Saving Seafood

Expansion Project to Start Soon on North Terminal at Massachusetts’ Port of New Bedford

April 8, 2022 — On March 22, the New Bedford Port Authority (NBPA) awarded a $27.9 million contract to D.W. White Construction of Acushnet, Mass., for the North Terminal Expansion building project in the port located along the south coast of Massachusetts.

In a news release from the city, New Bedford officials view the expansion as “a transformative port infrastructure project” that will spur long-term economic development by meeting the infrastructure needs of commercial fishermen, the offshore wind industry, and other port users, to ensure economic growth and increased efficiency.

New Bedford’s efforts are a culmination of federal, state and private investment that will build a north/south bulkhead at the North Terminal in the city’s upper harbor. The project also should spur significant investment in the Port of New Bedford in the years to come.

Led by the NBPA, the expansion is designed to create a safer and more efficient connection between the New Bedford Harbor and ground transportation systems in town.

Read the full story at Seafood News

‘There’s no fish that you can’t make delicious’

April 6, 2022 — Walking into Fearless Fish, a small market in Providence specializing in local seafood, is like walking into Tiffany’s. The showcases dazzle the eye.

There’s familiar fare, like Atlantic salmon, haddock, and sea scallops. There’s also a riveting range of fish that are relatively mysterious, curios like scup, butterfish, pollack, Acadian redfish, conger eel, and monkfish. While abundant in our waters, these so-called “underutilized” species — less known to New Englanders, less tasted, less in demand — are often exported to countries that apparently appreciate them much more than we do.

Most of the region’s Atlantic dogfish, for instance, goes to England for fish and chips. “It’s crazy,” said Chris Cronin, the chef at Union Flats Seafood in New Bedford, who prefers “unique” fish to the familiar. “Dogfish is pretty mild, slightly sweet with a flakey texture comparable to haddock. It takes on other flavors, and I like to serve it with citrus notes.”

Since Fearless Fish opened in early 2019, owner Stuart Meltzer’s main aim has been to try and broaden the consumer palate. “We want to help people become more confident, to try new fish,” he said one noontime, as mostly younger customers streamed through the door. The pandemic-driven interest in local foods has been good for sales, he noted, inspiring more daring in home kitchens. Skate piccata? Roasted mackerel with chimichurri? The store’s online recipes and cooking lessons help to demystify lesser-known fish, as does its disclosure of catch site and means. “Fluke, Pt. Judith, dragger.” “Monkfish, Gulf of Maine, dragger.”

“It’s important to me, and shared by customers, that the product is local,” said Meltzer.

Read the full story at the Boston Globe

Massachusetts DMF Releases Ropeless Gear Feasibility Report

April 5, 2022 — The Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF) has wrapped up the first phase of a two-year project to characterize the issues and challenges that may come to light with the integration of ropeless fishing gear into New England lobster fisheries.

Ropeless or On-demand gear will replace traditional vertical buoy lines with an eye toward protecting endangered North Atlantic right whales and will feature new gear retrieval and marking methods.

Read the full story at SeafoodNews.com

 

Congress Urged to Fund National Seafood Marketing Campaign

April 6, 2022 — Legislators on Capitol Hill are being urged by those in the Massachusetts seafood industry to fund a nationwide marketing campaign showcasing seafood.

In a letter to the delegation in Congress representing the Bay State, members of major players in the seafood industry such as Gorton’s and North Coast Seafoods called for funding to boost a multi-year marketing effort.

The signatories said that campaign would improve public health, boost the regional economy, and aid a vital part of the workforce within Massachusetts–especially in the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Read the full story at CapeCod.com

ASMFC Atlantic Herring Area 1A Days Out Meeting Scheduled for April 26

April 6, 2022 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

Atlantic Herring Management Board members from the states of Maine, New Hampshire and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts will meet via webinar on April 26, 2022 from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. to discuss days out measures for the 2022 Area 1A (inshore Gulf of Maine) fishing season. Days out measures can include specification of the number of consecutive landings days, weekly landings limits, and restrictions on at-sea transfers. The webinar and call information is included below:

Atlantic Herring Days Out Meeting

Tuesday, April 26, 2022

10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

You can join the meeting from your computer, tablet or smartphone at the following link:https://meet.goto.com/763162445. If you are new to GoToMeeting, you can download the app ahead of time (click here) and be ready before the meeting starts. For audio, the meeting will be using the computer voice over internet protocol (VoIP), but if you are joining the webinar from your phone only, you can dial in at +1 (571) 317-3129 and enter access code 763-162-445 when prompted. The webinar will start at 9:45 a.m., 15 minutes early, to troubleshoot audio as necessary.

Federally-permitted Herring Category A vessels must declare into the Area 1A fishery at least 45 days prior to the start of the fishing season. Small-mesh bottom trawl vessels with a federal Herring Category C or D permit must declare into the Area 1A fishery by June 1, 2022. Vessels should check with each state of landing regarding their notification procedures.

The 2022 Area 1A sub-annual catch limit (sub-ACL) is 1,075 metric tons (mt). The initial specification for the 2022 Area 1A sub-ACL of 1,184 mt decreased by 109 mt due to the catch overage in Area 1A in 2020. After adjusting for the 30 mt fixed gear set-aside and the 8% buffer (Area 1A closes at 92% of the sub-ACL), the Area 1A sub-ACL is 961 mt. There is no research-set-aside for 2022.

In October 2021, the Board established the following seasonal allocations for the 2022 Area 1A sub-ACL: 72.8% available from June 1 – September 30 and 27.2% available from October 1 – December 31. Fishermen are prohibited from landing more than 2,000 pounds of Atlantic herring per day harvested from Area 1A until June 1, 2022.

For more information, please contact Emilie Franke, Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, at 703.842.0716 orefranke@asmfc.org.

A copy of the meeting announcement can be found at http://www.asmfc.org/files/AtlHerring/AtlHerringDaysOutMeetingNotice_April2022.pdf.

 

U.S. Wind Energy Is (Finally) Venturing Offshore

April 4, 2022 — Capturing offshore wind in the U.S. has long been an uphill battle, with various stumbling blocks in the terrain. Objections from fisheries, skepticism from conservationists and tenuous support from tourism have all stalled development in the past decade. That is, until May of 2021, when the U.S. Department of the Interior approved construction of a sprawling wind facility several miles off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts.

The project marks the first large-scale offshore wind undertaking in the U.S., and includes 62 turbines that will power more than 400,000 homes and businesses. But it almost didn’t happen. Under the Trump administration, the project’s approval halted, while broader national momentum behind alternative energy solutions slowed. The country’s only other offshore wind facility, with just five turbines spinning off the coast of Rhode Island since 2016, looked like it would not have any company for years. That site, Block Island Wind Farm, produces 30 megawatts, or enough energy to power up to 17,000 homes. After President Joe Biden took office, however, he promised a 1,000-fold increase in offshore wind energy production in the U.S. by 2030. Approving the ambitious Vineyard Wind project marks the first big step.

U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) researchers still puzzle over how turbines in oceans affect birds and fish. They recently started trying to assess the impact through the Realtime Opportunity for Development Environmental Observations  project, which conducted research when the foundation work began on Block Island in 2015. The researchers will report on other offshore wind projects as operations begin in the next several years. So far, they’ve found that during the noisy pile-driving phase of construction, the abundance of winter flounder decreased. However, other kinds of flatfish were not significantly impacted. The researchers also noted that almost immediately, mussels, sea stars and anemones began covering the submerged turbines. Future studies will add data on marine life impact and likely inform industry approaches.

Read the full story at Discover Magazine

‘CODA’ a win for America’s oldest seaport

March 30, 2022 — CODA’s big wins at the 94th Academy Awards Sunday night was not only a win for the deaf community, it was also a win for the nation’s oldest seaport in its portrayal of the fishing industry and its families.

“CODA” revolves around a fictional Gloucester fishing family whose three out of four members are deaf. The family’s hearing daughter, Ruby, serves as their translator. She must drag herself out of bed at 3 a.m. to help the family make ends meet dragging for groundfish.

“That is the one word that comes up again and again is the ‘authenticity’ of it,” said Gloucester Mayor Greg Verga the day after CODA won three Academy Awards Sunday night, including for Best Picture.

CODA did not turn to special effects to tell the story on the water. Instead, it turned Capt. Paul Vitale’s 50-foot fishing vessel Angela + Rose into a working movie set in August and September of 2019.

Vitale said Monday morning his phone was “going nonstop and more” after CODA’s big wins.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Times

‘A big day for the Port of New Bedford’: Development projects could bring hundreds of jobs

March 25, 2022 — Two entities in the Port of New Bedford this week announced they will soon start on major infrastructure projects.

The New Bedford Port Authority announced Tuesday the awarding of a $27,943,800 contract to expand the port’s North Terminal to Acushnet-based D.W. White Construction.

“This project represents a major step in our effort to modernize the Port of New Bedford,” Mayor Jon Mitchell said in a press release. “It will enhance the long-term competitiveness of our maritime industries and help create quality jobs for our residents.”

The new bulkhead will be built near the Environmental Protection Agency’s Deepwatering Facility and create approximately 150,000 square feet of terminal space in the upper harbor.

The project will also build a fourth Contaminated Aquatic Disposal cell in the harbor with a 480,000 cubic yard capacity for dredged contaminated material.

The project is also expected to create more berthing space for vessels, increasing the number of permitted slots now counted at the port as somewhere around 400.

Authorities said that the project is expected to create almost 900 new jobs, approximately $65 million in new wages and consumption, and $11.5 million in state and local tax revenues.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

Rule change calls for monitoring of all groundfish trips

March 23, 2022 — Webinars on proposed changes to how the commercial groundfish sector monitors its catch, both with monitors at sea and electronically, will be held this week by the Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office of NOAA Fisheries (GARFO) in Gloucester.

The most significant proposed change is a monitoring coverage target of 100% aboard eligible trips, which is higher than present monitoring levels. The change is meant to remove uncertainty surrounding catch. This and other changes — known as Amendment 23— to the Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management Plan were developed by the Newburyport-based New England Fishery Management Council.

The informational webinars on the changes are scheduled for Tuesday, March 22, Thursday, March 24, and Monday, April 4, from 4 to 6 p.m. The March events will focus on fishing industry members and the April event will focus on monitoring service providers.

According to a NOAA Fisheries fact sheet, the changes, if approved by NOAA Fisheries, would give groundfish vessels the choice of a human observer or using one of two types of electronic monitoring to meet the increased monitoring requirements, provided the sector has a corresponding approved monitoring plan and a contract with an approved service provider.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Times

New Bedford Port Authority Director Steps Down

March 22, 2022 — Just eight months after taking on the role, New Bedford Port Authority Executive Director Justin Poulsen has announced he will be stepping down in April.

The New Bedford Port Authority noted in a statement on Monday that Poulsen is making the move “in order to attend to pressing family matters that require him to relocate from New Bedford.”

He will remain in his position through April 15, but the port authority board will begin the search for a new executive director immediately, according to the statement.

Read the full story and listen to the audio at WBSM