Saving Seafood

  • Home
  • News
    • Alerts
    • Conservation & Environment
    • Council Actions
    • Economic Impact
    • Enforcement
    • International & Trade
    • Law
    • Management & Regulation
    • Regulations
    • Nutrition
    • Opinion
    • Other News
    • Safety
    • Science
    • State and Local
  • News by Region
    • New England
    • Mid-Atlantic
    • South Atlantic
    • Gulf of Mexico
    • Pacific
    • North Pacific
    • Western Pacific
  • About
    • Contact Us
    • Links
    • Fishing Terms Glossary
  • Join Us
    • Individuals
    • Organizations
    • Businesses

One Square Mile in Massachusetts: While Scallops Soar, Groundfishing Struggles In New Bedford

February 9, 2018 — The Port of New Bedford is often touted as the most lucrative in North America. That’s thanks mainly to the popularity, and apparent abundance, of scallops. But the success of scallops may be masking hard times for other parts of the fishing industry.

Pat Kavanagh owns three fishing boats in New Bedford. Two for catching groundfish like cod, haddock and flounder. The other is a scallop boat. Right now, that’s his moneymaker.

“As far as groundfishing, groundfishing’s been tough for the last twenty years,” said Kavanagh.

He’s tight lipped about how much he actually makes from the three boats each year.

“But I can say it’s a damn good thing we’ve got a scalloper,” said Kavanagh.

Like many fishermen, Kavanagh got into this business through family, working on his father’s boat. But since the 1980s regulations have tamped down on fisheries, and it’s become harder to get a start in the business. Groundfish prices have fallen, and Kavanagh says buyers are looking elsewhere for product.

“The world has gotten smaller with airplanes and flying fish around,” said Kavanagh. “So we’re competing with the world and there’s some pretty cheap fish out there and there’s actually some pretty good fish.”

The fleet has dwindled, and in the last year, New Bedford suffered another major blow. Carlos Rafael, the owner of a local groundfishing fleer pleaded guilty to falsifying his catch. He’s now serving a four-year prison sentence. His fleet sits impounded at the docks. Federal regulators have suspended his boats from fishing.

Whether you worked with Rafael or not, the shrinking fleet has put strain on other businesses, including Levin Marine across the harbor in Fairhaven, which makes netting for groundfishing.

Read the full story at Rhode Island Public Radio

 

Recent Headlines

  • Research forms complex picture of mercury pollution in a period of global change
  • GFW’s new data cell to combat illegal fishing with $5.9m gift from Bloomberg
  • Environmental group sues U.S. for material on endangered status for bluefin tuna
  • Few California sea lions from Willamette Falls euthanized, but program continues
  • NOAA Fisheries Approves Modifications to the Northeast Skate Complex Fishery Management Plan
  • NWAA’s Hugh Mitchell: Aquaculture is being unfairly demonized
  • NEW YORK: Okay for Wind Cable Route Soil Tests
  • Those of us who fished Atlantic salmon may never have another chance in our lifetimes

Most Popular Topics

Alaska ASMFC Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission Barack Obama California Canada Cape Cod Climate change Cod Donald Trump Florida Gloucester groundfish Gulf of Maine Gulf of Mexico Illegal fishing IUU fishing Lobster Magnuson-Stevens Act Maine Massachusetts Mid-Atlantic National Marine Fisheries Service National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration NEFMC New Bedford New England New England Fishery Management Council New Jersey New York NMFS NOAA NOAA Fisheries North Carolina North Pacific Pacific Red snapper Rhode Island Salmon Scallops Seafood South Atlantic Tuna Western Pacific Whales

Daily Updates & Alerts

Enter your email address to receive daily updates and alerts:
  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
Tweets by @savingseafood

Copyright © 2019 Saving Seafood · WordPress Web Design by Jessee Productions