April 26, 2015 — New Bedford was the leading U.S. fishing port in 2013, landing $379 million worth of seafood, according to a new report.
The finding by Icelandic Bank Research marks the 15th consecutive year the city has been the nation’s most prosperous port, even as the total volume of fish harvested statewide has declined.
Local fishermen and officials say the reason for New Bedford’s success is due largely to scallops, the state’s most valuable species.
“Other ports, like Gloucester, have relied on ground fish, which don’t factor as heavily into the equation here,” said Mayor Jon Mitchell. “We’ve certainly suffered losses in that sector because of regulations and the diminishment of ground fish stocks, but a number of folks here have switched to scallop fishing. In dollars, 80 percent of what’s caught here are scallops.”
Because of federal restrictions on crew sizes and gear, scallopers catch less than they used to, focusing on larger, adult scallops and leaving the smaller ones to grow, said Eric Hansen, a scallop boat captain for more than 25 years and industry adviser to the New England Fishery Management Council.
Read the full story at the Boston Herald