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Issue link: https://seafoodbusiness.epubxp.com/i/233790
Special Feature 101 coordinator, enlisting partnerships within the industry to make the efort fnancially feasible. "We need to do, in my mind, a much broader outreach, so one thing I've really program, industry players got on board with the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute, Trident Seafoods, Alaska Seafood Cooperative, Freezer-Longliner Coalition and the Port of Seattle acting as "It's not as simple as red, green and yellow. There's no way those colors can adequately describe what's happening with the industry." — Rebecca Reuter, communications specialist, NOAA Fisheries worked on in the commercial marine as well as fshing industry is to tell that story and really promote that this is an incredible industry with good-paying jobs, opportunities for young people and incredible economic impact," he says. Saunderson's frst job was to establish a partnership with the Northwest Fisheries Association acting as a neutral nonproft that could accept funding (which NOAA is not allowed to do as a government agency). "Once we had that in place I went out to a variety of different companies I had relationships with to say, 'Here is an opportunity for us to tell Seafood 101 events included a live radio show with Seattle celebrity chefs. the story in more of an educational form,' instead of saying, 'Tis kind of seafood is good and this kind of seafood is bad,'" says Saunderson. "It was just a matter of me going door to door with companies. As with any new concept, it's a hard sell because there's no track record." Despite the newness of the the main sponsors with additional media and supporting sponsors. Te Northwest ofce of Whole Foods Market based in Bellevue, Wash., made a three-year commitment to the program, and this fall held cooking demonstrations in its Bellevue and Seattle stores, which included a live broadcast with chefs Tom Douglas and Tierry Rautureau on KIRO Radio's Seattle Kitchen show. Industry sponsors also provided copy for the 12page Seafood 101 supplement, which Reuter instructed them to write with the goal of educating readers about their part of the industry but not advertising their products. For example, Reuter says Trident and supporting sponsor American Seafoods both wanted to talk about pollock and to show how the fsh is 100 percent utilized. To do this, an illustration of a pollock highlights how each part of the fsh is used, along with recipes for sole sliders and fsh-stick lettuce cups. Te education continues on the next page with sections about the U.S. law governing fsheries, the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, and catchshare fshery management. Te latter section describes how members of the At-sea Visit us online at www.seafoodbusiness.com Processors Association (APA) agreed on their own to adopt allocations, "leaving behind wasteful systems where fshermen catch as many fsh as possible." Jim Gilmore, director of public afairs for APA, says one of the reasons he was excited about the project was the opportunity to tell the Seattle community, which associates the city with companies such as Microsoft, Amazon and Boeing, about the importance of its maritime heritage and industry. Tough his group came into the project fairly late in the planning stages, he has already begun planning a greater level of participation for APA for next year. "Te tough part just in the planning stage that I was involved with is there's so many things to talk about in terms of the health of the stocks, how fsh are managed, the types of science that goes into determining the fsh stocks, the efort it takes to manage fsh stocks and how to get fsh products to the table," he says. "You could do one of these supplements a week and not run out of material." Fisheries may be complex, but Reuter and other Seafood 101 participants are hoping it will spread the simple, straightforward message about the health benefts of seafood consumption and the sustainable management of the U.S. industry. Te program can be duplicated in other regions, and Reuter, who has no shortage of material to continue in the Pacifc Northwest, would also like to create a program about NOAA's measures to ensure that U.S. aquaculture operations are sustainable. Tere's a lot to talk about. Email Assistant Editor Melissa Wood at mwood@divcom.com Letter to the Editor Continued from page 4 at Generation Xers and older baby boomers as our customers, the seafood consumption numbers will continue to decline. Tis is a fnite number. In 2011, 146.1 million people under 40 lived in the United States. Tese are the consumers who we hoped would increase seafood consumption levels, but it isn't happening. I put the blame squarely on the overuse of sodium tripolyphosphate (STPP) to increase the weight of fsh, constituting economic fraud (although studies have shown that small amounts of STPP is actually benefcial when processing twice-frozen fsh). So how do we get the 146 million to buy fsh like the other 159 million? Set strict moisture levels for all seafood. Te Food and Drug Administration needs to randomly test seafood for moisture. Give these new seafood consumers a good initial experience. If the EU and Canada have limits in place, why can't the United States? I am all for saving the fsh and the oceans, but how about some lobbying for the American people? Now the price issue or nonissue: I am of the opinion that Americans will pay more for good, healthful seafood. I live in an area where there are a lot of seafood restaurants. Te ones serving good seafood thrive, the ones buying oversoaked products go out of business. We still have time to get a handle on this problem. Otherwise it will become a runaway train as it has in the meat and poultry industries. Joe Curley VP-sales and procurement The Hadley Co., LLC Marion, Mass. January 2014 SeaFood Business 33