including seafood, would be eligible for a cash incentive under a program endorsed Monday by the Senate Finance Committee.

Read more

Sounds like an excellent plan

A new plan before the state Legislature would make it easier for companies to use Louisiana agricultural products and seafood and would do so without using state money.

Read more

Modernizing traditional industries through technology

People who work on the water and with the land have a wealth of information. Their experiences from day to day and year to year inform our understanding of the landscape and its resources. Tapping into this knowledge base is just one goal of Axiom Technologies' three-year program to expand broadband Internet and computer expertise in Washington County. Using funds from the federal stimulus program dedicated to increasing connectivity in the United States, the Machias company is providing blueberry growers and commercial fishermen advanced computer technology and training.

Read more

Fishermen wary of federal report

SEABROOK — Two days of testimony and meetings on the devastating effect new federal "catch share" regulations are having on the state's once-thriving fishing fleet ended yesterday with a boatload of doubt.

After hearing impassioned pleas from the New Hampshire fishing community, its creditors, state officials and fishing advocates, the panel of visiting economic advisers from the U.S. Commerce Department issued a preliminary report before departing Seabrook.

Read more

Global X Funds Launches First Fishing Industry ETF (FISN)

Global X Funds, the New York based provider of exchange traded funds (ETFs), today launched the Global X Fishing Industry ETF (Ticker: FISN). This is the first ETF globally targeting the fishing industry. The fishing industry is comprised of two main components: commercial fishing and aquaculture.  Commercial fishing represents those companies directly involved in the capture of fish from wild fisheries, while aquaculture represents those companies that supply fish through fish farming operations.

In the past few decades the global food market has experienced unprecedented expansion and a change in global dietary patterns, with a shift toward more protein.  This is likely to continue due to the expansion of the middle classes in emerging economies. China, for instance, has seen dramatic growth in its per-capita fish consumption, with an average growth rate of 5.7 percent per year since 1961 (FAO, 2011). Taking into account the global population forecast, an additional 27 million tons of production will be needed to maintain the present level of per-capita consumption in 2030 according to the FAO (2011).

"Companies that have the infrastructure to supply the rapidly growing demand for fish consumption, from aquaculture facilities to fish processing, are likely to benefit from these demographic and dietary trends," said CEO of Global X Funds, Bruno del Ama.

The Global X Fishing Industry ETF tracks the Solactive Global Fishing Index, which is designed to measure broad based equity market performance of global companies involved in the fishing industry. As of April 29, 2011, the three largest components of the index were Cermaq ASA, Marine Harvest, and Toyo Suisan Kaisha Ltd.

Read more

New FDA Seafood Hazards Guide Released Online

The US Food and Drug Administration has just released the new Fish and Fishery Products Hazards and Controls Guidance (4th Edition). The guide is posted on the FDA website in PDF format as a full document or by individual chapters. Click here to be redirected to the FDA site to download files.  

Lobster shells valuable for golf balls, plant pots

ORONO, Maine (AP) -- Lobsters aren't just for eating anymore.

The shells from Maine's signature seafood are being used to manufacture decorative tiles, trivets and drinking-glass coasters. Work is under way to utilize them in countertops and tabletops. And at the University of Maine, a professor has developed prototypes of biodegradable golf balls and plant pots made out of ground-up lobster shells.

Read more

Basic Seafood HACCP and Segment Two Workshops Scheduled May 2011

BASIC SEAFOOD HACCP is a two-and-a-half day workshop intended for members of the seafood processing and importing industry, and regulatory officials based in the United States. This training satisfies FDA requirements under Title 21 CFR Part 123.

Read more

New challenge for Gloucester fishing industry?

The Boston Redevelopment Authority has given a limited liability corporation tentative designation to create a 420,000-square-foot "soup to nuts" seafood processing facility — docks, auction storage, transport — at the tip of the Marine Industrial Park on the south side of the main channel into Boston Harbor.

The expressed aim of the $70 million American Seafood Exchange project is to ensure that the Port of Boston "retains existing fishing boats and attracts additional boats from elsewhere in New England and along the East Coast," the would-be developers explained in a PowerPoint presentation provided to the Times.

Read more

Walking Fish CSF: Expanding to Raleigh

AFTER 5 SEASONS IN DURHAM, WALKING FISH IS EXPANDING TO RALEIGH! GET SPRING SHARE NOW. We are very pleased to announce that shares for the new Raleigh Spring 2011 season are now available.

Read more

Tagging allows diners to trace seafood meals

The seafood dining experience has taken a turn in the tides. Now diners can actually see where their food came from thanks to a program that allows people to track their lobster dinner back to the place it came from and the fisherman who caught it.

Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/life/Tagging+allows+diners+trace+seafood+meals/4565471/story.html#ixzz1IxL91xjA

Slow Fish

Fish: It’s a slippery issue. Hidden underwater, our marine resources are not easy to study or understand. What state are our seas in? What fish species are on the verge of extinction? Can we influence the market? Should we stop eating fish?

 

Just when we think land is in sight, we find ourselves out in the open sea again, unsure how to proceed, buffeted by contradictory advice, apocalyptic scenarios and a confusion of expert opinions, no longer sure what’s allowable or even safe to eat.

 

But if we stubbornly make the effort to investigate the subject, we can see strong currents of thought starting to form. Slow Food has been working in the field of sustainable fish for many years, raising awareness among seafood-lovers through the biennial Slow Fish fair in Genoa and developing projects to support responsible artisanal fishing communities. Our network’s members organize local initiatives all around the world.

 Read more

Yummy Fish Food

This is a promotional video for a new program at Blatchley Middle School. A group in Sitka is finding ways to bring fresh, local fish into the school lunch menu. This video is produced by students.

Watch Video

Outer Banks Catch Meeting April 11

The Outer Banks Catch executive committee will meet 6 pm, Monday, April 11, 2011, at the Dare County Administration Building in Manteo.

Trace and Trust

In 2010, the Cap Log Group (www.caploggroup.com) convened a small meeting between experienced New England fishermen and a few chefs in Rhode Island to discuss what could be done to put high quality, local and fresh seafood on their customers’ plates. Trace and TrustTM was born at that meeting. Just a few months later, these fishermen (and others) are working with these chefs (and others) to ensure their customers know who caught their seafood, as well as when, where, and how it got caught. The customers love the seafood – and the information!!!

Trace and TrustTM is dedicated to providing commercial fishermen (and their colleagues in the seafood distribution industry) the tools and support needed to allow retailers, restaurants and seafood customers to have vessel-level information about the seafood on their plates.

Read more

Sitka school district officials hoping to see more kids hooked on local fish on cafeteria menu

Putting fish in the local schools was established as a goal as the 2010 Sitka Health Summit. Since then, Lexi Fish and Beth Short have taken over the program, which is getting support from the Sitka Conservation Society, where Fish works.

A March 28 lunch was the third time local fish was served to students at Blatchley, and Short and Fish have lined up enough fish from local processors to keep the program going through the end of the school year.

Local fish will be served at BMS twice in April, and twice in May.

Sitka Sound Seafoods and Sitka Seafood Producers Cooperative have each donated about 20 pounds a month for the program, Fish said.

Moorman said the first time local fish was served at Blatchley, back in January, about 20 percent of students who bought lunch took part. The numbers were up over 30 percent the second time around, and hit 32 percent Monday, despite it being the first day after spring break.

Read more

Feds to visit Seabrook fishermen's cooperative

SEABROOK — Although still skeptical, the leadership at Yankee Fisherman's Cooperative was pleased to hear that federal officials will visit to identify the economic challenges facing local fishermen.

Seabrook is one of six Northeastern commercial fishing ports — along with Gloucester; New Bedford; Portland, Maine; Point Judith, R.I.; and Montauk, N.Y. — to be singled out for visits. Seabrook's co-op is the only remaining commercial fishing cooperative in the state, and manager Bob Campbell said the list of ports indicates Seabrook was most likely chosen because it lands the most commercial fish in the Granite State.

Read more

Gloucester, other ports in line for special federal economic aid

Gloucester and the other key commercial fishing ports of New England, struggling under the new groundfishing regimen, have been notified today they're being targeted by the U.S. Department of Commerce for special economic development assistance.

"Economic development assessment teams will deploy next month to conduct a two-day analysis of six Northeast fishing communities," the department said in an announcement posted on the agency's website just after noon.

In addition to Gloucester, the department is targeting New Bedford, Portland, Maine, Seabrook, N.H., Point Judith, R.I. and Montauk, N.Y., saying all would be served by the special teams that will conduct meetings with local leaders to help identify economic development challenges and opportunities facing local industries and communities.

Read more

Iceland companies urged to process all fish at home

ICELANDIC fishing companies are being urged to stop sending whole fish abroad and process everything at home in order to reduce unemployment.

Read more

More Fish in the Sea

Still in their infancy, sustainable fisheries trusts were born of the mounting need for new ways to aid community-based fishermen who stand as frontline stewards of the fisheries they have depended on for generations. Trusts now emerging in selected U.S. ports provide footholds for transforming the act of buying fish into a direct investment in the health of the fisheries where they are caught and the livelihoods of the fishermen who catch them. For example, calling it the “best investment you will ever taste,” Alaskans Own ™ seafood “is harvested by independent fishermen whose commitment to conservation is supported by the Alaska Sustainable Fisheries Trust.”

This marriage of mission and marketing represents a bold strategy for confronting the threats to Alaska’s wild fisheries and coastal communities—from industrial fishing practices, inadequate regulation and lack of financing—by empowering the very interests most at risk. Over time, proceeds from the sale of Alaskans Own ™ seafood will enable the Trust to provide increasing support for community based programs to improve fisheries conservation and local fishing economies. Profiles of the fishermen and examples of their hands-on conservation work are highlighted on the website. As promoted, “Through Alaskans Own ™ the Trust offers a better choice for consumers that benefits coastal fishermen, their communities and the marine resource that sustains us all.”

Read more

'Direct' seafood effort worked

It was a “fantastic” inaugural year for the Delcambre Direct Seafood campaign, despite millions of gallons of oil spilled in the Gulf of Mexico days before the dock sale campaign kicked off last spring, a porgram organizer said.

Hundreds of thousands of pounds of shrimp were sold to patrons directly from the boats because of the Web site launched to connect commercial fisherman with customers, said Thomas Hymel of the LSU Ag Center Sea Grant program.

Read more

Bayou La Batre seafood waste processing plant touted as job creator

Officials on Monday unveiled a $5 million-plus shrimp and crab waste processing plant in Bayou La Batre that’s expected to turn more than 5,000 tons of waste each year into fertilizer and animal feed.

Read more

Feds ignore law on fishing fund

A mid-20th century law written by legends of Massachusetts politics and American history, creating a multi-million dollar superfund to help promote and market domestic seafood, has been largely ignored, according to the Congressional Research Service.

Over the last decade, roughly $400 million that should have been spent on fishing industry projects — as mandated by the Saltonstall-Kennedy Act of 1954 — was instead diverted into the operating budget of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, according to government figures.

In Fiscal 2010, the Department of Commerce was obligated under the Saltonstall-Kennedy Act of 1954 and later modifications, to spend $68 million on "fishing industry projects" from an allocation of $113.4 million in tariffs paid to U.S. Customs Service on imported seafood and ocean products.

Instead, only $8 million went to the prescribed purposed, said Gary Reisner, CFO for NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service. The rest of the revenue from tariffs was used for NOAA operations.)

In 2010, the Department of Commerce received $113.4 million from the Department of Agriculture, as mandated by the law, and — based on a 1983 act of Congress — Commerce was obligated to spent at least 60 percent of that sum or $68.0 million on "fishing industry projects."

But after $104.6 million was shifted into NOAA operations, only $8 million was available for distribution in competitive grants, Gary Reisner, CFO for NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service, told the Times in a telephone interview.

Read more

Environmental Defense Fund Partners with Gulf Fishermen to Launch Gulf Wild™ Seafood Assurance Program

In a bold effort to restore consumer confidence in Gulf of Mexico seafood, EDF is working with a group of forward-looking Gulf fishermen and other conservation and fishery improvement organizations to launch a new seafood assurance campaign called Gulf Wild™. The Gulf of Mexico Reef Fish Shareholders’ Alliance, a trade organization of fishermen in the individual fishing quota (IFQ) catch share program for Gulf red snapper and grouper, developed Gulf Wild™ in collaboration with EDF to help consumers, chefs, and retailers identify responsibly managed, safety-inspected, authentic Gulf seafood that can be tracked directly to its source.

Read more