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News in Depth: Californians Celebrate Return of the Chinook
SAN FRANCISCO -- Fishing boats are streaming from California harbors for the first salmon catch of the season since 2005.
For three weeks, until May 31, the waters closest to San Francisco -- from Point Arena (Mendocino County) in the north, to Pigeon Point in southern San Mateo County -- are open to commercial fishing of wild king salmon. Finally, we can eat; we can celebrate. But the cheers and consumption, experts say, will be short-lived. That's because the area will be closed for the entire month of June, the most abundant month for local salmon, in an attempt to preserve enough fish to restock the Klamath River spawning grounds. That means local salmon will be plentiful this month, but next month supplies will shrink. Prices this season are hard to predict, but at press time locally caught salmon was retailing for as high as $26.50 per pound, compared to $14.99 for Washington salmon and $11.99 for salmon from Alaska. The Klamath has been subjected to the demands of various interests, such as industrial farms that divert water and the hydroelectric power industry, which builds dams along the river. Low flows and water conditions are contributing to the collapse of the Klamath's salmon population. Ensuring Future Supply Last year, the Pacific Fishery Management Council, the federal agency that manages marine fisheries, closed the local fishery entirely -- a draconian action that will likely be repeated. "This is the most important issue of the century for food," says Paul Johnson, president of the San Francisco wholesale and retail dealer Monterey Fish, and author of the forthcoming cookbook, "Fish Forever,'' due out next month (John Wiley and Sons, Inc.). Johnson and U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson, D-St. Helena, are part of a group of chefs, fishermen, wholesalers and distributors, ecological organizations, and passionate proponents of sustainable seafood who were in Washington, D.C., to persuade lawmakers to look at the big picture of salmon and sustainability. The country lacks a broad federal water management policy to ensure healthy salmon runs in the future. The campaign is not pushing a specific piece of legislation but rather asking for an overall policy. One problem, they say, is that so many states and congressional committees are involved. "The jurisdiction and geography is so broad, and there is nothing to protect the salmon," says Cat Lazaroff of Earthjustice, a national environmental group that is co-sponsoring the call to action. Pietro Parravano, a Half Moon Bay salmon fisherman and president of the Institute for Fishery Resources, a fishermen's association, says local fishermen cannot survive another closure such as 2006. Such closures also frustrate consumers who buy his salmon at the Palo Alto Farmers' Market. "It's summertime; we're used to having salmon on our plates. How can one watershed (the Klamath) cripple one economic engine on the West Coast?" Educating Congress Earthjustice founded the consortium of groups, including chefs, to pull together a statement and to meet with lawmakers from the Northwest and California. Besides chefs, consumers can voice their concerns by signing the Salmon Consumer Bill of Rights and Responsibilities on the Why Wild Salmon? Web site, another item Lazaroff and Johnson will present to members of Congress in various meetings throughout the week. Paul Johnson, formerly a chef, knows the culinary magic of wild salmon. "They are ocean-trolled and individually handled by small-boat fisherman, which makes them better quality. I compare it to wild blackberries," he says. "I would hate to see us have no choice but aquacultured fish. They're the same as store-bought blackberries. They never really sing with flavor." Following next month's closure, the local fishing territory will reopen in July for two months. Various small areas of the California coast between the Oregon border and the Mexico border are subject to a patchwork of open-close dates and regulations, many intended to protect the endangered Klamath River salmon returning to spawn. – San Francisco Chronicle News Brief: Oystermen Face Tougher State Controls SEATTLE -- Commercial oyster harvests will have stricter state controls this summer in hope of preventing outbreaks like the 113 cases of oyster-related bacterial illness reported in Washington last year.The Washington State Board of Health unanimously passed an emergency rule Wednesday setting maximum times that may elapse before oysters must be chilled after harvest, and imposing stringent monitoring of commercial oyster beds. The rule does not apply to oysters designated for cooking only. State Department of Health officials proposed the rule after the bacterium Vibrio parahaemolyticus sickened a record number of people last summer with nausea, diarrhea, stomach cramps, headache, fever and chills. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said about 300 cases of 'vibriosis' linked to Pacific Northwest oysters were reported across the U.S. last year. Many more cases were likely not reported, health officials said. The new rule applies to 12 major growing areas and Hood Canal and will be in effect from June through September, when the bacteria thrive and invade oysters. After the summer, the board will study the rule's effects and consider making it permanent. It also will apply to any other area linked to an illness. Previously, state controls were based on guidelines set by the shellfish industry and approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration. The new state rule requires oyster producers to sample growing areas at least every two weeks for the bacteria and keep detailed records. Health authorities will immediately sample any area linked to an illness and, based on bacteria levels, could apply more stringent temperature controls or close the area. Two or more cases of illness also would automatically close the area. – Seattle Times News: Priest to Bless Fleet in Alaska HOMER – Each fishing season is "another opportunity to provide for our families our daily bread," Drew Scalzi, a Homer fisherman wrote of Homer's first blessing of the fleet in 1996.Scalzi, then vice president of the North Pacific Fisheries Association and president of the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly, said every time fishermen returned home safely was an "opportunity to share our rewards among our community. And that, by the grace of God, we may also teach our children the values that abound in a lifestyle that provides us the essentials for a balanced and fulfilling life." Scalzi died in 2005, but the tradition of blessing the fleet lives on. This year's event is scheduled for May 19, and is being organized by a four-member committee including Debbie Rehder, Rick Wise, Lou Lovelace and Jean Adams. As boats leave the harbor at 3:30 p.m., flowers will be tossed their direction from spectators standing on shore at the harbor entrance. The boats will then proceed around the tip of Homer Spit, reuniting in front of the Seafarer's Memorial where a blessing will be given by Wise, pastor of Glacierview Baptist Church, and broadcast to boats and spectators over a microphone and VHF radio. What is different from previous fleet blessings is that the committee is separating it from a memorial for fishermen lost at sea. "We're thinking maybe we'll do that over Labor Day weekend," Rehder said. – Homer Tribune News in Depth: Shad a Tough Life for Commercial Fishermen ALBANY, N.Y. -- Steve Nack eased his aluminum boat under the railroad bridge between the snug harbor and open water. Before him was the mighty Hudson at slack tide, one of the best shad fisheries in America."This," he said, opening his arms to a breathtaking view of the distant Catskills, "is what brings me out here." That, and a Captain Ahab-like obsession for catching iridescent American shad in great numbers. Nack takes May off from his day job with the Columbia County Soil and Conservation District to keep alive a way of life he learned from his father, the late, legendary commercial shad fisherman Everett Nack. Retired Maple Hill social studies teacher Jerry Leggieri serves as his tireless assistant. There's little romance to commercial shad fishing. It is continuous, backbreaking work that gets everyone in the boat up close and personal every shad that comes aboard. From a 5-foot-high plastic barrel, Leggieri and Nack carefully pull out 600 feet of monofilament meshed gill net that's 20 feet deep when it's in the water. The net is dropped at a right angle to the shore, across the river. The trick is to keep the net straight across and extended, despite tides, swirling wind and current shifts. As the name implies, the fish are caught by the gills as they try to swim through. It's pretty basic stuff. Before each roe shad is tossed into a large rectangular plastic container called a tote, Leggieri or Nack expertly severs a major blood vessel where the belly meets the gills. "That way the fish bleeds out externally, and not internally," Nack explains. Which is why his shad roe is of a superior color and quality, not bloodshot red. Pulitzer Prize-winning writer John McPhee, in "The Founding Fish," chronicles the importance of the shad to American Indians, to our Colonial-era ancestors and to their kin up through the early 20th century. In the beginning, shad mattered a great deal. Less so now. Sexier fish like the cod and striped bass got the media glitter and attention, but it was the iridescent shad and cholesterol-rich roe that during springtime were the affordable mainstays of the workingman's table along the Eastern seaboard. The shad, like its smaller cousins the river herring and the striped bass, is an anadromous fish, spawning in fresh water but living most of its life in the ocean. American shad are the last and only fish that can still be commercially netted from the Hudson and sold for public consumption. That's because shad make a mad dash from the ocean to the spawning beds, eat nothing in the river, then scoot right back out to sea. They have neither time nor opportunity to absorb pollutants like polychlorinated biphenyls from the river. The Department of Environmental Conservation issues 150 gill net permits a year, mostly for netting herring for bait. Only about a handful go to serious shad fishermen, and that includes Steve Natick; a partner, Jeff Johnson; and Jeff's son George, who runs a second boat and a second set of nets. "We get about $5 for the roe from each fish, and 25 cents a pound for the shad. With the shad running from seven to 10 pounds, the average fish is worth about $7 to us," Nack explained. "The goods news for us is that the feds closed down the ocean shad fishery three or four years ago, so the demand has been good since. Basically, our buyer from Boston will take everything we can bring in," he added. "Every year I tell them at my day job I might not be back, if the fishing is good. Every year, though, I go back." – Times Union News: More Fish Fraud: Sushi CHICAGO -- The sushi menus said red snapper, a fish prized for its flavor -- and priced accordingly.But a Sun-Times investigation found good reason to question whether diners are getting what's promised. The newspaper had DNA tests done on sushi described as red snapper or "Japanese red snapper" bought from 14 restaurants in the city and suburbs. Not a single one was really red snapper. In most cases, the red-tinged flesh draped across the small mound of rice was tilapia -- a cheap substitute. Nine of the 14 samples were tilapia. Four were red sea bream -- nearly as pricey but still not red snapper. "It's misbranding, and it's fraud," said Spring Randolph of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which oversees labeling of seafood. And there's ample reason to believe diners around the country similarly are being taken in. The Sun-Times found that some restaurant owners said that when they order red snapper, their suppliers send what the owners acknowledged, after checking, is actually tilapia. And most sushi fish in the United States comes from just a handful of suppliers. In addition, there's little government oversight. Generally, that's left to the FDA. Though the agency tries to investigate complaints, "We are not directly going out looking for species substitution," Randolph said. Another FDA official said: "From the reports that we have received, there has been an increase in species substitution. It is a problem." Popularity Leads to Overfishing Three years ago, prompted in part by concerns over mislabeled tilapia, the Japanese government called on retailers to accurately label fish. In the United States, the Congressional Research Service -- Congress' research arm -- issued a report last month citing a government survey that found 37% of fish examined by the National Marine Fisheries Service were mislabeled. A separate survey by the Fisheries Service found a whopping 80% of red snapper was mislabeled. With red snapper, there's incentive to cheat. It brings a good price. And the fish -- found largely in the western Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico -- has become so popular that it's overfished, making it harder to find. As a result, it's among the most commonly "substituted" fish, according to the FDA. There are roughly 250 snapper species worldwide. Under federal law, just one can be sold as red snapper -- the one known to scientists as Lutjanus campechanus. Whole red snapper sells for $9 a pound, or more, retail. Tilapia sells for half that. But restaurant owners said they're not trying to mislead customers. They say they ask for red snapper and their distributors sell them “red snapper.” - Chicago Sun-Times News: Salmon Harvest Kicks Off at Copper River Fishery ANCHORAGE -- A new salmon year opened Monday morning as commercial fishermen go after Copper River kings and reds.The Copper River annually is the scene of the first major Alaska salmon harvest of the season, and gastronomes across the continent savor the springtime arrival of the fish in restaurants and supermarkets. Some 500 boats, most of them based in Cordova, unfurled their nets beginning at 7 a.m. for a 12-hour opener. Fresh fish were expected to show up locally in a day or so, but buyers beware -- king fillets likely will cost $20 a pound or more, and reds won't come much cheaper. State biologists predict a commercial catch of 1.36 million red salmon, the fleet's main money fish. Last season's catch was 1.5 million reds, the fifth-best haul in 116 years. Fishermen are likely to tally about 50,000 kings. Early catches were expected to be typically weak. The migrating salmon will start to enter the river in greater numbers as fishermen get more shots at them, maybe as soon as Thursday. This year, the operator of two upscale Manhattan restaurants -- the China Grill and a new place called Wild Salmon -- planned to fly two chefs to Cordova to personally "witness" the fishing, handpick some king salmon, then jet back to New York to serve the fish Tuesday night. It's great to see Copper River salmon promotions break out of the Northwest and "stretch clear across the country," said Thea Thomas, a commercial gillnetter and president of a Cordova-based salmon marketing association. Alaska Airlines was set to haul up to 160,000 pounds of Copper River salmon to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, with the first planeload to arrive at 6 a.m. Tuesday, the airline said. Fishmongers from Seattle's downtown Pike Place Market were expected to toss the first salmon off the aircraft. As you might imagine, the media is invited. – Wild Catch columnist Wesley Loy, writing for the Anchorage Daily News Legislative Watch: Senate Approved Tougher Fish Inspection Rules WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The U.S. Senate passed an amendment last week that boosts FDA authority to inspect imports of fish, shrimp and other seafood for antibiotics and banned substances.The amendment, one of many attached to the Prescription User Fee Act of 2007, was introduced by an Alabama senator, and cosponsored by Louisiana senators Mary Landrieu and David Vitter, as well as senators from Arkansas, Mississippi and Alabama. "American fishermen and seafood workers adhere to the world's strictest food safety standards, and we should hold our imported seafood to the same level of scrutiny," Landrieu said in a statement Thursday. "Importing unsafe seafood from other countries like China and Vietnam puts American consumers at risk and hurts American shrimpers and fishermen in the Gulf. Our amendment gives the FDA full authority to rigorously inspect our imports and the facilities where they are produced." Tougher seafood inspections gained steam on the federal level after Louisiana joined Alabama and Mississippi last week in cracking down on Chinese imports. Fish shipments were testing positive for banned antibiotics, which are illegal to use in food because people can develop a resistance to them. They also can have side effects in unknowing consumers, like any other medicine. The amendment would require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to report back to Congress on what steps are being taken to ensure proper inspections are occurring. The secretary would also have to develop a system to trace seafood imports, potentially allowing federal inspectors to better find the source of tainted food when it's discovered. The FDA found banned antibiotics in shrimp imports from China, Indonesia and other countries in trace amounts. Scientists debate the level of consumption needed to cause health concerns. Louisiana is the fourth leading catfish producer in the U.S., mostly in central and northwest parishes of the state. Over the past 10 years, jobs have been lost, and revenue has dropped from $75 million to $20 million, as local fishermen and processing plants struggle to compete. – The Daily Advertiser, Lafayette, La. News: Caviar Ban May Hurt Midwest Sturgeon CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Every spring, fishermen wait for a peculiar-looking fish to swim up the Wabash River between southern Illinois and Indiana.But scientists worry that the decline of another type of sturgeon half a world away could mean trouble for the shovelnose, North America‘s smallest sturgeon. As a result of the increase in demand for the shovelnose, states are beginning to look for ways to protect the fish. Illinois legislators are considering restrictions on shovelnose fishing, including a commercial season and size limit. Indiana will establish similar restrictions this summer and Wisconsin is considering them. States from Missouri to the Dakotas have restrictions of varying degrees on their rivers, where the fish is less plentiful than in the Wabash. Missouri‘s harvest has increased since 2000 from a few thousand pounds to about 35,000 pounds annually. Some fishermen support regulation, if only as a precaution. Dams, navigation locks and pollution have eliminated the fish from Pennsylvania, New Mexico and large parts of Kansas, Kentucky, Tennessee and Ohio, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Ohio has been trying to restock its Scioto River at a cost of $3 to $5 a fish for the past five years, with limited success. It‘s possible for a fisherman to make $1,500 a day after expenses, said Rob Maher, who manages commercial fishing for the Illinois DNR. Researchers working on the Mississippi and other rivers have cited a lack of young fish the past few years. Ronnie Harrington says he has fished the Wabash for just about all of his 70 years, and says that the Wabash is flush with shovelnose sturgeon — "gobs" of them — but he has no problem with regulation intended to keep it that way. "If you catch the little bitty ones, you know, you‘re gonna‘ defeat the purpose," he said. – Associated Press News in Depth: Feds Urged to Intercede in Lobster War FREDERICTON, New Brunswick -- The federal Fisheries Department is under growing pressure to resolve a tense, territorial dispute between lobster fishermen on New Brunswick's Miramichi Bay.An uneasy calm has settled on the waters off northeastern New Brunswick after more than 1,000 lobster traps were cut last week in what is being described as a turf war between fishermen. The Maritime Fishermen's Union, which represents fishermen involved in the Miramichi Bay conflict, says the federal Fisheries Department is "sleeping at the wheel" and allowing the dispute to continue without making the changes necessary for a long-term solution. Christian Brun of the fishermen's union says that at the heart of the problem is the fact that on Miramichi Bay - like so many other areas where fishing crises have occurred - there are too many fishermen pursuing too few lobsters. He says Ottawa must rationalize the lobster fishery in northeastern New Brunswick and that means reducing the number of fishermen on the water as soon as possible. The area in question, zone 23, is a broad fishing region stretching along the northern and northeastern coasts of the province. The lobster season opened in late April and is scheduled to continue until late June, producing the main source of income for many fishermen in the area. A cold start to the spring means the lobsters have been slow moving inshore to the waiting traps, and that has increased the sense of desperation among fishermen. Last week, an estimated 1,500 lobster traps were cut loose in Miramichi Bay waters fished by Neguac, Tabusintac and Burnt Church fishermen, while a few hundred traps were reported cut loose in the Miscou Island area. The Miscou-Pigeon Hill dispute escalated when Miscou Island fishermen were forced to sail around the island to access their traditional fishing grounds after a channel to the Pigeon Hill area was deliberately blocked by debris. There are about 200 fishermen fishing in the disputed areas. Brun says the problem began in the 1990s when the Fisheries Department made a number of management changes, including some to accomodate increased fishing by First Nations communities. Brun says Ottawa's decision to allow natives to harvest 600,000 to 800,000 pounds of lobster per year for ceremonial purposes during the lobster's peak reproductive season led to an immediate reduction in the resource. He says that triggered the movement of harvesters away from their normal fishing grounds, which in turn resulted in conflict. For their part, fisheries officials say they are encouraged by recent talks with fishermen and RCMP representatives aimed at defusing tensions. DFO spokeswoman Krista Petersen says the department is looking at a number of options, including a new, tougher curfew for fishermen on the water. Fisheries officials also say they are willing to consider dividing the northern lobster zone, if they can get fishermen to agree on the lines. There have been similar disputes in prior years. In 2004, at least three lobster boats were rammed and as many as 1,000 traps were cut. - Canadian Press News: New Marine Reserves to Hurt Fishermen MORRO BAY, Calif. — California has created an especially ambitious network of marine havens along its 1,100-mile coast, which officials liken to President Theodore Roosevelt's creation of national parks, except these "parks" are at sea.Many of the first 29 preserves midway between Los Angeles and San Francisco aspire to return the sea to paradise conditions, the way it was before modern California became the world's eighth-largest economy. The havens ban or restrict fishing and any other harvesting -- which has drawn a storm of protest from fishermen, restaurateurs and officials who say the rules will hurt businesses and town treasuries. No one challenges, though, that the habitats are worthy of Jacques Cousteau: muddy seafloors, deep marine canyons, near-shore rocky reefs and estuarine eelgrass beds. Inhabitants include coho salmon, steelhead trout, sea otters, sea lions, Dungeness crab, gray whales and brown pelicans. While not as readily accessible as landlocked counterparts, the marine preserves, initiated last month after bureaucratic and financial delays, will offer scientists and tourists a view of submerged or waterborne life reputed to be among the most diverse and productive in the world. Nothing on this scale The notion of such marine protected areas "really hasn't been done on the scale of California's," said John Ugoretz, environmental program manager with the state's Department of Fish and Game. "I'd say the only place where you could compare this with is the Great Barrier Reefs in Australia, where they have a big system of marine protected areas," he added. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has said that the new zones make his state "a national leader in ocean management." But in fishing communities like Morro Bay, population 10,000, the new restrictions could put many fisheries out of business, said Mayor Janice Peters. Under increasing federal and state rules, the town's annual sales tax receipts from fishing have declined to $3 million from $10 million several years ago, she said. Critics are challenging state officials over whether the West Coast waters are indeed in distress. In fact, they say, the heavily regulated Pacific fisheries are in much better shape than the East Coast's, which California officials don't dispute. Still, the officials say the zones are an attempt to see the real potential of the sea once man's influence is eliminated or curtailed. Marine protected areas are used nationwide and worldwide, but California's plan is considered noteworthy because of the state's vast coastline and the major population centers that heavily use the ocean, state officials said. There is a catch Still, a recent survey commissioned by the Alliance of Communities for Sustainable Fisheries showed two-thirds of Californians disagree that fishing harms the ocean, and most supported family-run fishing operations. Vern Goehring, manager for the California Fisheries Coalition, said the new regulations fail to address developers and others whose businesses indirectly contaminate the ocean. 'Regulating fishing is just easier than taking on the commercial polluters,' he said. State officials say the closures are meant to re-establish and study untouched breeding grounds. – Chicago Tribune News Brief: Copper River Opening a Tough Day CORDOVA, Alaska -- The first day of the Copper River (Alaska) salmon season was a mess. Winds blew up to 40 knots. Visibility was horrible. Celebrity chefs and not-so-famous chefs gathered to eyeball what has become a culinary milestone of each passing year: the first big salmon run.Strong winds and high waves kept most of the fishermen out of open water, where sockeye are most often caught. In Chinook waters, the wind blew gillnets tight, allowing many fish to escape before entangling themselves. Many skippers simply gave up. Others stuck it out but landed only minimal catches. Pricing was similar to last year: $3.75 for sockeye and $6 for Chinook, with retail prices to be more than $20 a pound. – Pacific Fishing News: Poison Pro Says Chinese Catfish Won’t Poison You JACKSON, Miss. - The director of the Mississippi Poison Control Center says Chinese catfish tainted with outlawed antibiotics pose no threat to those who eat it.Dr. Robert Cox is so sure of that fact, he'd feed the fish to his family. Contaminated catfish has been pulled from supermarket shelves all over the state after tainted samples were found by officials. Lester Spell, the state's Agriculture and Commerce commissioner, says hundreds of grocery stores have been inspected and that many have removed the fish from sale voluntarily after hearing test results. Earlier this month tests by officials found ciprofloxacin and enrofloxacin, members of the fluoroquinolones family of antibiotics, which are banned for use in the United States. But Cox, a medical toxicologist who works as an emergency room physician at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, says a person would have to eat 220,000 pounds of the fish to get a full adult dose of the antibiotic. – Associated Press Hong Kong Hospital Group Bans Shark-fin Soup HONG KONG -- A hospital group that is Hong Kong's oldest and largest charitable organization has become the latest group to ban shark-fin soup from banquets, a newspaper reported Monday.The Tung Wah Group of Hospitals said it had decided to stop serving what is considered one of the most prized Chinese delicacies over concern about the world's declining shark population, the Standard said. Shark fin soup has now been replaced by bird's nest or other Chinese-style soups. Environmentalists estimates that millions of sharks are killed each month by finning, the process by which the fins of the shark are sliced off and the creature is left to die. The Tung Wah group said it holds about 30 banquets a year for fund-raising and charity galas, and with up to 35 tables on each occasion, shark-fin soup can be a pricey dish because it typically costs up to 4,000 Hong Kong dollars (513 US dollars) per table. Both Hong Kong Disneyland and the University of Hong Kong dropped shark-fin soup from their menus in 2005, but the Hong Kong government has so far refused requests from environmentalists to scrap the dish from banquets for visiting dignitaries. – Earth Times News Brief: Does Organic Label Mean Anything? When it comes to seafood, the USDA has not developed an organic certification standard for fish – whether wild or farmed. Since there are no regulations determining whether a fish is organic or not, any can be labeled as such.And as far as cosmetics and body care products go, it’s futile to buy organic, according to Consumer Reports, which states that they found “indiscriminate use of synthetic ingredients” in personal-care products. In addition to the official “organic” labels, consumers also run into identifiers like free-range, free roaming, natural, and all natural – but none of these mean a product is organic. Weak government standards (such as chickens being labeled “free-range” because their coop door is opened for five minutes a day) makes these phrases less dependable than the organic stamp. Which means Gala apples and filet mignon are worthy organic purchases, but the “organic” shampoo and salmon stores are offering can be passed over. – Science Line Trends: Fusion Seafood Retail A new combination Japanese restaurant and fish market has opened at Ala Moana Center's Hookipa Terrace in Hawaii.The 14,000-square-foot Tsukiji Fish Market and Restaurant, open for lunch and dinner, has a Japanese buffet and sushi and yakitori bars. The fish market sells local and imported fish, shellfish, poke and assorted seafood, and features daily fish filleting demonstrations. The combination fish market and restaurant is inspired by Japan's largest fish market, Tsukiji Central Wholesale Market, according to restaurant owner Ken Mitsusune, who is a native of Japan. – Pacific Business News News: Two Ocean Green Groups Merge WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Some Americans think of the environmental community as a fractious bunch of free thinkers, that if you put two of them together they would generate at least three different opinions. But now two groups -- the Pew Charitable Trusts environmental program and the National Environmental Trust -- are trying to buck that reputation by combining to form the Pew Environment Group.The merger highlights a shift among green groups toward campaign-oriented advocacy. Rather than having staffers who work on general environmental issues over time, Pew Environment Group will aim to accomplish a few high-profile goals -- such as overhauling the 1872 Mining Law and creating several major overseas marine reserves -- within the next few years. "We're integrating a set of skills and talents into a unified campaign," said Joshua S. Reichert, who has directed Pew's Environment Program since 1990 and will serve as managing director of the Pew Environment Group. "It's a way of putting together a coordinated strategy." Pew's funding will make the new organization influential overnight: By the time it starts up in December, the group will have an annual operating budget of about $70 million and 80 employees in the United States and overseas. It will be one of the world's biggest marine conservation groups, as well as a major U.S. science and advocacy organization. In addition to its operations here, the Pew Environment Group will have offices in Australia, Europe, Latin America, and the Western Pacific and Indian oceans. The National Environmental Trust, which was founded in 1994 and has received roughly one-third of its funding from Pew since its inception, already boasts a sizable D.C. office and organizers from swing states in the Midwest and elsewhere. The two groups have already worked together on several environmental campaigns, pressing for greenhouse gas emission reductions and protection of roadless areas in national forests. Clapp said their shift in strategy is driven by the urgency of climate change and other key environmental questions that probably will be decided within the next decade. Environmental advocates hailed the prospect of a merger as a boost to their cause, while opponents warned that it could undermine sound public-policy decisions. - Washington Post News: Greenpeace Promises More Stunts/Protests ABERDEEN, U.K. -- Greenpeace activists who stand accused of risking lives by staging protests against cod fishing in the North Sea last night vowed the action would continue off the coast of Aberdeen.Campaigners took direct action at 8 a.m. yesterday for the second time in three days to halt North Sea trawlers fishing cod. A Greenpeace swimmer, clad in a survival suit and clutching a buoy emblazoned with "stop battering cod," threw himself in front of two vessels 40 miles east of Unst in Shetland. The two trawlers, Fraserburgh-registered Carisanne II and the Peterhead vessel Demares, were forced to drag in their net following the protest, the group claimed. As the trawlers tried to put their net back in the water, the campaigners attached a large buoy to it. The campaigners vowed to continue their fight as they headed for Aberdeen, where the Greenpeace vessel Arctic Sunrise is expected to dock tomorrow. The Scottish Fishermen's Federation has branded the acts "idiotic" and criticized the confrontational nature of the protest. Greenpeace fears North Sea cod stocks could be wiped out if the fishery is allowed to continue. The federation said it was encountering the best cod stocks for many years and was adhering to catch quotas imposed in Brussels last December. Chief executive Bertie Armstrong said: "If Greenpeace choose to hazard themselves, that is one thing, but it is another when they decide to put others at risk." Armstrong said he had made a complaint about the protest to the Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency. The Greenpeace campaigners are calling not only for a halt to cod fishing but also for large areas of the North Sea to become protected as marine reserves. On Saturday, a Greenpeace swimmer tried to stop the Scottish trawler Endurance fishing by placing himself in the boat's course. Fishery chiefs will be invited on board for discussions when the Arctic Sunrise docks in Aberdeen on Wednesday. - Aberdeen Press and Journal News: Celebrity Chefs Blissful as Shrimp Season Begins NEW ORLEANS, La. – The 2007 shrimp season is open! The wait is over for celebrity chefs of the New Orleans French Quarter, Louisiana's shrimping families, and shrimp lovers everywhere.As shrimpers hauled in the first catch of the season, the Louisiana Seafood Promotion & Marketing Board (LSPMB) scooped them up for direct delivery to Quarter chefs on May 15. In a season kick-off event, they brought heightened visibility to wild-caught Louisiana shrimp and the shrimping families who have always made it happen. At Omni Bank armed guards loaded blocks of shrimp packaged in gold into an armored truck for delivery to some of the Quarter's most prestigious restaurants. First stop, K-Paul's, where internationally famous Chef Paul Prudhomme waved to the approaching entourage, including shrimping families in horse-drawn carriages, an eight-foot tall dancing shrimp, a Dixieland brass band, local business owners, and other supporters of the shrimping community. New Orleans Councilman James Carter did the honors, presenting Chef Paul with what shrimpers traditionally have called their catch -- bayou gold. "Fishermen are the kingpin of shrimping," said Chef Paul. "These families hold up the whole house of cards, harvesting over 100 million pounds every year. I will always serve wild-caught Louisiana shrimp. Because it's local. Because it's the best." Ewell Smith, LSPMB executive director, added, "Louisiana chefs didn't become famous cooking chicken or beef. Fresh seafood from our waters is the foundation of our esteemed culinary tradition." – PR Newswire Group Demands Ban on Foodstuffs from China WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Questions about the safety of imported food go far beyond melamine contaminated wheat products, according to the consumer advocacy group Food & Water Watch.A Food & Water Watch analysis reveals that refusals of seafood shipments from China for veterinary drug residue contamination increased dramatically in April, even though the U.S. Food & Drug Administration inspects barely 1% of all seafood imports. "A ban on Chinese food imports to the United States should be implemented until the safety of U.S. consumers can be guaranteed. The current crisis demonstrates that all shipments of food items from China should be inspected and tested,"said Food & Water Watch Executive Director Wenonah Hauter. Very few drugs are approved for use in domestic fish farming. However, drugs like flouroquinolones ciprofloxacin and enrofloxacin are routinely used in fish farm operations in Asia. These drug residues could result in life threatening allergic reactions and may encourage development of drug resistant bacteria. FDA refused 78 shipments from China for veterinary drug contamination between January and April 2007, the same number of shipments refused in all of 2006. More than half of those shipments were refused in April 2007. The state of Alabama recently joined Mississippi and Louisiana in enacting a ban of Chinese catfish after test revealed flouroquinolone residues. Earlier this month, Rep. Mike Ross, D-Ark, asked the FDA to ban Chinese catfish and Senator Sessions, R-Ala, added an amendment to FDA legislation calling on the agency to increase import inspections and testing. "The high profile case of contaminated wheat gluten in pet and animal food is just one example of how federal regulators are unable to offer even a minimal level of protection to consumers in the face of ever-increasing food imports," Hauter said. "Congress must give the Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. Department of Agriculture the resources and authority they need to protect consumers and avoid these risks in the first place." China, the leading exporter to the United States, accounted for 69% of refusals for veterinary drug residues. The growing catfish industry accounted for 37% of refusals of Chinese shipments, shrimp for 28%, and eel for 22%. The number of refusals for Chinese catfish and shrimp has far surpassed the number refused in all of 2006. So far in 2007, veterinary drug refusals have made up 19.5% of all seafood import refusals, compared to 8% in 2006, 3% in 2005, 6% in 2004, and 2% in 2003. – Press release News in Depth: For Restaurateur, Sustainability is Hard Work WASHINGTON -- Barton Seaver has bags under his eyes for a reason: Besides the exhaustive work it takes to get any new restaurant up and running, he spends his nights surfing the Web to determine which fish he can serve his customers with a clean conscience.Seaver, who opened the seafood restaurant Hook several weeks ago, preaches the sustainability mantra with conviction. He has become convinced that at a time when scientists are warning that commercial fish stocks could collapse by 2048, he and other chefs need to prepare meals that do not deplete the world's oceans. Seaver has joined a growing number of chefs in Washington and elsewhere who, motivated by a mix of ethical and pragmatic concerns, are trying to serve only fish that can reproduce at the rate they're being caught. Americans are eating more fish even as the nation's stocks are struggling. Between 2001 and 2005, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries Service, per-capita annual U.S. seafood consumption rose from 14.8 pounds to 16.2 pounds; more than half of that was eaten in restaurants. But according to an analysis by Rebecca Goldberg, a scientist with the advocacy group Environmental Defense, roughly 1 in 3 U.S.-managed fisheries is already overfished or getting there. "Why are fish unsustainable?" says Seaver, who also extends the sustainability commitment to Hook's other ingredients. "Because they're popular. What makes restaurants work? Popular dishes that people come back for." So chefs engage in a high-stakes sales pitch, replacing crowd-pleaser dishes such as Chilean sea bass -- which is actually Patagonian toothfish -- for less-familiar fish that are more abundant. At the Oceanaire Seafood Room in downtown Washington, head chef Rob Klink stopped serving Patagonian toothfish five years ago despite customers' demands for it. "We're here long term," he said. "There's no reason for us to be using anything that can't be sustained." Such practices can have an impact: Between 1998 and 2000, the conservation groups SeaWeb and Natural Resources Defense Council ran a campaign called "Give Swordfish a Break," persuading more than 700 U.S. chefs and three major cruise lines to stop serving North Atlantic swordfish. In response, Clinton administration officials closed swordfish nursery areas in U.S. waters and pushed for stronger international management rules. The fish recovered: In 1998 it was down to 65 percent of sustainable levels; by 2002 it was up to 94 percent. Many chefs serve farm-raised fish on the grounds that farming operations do not deplete wild fish stocks. Some farmed fish, however, have their own environmental downside. Farmed salmon remains popular with U.S. consumers because it's cheaper than wild, but scientists and environmental activists say the open-water fish farms that produce them can pollute the ocean while consuming vast amounts of smaller, wild fish as feed for the salmon. Attempts to buy only sustainable fish often put American chefs in the position of being international brokers, taking cell phone calls from island fishermen who relate what they've hauled up that same day. Because bluefin tuna is in trouble, Seaver buys blackfin tuna from a three-person fishing cooperative in Tobago. The fishermen call Seaver to tell him what they've caught; if he gives his OK, the fish arrives in Washington within 24 hours. - The Washington Post News: Think Sushi is Healthier than Pizza? NEW YORK - Think you're taking the healthy option when you choose sushi for your lunch? Think again, according to food writer Trevor Corson.Researching the history of sushi and its rising popularity in the United States, Corson found the popular belief that sushi is better for you than pizza is not always true. In fact a sushi takeout box at an American supermarket could easily contain as many calories as two slices of pizza, and the sushi rolls served in restaurants are often worse. "What we think of as sushi in the United States has become Americanized and that involves more fatty ingredients while the rice tends to be sweet," Corson told Reuters in an interview. "There is a lot of sugar, carbohydrates and sodium in the rice and then there is the issue with fish -- as when you eat fish anywhere -- you have to be concerned about mercury." Exposing the myth about sushi always being healthy was just one of the surprises that Corson came across as he researched his book "The Zen of Fish," which combines the history of sushi with the story of American Kate Murray who trains at the California Sushi Academy in Los Angeles. As he traced the history of sushi in Japan, Corson found that it was not about eating raw fish with the word sushi simply referring to its essential ingredients -- rice seasoned with vinegar. "Sushi began as a way of preserving old fish and street vendors turned it into a crude snack food," said Corson, who lived in Japan for three years and has also written "The Secret Life of Lobsters." In Japan the more "authentic" or high end sushi experience has dropped in popularity alongside the rise of conveyor belt sushi that is cheaper and mass produced for regular people, returning sushi to its proletarian roots. Sushi arrived in the United States via Los Angeles' Little Tokyo in the 1960s. It was introduced by a man named Noritoshi Kanai who worked for Mutual Trading Co. and had previously tried to introduce snake meat and chocolate covered ants to the United States as he looked for products to sell to Americans. It has since gone from being an exotic and adventurous novelty to being offered everywhere from restaurants, supermarkets, to even sports arenas -- but bears only a passing resemblance to its original Japanese incarnation. – Reuters News: Cruise Line Highlights Wild Seafood SEATTLE -- On the fins of last season's wildly popular Alaskan salmon cuisine offered every night on its Alaska-bound cruise ships, Holland America Line expands the menu by offering a completely wild Alaskan seafood dinner three times a week throughout the Alaska cruise season, and wild Alaskan salmon every night.The key to Holland America Line's wild dinner menu is that all the prepared seafood comes only from Alaskan commercial fishermen; no farm-raised fish or bivalves are served. "No where in the world can a seafood lover enjoy such a rich and varied bounty than what is caught in Alaska," said Richard D. Meadows, CTC, executive vice president, marketing, sales, and guest programs for Holland America Line. "And with this expanded menu, we underscore our commitment to wild Alaskan seafood on all Holland America Line Alaska cruises. It's one more way we fulfill our promise that our guests can experience Alaska with their eyes, their ears, and their palate." Created by Holland America Line's Master Chef Rudi Sodamin, the "Wild" dinner reflects the ongoing popularity of wild Alaskan seafood. Appetizers might start with an Avocado and Tomato Dungeness Crab Salad, followed by Smoked Chowder featuring hot-smoked Ketchikan Salmon, then highlighted with Herb-Crusted Alaskan Weathervane Scallops or Ginger-glazed Alaska Black Cod. Dinners are capped with Holland America Line's famous Gold Rush Baked Alaska, complete with a dusting of real edible gold, offered each night with a revolving variety of tempting toppings. - PRNewswire News: Gulf Shrimp Season Off to Slow Start THIBODAUX, La. -- Fishermen continued reporting less-than-spectacular catches on the second day of Louisiana's 2007 spring shrimp season, but state wildlife officials say it's a little too early to predict overall fortunes.The new moon that begins today should have an effect on shrimp movement, said Marty Bourgeois, director of the shrimp program for the state Department of Wildlife and Fisheries. "The next four or five nights we should see some big movements," said Bourgeois, who has received reports similar to those published over the past day, that fishermen are netting decent-sized shrimp that are small in number. "Catches should certainly pick up then." The tidal differences -- meaning the difference between how high water is at high tide and how much it drops at low tide, a switch that occurs once every twelve hours -- from today through next week are expected to be about 1.8 feet. This year's shrimp season has been affected by a series of odd weather conditions in early spring, Bourgeois said. "We had unfavorable growing conditions," Bourgeois said. "February was cold and mid-March warmed up, then in April, water temperatures skyrocketed,' Bourgeois said. 'Then we had at Easter a driving north wind and cold air temperatures. One week later there was another front." The staccato weather conditions made for confused biology within shrimp, which are growing in nursery areas such as the marshes of Lafourche and Terrebonne. Opening just prior to the new moon has benefited fishermen with smaller boats, who have had a crack at catching larger shrimp before they move farther out to the bigger boats. Smaller shrimp inshore could be expected as they move out of the marshes with the lunar tides. - Houma Today News: Florida Stone Crab Season Ends KEYWEST, Fla. -- Monroe County once again will lead the state in stone-crab harvests, according to state figures, but the season that ended Tuesday falls short of a banner year.Key fishermen were expected to bring in nearly 800,000 pounds of crab claws in the six-month season that runs from October 15 through May 15 annually. In a unique fishery, trappers take only a single claw from the crab and release it alive. The crab uses the remaining claw to survive while it grows a new one over a period of 18 months. Final numbers won't be known for several weeks since catch reports from the last part of the season are still being collected and tallied. Figures compiled by the state Fish and Wildlife Research Institute in St. Petersburg indicate a statewide harvest of around 2.2 million pounds, up about 9% from last year. The overall catch was expected to be worth more than $21 million in dockside sales. Stone crabs rank only behind lobster as the most lucrative catch for Monroe County's commercial fleet. A 3 million pound harvest (which means more than 10 million claws were taken) is considered average. Harvests have been on the low side since a 3.5-million-pound season in 2001-02. Busy hurricane seasons affected the 2004 and 2005 seasons, destroying thousands of traps. No hurricane losses were reported this year, but rising costs for fuel and other expenses are costing the fishing fleet. - Florida Keys Keynoter Red Snapper News: If Price Seems Too Good to be True, It Is HOUSTON -- Passing off cheap tilapia, black drum, bay snapper (sheepshead) or another fish for expensive American red snapper is against the law. But that doesn't stop some restaurants. Fisherman Charles Graham and restaurateur Frixos Hrisinis offer these tips when ordering snapper.
Mykonos Island owner Hrisinis is cleaning American red snapper himself these days. The fish from the Gulf of Mexico has gotten so pricey, he wants to make sure nothing is wasted. "You see this snapper?" said the restaurateur, dangling the fish by its tail. "You're not going to see it on menus if prices continue to go up. If you do — it'll be $50." Chefs say prices have reeled out of control since federal regulators reduced the total allowable catch for American red snapper, prompting some to take the deepwater fish off their menus and bait diners with other lures. "The stock is depleted," said Roy Crabtree, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Southeast regional administrator. "We were taking too many fish out per year. The rate was too high. We needed to slow it down to rebuild the population. We were not letting the fish grow old enough to produce eggs." Fishmongers and chefs predict prices for American red snapper — when they find any — to reach an all-time high come fall, when many Gulf fishermen reach their individual fishing quota. The quota is based on the total allowable catch, which dropped to 6.5 million pounds from 9.1 million, a limit in place since the late '90s. The catch is split between commercial and recreational anglers, 51 percent and 49 percent, respectively. The new measures from the NOAA's Fisheries Service coincide with a year-end deadline from a federal court in Houston to implement a long-term strategy for reviving the Gulf snapper population. The new measures leave many of the 500 fishermen who have quota shares uncertain about the future. While fishermen are harvesting fewer true red snapper, demand has increased. The scramble reminds chefs of the redfish ban in the '80s, when Paul Prudhomme popularized blackened redfish coast to coast. "When they banned redfish from the Gulf, everybody went to Gulf red snapper," PK's Blue Water Grill owner Pat Kiley recalled. "People fell in love with snapper. It replaced redfish, and restaurants found a substitute. Now we'll have to find a substitute for it." – Houston Chronicle |