Saving Seafood

MASSACHUSETTS: Haddock chowder a winner for small boat fishermen — and the hungry

July 7, 2021 — When the pandemic hit last winter, restaurants and fish markets were among the first businesses to shut down.

The combination hit the region’s fishing fleet really hard, said Seth Rolbein, director of the Cape Cod Fisheries Trust at the Cape Cod Commercial Fishermen’s Alliance. May starts the new fishing year and summer is by far the industry’s busiest season.

“It took the legs out from under the fleet,” said Rolbein.

Additionally, fish processors in ports like New Bedford and Gloucester had the same issues as meat packing plants in the Midwest, Rolbein said. With employees working in close proximity, the fish processing plants weren’t built to contain the spread of the virus, said Rolbein, and they shut down too.

Read the full story at the Cape Cod Times

MASSACHUSETTS: ‘Dock to dish’ aids net zero plan

November 11, 2020 — There is a simple way to help combat climate change, and it tastes good: Eat local fish.

More than 90 percent of the fish consumed in this country comes from overseas, creating an enormous carbon footprint.

“The average seafood eaten in the United States travels 5,500 miles from dock to dish,” said Brett Tolley, adding that even in coastal communities, the numbers aren’t that different. “If that doesn’t wake you up, I don’t know what will.”

Tolley, national program coordinator for Northwest Atlantic Marine Alliance, was one of four fishing industry panelists participating in Net Zero, a virtual conference sponsored by the Cape Cod Climate Change Collaborative.

The conference in late October brought together public and private leaders in all sectors, from construction to creative arts, who are growing jobs and the economy while moving the region to “net zero,” meaning the amount of greenhouse gas produced and the amount removed from the atmosphere is a wash.

Read the full story at Wicked Local