Northeast seafood harvesters have a powerful story to tell about the measures they take to ensure a catch for next generations. To aid the Northeast U.S. fish and shellfish industry in sharing this story with overseas buyers, Food Export-Northeast has created a new digital brochure which details the science-based resource management practices for which the industry is globally renown.
“The region’s fisheries are sustainably managed through a distinctive science and industry partnership that incorporates transparency and traceability,” Colleen Coyne, Seafood Program Coordinator at Food Export-Northeast, said. “This science-based conservation partnership is a model many other nations have sought to follow.”
The brochure highlights resource-management strategies for three iconic species of the Northeast: American lobster, U.S. Atlantic sea scallops, and American oysters. Importers may be surprised to learn that the first conservation practices for American lobster began over 150 years ago when laws were put in place to protect egg-bearing female lobsters and those caught below a minimum size. Since that time, many additional science-based conservation methods have been employed by the lobster industry, including those that limit the number of traps each harvester can use, and traps built with escape vents to prevent capture of juvenile lobsters.
In addition, harvesters of U.S. Atlantic sea scallops demonstrate the fruits of science-based resource management. Indeed, the renewal of the U.S. sea scallop fishery has become one of the world’s best examples of how managing a fishery for sustainability has produced a healthy resource, plus increased landings and profitability. Through careful management, the U.S. Atlantic sea scallop fishery now supports the largest landings in history – and is the largest and most valuable wild scallop fishery in the world.
American oyster cultivation offers a myriad of benefits as a responsible and regenerative aquaculture practice. It helps keep waterways clean, produces high-quality protein with no input of feed or fertilizers from farmers, sequesters carbon, and strengthens shoreline ecosystems. Sustainable aquaculture helps to reduce harvesting pressure, and can even reduce disease impacts, on wild populations.
The digital format of the new brochure will allow U.S. fish and shellfish exporters to share this information easily with their global seafood importers. Importers can also use this piece in discussions with their end customers, whether retailers or foodservice outlets such as hotels, restaurants, and institutional caterers.
This new guide can used in tandem with a range of other digital seafood importer education tools created by Food Export-Northeast in recent years. Its comprehensive seafood buyer guide site includes digital toolkits on iconic Northeast U.S. seafood species such as American lobster, U.S. Atlantic sea scallops, Jonah crab, and American oysters. These easy-to-navigate documents provide a valuable guide to the species including methods and timing of harvests, detailed information on product forms, traceability, and science-based resource management. The toolkits are supplemented with brief, informative videos featuring those partnering to safeguard current and future stocks including scientists, harvesters and foodservice sustainability experts. Food Export-Northeast encourages seafood exporters to make full use of these multimedia tools to educate buyers about the ways in which Northeast U.S. fish and shellfish products are sustainably managed.
About Food Export USA–Northeast
With its extensive programs and educational offerings, Food Export USA–Northeast (Food Export-Northeast) is recognized as the preeminent expert and cost-effective resource for northeast seafood and agricultural suppliers looking to sell their products overseas. Founded in 1973, Food Export-Northeast is a non-profit organization that works collaboratively with its 10 member states’ agricultural promotion agencies from Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont, to facilitate trade between suppliers and worldwide importers and to promote the export of food, agricultural and seafood products from those states. The organization is funded through the Market Access Program (MAP), administered by the USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service.
Learn more about us and what we do for the Northeast seafood industry here. Contact us.