February 8, 2023 — Blue Harvest Fisheries has expanded its groundfish fleet, adding the former Francis Dawn as “part of the company’s strategy to assemble a new, modern fleet,” the New Bedford, Massachusetts, U.S.A.-based company said in a press release.
The vessel, now renamed the Nobska, will fish for groundfish in the Gulf of Maine and Georges Bank, landing its catch in both New Bedford and Gloucester, Massachusetts, Blue Harvest said. The Nobska’s current captain, Aldie Leeman, has agreed to work for Blue Harvest, and the company is in the process of transferring the groundfish permit from an older vessel that burned in 2021, also called the Nobska, to the new vessel.