Mississippi
As a joint Gulf state seafood marketing effort sails into the sunset, the program’s Marketing Director has left for a job in the private seafood sector. Joanne McNeely Zaritsky, the former Marketing Director of the Gulf State Marketing Coalition, has joined domestic seafood processor Captain’s Fine Foods.
The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation has announced their selection for Electronic Monitoring and Reporting grants that included $2.25 million for Gulf Seafood Institute Founding Member CLS America to administer a program for approximately 350 federally-permitted charter boat vessels in the Gulf of Mexico.
The Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee under the chair of David Vitter of Louisiana recently met to questioned seafood regulators and industry experts, including Gulf Seafood Institute’s Frank Randol, on how federal labor and safety laws are impacting small businesses within the seafood industry.
The first effort to have the five individual Gulf States take over management of Gulf red snapper was defeated by a vote of 22-16 when Amendment H.R. 1335, sponsored by Louisiana Representative Garrett Graves, came to a committee vote.
Share the Gulf has reawakened to respond to efforts by Gulf State fishery managers to grab control of the Gulf of Mexico’s Red Snapper fishery, giving a larger percentage to the recreational sector and leaving the future of the commercial fishery in doubt.
The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council recently met in Biloxi, Mississippi the former administrative capital of French Louisiana once named Bilocci, to discuss a number of fishery issues, including regional management for recreational red snapper and red snapper allocation.
The Gulf Seafood Institute will provide public comment to the Food and Drug Administration’s draft fish consumption advice entitled “Fish: What Pregnant Women Should Know.”
Marine Resource Agency Directors from all five Gulf States recently held a closed meeting in New Orleans to craft a management framework removing the red snapper fishery from the control of the federal government and placing the fishery directly under state control.
A Gulf Coast workshop will help develop training and education programs that can assist the industry, train a new generation of seafood professionals and help deliver a uniform message to the consumer.
The implementation of electronic data capture by Gulf of Mexico charter-for-hire fisherman later this year will mean fisheries like Gulf Red Snapper will have a more accurate data source for use in future stock assessments.
The Department of Labor recently announced it will no longer accept or process requests for H-2B visa prevailing wage determinations or labor certifications, a huge setback for almost every Gulf seafood processor from Florida to Texas.
JD Blackwell, the COO (chief oyster officer) of 38° North Oysters, has turned his western Maryland shore company into an entrepreneurial, sales and development savvy operation that has created the ideal growth environment for the ideal food — oysters.
The Marine Resource Education Program Southeast, an organization created by fishermen for fishermen, will attempt to demystify the acronyms and vocabulary and equip fisherman with the tools needed to engage tough issues at a Fisheries Science Workshop to be held April 14-16 at the Hilton Bayfront in St. Petersburg, FL.
Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton recently announced he would give his support to a law requiring streams, rivers and farm drainage systems to have a vegetative buffer. The proposal, revealed during a Minnesota Natural Resources roundtable, would create 125,000 acres of grassland that would create pheasant habitat and promote cleaner water.
TJ Tate, the sustainability director for Gulf Wild, was presented with the Seafood Champion Award for Vision. She was recognized for her pioneering work that included video monitoring on commercial fishing boats, creating collaboration between scientists and fishermen, and marketing of bycatch to avoid waste.
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