“Owned by a billionaire Dutch family, Blue Harvest Fisheries has emerged as a dominant force in the lucrative fishing port of New Bedford, Massachusetts. Its business model: benefit from lax …
NFFC and NAMA Director Niaz Dorry recognized with James Beard Foundation Leadership Award
The North American Marine Alliance (NAMA) and National Family Farm Coalition (NFFC) are pleased to announce that Niaz Dorry, Director of both organizations, has been recognized as a 2024 James …
Warren, Markey and Keating demand answers from Blue Harvest owners
Both U.S. senators in Massachusetts and one congressman signed a letter Monday demanding transparency in Blue Harvest Fisheries’ bankruptcy — accusing the private equity firm that owned the company of …
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Fishing for Hope
When people ask me where I find hope in times like these, I always refer to our collective work. Hope is what a fisherman has each time they put gear …
Emeril Cooks features Anna Marie Shrimp
Looking for a couple of dinner ideas? Watch this episode of Emeril Cooks featuring Lance Nacio and Anna Marie Shrimp! Watch the episode for free here.
How American Fishermen Lost the Right to Fish
Check out this video from More Perfect Union – How American Fishermen Lost The Right To Fish. The video dives into how the Catch Share system has consolidated fisheries around …
By Land or By Sea… Opposing Factory Farming
Please join us in welcoming three people to the NAMA team: Andrianna Natsoulas, James Mitchell, and Casey Willson. Together, they make the trio who is moving the Don’t Cage Our Oceans Coalition …
Canastras buy vessels, permits from Blue Harvest bankruptcy
The Canastra family, owners of New Bedford’s seafood auction, closed a deal to buy out groundfish giant Blue Harvest Fisheries from bankruptcy, a move finalized Wednesday with the approval of …
Unpacking the Blue Harvest bankruptcy and what it means on the waterfront
New Bedford Light reporters Will Sennott and Colin Hogan discuss the upcoming Blue Harvest bankruptcy auction, which could have major repercussions on the New Bedford fishing fleet, in our latest …
The Aquaculture Values Report is here!
In the September 2023 newsletter, we share the Aquaculture Values Report, give you the latest on the Blue Harvest shutdown, and share the comment letter sent to NOAA regarding the …
Land and sea — privatization or resilience?!
In the aftermath of the fires in Maui, we’ve been thinking a lot about the coastal community in Lahaina, the folks who rely on the ocean and on fishing. Our …
Blue Harvest bankruptcy leaves millions in unpaid debt to local businesses
Tor Bendiksen knew that Blue Harvest Fisheries was in financial trouble in early September, when the company bounced a $12,500 check. His company, Reidar’s Manufacturing, specializes in building trawl gear …
Blue Harvest files for Ch. 7 bankruptcy, company likely to liquidate assets
Blue Harvest Fisheries has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, according to records in U.S. federal court in Delaware, concluding an eight-year private equity roll-up of New Bedford’s fishing industry. Read …
Op-Ed Alaska’s Farm Bill promises to safeguard our oceans and fishing families
[. . .] It is with this connection to our state’s natural bounty and coastal families that I applaud Sen. Lisa Murkowski for introducing the Improving Agriculture, Research, Cultivation, Timber, …
NAMA Statement on Blue Harvest Shutting Down
Download the StatementFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 11, 2023 Statement of the North American Marine Alliance (NAMA) on Private Equity Firm’s Failure ———————————————— Congress must immediately enact a moratorium against Catch …
NAMA Comment Letter on National Standards 4, 8, 9
Download the letter
Offshore fish farming hurts climate and economy
Read the full op-ed here.
Blue Harvest to shut down, ending reign over New England groundfish
Blue Harvest Fisheries is set to shut down all fishing operations on Friday, its fishermen were told this week. It marks the last in a cascade of sales and closures …
Ban irresponsible aquaculture in WA waters and beyond
By Carl Wassilie As a Yup’ik Salmon Person, I know that for coastal Tribes, including the Lummi, Samish and Swinomish, wild Pacific salmon are sacred and inextricably tied to cultural, …
NAMA Aquaculture Values Report
Download the report!NAMA Aquaculture Visioning ReportCheck out NAMA’s Aquaculture Values Report! After the release of the FoodPrint of Farmed Seafood, network members expressed a need for proactive values and member vision-driven reports …
NOAA Is Rolling Out a Plan to Radically Expand Offshore Aquaculture. Not Everyone Is Onboard.
The cardboard gravestones read “RIP Local fisherman,” “RIP Wild Fish,” and “RIP Humpback Whales.” Assembled in response to new aquaculture sites planned off the coast of California, the gravestones were …
Counter-APEC protest calls attention to corporate-controlled food systems, connecting land and sea
SEATTLE, Wa. — On Thursday, a group of community members representing Washington’s fishing, farming, and food worker communities staged a creative action against the Asian Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meetings …
Big News: Improving ARCTIC Act
NAMA and the Fish Locally Collaborative have been working hard to uplift community-based seafood for years. We’ve told our decision-makers what we need. We’ve written letters, gathered together, taken part …
Demand for cheap shrimp is driving U.S. shrimpers out of business
This “All Things Considered” story highlights the challenges that shrimpers in the Gulf of Mexico are facing in make a living. In addition to the struggles of domestic shrimpers, industrial-scale …
Block Factory Fish Farms – Fair Prices for Fishermen and Eaters !
Take a look at our July newsletter for some media coverage of the crisis shrimpers are facing in the Gulf, corporate profits raising prices at the grocery store, catch share …
Bristol Bay fishermen protest processors’ low sockeye market price — 50 cents per pound
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – Some Bristol Bay fishermen are furious over the 50 cents per pound market price for sockeye salmon that Bristol Bay processors are hitting them with. According …
MA delegation should protect local fishermen from private equity’s grip and ensure accountability in Blue Harvest acquisition
For immediate release: July 22, 2023 Contact: Feini Yin, feini@namanet.org MA delegation should protect local fishermen from private equity’s grip and ensure accountability in Blue Harvest acquisition On the one-year …
A Tiny Fish That Fuels an Atlantic Ecosystem Now Fuels Industry Debates
Hundreds of millions of the little, silvery fish play a crucial role in the ecology of coastal waters all along the Eastern Seaboard, feeding bigger fish like striped bass and …
Op-ed: Saving This Fish Means Saving Our Tribe’s Future
A group of Northern California Tribes are working hard to save the Clear Lake hitch, a small fish that has played a large role in our culture. But we can’t …
At sea as on land? Activists oppose industrial farming in U.S. waters
Perhaps the most notorious industrial farming institution is the concentrated animal feeding operation, or CAFO, in which livestock are raised in crowded conditions that require the heavy use of antibiotics …
Food Prices Are Still High. What Role Do Corporate Profits Play?
Corporate food companies have made record profits these last few years, and they’re hoping it stays that way. After more than two years of cost increases, Americans are finally feeling …
Shrimp imports threaten U.S. Gulf fleet
Southern shrimpers, facing record low prices, choose to stay at the dock. In places like Delacroix, La., shrimp fishermen are looking at $1.10 for 16 to 20 count brown shrimp. …
Cheap Imports Leave US Shrimpers Struggling With ‘Starvation Wages’
Unable to compete with imports, Louisiana’s shrimpers are calling for emergency action to shore up their shrinking industry. “We are paying to work. We are paying to feed our nation,” …
No AQUAA Act. No Industrial Fish Farms
PROBLEM: Advancing the Quality and Understanding of American Aquaculture Act, S. 1861 or the “AQUAA Act” was introduced in the Senate on June 8th, 2023 by Senator Wicker (R-MS) with …
Texas fishermen worry revived dredging project for bigger oil tankers will harm their catch
…. More massive oil tankers will be headed through the channel if a dredging project and oil terminal expansion are completed as planned, including dredging through a Superfund site that could stir …
Reflections after the FDA public meeting on AquaBounty, December 2022: What if we instead invested in community-controlled food systems?
On December 15, 2022, members of the Block Corporate Salmon campaign attended the US Food and Drug Administration’s public meeting on its new environmental assessment of AquaBounty’s genetically engineered salmon …
Fishermen, community advocates, environmentalists condemn Senate efforts to advance industrial aquaculture development
WASHINGTON, D.C.— This week, U.S. Senators Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) and Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) reintroduced the Advancing the Quality and Understanding of American Aquaculture (AQUAA) Act to ease the way for corporations trying …
Salmon Warriors: Mel Brown
The people of Bristol Bay have been fighting for so long to protect the land that supports the nurseries of salmon that have returned to the people for millennia. A …
Surf and Turf: A Seafood Justice Podcast
Welcome to Surf and Turf, the podcast that dives deep into the complex and often overlooked issues of access, equity, and justice in the U.S. seafood system. From the docks …
Activists groups planning several coordinated protests against GM salmon farmer AquaBounty
Protests are planned for Ohio and Seattle. Unhappy with the US Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) recently released draft amended Environmental Assessment (EA) that found genetically modified (GM) salmon eggs …
How fishermen market their catch: a national survey
Now open until July 16, 2023, a survey on national seafood marketing practices funded by NOAA Fisheries, aims to fill a gap in our understanding of the domestic seafood market …
North American Marine Alliance travels to Washington DC to demand catch-share reform
U.S. fishermen who work in New England, Alaska, the South Atlantic, and the Gulf of Mexico traveled to Washington D.C. from 6 to 9 February, 2023, to call for reform …