August 17, 2018 — In many ways, the city is the mecca for scallops. Now, Dana Rebeiro wants to expand that to oysters.
The Ward 4 councilor filed a written motion Thursday asking the Committee on Fisheries to help draft an ordinance that Mayor Jon Mitchell’s administration has been crafting regarding aquaculture permits.
The permits would allow fishermen to begin growing oysters as part of the city’s movement toward aquaculture.
July 19, 2018 — WASHINGTON (Saving Seafood) — Tomorrow, NOAA is scheduled to publish an interim final rule that “determines the quota overages that Northeast Fishery Sector IX is responsible for paying back, allocates annual catch entitlements to Northeast Fishery Sectors VII and IX for the 2018 fishing year, approves a new lease-only operations plan for Northeast Fishery Sector IX, and approves a substantive amendment to Northeast Fishery Sector VII operations plan,” in the Federal Register. When the rule is published, the supporting documentation, including the approved operations plans, will also be available. NOAA Fisheries will accept comments for 30 days and reserves the right to change the rule based on comments and/or new information.
The Standard-Times in New Bedford, Massachusetts has reported that, “Nearly eight months to the day after NOAA closed groundfishing for Carlos Rafael vessels, the agency lifted the ban on Thursday that had put at least 80 fishermen out of work.”
Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren issued the following statement: “This plan allows our fishing families and business to get back to work. One man committed criminal actions and he’s justifiably in jail, but a lot of innocent people and businesses paid a price for his fraud. Finally, the industry can now move forward and I will continue to do everything to help fishermen and their way of life that embodies the Massachusetts spirit.”
Massachusetts Senator Ed Markey issued the following statement: “NOAA’s actions mean that our impacted New Bedford fishermen will be able to get back in the water. I am glad that fishing sectors IX and VII finally have a path forward to restore the important balance between sustainable fishing and fishermen’s livelihoods. I will continue to monitor this situation to ensure continued progress and a fair resolution so we can ensure that our Massachusetts fishermen and fishing-related businesses thrive.”
“It’s finally happening,” U.S. Rep. Bill Keating said. “We’re happy. It’s something that we’ve been doing everything in our power to encourage and to affect a swift resolution.”
New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell issued the following statement: “NOAA’s long-awaited decision to approve sector operation plans and allow limited groundfish operations to resume is an important first step and welcome relief to many New Bedford fishing families and waterfront businesses impacted by the closures of Sectors 7 and 9. I applaud all those industry leaders and elected officials who worked with the City and the Port Authority to constructively engage NOAA and highlight the economic consequences of the closure on innocent parties. Our focus now will be to advocate for the timely conclusion of the remaining civil enforcement case against Carlos Rafael and the transfer of his vessels and permits to third parties in the Port of New Bedford. Only then can we move past lease-only arrangements and return to normal groundfishing operations and management.”
Read more coverage at the New Bedford Standard-Times
Read the full interim rule here
May 24, 2018 — NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — On the waterfront of this fabled former whaling hub, the outlines of a major new industry are starting to appear.
Crews of research boats perform last-minute tuneups before heading out to map the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. A large weather buoy decked out with gear for measuring wind speeds waits on the quay for repairs. And a 1,200-foot stretch of the port has been beefed up to bear enormous loads.
New Bedford hopes to soon be the operations center for the first major offshore wind farm in the United States, bringing billions of dollars of investment and thousands of jobs to the town and other ports on the East Coast.
New England is particularly well suited to offshore wind farms. There is not enough land for wind turbines onshore, and the area is not ideal for solar power. At the same time, Massachusetts has been under pressure to find new sources of energy to replace aging conventional and nuclear plants, as well as meet targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions blamed for climate change.
“We know in light of Northern Europe’s experience with offshore wind that many U.S. ports will benefit from the arrival of the industry here,” Jon Mitchell, the New Bedford mayor, said in an interview.
Whether Massachusetts can pull of its ambitious plans will depend to some degree on local issues — and not everyone in the area is enthusiastic.
In particular, some of New Bedford’s fishermen are worried. The city’s port is already home to hundreds of fishing boats, as well as seafood auction houses and processing plants. It generates about $3.3 billion a year and supports about 6,200 jobs, according to the local authorities.
Eric Hansen, a scallop fisherman, said that he and his colleagues were concerned about threading their way through a relatively narrow allotted path through spinning turbines.
“Think fog, heavy seas,” he said.
Read the full story at the New York Times
May 23, 2018 — NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — Vineyard Wind is the big winner of Massachusetts’ first offshore wind contract, but a second company, Deepwater Wind, will receive a contract from Rhode Island based on its Massachusetts bid, according to Massachusetts environmental officials.
Vineyard Wind has been selected for an 800-megawatt wind farm — about 100 turbines — in federal waters about 14 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard. Deepwater’s project, called Revolution Wind, will be half the size, and is located south of Little Compton, Rhode Island, and Westport, Massachusetts.
In the days leading up to the decision, people seemed to be talking about the idea that Massachusetts could split the award between two winners, according to Erich Stephens, Vineyard Wind’s chief development officer. Getting a full 800 megawatts came as a surprise, he said.
“I was hopeful we might get something,” he said.
New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell congratulated the companies.
Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times
May 14, 2018 — NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., came to the city Saturday to hear the concerns of fishermen who wanted a faster resolution to the Carlos Rafael problems that have closed two fishing sectors, maybe throwing fishermen permanently out of their jobs.
These cases of licensing and ownership, and repayment of overfishing, “need to be resolved as quickly as possible,” Warren said later.
Warren also heard from Mayor Jon Mitchell and fishing representatives who contend that the wind energy companies that are the finalists for an exclusive contract are not listening to the concerns of the fishing industry, mainly scallopers.
Warren along with U.S. Sen. Edward Markey, D-Mass, and U.S. Rep. Bill Keating, D-Mass., listened about these matters in a meeting at the Wharfinger Building on City Pier 3, organized by Bob Vanasse of the industry lobby Saving Seafood.
They parted ways when Warren and her campaign staff went to the Greater New Bedford Regional Vocational Technical High School to conduct a town hall style meeting.
The event had an atmosphere much like a campaign rally, with Warren on stage answering questions from attendees who signed up in a lottery.
She touched on a dozen topics, taking her talk where the questions went, on everything from her late mother, poverty, and U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell, who rejects a bill that would insulate special prosecutor Robert Mueller from being removed from office by President Donald Trump.
She also condemned the recent trillion-dollar tax cut while Medicaid recipients are threatened by cuts and 90 percent of Americans claim zero percent in the rise of the economy in the past several decades.
Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times
April 18, 2018 — The following statement was delivered to the New England Fishery Management Council today on behalf of New Bedford, Massachusetts Mayor Jon Mitchell. Mayor Mitchell also serves as Chairman of the New Bedford Port Authority:
Thank you Chairman Quinn and Members of the Council for this opportunity to communicate about a matter of ongoing concern to the Port of New Bedford, namely the impact that the closure of Sector 9 of the Northeast Fishery is having on groundfishing operations in the Port.
The NOAA decision has had–and continues to have–troubling economic consequence for the Port of New Bedford and our local economy. It has triggered significant business losses among local companies that provide support services to the commercial fishing fleet, and has meant the loss of livelihood for dozens of local fishing families.
It is important for all parties to keep in mind the numerous New Bedford businesses and families who have played no direct role in the operation of Sector 9, but who now find themselves in severe financial distress as a result of the Sector’s closure.
While the significant human cost of the closure cannot be adequately measured, Professor Dan Georgiana of the School of Marine Science and Technology at the University of Massachusetts (SMAST) has used a standard NOAA economic impact model to estimate the economic damage being done to the Port of New Bedford. His analysis found that the Port suffered roughly $12 million in economic losses in just the first twenty-five days after the closure went into effort on November 20th of last year.
This week marks the fifth full month of the Sector 9 closure, and the losses continue to mount. If one extrapolates from Professor Georgiana’s original analysis, it is not unreasonable to suggest that the Port of New Bedford may now have cumulatively suffered tens of millions of dollars in losses in the last five months.
This figure includes the impacts on harvesting, processing, wholesale and retail market activity, but does not include the cost to the public of unemployment compensation or the impact on businesses that supply vessels or process groundfish.
None of this is to suggest that the one person at the center of the controversy should not be punished severely. Carlos Rafael should be held fully accountable for his actions. I emphasize rather that the Fisheries Service should undertake its rulemaking, as it is statutorily required, with the interests of the Port and its businesses in mind. At a minimum, this means that it should complete the rulemaking “expeditiously”–as NOAA’s notice of withdrawal said it would–so that the effected fishermen and businesses can get back to work without further delay.
The Service also noted it had to calculate the amount of “overage” to certain groundfish stocks caused by Rafael’s fraud before it completed its rulemaking. Yet the Service has had, for some time now, all the reasonably available information to complete this loss calculation. Again, I urge the Service to complete these calculations and its rule-making with all deliberate speed.
The clock is ticking against New Bedford fishermen and shore-side businesses. A resolution of this matter therefore cannot come soon enough for the Port of New Bedford. Thank you for your consideration.
April 12, 2018 — Earlier this week, fishing industry officials sent a letter to Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker asking for a larger role in the decision making when it comes to granting the state’s first offshore wind contract.
The letter particularly asked for the New Bedford Port Authority to act as the mediator between commercial fishing and wind energy, and in his weekly appearance on WBSM, Mayor Jon Mitchell said that request makes “all the sense in the world.”
“The place where these two industries intersect more than anywhere else will be New Bedford,” he said, noting he agrees that the fishermen haven’t been given enough of a voice. “That’s why we’re prepared to do something about it.”
Mitchell, who as mayor is also chair of the Port Authority, says the fishermen have valid concerns that he feels may have fallen on deaf ears.
“It has to do with safe navigation through wind farms, and with the siting of new wind farms that might intrude on traditional fishing grounds,” he said. “Wind developers have to do a better job of taking fishermen seriously, and we’re going to work on that. We’re going to make sure that they are taken more seriously.”
April 11, 2018 — NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — Spring has sprung, bringing with it new life, warmer weather and longer days. This month AHA! Night— just in time for Earth Day— pays homage to the “Sustainable SouthCoast.”
Join in celebrating the earth and explore how the community can create a sustainable environment for ourselves and others. Plus new art, live music, kids activities, film screenings and more.
AHA! (Arts, History and Architecture!) is a free family-friendly event held rain or shine on the second Thursday of each month from 5 to 9 p.m. in historic downtown New Bedford.
Here’s just a sample of the night’s events. For a full list, visit ahanewbedford.org.
– Upcycle many small plastic bags into one larger, stronger tote to keep plastic bags out of the ocean.
– Watch and discuss “A Plastic Ocean” in the park theater.
– As artist Andy Tedesco demonstrates printmaking, try cutting your own linoleum prints. The New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center (38 Bethel St.) presents “Sustaining New England’s Wild Seafood,” a conversation with Eating with the Ecosystem.
Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times
April 10, 2018 — BOSTON — Fishing officials are calling for the New Bedford Port Authority to be the “central facilitator” for discussions between the offshore wind industry and fishermen.
Monday’s letter to Gov. Charlie Baker was sent by the National Coalition for Fishing Communities, a project of Saving Seafood, a group that New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell previously said was created by industry players in his city.
New Bedford is both the nation’s top fishing port as measured by the value of catch, mostly owing to the scallop fishery, and offshore wind developers have agreed to use the Whaling City’s harbor facilities as a staging area, so it is on its way to becoming an offshore wind hub, as well.
In the letter, officials also urged him to make the state’s first offshore windfarm “as modest in size and scope as possible” so that its effects can be studied and called for a possible delay in the selection of offshore wind partners.
“Three separate, developer-led outreach efforts have been launched, and all are stumbling to produce meaningful dialogue or move us closer to real solutions in areas ranging from navigation, access, cable routes, radar interference, and gear loss,” the coalition wrote. “Equally troubling, it has become clear that offshore wind developers are unwilling or unable to coordinate their interactions with commercial fishermen to tackle issues that cut across multiple project areas.”
Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times
March 9, 2018 — New Bedford city officials have unveiled a draft plan to expand the business opportunities for the city’s lucrative port.
The Port of New Bedford is the number one commercial fishing port in the country, hauling in $9.8 billion each year. Ninety percent of that economic value is tied to the fishing industry.
However, city officials are looking to diversify the port’s business and they’re betting on offshore wind.
Mayor Jon Mitchell said according to a study by the federal Department of Energy, one of the windiest spots along the Eastern seaboard is about 25 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard.
Read and listen to the full story at Rhode Island NPR