Saving Seafood

MASSACHUSETTS: New Bedford mayor calls for closed scallop grounds to reopen to fishermen

December 12, 2022 — Mayor Jon Mitchell advocated for the opening of Georges Bank’s Northern Edge to scallop fishermen in 2023 during New England Fishery Management Council meetings this week in Newport, RI.

“Recent research by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and others demonstrates that the Northern Edge can sustain scallop fishing. Given this research, I do not see a pressing need to conduct additional research before opening the Northern Edge,” Mitchell stated in written testimony submitted to the NEFMC.

While New Bedford fishing vessels harvest multiple species, he said, “scallops are the prime drivers” of the Port of New Bedford’s economy, the most valuable commercial fishing port in the United States.

Read the full article at South Coast Daily

Six Coastal Projects Receive Woods Hole Sea Grant Funding

March 7, 2018 — WOODS HOLE, Mass. — Researchers from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and other Massachusetts academic organizations have received grant funding for six new projects.

The Woods Hole Sea Grant program, which is funded through NOAA and other non-federal sources, has awarded about $1.5 million over two years.

The work will contribute to maintain healthy coastal ecosystems, refine management strategies for fisheries and aquaculture, and help communities be more resilient to the effects of climate change.

A team of biologists and marine chemists from WHOI led by Mark Hahn and Chris Reddy will examine thepotential risk to human health posed by halogenated marine natural products (HNPs) in seafood. Some HNPs have been found to be persistent and bioaccumulative and to occur at similar concentrations as their industrial counterparts such as PCBs.

Preliminary research suggests that HNPs could make a substantial contribution to the total “dioxin equivalents” in marine animals, and thus to the total risk of dioxin-like effects from consuming seafood. This research will help inform decisions regarding consumption of seafood by humans, including sensitive subpopulations such as children and pregnant women.

Read the full story at CapeCod.com