Saving Seafood

MASSACHUSETTS: Massachusetts oyster farmers say sewage-linked closures are pushing South Coast farms to brink

September 28, 2026 — Massachusetts oyster farmers say a growing wave of sewage-linked shellfish facility closures is putting one of the state’s signature seafood industries under serious strain.

On the South Coast, growers warn that repeated shutdowns after rain are cutting off sales for weeks at a time, making it increasingly hard for some farms to stay afloat.

Here’s what to know

For South Coast oyster growers, closures triggered by combined sewer overflows, or CSOs, have become a mounting business risk since 2024. As Cape and Islands reported, Massachusetts oyster farms produce roughly 54 million oysters a year, and Fairhaven’s West Island Oysters spans 47 acres, making it one of the state’s biggest operations.

Repeated closures are making survival tougher for growers, said Dale Leavitt, who co-owns West Island Oysters and retired from Roger Williams University as a marine scientist.

“We’ve already lost one farm in Nasketucket Bay, and we’re probably going to lose another one very shortly,” he said, per CAI. “I mean, when you’re closed 50% of the year to being able to sell oysters, it sort of impacts your cash flow.”

A possible sewage release after heavy rain can trigger a 21-day shutdown because stormwater overflowing from New Bedford pipes may carry fecal bacteria into shellfish beds. The state can test oysters after a week and reopen an area if conditions are safe, but when storms keep arriving, one closure can quickly be followed by another.

Read the full article at The Cool Down

How Harvard scientists built genomics outpost on Gloucester harbor

September 28, 2026 — The year was 2012, and Massachusetts state Rep. Ann-Margaret Ferrante had an idea that might help fishermen in her hometown of Gloucester.

The Atlantic cod population had been in decline for decades, partly due to overfishing. Regulation to try to bring about a rebound was in everyone’s best interest, but there were problems — and some distrust of regulators by fishermen.

The cod in two offshore regions, the Gulf of Maine and Georges Bank, were managed as separate populations, but there were gaps in what was known about the groups’ geographic boundaries and genetic relationships. Ferrante wondered whether genomic sequencing could help track the stock more accurately and approached David Walt, then a professor at Tufts, to ask.

“I said, ‘Yeah, I think that’s a pretty viable idea,’” said Walt, now the Hansjörg Wyss Professor of Bioinspired Engineering at Harvard Medical School. So Ferrante secured state funding, and Walt ran tests and found genetically distinct spawning groups within both regions, information that has helped fisheries managers get a better read on the health of the groups.

Read the full article at The Harvard Gazette

MASSACHUSETTS: New Bedford Harbor turns red for wastewater dye study

September 24, 2026 — New Bedford sailors did a double-take on a Saturday morning in mid-September when plumes of the normally blue harbor water turned a deep, wine-dark red.

The unusual color wasn’t a rust tide or environmental disaster, but a dye study conducted by the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries. Management officials hope the study, which involves dying New Bedford’s wastewater with 100 gallons of EPA-approved red dye, will help them better understand how the city’s treated sewage moves throughout Buzzards Bay.

Dale Leavitt, a shellfisherman and aquaculture industry advocate, is particularly invested in their results. Since 2021, Leavitt has operated a 47-acre oyster farm in Nasketucket Bay in Fairhaven. In 2024, he and seven other area oyster farmers received word that the bay would be subject to more stringent food-safety regulations, due to the high volume of wastewater flowing out of New Bedford’s wastewater treatment facility.

These new rules were based on a mathematical model from University of Massachusetts Dartmouth’s School of Marine Science and Technology, or SMAST. Leavitt hopes that the dye study will tell regulators something different.

Read the full article at The New Bedford Light

MASSACHUSETTS: ICE detains four seafood workers in New Bedford following raids

September 23, 2026 — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers arrested multiple individuals on 21 September in New Bedford, Massachusetts, U.S.A., four of whom work in seafood facilities.

According to a report from The New Bedford Light, reporters witnessed the arrests taking place along the waterfront around 10 a.m., with officers concealed in clothing pushing individuals into SUVs parked at the Dartmouth Mall.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

MASSACHUSETTS: Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries is trying to make flounder go viral

September 22, 2026 — The Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries is trying to make flounder go viral.

At the beginning of September, the department launched its “Flat is Back” campaign with 10 local chefs highlight the fish on their menus all month long. The campaign aims to put flatfish that is already caught on consumers’ plates and support the “depressed” cost of flounder, said Dan McKiernan, the director of the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries.

“Massachusetts flounder is a beautiful fish to cook with—it’s fresh, delicate, and incredibly versatile,” Jeremy Sewall, chef and owner of Row 34 and one of the participating chefs, said in a statement. “By putting it on our menus, we can create something memorable for diners while supporting the local fishermen and coastal communities that make Massachusetts seafood so special.”

Read the full article at Boston.com

Atlantic Herring Western Maine and Massachusetts/New Hampshire Spawning Closures in Effect Starting September 23, 2026 through November 3, 2026

September 18, 2026 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

The Atlantic herring Area 1A fishery regulations include seasonal spawning closures for portions of state and federal waters in Eastern Maine, Western Maine and Massachusetts/New Hampshire. The Commission’s Atlantic Herring Management Board approved a forecasting method that relies upon at least three samples, each containing at least 25 female herring in gonadal stages III-V, to trigger a spawning closure. However, if sufficient samples are not available then closures will begin on predetermined dates.

 
There are currently insufficient samples from both the Western Maine and the Massachusetts/ New Hampshire spawning areas. Therefore, per Addendum II default closure dates, the Western Maine and Massachusetts/New Hampshire spawning areas will be closed starting at 12:01 a.m. on September 23, 2026 extending through 11:59 p.m. on November 3, 2026.
 
The Western Maine spawning area includes all waters bounded by the following coordinates:
 
43° 30’ N     Maine coast
43° 30’ N      68° 54.5’ W
43° 48’ N         68° 20’ W
North to Maine coast at 68° 20’ W
 
The Massachusetts/New Hampshire spawning area includes all waters bounded by the Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine coasts, and 43° 30’ N and 70° 00’ W.  
 
Vessels in the directed Atlantic herring fishery cannot take, land or possess Atlantic herring caught in either the Western Maine or Massachusetts/New Hampshire spawning areas during this time and must have all fishing gear stowed when transiting through the area. The incidental bycatch allowance of up to 2,000 pounds of Atlantic herring per trip per day applies to vessels in non-directed fisheries that are fishing within the Western Maine or Massachusetts/New Hampshire spawning areas. 
 
For more information, please contact Emilie Franke, Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, at 703.842.0740 orefranke@asmfc.org.
 
 

NEFSA’S JASON JOYCE: Before blaming fishermen, Chesapeake Bay needs better menhaden data

September 17, 2026 — The following is an excerpt from an op-ed published today in the Richmond Times Dispatch by Jason Joyce, director of advocacy for the New England Fishermen’s Stewardship Association:

As a commercial fisherman from Maine, I was troubled by the Washington Post’s article about menhaden and starving osprey chicks in the Chesapeake Bay. It presents a simple story: commercial fishermen catch menhaden, osprey lose their food, and chicks starve. It is compelling. It just is not what the science proves.

The Chesapeake Bay osprey study found that osprey nesting in high-salinity areas are struggling, while birds in low-salinity areas are successfully raising young. But the researchers did not show that commercial fishing depleted adult menhaden at the study sites. The authors acknowledge that there is no independent survey measuring adult menhaden abundance in the Chesapeake Bay, and that they lack the data needed to determine the relationship between harvest and menhaden availability. That is a critical gap before fishermen are blamed, and their livelihoods are restricted.

Ospreys are opportunistic predators. They do not only eat menhaden. The study reports that osprey in low-salinity areas relied primarily on catfish and gizzard shad. Those birds produced more than 1.3 young per pair, while high-salinity sites produced only 0.08 to 0.90 young per pair. In plain English, the osprey successfully raising chicks lived where menhaden were not their primary food. Menhaden matter, but osprey reproduction depends on a broader food web than the article suggests.

Salinity may be the largest unanswered question. The study found a strong association between salinity and reproductive success, but classified sites using the average surface salinity from 1985 through 2018, rather than conditions measured during each nesting season. A 33-year average cannot tell us what changed between successful years in the 1980s and 2024. Was there less rainfall or freshwater discharge, more drought, warmer water, lower dissolved oxygen, poorer water quality, different plankton conditions or fewer alternative prey fish?

The researchers identify plankton, freshwater discharge, predation, competition, temperature, salinity and water quality as possible influences on menhaden and the Bay’s food web. Those variables cannot be acknowledged and then ignored when policy is proposed.

Menhaden are highly migratory. Their abundance in one place cannot establish the condition of the coastwide population. Fishermen throughout Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts report extraordinary concentrations, with many describing abundances not seen in decades. That does not prove why fewer menhaden may be available to Chesapeake osprey, but it is consistent with redistribution rather than coastwide depletion.

Read the full opinion piece at the Richmond-Times Dispatch

Announcing the 2027 Marine Resource Education Program Greater Atlantic Workshop

September 16, 2026 — The following was released by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Managment Council:

The Marine Resource Education Program (MREP) is accepting applications for the next Greater Atlantic Fisheries Science and Management Workshop, scheduled for January 11-15, 2027, in Falmouth, Massachusetts.

Created by fishermen, for fishermen, MREP offers a neutral look into regional fishery science and management. MREP’s Greater Atlantic workshop is tailored to the area. It brings commercial, charter, and recreational fishermen from North Carolina to Maine together with regional scientists and managers to learn the processes, share insights, and network. This workshop will equip you with tools to engage in the management process and participate in collaborative science.

Attending the workshop is free for anyone who fishes or works in associated fishing industries. MREP reimburses travel costs and pays for hotel lodging and meals for accepted participants.

Space is limited, and preference will be given to applications received by November 6, 2026. Accepted participants will be notified by phone and email by late November 2026.

Greater Atlantic Fisheries Science & Management Workshop
January 11-15, 2027 | Falmouth, MA
*Recommended arrival is on Sunday, January 10. The workshop will start on Monday morning and end early afternoon on Friday to allow for travel home on Friday evening.

Apply Now
General questions about the program should be directed to Sophie Swetz, MREP Greater Atlantic Program Manager, at sswetz@gmri.org or (207) 772-2321 ext. 8104.
Visit mrep.gmri.org for more information.

MASSACHUSETTS: ‘Flat is Back’ campaign hopes to put flounder back on people’s plates

September 15, 2026 — Aperol spritzes. Dubai chocolate. Dill pickle, well, everything. Thanks to Instagram and TikTok, food trends have never been more of-the-moment, with even seemingly mundane ingredients like cottage cheese enjoying a sudden resurgence.

Why not the flounder? The first-of-its-kind “Flat is Back” campaign, spearheaded by the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries, aims to build buzz around the plentiful yet underutilized flatfish called flounder, better connecting what fishermen already catch to what ends up on consumers’ plates. The hoped-for result would be a more economically and environmentally sustainable fisheries model, MassDMF Director Dan McKiernan — one he plans to replicate for all kinds of underappreciated fish.

But first, customers have to bite.

In 2023, over three-fourths of all seafood Americans consumed came from just 10 species, with shrimp, salmon, and canned tuna topping the list. In general, American diners tend to consume fewer species of fish than Europeans and Asians, McKiernan said. That can drive up demand for a few key species while leaving plenty of other fish in the sea.

Cod, for example, remains one of the most popular catches, even after its numbers have drastically declined. Flounder, on the other hand, is abundant and cheap.

“We hope that this program can help people get an appreciation for some of the other species of fish, so that seafood can be, surprisingly, fun,” McKiernan said.

Read the full article at The New Bedford Light

MASSACHUSETTS: Massachusetts using dye to study how New Bedford wastewater impacts shellfish

September 10, 2026 — Local, state, and federal authorities are collaborating on a new hydrographic dye study to learn how wastewater flowing from the New Bedford Wastewater Treatment Plant into Buzzards Bay impacts shellfish.

“Here in Massachusetts, we pride ourselves on our nation-leading seafood industry, including culturally and economically important traditions of shellfishing in Buzzards Bay,” Massachusetts Department of Fish and Game (DFG) Commissioner Tom O’Shea said in a release. “We look forward to the results of this important study and are grateful for the partnership of researchers and our shellfish industry to make this possible.”

Read the full article at SeafoodSource