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Fishermen are required to wear masks along the way, including while sleeping, and the Coast Guard intends to enforce this.
This is an edict issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in a. issued as a public health emergency Marine Safety Bulletin published February 1st. It requires the wearing of masks at all times in US waters on all merchant ships “when boarding, disembarking and during voyage” to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus. The lawsuit states that “carriers traveling to or within the US are only allowed to carry people wearing masks and must do their best to ensure that masks are worn.”
Best efforts include allowing only those wearing masks to enter a ship, advising people that non-compliance is a violation of federal law, and removing those who refuse to comply. Exceptions apply to children under 2 years of age, a person with a disability who cannot safely wear a mask, or a person for whom wearing a mask would pose a risk to health, safety at work or the duty to work, or if an operator “The sole user” is the vehicle. “
Exceptions to the rule apply when eating or drinking, communicating with a hearing impaired person, or when a person is unconscious. National fisherman Editor Jessica Hathaway was the first to break the news on Feb.11, saying she had been advised by the Coast Guard that fishing vessels would be subject to the rule “at this point”. When she asked for further advice, Hathaway was referred to the CDC.
“Enforcing that rule would certainly be difficult,” wrote Hathaway. “However, it clearly opens the door for boarding and the fine. The Coast Guard has made it clear that the rule will be enforced. “
The mask requirement remains in force “unless it is changed or repealed for certain public health or other considerations or until the Minister of Health and Human Services cancels the decision”. Fischer and others can email comments and questions to [email protected].
Bumps on the fish board -The State Fisheries Authority will meet online on March 8th to decide when, where and how to fit into a duplicate list of meetings from southeast Alaska to the Arctic turned upside down by the COVID pandemic.
Typically next month the Fish Board would put together a list of 275 proposals for Southeast, Prince William Sound, and national shellfish. But these regions are likely to be postponed to next winter or mixed up with meetings already planned for other regions this fall.
“We currently have the working session in October, and this is followed by a meeting with cod for the Alaska Peninsula, the Aleutian Islands, the Bering Sea and Chignik. These are currently planned for next October, ”said Glenn Haight, Executive Board Director. “And Bristol Bay will happen in December. It is possible that you could host a meet in Prince William Sound or Southeast in November and then move on with some of the others in January. It’s just about putting things in the right places so that people have a chance to react and we have time to consider all the factors that are contributing to it. “
The call for fishing proposals for Bristol Bay, Alaska Peninsula, Chignik, Arctic, Yukon, Kuskokwim and Bering Sea regions has been extended from April 10th to May 10th.
“The board has not reopened the call for proposals for Southeast, Yakutat, Prince William Sound and shellfish nationwide,” Haight stated. “So we currently have suggestions as to what the board of directors will take up next year. However, there was an indication that people from these regions would have to deal with conservation problems or other urgent matters until the 23.
Public comments for the March 8th special session will be accepted until March 2nd.
Meanwhile, four of the seven Fish Board members, only one of whom is from a coastal community, have yet to be approved by the Alaska Legislature while making decisions.
‘Frankenfisch’ is coming – It took nearly three decades, but genetically modified salmon will hit supermarket shelves in a month or two.
The fish, dubbed “Frankenfisch” by opponents, is the first animal to be approved by the US Food and Drug Administration and is made from an Atlantic salmon with genes from chinook and an eel-like ocean pout. The faster growing fish can grow from eggs to 11 pounds in 18 months, 10 months faster than regular salmon.
Once the market normalizes after the pandemic, Massachusetts-based AquaBounty Technologies plans to produce nearly £ 3 million annually at its recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS) facility in Indiana, the company said Undercurrent news. Another farm in the country is planned in the USA and a smaller farm on Prince Edward Island in Canada is already selling the genetically modified salmon there.
The large food service company Aramark recently announced that it would boycott the genetically modified fish and join the ranks of the Compass Group and Sodexo. Even more than 80 retailers have said they won’t be selling the salmon, including Costco, Walmart, Target, Albertsons, Kroger, and Whole Foods.
However, in other supermarket fish crates, consumers are unsure of what they are getting as they do not require clear labeling. Instead, manufacturers are allowed to use barcodes on labels or provide 800 numbers directing customers to more information.
The US green light on genetically modified salmon has opened the door to other living things. At least 35 other types of fish – as well as chickens, pigs and cows developed for factory farming – are currently in development.
Meanwhile, Undercurrent reported that AquaBounty announced last week that it raised over $ 127 million in a public share offering that included nearly 15 million shares at a price of $ 8.50 per share.
Fish information for everyone – An unexpected plus of the pandemic is how it has brought information, workshops and training to far more people about the fishing industry regardless of where they are through web-based events.
Two are in the upcoming pipeline: The first is the annual Fishermen’s Expo on February 22nd, hosted by the Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association in Sitka.
“We’re going to focus more on loan programs for people interested in fishing. We have a speaker from the Commercial Fishing and Agriculture Bank, which funds Fischer, and a loan officer from the Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development to talk about some of the loan programs they have for commercial fishermen, ”said Natalie Sattler , Communications director at ALFA.
Emergency skills are presented by the Alaska Marine Safety Education Association along with ALFA’s crew apprenticeship program. There are also updates on years of local mapping of the seabed, known as bathymetry, which helps fishermen better aim catches and avoid harmful fishing practices. Go to www.alfafish.org to register for the Expo links and updates.
On March 4th and 5th, a who’s who of the big names will be in the line-up for them Southwest Alaska Community Conference.
It will include mariculture, regional broadband, fish forecasting, marketing updates, legislative leaders and commissioners, Senator Lisa Murkowski, COVID relief programs, community round tables and much more. Find links to sign up for the SWAMC Summit around swamc.org.
The themes of both virtual events will appeal to anyone interested in Alaska’s seafood industry, but also those far from fishing.
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