State and Local

June 3, 2013 — Despite the economic data supporting the designation of speckled trout, red drum and estuarine striped bass as gamefish, House Bill 983 was recently shelved by North Carolina lawmakers.

Read the story here

 

 

June 7, 2013 — The lawsuit filed last week by Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley against the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to block new regulations that threaten the fishing industry may benefit local fishermen in the long run, but probably would help them now.

“We just don’t have the luxury of time,” said Scituate fisherman Frank Mirarchi. “This will take years and those of us struggling now won’t be around to reap whatever benefits there might be.”

Mirarchi called the suit “an unfortunate and desperate last move,” but added that it was necessary to bring the plight of fishermen to light.

“They just don’t get it,” he said of those setting the regulations. “We can’t survive like this.”

State Rep. Jim Cantwell, D-Marshfield, called it “a sad day for our storied fishing industry and its proud tradition.

“Though I greatly appreciate the suit taken by Attorney General Coakley, I am concerned that this justified legal challenge will not be able to bring change in federal fisheries management in time to better manage our fish population while saving thousands of jobs in New England,” Cantwell said.

Read the full story at the Scituate Mariner

 

 

June 7, 2013 — The following was released by the New Bedford Working Waterfront Festival:

New Bedford, MA – – In September 2013, the Working Waterfront Festival will mark its’ tenth anniversary. To celebrate, we are presenting Portholes, a series of free, monthly programs designed to engage residents and members of the commercial fishing industry in conversations about critical issues facing the working waterfront. Each month’s programming centers around a theme. Programming during the month of June considers the importance of preserving the working waterfront. Partial funding for the Portholes Project is provided by Mass Humanities. The New Bedford Whaling Museum is the sponsor of our June programs.

Thursday, June 13 (AHA NIGHT)
Dock Walk, Whaling Museum Plaza 7:00 PM, FREE
Learn about the shoreside businesses, workboats, and historic landmarks that are part of our port.  The 45 minute tour will depart from the Whaling Museum Plaza.

Talk: New Bedford: A Designated Port
Whaling Museum Theater 8:00 PM, FREE
Find out how and why New Bedford became a “designated port”, what that means, and what lies in store for our working waterfront in the years to come.  Fishing industry veterans, John Linehan and Rodney Avila, and Port Director, Jeffery Stieb will share perspectives on the past, present, and future of the port.

Friday June 21 – Film Screening: No Pretty Prayer, National Park Theater, 7:00 PM, FREE
No Pretty Prayer explores the gritty character of an old seaside neighborhood in the oldest seaport in America. Known locally as the Fort, the enclave has long served as the working heart of Gloucester, Massachusetts' marine industrial economy and as home to the city's Sicilian community. The film examines how this mix of industry and culture has fused the character of this place and its people over the past one hundred years. With the threat of neighborhood gentrification as a haunting backdrop, the film invites viewers to contemplate what it means to sustain cherished roots to a humble place that the broader world threatens to erase and forget in time.  Film maker, Sal Zerilli, and long time Gloucester resident, Jimmy Tarantino, will lead a discussion following the screening.

The Working Waterfront Festival is a project of the Community Economic Development Center of Southeastern MA, a non-profit organization. The FREE festival, a family friendly, educational celebration of New England’s commercial fishing industry, features live maritime and ethnic music, fishermen’s contests, fresh seafood, vessel tours, author readings, cooking demonstrations, kid’s activities and more. It all takes place in New Bedford, MA, America’s #1 fishing port, on the last full weekend of September. Navigate to us at www.workingwaterfrontfestival.org.

MEDIA CONTACT: Laura Orleans, Director 508-993-8894, info@workingwaterfrontfestival.org

 

 

May 30, 2013 — In this edition of WCVB-TV’s Chronicle, Channel 5 Boston explores fish farms along New England’s coast and meets two individuals with a passion for healthy and sustainable farm-raised seafood.

Hundreds of fish farms line New England’s coast, mostly producing shellfish and some salmon. Finding food sources for farm-raised fish that do not produce high levels of toxins has been a challenge, and raising species such as cod has proven to be commercially inviable. This is why Josh Goldman, co-founder and CEO of Australis, a fish farm in Turners Falls, Massachusetts, looked at 50 different species of fish before settling on the perfect candidate for aquaculture.

The species that Goldman selected was barramundi, an Australian sea bass, which he raises in a 2-acre indoor facility. Barramundi mature in only 9 months and reproduce on a lunar cycle. This means that barramundi spawn 12 times a year, as opposed to other species, which spawn only once.

The Australis aquaculture facility contains 40 tanks, which filter and reuse 60 million gallons of water daily. This facility, combined with the viability of the species, will allow Goldman to harvest well over 1 million fish per year, all of which will be raised sustainably and in an environment that is free of mercury and other harmful contaminants.

WCVB-TV also interviewed Peter Howard, co-owner of Sky 8 Shrimp Farm in Stoughton, Massachusetts, who, is working to deliver healthy, farm-raised seafood to the public. Howard has already raised between 15 and 20 thousand Pacific tropical shrimp and he has done it without the help of dangerous additives like antibiotics and growth hormones. Once they acquire additional tanks, Sky 8 Shrimp Farm plans to produce 60 thousand shrimp per month.

These farm-raised Pacific tropical shrimp and Australis’s barramundi are already making their way to chefs like Toby Hill, owner of Lyric Restaurant in Yarmouth Port, Massachusetts, who are always on the lookout for locally sourced fish that are not only fresh, healthy, and sustainably raised, but delicious as well.

Watch the video from WCVB-TV Channel 5 Boston

June 5, 2013 — You might not notice much fanfare, but today, Wednesday the 5th, is a big day for Juneau. It is the opening day of the 214th plenary session of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council – meeting in Juneau for the first time in more than 20 years. As Regional Administrator for NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service Alaska Region, and on behalf of the City and Borough of Juneau, I'd like to welcome the Council and meeting attendees to Southeast Alaska.

Alaska's federally-managed fisheries are known worldwide as being among the most sustainable and valuable fisheries on the planet-worth billions to the U.S. economy and an important component of Alaska's seafood industry, the largest private sector employer in the State. In fact, about 60 percent of all seafood caught in U.S. waters comes from Alaska.

The NPFMC plays a lead role in the sustainable management of Alaska's billion-dollar fisheries. It is one of eight regional fishery management councils established when Congress passed the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, originally enacted in 1976. Alaska's very own Senator Ted Stevens was one of the co-authors of this act. The Magnuson-Stevens Act established the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone from 3-200 nautical miles offshore. This law, reauthorized twice and currently undergoing reauthorization hearings in Congress, is essentially our country's roadmap to sustainable management of our nation's fisheries. It directs NOAA Fisheries and the Councils to work together to get the most out of our fisheries for food and economic well-being, while conserving ecosystem health and fish stocks for continued productivity to benefit future generations of fishing families and coastal communities.

Read the full story at the Capital City Weekly 

 

May 30, 2013 — In this edition of WCVB-TV’s Chronicle, Channel 5 Boston examines issues affecting New England’s cod fishery, an industry reliant upon a species whose numbers are dwindling. Global warming, predation, a history of overfishing, and strict cuts to quotas based on what some have called "murky” stock assessment data, are among several issues that have taken a toll on the fishery.

This year has marked a new low for cod quotas, which were cut 70% from last year’s allocation.  According to John Pappalardo, CEO of the Cape Cod Commercial Hook Fishermen’s Association, the status of the cod stock is determined via infrequent, government-run trawling surveys which Rich Canastra, co-owner of the New Bedford Seafood Auction, believes to be inaccurate. According to Canastra, the numbers reported by regulators do not accurately reflect what fishermen are actually seeing, an issue that is amplified by the fact that regulators do not seek data from cod fishermen to aid in their assessments. The example being set by this situation stands in contrast to New England’s scallop fishery, which faced a similar predicament in the 1990s, but managed to prosper following cooperative collaboration between industry members, independent scientists and regulators.

WCVB-TV also spoke with NOAA’s Northeast Regional Administrator, John Bullard, who is reluctant to place all of the blame on the cod fishermen. Global warming has played a role in driving this species out of traditional fishing grounds and into colder waters. Predation by seals and dogfish has also been a factor in the stock’s declining numbers.

Cod fishermen, whose industry is in the midst an “official disaster,” have received no disaster relief funds from Congress. But NOAA hopes that by reopening 5,000 square miles of area previously closed to fishing, fishermen might gain access to more of the resource. But not all fishermen support opening these closed areas. An unnamed proponent of the closures told WCVB-TV that cod are larger and more abundant in the closed areas, while overfishing occurring outside of the areas has driven the cod population to collapse.

Watch the video from WCVB-TV Channel 5 Boston

June 5, 2013 — Maine lawmakers moved closer Wednesday to approving a bill designed to help state groundfishermen increase their catch in federal waters.

The bill, L.D. 939, sponsored by Senate President Justin Alfond, D-Portland, would authorize a $3.5 million bond targeted to help fishermen land more fish by subsidizing the purchase of permits in the Groundfish Permit Bank. The proposal is one of two remaining this session designed to bolster the state’s dwindling groundfish industry. It has received unanimous support in the House and Senate.

If enacted the bond requires approval of Maine voters.

The state currently participates in the Groundfish Permit Bank. L.D. 939 would allow fishermen to purchase additional permits. Supporters say the bill would assist a groundfish industry that has experienced a sharp decline amid decreased federal catch quotas. Federal regulations are expected to lead to an approximately 70 percent decrease in quotas for cod and haddock and an estimated 50 percent decrease in sole and yellowtail flounder.

The Maine groundfish fleet comprised about 350 boats during the 1990s. There were about 70 boats in 2012. The catch has shrunk over the same period, from 44.8 million pounds worth $33 million during the 1990s to 6.6 million pounds worth $6.2 million in 2009.

Advocates of L.D. 939 say the ability to buy more permits will blunt the impact of decreased catch quotas.

A separate proposal, L.D. 1549, sponsored by Sen. Anne Haskell, D-Portland, will remove state-assessed penalties for Maine-based groundfishing trawlers that catch lobsters in federally regulated waters.

The proposal is designed to ensure that the state’s groundfishing fleet can keep the lobsters that come up in trawl nets and sell them in states that allow such lobsters to be landed.

Read the full story at the Kennebec Journal

 

May 30, 2013 — In this edition of WCVB-TV’s Chronicle, Channel 5 Boston sheds light on several fish species that are being underutilized by both the fishing community and the culinary world. While species such as skate and dogfish are both delicious and plentiful, processors and distributors still must work to improve the reputation of these species before the market can thrive.

Once considered “trash fish,” and thrown overboard by fishermen, monkfish are another underutilized species that once received little attention from industry members and consumers alike. This all changed, however, in the late 1970’s with cooking legend Julia Child’s shining endorsement of the monkfish, calling it “better than lobster.”

WCVB-TV examines the potential of these underutilized stocks with the help of various members of New Bedford, Massachusetts’ fishing community , including Rich Canastra, owner of the New Bedford Seafood Auction, and Brian Marder, President of Marder Trawling, Inc, which specializes in four species, all of which were previously considered to be “trash fish.”

Channel 5 Boston also hears from Chef Fernando Dovale of Fernando’s Grille and Bar in New Bedford, Massachusetts, as well as Chef Toby Hill, owner of Lyric Restaurant in Yarmouth Port, Massachusetts, who are developing new and exciting ways to prepare underutilized species.

Members of the Massachusetts’ state government also hope to see such species put to greater use. Massachusetts’ State Representative, Sarah Peake, is urging the state to buy dogfish for publically funded programs in an effort to fully-utilize these sustainably managed stocks and to create awareness amongst chefs, retailers and consumers, regarding the promising potential of these misunderstood species.

Watch the video from WCVB-TV Channel 5 Boston

 

June 4, 2013 — Six months after starting his shrimp farm in Stoughton, James Tran harvested the first batch – about 500 pounds.

Tran turned down national buyers, Legal Sea Foods and Whole Foods, because they wanted exclusives on the shrimp raised in tanks at Tran’s business, called Sky8.

“I have a limited supply, and I wanted to go to the end user,” said Tran, a Braintree resident.

He sold the bulk of the shrimp to two upscale restaurants, Ten Tables in Provincetown and Erbaluce in Boston.

Read the full story at the Patriot-Ledger

 

RICHMOND, Va., — June 4, 2013 — Virginia is shedding its late 19th century system of taxing oysters by the bushel for a user fee that will spare watermen mounds of paperwork and return the revenue generated by the fee back to the Chesapeake Bay to replenish public oyster stocks.

The new system, which begins July 1, will require a yearly fee and replace the monthly reports and paperwork that have been an annoyance to watermen and others in the business. The user fees apply to commercial oyster operations, not oyster “growers” who cultivate the hardshells for their own eating enjoyment or simply for the health of the bay.

The new fees range from $50 a year for people who harvest by hand on public oyster grounds to thousands of dollars annually for oyster shucking and packing houses.

The old system generated about $30,000 to $35,000 in taxes annually while the new user fee approach will raise approximately $300,000, said John M.R. Bull, spokesman for the Virginia Marine Resources Commission.

“That goes right into oyster replenishment,” he said. While the state provided $2 million in the current budget for oyster replenishment, the amount of public support varies from year to year.

Read the full story at The Washington Post