Saving Seafood

MASSACHUSETTS: School district signs up for local seafood

July 14, 2015 — CHICOPEE, Mass. (AP) — A Massachusetts public school system is the first school district to sign on to a Maine science institute’s seafood certification system.

A spokesman for Gulf of Maine Research Institute in Portland, Maine, announced the partnership with the Chicopee district on Tuesday. The institute says the agreement means the district’s 7,800 students will be able to eat seafood that is responsibly harvested and traceable to the Gulf of Maine.

Chicopee sustainability coordinator Madison Walker says the move supports the region’s food economy. She says it will also help teach students about the fishing industry and marine ecosystems.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the Boston Herald 

 

UMASS’ SMAST SHARES A $335,000 GRANT FROM SCIENTIFIC CONSORTIUM

July 10, 2015 — NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — Fishermen will be directly involved in a research project announced by the Northeast Consortium, a University of New Hampshire-based organization that fosters collaborative research.

The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth’s School for Marine Science and Technology will share a $335,000 contract to support research into the spawning habits of cod on Georges Bank and the Gulf of Maine.

The work is under contract from the New England Fishery Management Council, which in recent years has driven the decisions to virtually shut down the cod fishing in those areas.

The research at SMAST will include data from interviews with current or retired fishermen who fish for cod on Georges Bank.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times