U.S. Congress Members Write Letter to

NOAA on Catch Shares Policy

Eight members of the U.S. Congress wrote a letter to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) on 3 November, 2011. The letter asks that the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), which is an agency under NOAA, provide better guidance on catch share policy to the country’s Regional Fishery Management Councils (RFMCs).

The letter emphasizes the need for fishing communities to be more involved in fishery decision-making processes and the need to investigate the potential of community associations and other mechanisms in order to retain local jobs and the long fishing heritage that exists within communities.

Read the letter here: Letter to NOAA on catch share policy

Can California Save its Salmon?

Bobbie Payton, from Roots of Change, published an exceptional blog post on California’s salmon situation. Using the help of Pietro Parravano, IFR’s Board President, Ms. Payton discusses the issues facing salmon populations in California and the steps fishermen and other actors are taking to bring their numbers back. The blog post provides an informative summary of a very complicated story.

CAN CALIFORNIA SAVE ITS SALMON?
Lately when I go to the fish counter at my local market, I’m overwhelmed trying to determine the most sustainable options for salmon, especially with all the conflicting messages out there about farmed and wild-caught. Farmed salmon live in contained waters with no connection to their natural environment. On the other hand, wild-caught salmon spend their entire lives in the wild and have the superior flavor that’s made them a favorite of fish eaters around the globe. Yet wild-caught salmon are facing an increased number of challenges for their survival.

How did it come to this? Why is it so hard to make the right choice? We have demanded more transparency in our food sector and today, have greater awareness of where our foods are sourced, but the salmon dilemma symbolizes one of the ways that we, the consumers are still disconnected from the origin of our food and wild seafood sources. I doubt many Californians understand how the loss in our salmon population is due to man-made impacts. So how did it get this bad and how do we fix it?

Read the full story here.

Background: Bobbie Peyton completed her M.A. from Tufts University in Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning (G07). She currently works with Roots of Change, an NGO working to develop a collaborative network of leaders and institutions to establish a sustainable food system in California by the year 2030.

This article was researched with the help of Brooke Halsey, a salmon fisheries advocate at the Tiburon Salmon Institute, and Pietro Parravano, a commercial fisherman from Half Moon Bay.

IFR Writes President Obama

The Institute for Fisheries Resources (IFR) was recently asked to provide a fisheries perspective on the Obama Administration’s jobs bill, together with the various proposals aimed at reducing the nation’s deficit.

IFR’s President, Pietro Parravano, rose to the occasion and crafted his thoughts on how America’s oldest industry should be addressed within the American Jobs Act. President Obama is encouraged to visit the nations’ fishing ports, where many jobs have been lost and many who are still fishing worry that there is no future in their chosen profession. They not only worry that they will have nothing to pass on to their sons and daughters, but whether they will still have work the next fishing season.

The American Jobs Act, with its focus on rebuilding our nation’s infrastructure, could significantly help our nation’s fishing industry, which in turn would help protect and create permanent and sustainable jobs.

Read the full 8 page letter.

San Francisco Community Fishing Association Opens!

It took a long time (2005 - 2011) but the fleet of small, family-owned commercial fishing vessels that call San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf home, now have their own business. A business that will allow the fishermen to decide how much they can get for their catch and where they will sell it. This video documents the first phase in a new way the San Francisco Bay Area will be able to access locally caught seafood, direct from the men and women who risk their lives bringing in the catch.

A Dream Comes True: San Francisco Community Fishing Association

For more information on Community Fishing Associations, check this out.

Success in Stage One of Genetically Engineered Salmon Ban!

On 15 June, the U.S. House of Representatives approved an amendment by Congressman Don Young (R-AK) that would bar the Food and Drug Administration from spending money to approve an application for controversial genetically-engineered (GE) salmon. If the agency were to approve the GE fish–which grow rapidly, reducing cost of production–it would be the first GE animal approved for human consumption. The measure passed the Republican-controlled House by voice vote.

The approval of GE salmon would represent a serious threat to the survival of native salmon populations, many of which have already suffered severe declines related to salmon farms and other man-made impacts. Wild Atlantic salmon are already on the Endangered Species List in the U.S.; approving these GE Atlantic salmon could be the final blow to these wild stocks. Additionally, the human health impacts of eating GE fish are entirely unknown.

Lawmakers from salmon states–who often call GE salmon “alien fish,” “frankenfish” or “monsters”– have been fighting for months to pass legislation to block FDA’s expected approval of the fish.

“Frankenfish threatens our wild stocks, their habitat, our food safety, and would bring economic harm to Alaska’s wild salmon fishermen,” said Senator Begich (D-AK) in February, when a similar measure was introduced in the upper chamber, adding that he believes the modified fish are “risky, unprecedented and unnecessary.”

Members of Congress from several key salmon states, on both sides of the aisle, have now signed onto bills to block the salmon. The Senate has not yet voted on the matter. For more information, read the 16 June Food Safety News article: http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2011/06/post-2/.

Stop the Certification of Farmed Salmon as “Sustainable” and “Responsible”

The Institute for Fisheries Resources has joined the Global Alliance Against Industrial Aquaculture (GAAIA) and a slew of other organizations in taking a stand against the certification of farmed salmon as “responsible” and “sustainable” by the Aquaculture Stewardship Council.

The Aquaculture Stewardship Council has proposed a farmed salmon certification system called the “Standards for Responsible Salmon Aquaculture” which shamefully allows: Waste Pollution, Chemical Contamination, Killing of Wildlife, Sea Lice & Infectious Diseases, Non-Native Species, Escapes, Unsustainable & Non-Certified Fish Feed, Transgenic Plants, Copper-treated Nets & Biocides, 20% Mortality, Antibiotics & Toxic Chemicals and Deaths of Workers.

The farming of carnivorous fish such as salmon is environmentally, socially, ethically and morally bankrupt. Salmon farming is fundamentally flawed. The farming of salmon in open net cages or pens in the sea and in freshwater can never eliminate problems with escapes, infectious diseases, parasites, chemicals and waste pollution. Even closed containment systems on land or in the sea can never eliminate problems of energy use and the use of depleted and contaminated fish meal and fish oil.

Any farming process which leads to a net loss of resources can never ever be certified as “sustainable”.

Sign on to the petition: http://www.change.org/petitions/stop-the-certification-of-farmed-salmon-as-sustainable-and-responsible

Support the Bipartisan Legislation to Ban GE Fish, Require Labeling: Despite nearly 400,000 comments in opposition, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is expected to announce its approval of genetically engineered (GE) salmon any day now. To make matters worse, FDA argues that these GE salmon don’t even need to be labeled! Go to the Center for Food Safety website to submit a prewritten letter.

In response to FDA’s imminent approval, Congress is taking action. Senator Mark Begich (D-Alaska) and Representative Don Young (R-Alaska) recently introduced bipartisan legislation in Congress that would ban GE fish (Bill# S. 230/H.R. 521) and require mandatory labeling for consumers if approved (Bill# S. 229/H.R. 520).

The legislation has been endorsed by 64 consumer, worker, religious and environmental groups, along with commercial, recreational and subsistence fisheries associations, food businesses and retailers—including the Center for Food Safety, Ocean Conservancy, Bristol Bay Regional Seafood Development, the Alaska Trollers Association, Food and Water Watch, the National Cooperative Grocers Association and the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations among others—who know that the approval of GE salmon would represent a serious threat to the survival of native salmon populations, many of which have already suffered severe declines related to salmon farms and other man-made impacts. Wild Atlantic salmon are already on the Endangered Species List in the U.S.; approving these GE Atlantic salmon could be the final blow to these wild stocks. Additionally, the human health impacts of eating GE fish are entirely unknown. If GE salmon are approved, these fish must be labeled so people can make informed choices.

Please write your U.S. Senators and Representative and urge them to protect fisher folk, consumers and the environment by co-sponsoring S. 230/H.R. 521 and S. 229/H.R. 520! Follow this link to submit a prewritten letter from the Center for Food Safety.

Dr. Vandana Shiva: Lessons in Sustainability

Watch the video of Dr. Vandana Shiva’s 2005 lecture at Michigan State University:

Dr. Vandana Shiva Lecture at Michigan State University, 2005

Pacific Marine Expo

Pacific Marine Expo welcomes members of the Institute for Fisheries Resources and the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations, and extends a free invitation to attend the November 18-20 show in Seattle. Simply mention code 100980 when pre-registering to secure your free admission to the exhibit hall and conference sessions, a $30 savings. To pre-register visit the Pacific Marine Expo Registration site www.pacificmarineexpo.com or call 800-454-3005.

From the engine room to the wheelhouse, Pacific Marine Expo has what you need to outfit, upgrade, build or repair the most important component of your business, the boat.  Find the equipment, gear and services needed to keep your business efficient and productive.  Meet with experts, check out new products and catch up with old friends at the one stop shop designed exclusively for commercial mariners from Alaska to California.

Pre-registered visitors are automatically entered to win one of three $500 AMEX Gift Cards when you pick up your badge at the show.

Visit www.pacificmarineexpo.com for show information, including online registration, event schedule, session descriptions and speakers, the complete exhibitor list, special events, parking information, travel information and more.

September 2010 is Salmon Month at San Francisco’s Aquarium of the Bay! Sponsored by the SalmonAID coalition (of which the Institute for Fisheries Resources is a member), Salmon Month will feature exciting activities all month long, tabling by member organizations, plus a standing poster and video exhibit.Below is an impressive list of Salmon Month activities:

• September 1 - Go Wild Gala featuring sustainably harvested wild salmon prepared by the Bay Area’s best chefs and a panel discussion on the State of our Salmon.
• September 10 - Meet the Fishermen featuring acclaimed writer and Alaska Fisherman, Bill Carter and several of our own local fishing heros.
• September 11&12 - Film Days from the Wild & Scenic Environmental Film Festival.
• September 15 - Salmon Cinema and Storytelling Circle with cocktail reception.
• September 19 & 20 - Kids Weekend with games, activities and stories.
• September 26 - SalmonAID Outdoor Music Festival

The SalmonAID coalition brings together more than two dozen conservation, commercial and sportfishing organizations as well as the West Coast’s best restaurants in order to educate the public about wild salmon and the perils they face across our coast. This wide-ranging coalition motivates citizens to take actions that protect our amazing wild salmon and the rivers they call home. Join us during Salmon Month to help support restoration of wild salmon and wild rivers!

For more information or to donate to SalmonAID, visit the website here: www.salmonaid.org