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National

Alaska Air Cargo sets fees and rules for non pre-screened seafood cargo under TSA rules

SEAFOOD.COM NEWS [By Ken Coons] - February 3, 2010 - As predicted, seafood shippers will benefit from joining TSA's Certified Cargo Screening Program (CCSP). This week Alaska Air Cargo announced the procedural changes it is implementing to meet TSA requirements.

For non-prescreened Alaska freight the following rules will apply effective February 15:
* Tender times will increase to four hours prior to departure for all flights to allow additional screening time;
* Security screening surcharges will increase to $0.04 a pound and will be subject to a $2 minimum charge per shipment; and
* Seafood boxes requiring security screening must be free from exterior moisture to ensure accurate testing. Wet boxes and containers that have not been pre-screened may be rejected.

Seafood shippers already certified in CCSP will be exempt from the security screening surcharge for pre-screened shipments. In addition, the tender time for CCSP-certified shipments will remain two hours prior to departure. The tender time of four hours prior to departure for freighter shipments also will remain the same. 'We strongly encourage all seafood shippers to consider joining the TSA's Certified Cargo Screening Program,' said Joe Sprague, Alaska Air Cargo's vice president. 'Receiving certified pre-screened freight is the best way to ensure the most efficient and highest quality shipment of seafood products to market.'

International

Japanese Fisheries Imports Jan - December 2009

Seafoodnews.com, Posted February 2, 2010

Please find attached EXCEL spreadsheet with permission from Seafoodnews.com.

Pending MSC sockeye certification leading to huge fight in British Columbia

SEAFOOD.COM NEWS by Jack MacAndrew- Feb 3, 2010 - Charlottetown, PEI - These days the word sustainability has become an integral part of international seafood marketing. That makes certification by the Marine Stewardship Council ( MSC) that the product offered for sale does in fact come from a 'sustainable' stock, a necessary requirement. So when the much prized verification is about to be given to a west coast salmon stock that collapsed in the summer of 2009, and that collapse is under investigation by a top level federal government board of inquiry, it could be anticipated that questions would arise about the approval methodology in use by the MSC. That is precisely what has happened in the matter of the sockeye run into the Fraser River of British Columbia, and it has brought Kerry Coughlin, MSC's Regional Director for the Americas to the pages of Tyee magazine in defence of her organization and its practices. Ten million sockey were expected to enter the Fraser River last summer. Only about a million actually showed up. There are theories, but nobody actually knows why, or what happened to all those smolts that went to sea.. That's what the governmental investigation is supposed to find out. So when MSC announced that its certification body, Nova Scotia based TAVEL Certification Inc, had determined the Fraser River sockeye stock was ready for approval after a nine year monitoring process, the critics came out in force.At least four British Columbia based environmental organizations ( including the David Suzuki Foundation) yelled - '' foul ' and said they would officially object to the certification. ' It's irresponsible ', said Vicky Husband, advisor to the Watershed Watch Salmon Society.' It is unimaginable that any fishery targeting Fraser sockeye could be considered sustainable at this time. ' She termed the certification ' corporate eco-fraud. ' In what must be considered somewhat of an understatement, consultant Christina Burridge, advisor to the BC Salmon Marketing Council agreed that, ' 2009 wasn't a very pretty picture, that's true. ' She also offered this comment . ' If 2010 looks like 2009 there won't be any fishing and there won't be any fish bearing the label.' The uproar prompted Kerry Coughlin to accept an invitation from Tyee magazine to state the MSC case in its pages, which Ms. Coughlin did. In her article, Ms. Coughlin describes the MSC process as an ' ongoing, independent, rigorous, scientific examination of the fishery, and if B. C. 's sockeye salmon is certified, demonstrates that it is a well managed fishery that meets the world's leading standard for sustainable fishing. '

' While the independent team assessing the B. C. sockeye salmon fishery concluded.... that the fishery is being managed in a way that meets the MSC starndard, it's important to note that it has not yet been certified. ' Nor can it be, according to the MSC process, which allows a fifteen day grace period during which ' environmental organizations and other stakeholders... can file an objection to the certification. ' Should objections be filed ( and it appears certain there will be ), '...a further review and decision process will be led by an independent adjudicator with expertise in the field but no previous involvement in the assessment of the fishery. ' MSC's role in all of this, says Ms Coughlin ...' is to facilitate the process... not to take a position on the outcome recommended by the independent certification team. ' And she says a scientific think tank has found that ; ' Commercial fishing pressure is not the cause for these declines since breeding stock levels were high in the years that spawned the fish now returning in low numbers. ' ' Certification, if awarded, and use of the MSC eco-label would also signal to local and international markets that B. C. sockeye salmon is being commercially harvested and sold only if it is caught in a way that preserves the stock and does not harm the marine eco-system.' ' This ', she says, '... is increasingly becoming a requisite to sell into global seafood markets. ' That cuts no ice with Ms. Husband. She says: ' The fact that a fishery as unsustainable as the Fraser can be certified as sustainable under the MSC label highlights just how broken and corrupt the MSC process is. ' ' The MSC is ..fooling consumers around the world into believing they are making a good choice by purchasing MSC products which will be sourced from collapsing fisheries and endangered populations. ' The rift between the MSC and the Brithish Columbia environmentalists is surprising, since the program was actually conceived between industry and environmental representatives after the collapse of the cod fishery on the Grand Banks.

Environment

ARCTIC: Melting ice opens routes to oil, and perhaps an 'arms race' (02/03/2010)

Enery & Environmental News, February 3, 2010

Could the warming world trigger another Cold War? There is concern that retreating sea ice in the Arctic has already sparked intense interest, and perhaps an "arms race," around potentially vast fossil fuel reserves hidden in the Earth's northern reaches. New money could also be made through shortened shipping routes. The opportunity for new sources of fuel as established reserves dwindle and energy demand rises is driving the development and deployment of "battle capable" ships and systems in the boundary-contested Arctic, according to one speaker at an event that focused on the effects of climate change on national security. "An Arctic arms race is upon us. It's not coming. It's not going to be coming. We're engaged," Robert Huebert, a defense expert with the University of Calgary, said at the event sponsored by the Center for National Policy. That assertion is based on increasing polar activity by Russia, Norway, Canada and the United States, all of which are involved in one form of boundary dispute or another. Climate change is not the sole driver. Sapped fossil fuel supplies, globalization and economic aspirations are all contributors. But there's one thread making the Arctic the newest frontier: accessibility. "I think it's melting a lot faster than people know," Scott Borgerson, a scholar with the Council on Foreign Relations, said of the polar ice cap. "In some ways, really, the future of the last great dig of oil and gas finds on Earth might be in the Arctic."

Polar bears, attack subs and bombers: The vast maritime region potentially holds one-third of the world's fossil fuels, he said. The summer ice above those resources shrank by more than 1 million square miles in 2007, making the ice cap half as large as it was 50 years ago, Borgerson asserted in a 2008 paper. That shrinkage means the Earth's surface is darker. It absorbs more sunlight and results in more melting. A study led by NASA found that the annual Arctic melting season has grown by 20 days on average since 1979. The study was published last month. That has opened the Northwest Passage to vessel traffic. Other routes are being searched, and the mightiest Arctic nations are establishing new policies to claim underwater terrain. Russia is planning to build new attack submarines, strike aircraft and up to six aircraft carrier groups in the next two decades, said Huebert. The Arctic is the mission, he said. Already, Russia is deploying a new nuclear-powered icebreaker and submarines and is running bombing exercises over the Arctic Ocean, the experts assert. The United States, meanwhile, has stationed 20 percent of its F-22 fighter jets within reach of the region and sent a message by visiting the Arctic with a Virginia class fast-attack submarine, Huebert said. Military hide-and-seek, particularly with submarines, was played in the Arctic during the Cold War. It's unclear, he added, if this new gamesmanship will turn into a conflict. "It comes down to intent. Are the Russians becoming more aggressive or not?" Huebert warned. "If they're not, we need to stop this [activity] now, because it is starting to get quite out of control." It reminds former Sen. Gary Hart (D-Colo.), now associated with the American Security Project, of America's misperceptions about the Soviet Union. "Think a lot of everybody's intent here," Hart cautioned. "We don't need to restart the Cold War."

Many 'gaps' need to be closed: U.S. interest has run hot and cool over the importance of the Arctic. The U.S. Senate has never ratified the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea, despite efforts by several presidents to join the convention. Supporters say it would give the United States more authority to operate militarily in the Arctic and claim stretches of the northern seafloor. The Pentagon this week renewed its request to the Senate to join the Law of the Sea. A major strategy document pointed to the "evident" challenges that climate change is having on the military's "operating environment" in the Arctic. Defense officials, it added, are trying to close "gaps in Arctic communications, domain awareness, search and rescue, and environmental observation and forecasting capabilities to support both current and future planning and operations." The Coast Guard could get some help soon. The icebreaker Polar Star, one of three U.S. ships able to navigate the frozen region, could be brought out of maintenance status, said Coast Guard Rear Adm. Gene Brooks, who commanded the Alaska district until last summer. Icebreakers can scan the seafloor and are useful in scientific and hydrocarbon research. Another icebreaker, the Healy, recently detected a 14-mile-long underwater mountain, or seamount, in the Arctic. Brooks suggested U.S. leadership is lacking when it comes to the Arctic. "We need a national debate on what does America want to do with her responsibility as an Arctic nation?" he said. "Engage in this debate. Decide what to do as a nation. And then let's move out."

FYI