Saving Seafood

MASSACHUSETTS: Supporting Local Seafood Through Outreach and Collaboration

July 3, 2025 — DMF’s Seafood Marketing Program aims to increase consumer demand and preference for local seafood products and support local fisheries through education and awareness. Part of the program’s role is to attend local seafood, food, and outreach shows and conferences to share resources on local seafood, learn from industry members, and grow DMF’s network of fishermen, seafood dealers, restaurants, educators, and more!

Seafood Promotional Events

The Seafood Marketing Program has attended several seafood promotional events so far this year!

Local Food Trade Show. The Sustainable Business Network’s 2025 Local Food Trade Show took place on January 28, 2025, at Russell’s Garden Center in Wayland, MA, featuring nearly 100 local food exhibitors. The event connected wholesale buyers with New England-based farmers and food producers, and several seafood industry members were also in attendance. This event was a great opportunity for DMF to connect with industry members during networking sessions and learn more about building a resilient local food economy. Seafood Expo North America. Seven seafood businesses made up Mass. Ave. at

Seafood Expo North 2025. These local Commonwealth businesses are promoted by DMF’s Seafood Marketing Program and received 50% cost-share for the show via MA Dept. Of Agricultural Resource (MDAR) and the US Dept. of Agriculture. MA Dept. of Fish and Game (DFG) Commissioner Tom O’Shea, Deputy Commissioner Sefatia Romeo-Theken and MDAR Commissioner Ashley Randle visited with those businesses and other Massachusetts businesses scattered throughout the show in March. A DMF grant-supported project by St. Ours was a finalist in the New Product Showcase using invasive green crabs for seafood broth.

New England Restaurant and Bar Show. More than a half dozen seafood businesses attended the New England Restaurant & Bar Show as part of the Massachusetts Seafood Pavilion March 30–31, 2025, at the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center. Over 300 exhibitors showcased the latest products, services, and technologies, and alongside local seafood businesses, DMF helped promote local seafood and connect industry members.

MA Library Association Conference. The Seafood Marketing Program attended this conference for the first time, May 30-31 at the Sea Crest Hotel in Falmouth. Libraries are a hub for all-ages education and DMF wanted to inform librarians of the resources available on our website as well as our printed educational material and programming opportunities. Librarians were very interested in speakers from DMF for both in-person and on-line programming.

DMF’s Marine Quest. The Seafood Marketing Program was able to offer seafood sampling of over 100 pounds of Jonah crab at DMF’s first Marine Quest Festival using recently earned certifications. The sampling was a huge success!

New Video Content

The Seafood Marketing Program is busy creating video content. We filmed fifteen cooking videos starring Laura Foley Ramsden, a fourth-generation fish mongress with nearly 40 years of experience in the seafood industry, who generously donated her time. Seven of these videos feature local flatfish species as we continue to promote these species, including the pan seared sole recipe below. We are filming four story-telling mini-documentaries with fishermen as well. All videos will be posted on our social media with media partners during 2025.

Read the full article at Mass.gov

MASSACHUSETTS: How do fishermen in Massachusetts get healthcare?

June 23, 2025 — Some of us are lucky enough to have jobs that provide benefits, such as healthcare and paid time off. But for commercial fishermen, there is no human resources office at sea.

Fishing Partnership Support Services is a local nonprofit that’s trying to fill that gap for fishermen and their families.

CAI’s Gilda Geist spoke with Tracy Sylvester, regional navigator with Fishing Partnership, to learn more about how her organization supports fishermen in coastal Massachusetts.

Gilda Geist What does Fishing Partnership Support Services do, and who does it serve?

Tracy Sylvester I’m a regional navigator at Fishing Partnership, helping fishing families all over coastal Massachusetts. Fishing Partnership serves family-owned fishing businesses run by independent fishermen. We have offices in New Bedford, Gloucester, Chatham and Plymouth. Being a commercial fisherman is not easy, so that’s where Fishing Partnerships steps in to support local commercial fishermen with our community health programs, top-notch safety trainings, financial guidance and support for the unique personal issues that fishing families face.

GG You have a background in fishing and being part of a fishing family. Can you tell me a little bit about how that experience informs your work?

TS Before I came to Fishing Partnership, I lived up in Sitka, Alaska where I was a commercial fisherman. We harvested wild salmon, halibut and black cod, and we still do that in the summers as much as we can even though we’re living back here in Massachusetts. There’s nothing like Fishing Partnership in Alaska. When I was commercial fishing full-time up there, it was really challenging to figure out how to access health care as a small business owner. Each fishing boat you can think of as a small business. We have wildly fluctuating income, so it can be really hard to estimate our income when we go to apply. Between juggling the logistics of commercial fishing with the whole family on board—I fished with my partner and our two small kids—it was really hard for me to find time to figure out our health care, figure out how to meet our basic needs when we’re back on land. When we are out there, we’re not able to get online, make phone calls and keep our life on land on track. The challenges with accessing affordable health insurance and the related quality of care issues in Alaska was the tipping point that prompted us to move back to Massachusetts in 2019. This wasn’t a decision that we made lightly. It was really difficult to give up everything we’d built up there and come back here. But health care is just so important, and the stress of worrying about losing it was too much on top of all the challenges of being a commercial fisherman. So we came back with the idea that we would keep fishing up there in the summers, market our catch back here in New England and find some kind of balance between the two states and get the best of both worlds. Then COVID hit and we ended up staying here longer. So we sold our boat after a couple of years of struggling to get up there and work our boat and live here, and that’s when I started working with Fishing Partnership.

Read the full article at CAI

MASSCHUSETTS: Cape Cod lobstermen fear loss of livelihood due to Massachusetts red tape

June 23, 2025 — Cape Cod lobstermen are trying to fend off state and federal regulations that they say could put them out of business in an effort that an attorney describes as a “misguided push for uniformity.”

Beginning July 1, lobstermen will face strict rules when harvesting certain female lobsters in state and federal waters around outer Cape Cod, extending from Chatham to Provincetown’s Race Point, including a part of upper Cape Cod Bay.

The Outer Cape Lobstermen’s Association, a group of roughly 70 Massachusetts-licensed lobster trap fishers, is fighting back against the state Division of Marine Fisheries and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, reopening a decades-old federal complaint.

The dispute will be heard in a status conference scheduled for Monday in Boston federal court.

Lobstermen in the Outer Cape Cod Conservation Management Area have been allowed to catch so-called V-notched lobsters under a 2000 settlement, but the rules set to go into effect next week will essentially ban that fishing, according to an attorney for the association.

In 2000, the association and the Commonwealth established a “regulatory regime” for outer Cape Cod distinct from other lobster conservation management areas in the state. The settlement permitted lobstermen in the region to fish for most V-notched lobsters in exchange for stricter gauge size requirements.

Read the full article at Boston Herald

Fishing Group Renews Effort to Stop Empire Wind

June 13, 2025 — The Long Island Commercial Fishing Association is among the groups calling for a renewed halt to the construction of the Empire Wind 1 offshore wind farm, which was the subject of a stop-work order in April that was lifted just a month later.

The organizations, which include Protect Our Coast-New Jersey and the Nantucket-based ACK for Whales, have called on Interior Secretary Doug Burgum to issue a stop-work order on the 54-turbine, 810-megawatt project, which is to span 80,000 acres in the New York Bight and send renewable electricity to New York City. Mr. Burgum had done just that on April 16, reportedly at the urging of Representatives Chris Smith and Jeff Van Drew of New Jersey and with the support of Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman.

A month later, the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management informed Equinor, the Norwegian company that is constructing the wind farm, that the stop-work order had been lifted, allowing construction to resume. Gov. Kathy Hochul took credit for the reversal, saying that she had “spent weeks pushing the federal government to rescind the stop-work order” so that construction on “this important source of renewable power” could proceed.

The groups seeking to halt the project cited the June 2 death of a subcontractor aboard a platform supply vessel.

“Unlike [the federal Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement’s] public reporting for oil and gas accidents, there is currently no centralized public reporting website for offshore wind fatalities or injuries,” the groups said in a statement. “The public, press, and fishing community were never informed of this fatality, echoing the lack of transparency seen after the Vineyard Wind LM107P blade implosion on July 13, 2024, when 55 tons of material were deposited into the ocean and washed onto Nantucket’s beaches, only disclosed 48 hours later.”

Read the full article at The East Hampton Star

Local, regional groups sue to halt Empire Wind project

June 13, 2025 — The U.S. government and several entities involved in the offshore Empire Wind 1 turbine project are being sued by environmental and fisheries groups seeking to halt construction, after an April stop work order on Empire Wind 1 was lifted by the U.S. Department of the Interior on May 19.

The plaintiffs in the suit, filed on June 3, hail from New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island, and include groups like Protect Our Coast NJ, Clean Ocean Action Inc., Massachusetts-based ACK for Whales, the Fisherman’s Dock Cooperative in Point Pleasant Beach and Miss Belmar, Inc.

The suit alleges that the rescindment of the stop work order is “incomplete and failed to safeguard the ecology of our seacoast and the livelihoods it supports,” the plaintiffs’ lead counsel, Bruce Afran, said in a press release obtained by The Ocean Star last week.

“President Trump halted the Empire Wind project due to the Biden Administration’s failure to adequately assess the environmental harm posed by these offshore wind turbines and the impact on our coastal fishing industry,” he said. “None of those critical issues have been resolved. We are asking the federal court to reinstate the stop work order because the project’s federal approvals were incomplete and failed to safeguard the ecology of our seacoast and the livelihoods it supports.”

A representative from Equinor, the Norwegian multinational company that owns the Empire Wind project, did not respond to a request for comment by press time Thursday.

The plaintiffs contend that the project, which would place 54 wind turbines approximately 20 miles east of Long Branch in a triangular area of water known as the New York-New Jersey Bight, would cause environmental disruptions “in one of the Atlantic’s most ecologically sensitive areas.”

Read the full article at Star News Group

 

AGs: Trump wind memo delays SouthCoast Wind by two years

June 12, 2025 — SouthCoast Wind is now delayed by at least two years as a result of President Donald Trump’s Jan. 20 memo freezing wind project permitting and leasing, according to attorneys general suing the Trump administration. This pushes power delivery to Massachusetts and Rhode Island to 2032 at the earliest.

Michael Brown, CEO of SouthCoast Wind, portends significant challenges for the up to 141-turbine project if the presidential memorandum persists, and warned it’s unlikely the developer will reach a power purchase agreement with the Commonwealth by the June 30 deadline, according to briefs filed this week in federal court as part of the multistate lawsuit.

“The continuation of the Wind Directive is an impediment to SouthCoast Wind” executing its agreement with the state, wrote Elizabeth Mahony, commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources, in a Tuesday filing.

Brown in a separate filing wrote that without resolution, “it may be impossible for the parties to execute the [power purchase agreements],” and the company will be “forced to abandon” negotiations with Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

Mahony said the wind memo, if left in place, will be “an insurmountable challenge to project viability.”

Avangrid’s New England Wind is the other project negotiating contracts in this round of offshore wind solicitations. The parties had a March deadline, but it was extended, in part due to Trump’s memo.

Unlike SouthCoast Wind, New England Wind has all requisite federal permits in place to begin construction. Avangrid on Wednesday declined to comment on the status of negotiations with Massachusetts. A spokesperson for SouthCoast Wind did not respond to a request for comment before publication.

SouthCoast Wind received final federal approval on the last business day of the Biden administration. But it still needs three permits — one from the Environmental Protection Agency, one from NOAA Fisheries, and one from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (which the Corps has already approved, but not issued) — before it can begin construction.

Brown, in his filing, said the federal agencies, which were set to issue their final permit decisions in March, have repeatedly delayed action, citing the wind memorandum.

He said the EPA has been “unresponsive” to the company’s “multiple outreach efforts to check on the status of the final permit and provide assistance,” and that this “substantial, continuous delay” causes “significant harm” to the project.

Due to these delays, SouthCoast Wind has paid tens of millions of dollars in contract termination fees, Brown said.

Read the full article at The New Bedford Light

Does fishing have the potential for a quiet power shift?

June 4, 2025 — Fuel costs eat into narrow margins, and emissions regulations continue to tighten in the commercial fishing world. The idea of electrifying commercial fishing vessels is beginning to float.

But for Paul Nosworthy, owner of New England Marine Engineering and Supply Inc. in New Bedford, Massachusetts, the conversation isn’t just about swapping diesel for batteries; it’s about practicality, power, and the people doing the work.

“It takes a certain amount of power to operate a vessel- between propulsion and auxiliary generator plants,” Nosworthy said. “We attempt to size the generator plant as close to the practical load requirement as possible.”

While full electric propulsion remains hypothetical in New England’s commercial fleet, Nosworthy’s shop is already bridging the gap in quieter ways. “We now install soft start rectifiers on larger motors,” he explained. “It takes three times the running amps to start an electric motor. If a motor draws 30 amps running, it takes 90 amps to start. Using a rectifier, you can maintain the run amp load at startup. We maintain an inventory of these soft starters.”

That kind of upgrade may seem small, but it signals a larger trend- more boats exploring electric auxiliary systems, especially refrigeration, gensets, and potentially winches, before ever considering propulsion.

“Many boats are finding the need to install refrigeration to prevent the loss of their catch,” said Nosworthy. “A lot of smaller vessels have had to upgrade their generator plants. That’s costly. The smoke stack has to be enlarged, and so does the keel cooler.”

These changes trigger a cascade of other requirements: more ventilation, more airflow, and more space. “Engine room ventilation needs to be increased,” he added. “You need 3.5 CFM  (Cubic Feet per Minute) for each horsepower of the engine, which allows proper air and fuel mix to get to the cylinders, prolonging engine life and reducing fuel use.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

MASSACHUSETTS: New Bedford seafood processing workforce fearful of ICE raids, deportation after May arrests

June 3, 2025 — New Bedford, Massachusetts, U.S.A., is one of the busiest seafood-processing hubs in the nation, but the workforce there – largely comprising migrants from Central America – is living in constant fear of deportation, a longtime seafood processing worker who has since left the industry told SeafoodSource.

The former worker, who spoke to SeafoodSource on the condition of anonymity, said that ever since two undocumented Guatemalan men without criminal records, who were workers at New Bedford-based seafood-processing company Oceans Fleet, were taken into custody by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on 12 May, workers in the community are wondering if they will be the next ones to be arrested.

Read the full article at Massachusetts

MASSACHUSETTS: Cape Cod Bay targeted for a new artificial reef after success of previous reefs in Nantucket Sound

May 30, 2025 — The Dennis and Brewster Select Boards are in support of a new artificial reef in Cape Cod Bay that has been proposed by the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries.

The reef would cover about ten acres using 35,000 cubic yards of natural materials and clean concrete.

Historically, local reefs were naturally created by shipwrecks. Then in 1978, the DMF helped develop the first-ever artificial reef in Nantucket Sound, south of the Bass River in Yarmouth. That reef was constructed using tires filled with concrete.

Another reef was completed in 2016 south of Saquatucket Harbor in Harwich, using material from the demolished Harwich High School.

Read the full article at CapeCod.com

MASSACHUSETTS: Commercial fishermen welcomed Trump’s promise to roll back ‘overregulation.’ Months into his term, what do they think of him?

May 20, 2025 — Here, in America’s oldest port of its kind, where the squawk of gulls offers a constant soundtrack to life on the docks, the iconic, centuries-old commercial fishing industry used to be much, much better. There were, fishermen recalled, more boats making more money, fewer rules, and more opportunity.

In their telling, federal authorities overstepped in a misguided effort to protect fish stocks, with rules that have strangled their beloved way of life. So President Trump’s promise to roll back “overregulation” had been broadly welcomed by those in commercial fishing, even as industry veterans, burned by generations of politicians, approach any cause for optimism with caution.

Now, four months since Trump took office, some fishermen and businesses that rely on them question whether the Republican’s rhetoric will translate into tangible benefits.

Read the full article at The Boston Globe