Saving Seafood

SEAN HORGAN: Fishery in Hail Mary mode

September 28, 2020 — A quick recap: The council has been working on the measure — Amendment 23 — for more than two years. It seems like 50.

The amendment will set future monitoring levels for sector-based groundfish vessels. The council faces four alternatives: Monitors aboard 25%, 50%, 75% or 100% of groundfish trips. The council has chosen 100% coverage as its preferred alternative.

That’s not good for the groundfishermen. Once the federal government stops harvesting spare change from between the sofa cushions to keep reimbursing the fleet for at-sea monitoring, the onus for paying falls on the fishermen at a current tune of about $700 per day per vessel.

If 100% monitoring carries the day, it will add an estimated $6.4 million of additional costs across the fishery. The fishermen aren’t even patting their pockets. They are serious when they say it could easily spell the end of the fleet.

So this is a big deal.

Environmental groups have poured in resources and comment in support of the preferred alternative. If they set a betting line on fisheries management, conservationists would probably be heavy favorites.

The industry is in Hail Mary mode. The long pass, not the prayer. Though at this point, it’s a difference without a distinction.

In a letter, the Northeast Seafood Coalition reached out to Gov. Charlie Baker for support and leadership on the issue — Massachusetts stands the most to lose within the fishery — and was rewarded with a palpable silence.

Sixteen members of the Massachusetts Legislature, at the urging of Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr and others from fishing communities, signed a letter asking the council to reject Amendment 23 as currently constituted. They cited the measure’s inconsistency with a number of standards within the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act and executive orders.

Read the full opinion piece at the Gloucester Daily Times

MASSACHUSETTS: Fishing group asks Baker to fight ‘crippling’ monitor measure

September 23, 2020 — The Northeast Seafood Coalition is trying to enlist Gov. Charlie Baker in its campaign against the monitoring measure that it charges has the “strong potential” to financially cripple the state’s commercial groundfish industry.

The Gloucester-based coalition sent Baker a letter last Friday laying out its case that Amendment 23 — which will set future monitoring levels for sector-based, Northeast commercial groundfish vessels —  is highly flawed and should be withdrawn by the New England Fishery Management Council.

The council, which has been developing the monitoring measure for more than two years, is scheduled to take final action on it next Wednesday during the middle day of its three-day meeting that will be conducted via webinar.

“The letter is really a cry for leadership,” NSC Executive Director Jackie Odell said Tuesday. “We’re looking for leadership on this issue. We’re looking for attention on this issue.”

Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times

Massachusetts launches online platform for food system connections

August 17, 2020 — The Baker-Polito Administration recently announced the launch of MassGrown Exchange, an online platform designed to facilitate business-to-business connections within the local food system for products and services.

The platform was developed following recommendations from the administration’s Food Security Task Force, which promotes ongoing efforts to ensure that individuals and families throughout the commonwealth “have access to healthy, local food.”

“Our administration developed MassGrown Exchange to serve as an important tool for the commonwealth’s agricultural and seafood industries to expand business opportunities and access new markets, and improve food security for the people of Massachusetts,” said Gov. Charlie Baker. “Through this new platform, a variety of businesses, including farmers, fisheries, restaurants and food banks, will be able to source locally caught and produced food more efficiently.”

“Our Food Security Task Force found that there was a critical need to develop a system to connect processing, storage and distribution resources to ensure ongoing supply of food,” said Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito. “Though the platform was designed to address COVID-19 disruptions to the local food supply, it will continue to benefit the local food system long after the pandemic has passed.”

Read the full story at Wicked Local

MASSACHUSETTS: Baker Polito Administration Announces Disaster Relief Funding for Fishing and Seafood Industries

August 10, 2020 — The Baker-Polito Administration has announced the distribution of $27.8 million in federal disaster relief funding to mitigate the financial impacts to the fishing and seafood industries from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Division of Marine Fisheries worked with fishing industry stakeholders to develop a plan to distribute the federal fisheries assistance, which has now been approved by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

“The fishing and seafood industries are integral parts of the economy, history and culture of Massachusetts,” said Governor Charlie Baker.

“Our Administration remains dedicated to supporting these industries, and we look forward to getting these needed relief funds to impacted fishermen and businesses as quickly as possible.”

Lieutenant Governor Karyn Polito added, “These funds will be a needed lifeline for the Commonwealth’s fishing and seafood businesses, as well as the families and coastal communities who rely on these industries.”

“The distribution of these CARES Act funds is another important step in our efforts to help those who have been impacted by the pandemic.”

Read the full story at CapeCod.com

MASSACHUSETTS: Baker announces $17.8 million in disaster relief for seafood industry

August 9, 2020 — BOSTON — Gov. Charlie Baker said Massachusetts is providing $17.8 million in disaster relief funding for the fishing and seafood industries that have been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic.

Eligible recipients of the relief funding include tribes, commercial fishing businesses, for-hire fishing businesses, aquaculture businesses and seafood wholesalers and processors in the state who have suffered at least a 35% loss of revenue during the pandemic.

“The fishing and seafood industries are integral parts of the economy, history and culture of Massachusetts,” Baker said. “Our administration remains dedicated to supporting these industries, and we look forward to getting these needed relief funds to impacted fishermen and businesses as quickly as possible.”

Read the full story at WPRI

Fishing council plans in-person meeting on monitoring

August 6, 2020 — The New England Fishery Management Council is exploring the possibility of hosting an in-person meeting for the last public hearing before it takes final action on the Northeast groundfish monitoring amendment in September.

The council has set three more public hearings before public comment closes Aug. 31 on Amendment 23, which will set at-sea monitoring levels throughout the fishery. The first two — this Thursday and Aug. 10 — will be via webinar, as were the first four.

The final public hearing on Aug. 26 could be switched to an in-person, outdoor session under a tent at a greater Boston location — but only if it can conform with current Massachusetts COVID-19 safety restrictions for public gatherings. If not, the final public hearing will proceed as a webinar.

“The decision whether to hold the meeting in-person and outdoors primarily will depend on the guidance of Gov. (Charlie) Baker of Massachusetts and whether Massachusetts changes its restrictions on public gatherings,” Janice Plante, council spokeswoman, said Tuesday. “We don’t want to put anybody in a compromised position.”

Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times

Bernhardt eager for offshore wind ‘that works’

July 21, 2020 — Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt flew into Boston on Tuesday where he defended putting Vineyard Wind, the nation’s first large-scale wind farm, on hold for more than a year and promised a key permitting decision on the project in December that will work for both wind developers and fishing interests.

Bernhardt, whose boss, President Trump, has shown little interest in offshore wind, said he is eager to launch the offshore wind industry. “I am very eager to do it, but I am eager to do it in a way that works,” he said. “Let me give you an example. In the West we do wind. You know where we don’t put a windmill? In the middle of a highway. You can drive all the roads in the west and you’re not going to drive into a windmill.”

His comment appeared to be a reference to concerns of fishing groups that wind turbines would block access to fishing grounds and hamper navigation.

“We don’t whack people with an unnecessary burden if we can avoid it and do things sustainably,” he said. “I need a development program that is done in a way that’s sustainable for everybody.”

Read the full story at Commonwealth Magazine

MASSACHUSETTS: NB Fishing Heritage Center to Reopen July 9

July 6, 2020 — Phase 3 of Governor Baker’s reopening plan begins on Monday, July 6. Museums and galleries are among those attractions planning to reopen this week. Among them is the New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center at 38 Bethel Street in the Historic District.

Hannah Mooney, the Center’s Exhibits, Programs and Engagement Specialist, spoke with Townsquare Sunday host Jim Phillips about the July 9 reopening, the protocols now in place, and what live and virtual programs are planned for this summer.

Hannah also shared details about future fundraising events and the Center’s work with DATMA that helped bring about the “Vessels” exhibit in Downtown New Bedford. The interview is available here:

Read the full story at WBSM

MASSACHUSETTS: Grants power seafood initiative at UMass-Amherst

June 25, 2020 — There might be something fishy about October at the University of Massachusetts Amherst this fall.

Thanks to a state grant reeled in by Our Wicked Fish Inc., students at the UMass flagship campus can expect plenty of local seafood and fishing-related events during “a month-long campaign for New England-caught seafood” coinciding with National Seafood Month.

“Components of the campaign will include social media content, on-campus contests, online giveaways, meet-n-greets with fishers, and could also include events such as a film screening, fish cutting demonstrations, cooking demonstrations, and brief before-and-after online survey,” the Baker administration said in a press release announcing the award of three grants through the Division of Marine Fisheries’ Seafood Marketing Grant Program.

The partnership between Our Wicked Fish and UMass Dining was awarded $31,240 in funding, the largest of the three grants.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times

MASSACHUSETTS: ‘A profound struggle’: South Coast fishing industry fights to hold on

June 9, 2020 — When Gov. Charlie Baker ordered all restaurants to close dine-in services on March 17 to help fight coronavirus, a shudder ran through the fishing industry along the South Coast of Massachusetts.

Roughly two-thirds of freshly caught seafood in Massachusetts is purchased by restaurants, and while takeout and delivery services have continued during the public health crisis, consumers are more apt to eat scallops, lobsters and many other edible sea species at dine-in eateries.

As a result, demand fell sharply in the fishing industry, especially for more lucrative seafood.

“When all the restaurants close up, there isn’t a market for that fresh fish,” New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell said. “Prices plummet to a point where it isn’t profitable for many boatowners to send their boats out for trips, so that puts fishermen out of work.”

For Southeastern Massachusetts, the health of the fishing industry is a key concern — and it will likely be one of the topics during WPRI 12’s live 7 p.m. U.S. Senate primary debate between Democratic incumbent Ed Markey and challenger Joe Kennedy III, their only debate for this region.

Read the full story at WPRI