Gloucester Archives - Page 22 of 47

Massachusetts: Bill would deliver $100M tax credits to port businesses

May 3, 2018 — A bipartisan band of state legislators has filed a bill that could award up to $100 million a year in tax credits to businesses operating within the state’s 10 Designated Port Areas — including Gloucester, Salem and Lynn on the North Shore.

The bill, with state Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr and state Rep. Ann-Margaret Ferrante among the sponsors, would enable the state secretary of Housing and Economic Development to provide up to $100 million annually in targeted tax credits to retail and wholesale “water-dependent businesses” located and operating within DPAs.

Eligible industries include seafood processors, aquaculture, water-dependent science, seafood storage and entities immersed in marine research and innovation.

The bill must pass both houses of the Legislature and be signed into law by Gov. Charlie Baker, which could be a tall order in the state’s current budgetary climate.

Baker, as Deval Patrick before him, previously had the power to free up about $7 million from an environmental bond bill to address Gloucester’s crumbling shoreside infrastructure and assist at least 26 businesses in modernizing their facilities by renovating piers, floats and docks.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Times

Legit Fish is Adding Validity to a Peculiar Part of the Seafood Industry

March 14, 2018 — Certain entrepreneurs have an interest in a particular topic or industry that serves as an underlying theme to their career.

Taking a look at the career of Legit Fish Founder and CEO Michael Carroll, you will see he has been involved with the seafood industry for nearly 30 years. Carroll has worked as a commercial fisherman, in various marketing roles selling cod and haddock to grocery stores, and as a business consultant for seafood-companies.

And now, he is the founder of a seafood-focused tech startup in a city both catered to tech and seafood.

Legit Fish provides an administrative and tracking platform for seafood offloaders and independent fisherman to certify and market their fish as local. The software application replaces the current paper and Excel logistics systems with a cohesive cloud-based system that offers a scalable and unmatched level of traceability in the seafood industry.

The seafood offloader simply inputs the vessel, species, sizes, and relevant harvest information which is automatically transmitted to federal harvest records, inventory, sales, accounting etc. substantially reducing labor and transaction efficiencies. The application verifies the accuracy of the product information against the official government harvest record through proprietary API access and approves the printing of labels.

“Our software is built for traceability and logistics. If you lie on a federal harvest record, there are consequences, therefore we ground our product origin claims on this record. It’s up to us to make sure that the seafood distributors are honest, while still trying to be a business solution,” Carroll said. “With our current business partners, we can authenticate landings in Boston, New Bedford and Gloucester which represents an estimated 70% of the New England Groundfish Fishery and 30% of Atlantic Sea Scallops Fishery.”

Read the full story at VentureFizz

Massachusetts: Seafood expo cut short, still a success

March 14, 2018 — The first casualty of Tuesday’s fierce snowstorm actually came late Monday afternoon, when Mayor Sefatia Romeo Theken opted for safety reasons to cut short the city’s presence at the massive Seafood Expo North America at the convention center in South Boston.

“We don’t want any of our people getting hurt trying to come in here to staff our booth or the people coming in to meet with us,” Romeo Theken said even before leaving the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center Monday. “And really, we’ve gotten most of what we wanted to get done.”

Following Monday’s session, the Gloucester contingent, led by Economic Development Director Sal Di Stefano, broke down the city’s booth and hauled everything back to Gloucester.

The third nor’easter of the past fortnight, however, did force the city — again for safety reasons — to cancel its annual Wednesday-after-the-Expo visit to the city by a contingent of largely foreign seafood processors, dealers and fishermen in Boston for the three-day seafood show that features 1,341 exhibitors from 57 countries around the globe. Cumulatively, they occupy 258,360 square feet of exhibition space.

“It’s really for the safety of our guests and out of respect for people who will be involved in snow removal around the city,” Di Stefano said. “The last thing we want to do is put somebody in danger. And you know what? They can always come back.”

The city, he said, made a strong showing in the first two days of the show, capped off Monday by its VIP luncheon tasting that drew 75 into a glassed suite overlooking the sprawling convention floor.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Times

New Bedford Auction Owners Sign with Legit Fish – A Traceability Company, To improve Transparancy

March 9, 2018 — SEAFOOD NEWS — Legit Fish, a provider of advanced seafood logistics and traceability technology, today announced a deal with BASE New England who operates the largest seafood auction in New England and is based in New Bedford and Gloucester MA.

Legit Fish Inc. developed and is implementing this first of its kind, end to end logistics and traceability solution with Atlantic Coast Seafood Inc. (Boston MA).

This innovative cloud-based software application provides the domestic seafood industry with operational efficiencies as well as new cutting-edge marketing tools, linking off-loading, government reporting, inventory management, sales, accounting and an industry leading traceability system. The traceability application utilizes a patient pending system which offers the retail trade an unmatched level of traceability based on verification against the official government harvest records.

The application runs on the Microsoft Azure cloud computing platform. This technology solution provides auction participants with the ability to use their mobile devices to purchase seafood products on the Auction platform and allow vessels to transmit hail information direct into the software via a multi language voice response app.

These advancements for BASE New England will allow them to clearly monitor “on the water” hail information as well as product sales compared to dealer reported federal records.

These third-party compliance tools have positive implications for BASE New England and the port of New Bedford in their effort to reopen the New England Groundfish Fishery Sector IX.

The owners of BASE have been very vocal in demanding resumption of fishing by Sector IX vessels because much of the catch of these vessels flows through the New Bedford Auction. During the time when Carlos Rafael was the leading groundfish operator in New Bedford, he was also the biggest supplier of fish through the auction.

Legit Fish Inc. will be attending the 2018 Boston Seafood Show and will be available for both product demos and detailed explanations of this new innovative technology.

This story originally appeared on Seafoodnews.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission.

Legit Fish rolls out the first cloud-based traceability technology for Massachusetts scallop and groundfish

March 8, 2018 — The following was released by Legit Fish:

Legit Fish (www.legitfishinc.com), a provider of advanced seafood logistics and traceability technology, today announced a deal with BASE New England who operates the largest seafood auction in New England and is based in New Bedford and Gloucester MA.

Legit Fish Inc. developed and is implementing this first of its kind, end to end logistics and traceability solution with Atlantic Coast Seafood Inc. (Boston MA). This innovative cloud-based software application provides the domestic seafood industry with operational efficiencies as well as new cutting-edge marketing tools, linking off-loading, government reporting, inventory management, sales, accounting and an industry leading traceability system. The traceability application utilizes a patient pending system which offers the retail trade an unmatched level of traceability based on verification against the official government harvest records.

On March 8^th 2018, Legit Fish Inc. signed a contract to further develop this system with BASE New England. In addition to the software application developed in Boston, Legit Fish Inc. will be expanding this system by creating a custom Auction application which will offer a high level of versatility and functionality. The application runs on the Microsoft Azure cloud computing platform. This technology solution provides auction participants with the ability to use their mobile devices to purchase seafood products on the Auction platform and allow vessels to transmit hail information direct into the software via a multi language voice response app. These advancements for BASE New England will allow them to clearly monitor “on the water” hail information as well as product sales compared to dealer reported federal records. These third-party compliance tools have positive implications for BASE New England and the port of New Bedford in their effort to reopen the New England Groundfish Fishery Sector IX. Considering NOAA’s requirement for increased accountability measures to the operations plan of Sector IX, this revolutionary app provides a substantial technological improvement for the fishery and the sector.

Legit Fish Inc. will be attending the 2018 Boston Seafood Show and will be available for both product demos and detailed explanations of this new innovative technology.

About Legit Fish Inc.
Legit Fish Inc. provides Seafood off-loaders a complete cost-efficient ERP solution. Our innovative cloud-based application can be integrated with various other systems and provides an industry leading traceability system that is verified to the official government harvest records. This new system offers supply chain participants and retailers complete confidence in the origin of their products as well as a new innovative solution to market products. Further information can be found at www.legitfishinc.com.

MASSACHUSETTS: Gloucester again at center of drilling fight

March 8, 2018 — GLOUCESTER, Mass. — In the late-1970s, an unlikely alliance between environmentalists and commercial fishermen in this storied seaport helped block plans to open up Georges Bank to oil exploration — an effort that ultimately led to a federal moratorium on offshore drilling.

Georges Bank, a shallow and turbulent fish spawning ground southeast of Cape Ann and 100 miles east of Cape Cod, has been fished for more than 350 years. It is once again the center of a battle over drilling, this time stemming from President Donald Trump’s plan to allow private oil and gas companies to work in federal waters.

And, once again, Gloucester is poised to play an oversized role in opposing the efforts.

“It was a stupid idea back then, and it’s a stupid idea now,” said Peter Shelley, a senior attorney with the Conservation Law Foundation, which teamed up with Gloucester fisherman to fight the proposal more than three decades ago. “But yet here we are, fighting it once again. It’s ridiculous.”

The Trump administration says existing federal policy keeps 94 percent of the outer continental shelf off-limits to drilling. A five-year plan announced by Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke last year would open at least 90 percent of that area beyond state waters to development by private companies.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Times

Gorton’s CEO bullish on seafood business

Long-term plan includes possibility of more jobs

March 2, 2018 — Gorton’s is navigating a gale of changing consumer trends and increasing global competition, pushing the venerable Gloucester seafood retailer to continually embrace innovation and change to retain its historic market presence, the company’s president said Thursday.

Judson Reis, speaking at the Cape Ann Chamber of Commerce’s annual economic outlook breakfast, also said the 170-year-old company — one of the nation’s oldest continually operating businesses — is committed to staying in Gloucester.

“It’s part of who we are, it’s part of our DNA,” Reis told breakfasters at The Gloucester House restaurant. “We’ve been here, next year it will be 170 years, so it’s very important part of who we are as a business. We are very committed to staying here.”

The only element that could alter that strategy is if Gorton’s, which operates in what Reis referred to as a “high-cost environment,” lost its ability to operate competitively in the frenzied international frozen seafood retail market.

“And I don’t think that is in the cards any time soon,” Reis said.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Times

Massachusetts: Bay State fishing advocates oppose offshore drilling

February 26, 2018 — Frustrated by the Trump administration’s plans to potentially open areas off the Massachusetts coast to oil drilling, U.S. Sen. Ed Markey convened groups with sometimes divergent interests to collectively oppose the plan on Monday.

The oil industry’s use of controlled explosions to explore the seafloor kills and disrupts the ocean life, from plankton to the endangered right whale, said Scott Kraus, vice president and senior science adviser at the New England Aquarium. If the industry builds oil wells in the offshore fishing areas, that would put the area’s fishing industry at risk, said Gloucester Mayor Sefatia Romeo Theken at an event held at the aquarium.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

Bipartisan Legislation Seeks Sustainable Growth for Fishing and Farming $50 Million Bond Bill to Support Local Food Production

February 26, 2018 — BOSTON — The following was released by the Office of Massachusetts State Senator Bruce Tarr:

With an eye toward supporting two major food producing industries, Senator Bruce Tarr (R- Gloucester), has authored a bill intended to stimulate research and development, innovation, and energy efficiencies to support and strengthen expand fishing and farming in Massachusetts.

The bill creates two innovation funds, one for fishing the other for agriculture, and each is designed to foster economic growth and sustainability by prioritizing the awarding of grants and technical assistance for; fuel efficiency, carbon emission reductions, sustainable practices, safety equipment, research and development, and food processing.

Designed to accelerate the direct application of recent advances in technology, food processing techniques, and changing market condition, the bill establishes funding mechanisms which will distribute grants to support farming and commercial fisheries.

“From Cape Ann to Cape Cod and from Boston to the Berkshires we are experiencing a rise in interest in conserving and protecting our natural resources, yet the people responding to that interest need our help. By carefully targeting state funds we can help those traditional local business to survive while creating sustainable environments for them to grow,”said Tarr.

“Hardworking fishermen and farmers have played a pivotal role in our economy for generations,” said Rules Chairman Mark Montigny (D-New Bedford). “I am pleased to join Senator Tarr on this bipartisan legislation to better support our local fishing and agricultural industries so that they may continue to strengthen our economy in the face of increasing pressure and burdensome regulations.”

“Farmers and fishermen have been the backbone of our agricultural economy here in Massachusetts for centuries,” said Senator Gobi (D-Spencer), Chairman of the Committee on Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture. “With this funding and further technological enhancement across these industries we can ensure that our producers stay ahead of the curve while maintaining a sustainable level of growth and development.”

Each fund will be supported by an advisory committee appointed by the Governor and comprised of experts and industry leaders from diverse perspectives and geographic locations. The commercial fishing advisory committee will include experts in marine sciences and will include representatives who fish with different gear types including trawls, hooks, gillnets, and traps; the panel will be led by the Director of the Division of Marine Fisheries.

“This legislation is a light at the end of the tunnel, “said Angela Sanfilippo President of the Gloucester Fishermen’s Wives Association, a non- profit organization which promotes New England fishing industry. “Fishing is difficult, there are so many regulations and it’s tough to stay afloat and keep the boats and keep the infrastructure up to date. We need to revitalize our infrastructure that’s in place now and this bill will help us to do that and be ready as fishing regulation will allow us to catch more fish for consumers to keep them healthy.”

The Commissioner of the Department of Agricultural Resources will chair a 13 member panel of farmers representing horticulture, crop raising, cranberry growing, dairy farming, and the livestock raising sectors of the state, under provisions of the bill.

“Agriculture changes over time and is continually faced with new challenges,” said Ed Davidian, President of the Massachusetts Farm Bureau. “The funding proposed by Senator Tarr in this bill will help ensure that Massachusetts farmers remain leaders in innovation, and can continue to provide fresh, healthy food to the people of the Commonwealth.

“As the Commonwealth seeks to develop, incentivize and grow new industries, it cannot turn its back on the traditional economic foundations of our society. In working to create jobs in emerging technologies, we cannot abandon those who have worked the land and the sea for generations,” said Representative Ann-Margaret Ferrante (D- Gloucester). “This bill seeks to guarantee the Commonwealth’s prominence as a leader in a diversified economy, respecting the labors of all its citizens.”

“We lead the nation in public and private marine research and our contributions to the country’s agricultural heritage are renowned; it’s vital that we support these industries, which go all the way back to our colonial history,” said Tarr. “Farmers and fishermen work hard, we should support them with capital and by connecting them with resources to help them prosper and grow.”

According to a report by UMass Dartmouth, the state’s maritime economy is responsible for more than 90,000 jobs. The report points to the need for infrastructure improvement to expand capacity and growth. With 2,000 miles of coastline, annual sales of fish and other seafood in Massachusetts top more than $2 Billion.

The state also claims more than 8,000 farms which generate more than 16,000 jobs. Agricultural activity ranging from dairy farming, cranberry growing, fruit and vegetable farming, and raising livestock and poultry take place over hundreds of thousands of acres requiring vast resources to operate efficiently and effectively.

The bill was filed today in the Senate with bipartisan support.

More from Senator Tarr is available here.

Massachusetts: ‘We knew it was bad, but we had no idea how bad’

February 12, 2018 — There have been almost a half-dozen screenings now of the “Dead in the Water” documentary on the commercial fishing crisis and one things is clear: Most people who don’t fish for a living have no real grasp of the complexities and challenges that fishermen face every day just to keep fishing.

That, of course, was one of the motivating forces in the making of the film, both for director David Wittkower, a Rockport native, and stakeholder producers John Bell and Angela Sanfilippo.

For Wittkower, the film is a chance to tell the story of the virtual disappearance of an industry rooted in his Cape Ann childhood. For the producers, particularly Sanfilippo, it is a chance to not only set the fishermen’s side of the debate, but to frame and personalize the issue in ways the industry has been unable to do before.

The film, already shown in Rockport and New Bedford, was privately screened in Gloucester last year.

So Saturday’s twin-bill was the first public screening in America’s oldest commercial seaport, the first true home game for the film whose sweeping cinematography features Gloucester as the centerpiece and its fishermen as the core characters.

“I thought it was amazing,” said Peggy Matlow of Gloucester, following the morning screening in the museum’s auditorium and Granite Gallery. “It was enlightening and so well done.”

But like many before her, Matlow left the screening with a gnawing sense of frustration at the uneven financial and regulatory playing field portrayed in the film.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Times