Saving Seafood

MASSACHUSETTS: Healey-Driscoll Administration Awards $1.6 Million in Grants to Support Massachusetts’ Commercial Fishing Industry and Build Climate Resiliency

July 3, 2023 — The following was released by Mass.gov

The Healey-Driscoll Administration today announced $1.6 million in grants to support innovative approaches to enhance Massachusetts commercial marine fisheries and the seafood industry. Twenty Massachusetts businesses and organizations are receiving funding through the Environmental Economic Innovation and Resiliency in Marine Fisheries Grant Program, supplemented by the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). The grant program will fund projects that work to mitigate economic barriers resulting from climate change and promote sustainable, local fisheries development in Massachusetts.

“Massachusetts is a leader in protecting the health of our fishing industry, and this funding shows our commitment to keep the industry thriving by utilizing cutting-edge technology and the latest scientific research,” said Governor Maura Healey. “Our administration is taking a holistic approach to combating climate change, which includes supporting our fisheries, advancing green energy, and enhancing the state’s blue economy.”

“Having served as mayor of a coastal community, I know how much the fishing industry contributes to and impacts a city’s economy, character, and food security,” said Lt. Governor Kim Driscoll. “Massachusetts’ commercial fishing and processing industries were hit hard and changed forever by the pandemic. This funding will support innovative, environmentally friendly efforts to grow the industry and support critical food production in Massachusetts.”

The Environmental Economic Innovation and Resiliency in Marine Fisheries Grant Program is administered by the Department of Fish and Game’s (DFG) Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF). The grant program aims to develop, utilize, and promote innovative approaches that enhance environmental benefits and encourage increased economic activity in Massachusetts commercial marine fisheries and the seafood industry. Project outcomes, developed technologies, and data will be shared with the relevant industries and local and state natural resource managers to help grow and support critical food production.

“The fishing industry is on the front lines of climate change, and it’s critical we make meaningful, long-term investments now to ensure the sustainability and resiliency of our marine fisheries,” said Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Rebecca Tepper. “This funding is two-fold in that we are helping fishers and their families recover from the pandemic while supporting new approaches that will safeguard our valuable marine resources from climate harm.”

“Our coastal cities benefit from a successful and vibrant fishing industry, and supporting these projects will give fishers, growers, and processors the tools to promote sustainably harvested local seafood,” said DFG Commissioner Tom O’Shea. “By investing in innovation, research, and technology, we’re building a more resilient workforce in the fishing industry.”

“Today’s funding announcement represents a significant investment in the future of our blue economy. This funding will support innovative approaches to enhance the marine environment, combat climate change, and promote sustainable, local fisheries development,” said State Senator Susan Moran (D-Falmouth). “I commend the Healey-Driscoll Administration for their commitment to supporting our fishing industry and coastal communities, which play a vital role in our economy, local culture, and food security. This grant funding will help the industry recover from the challenges posed by the pandemic and promote critical food production right here in Massachusetts.”

“Fishing is at the core of our cultural identity as well as the local economy in New Bedford,” said State Senator Mark Montigny (D-New Bedford), who has long championed state programs to support fishermen and their families.  “The extraordinary researchers at SMAST have been an invaluable resource for this industry, and this latest grant funding will help our fishermen maximize their time while out at sea.”

“We are excited that the Healey-Driscoll administration has continued its support for our fishing industry here in New Bedford,” said State Representative Chris Hendricks (D-New Bedford). “This ARPA money for SMAST will provide additional support to our fisheries and give them accurate real-time information that will help New Bedford remain the most profitable fishing port in the United States.”

The Massachusetts Environmental Economic Innovation and Resiliency in Marine Fisheries Grant Program awards up to $100,000 per project. The following businesses and organizations are receiving grant awards:

  • Aquaculture Research Corp, Dennis: $98,896 to expand nursery operations to provide as much shellfish seed as possible to farmers and municipalities, especially in Massachusetts.
  • Blue Stream Shellfish LLC, Ware: $100,000 to design and construct an alternatively powered work barge for use at oyster farms.
  • Chatham Harvesters Cooperative, Chatham: $100,000 to increase the resiliency of local and regional fishing industry by expanding consumer access to healthy Massachusetts seafood through innovating new direct markets and creating value-added products from dogfish, skate, and monkfish.
  • Cuttyhunk Shellfish Farms, Concord: $57,290 for capital infrastructure improvements in farm equipment, business operating infrastructure, and business operating technology. The investment will support jobs, employee training, and environmental stewardship for the next generation of oyster farmers and Cuttyhunk residents by utilizing and establishing best business, management, and farm practices.
  • CVision AI, Inc., Medford: $100,000 to build an underwater stereo camera system and algorithms for counting, identifying, and measuring New England groundfish.
  • F/V Marissa & Julie, Gloucester: $79,909 to fund the purchase and installation of an automatic saltwater ice making machine system on the deck of the FV Marissa & Julie, of Gloucester.
  • Friends of South Shore Seafood Development, Scituate and Cohasset: $77,840 to purchase tracking software (QR Code, point of sale verification of catch origin, video streaming of vessel at sea); develop a website to include information on products, fishery management, and environmental impacts; develop a social media presence; and increase processing capacity to enable an average of 10 percent of catches to be handled locally.
  • Homarus Strategies, LLC, Brunswick, ME: $60,000 to establish a nonprofit organization in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts called CyanoBank that will be structured to house a capital facility providing low-cost revolving loans for emissions reductions projects, low-and zero-carbon repower projects, and the installation of zero-emission technologies to businesses involved in the commercial fishing and seafood industries in Massachusetts.
  • Honeysuckle Oyster Farm, LLC, Edgartown: $57,785 will enable Honeysuckle Oyster Farm to use the Oyster Transfer Barge to transfer shellfish and gear between different farm sites so that it may continue to farm and sell shellfish when adverse environmental conditions are present at its current farm site.
  • Lobster Foundation of Massachusetts, Scituate: $100,000 to market American lobster, the most valuable marine species harvested in Massachusetts waters, and to educate consumers about the Massachusetts commercial lobster industry’s conservation efforts on behalf of the North Atlantic Right Whale.
  • Lone Tree Creek Sea Farm, Yarmouth Port: $24,896 for the sail rigging, hull, and electric motor– to replace fading fossil fuel outboards currently in use– as well as fund subject matter experts for in-kind work on construction, sail training, and labor to assemble the project.
  • Martinos Seafood, LLC, Oak Bluffs: $27,202 to help aquaculture farms across the region successfully transition their oyster containers to bay scallops while generating an eco-friendly, protein- rich, high- in-demand product for the marketplace.
  • Michael T. Carroll, Charlestown: $92,150 to provide the Massachusetts retail, processing, and distribution industry with lobster sourcing strategies that minimize Right Whale entanglements.
  • On The Water, LLC, East Falmouth: $100,000 for an extensive marketing project that will support the commercial fishing, seafood, and aquaculture industry in Massachusetts through the creation of content designed to be distributed across social platforms.
  • Red’s Best, Boston: $68,549 to maximize the environmental benefits of the clam shells that are the by-product of processing operations.
  • St. Ours & Co., LLC, East Weymouth: $49,980 to work with a network of harvesters and seafood processors across Eastern Massachusetts to determine the best method of capture, containment, transport, and storage of live green crabs.
  • The Martha’s Vineyard Fishermen’s Preservation Trust, Menemsha:  $98,763 to build a Martha’s Vineyard Seafood Collaborative brand and local seafood labeling campaign to help consumers connect directly with the stories of their local fishermen. Also, to establish a pilot program to create value-added seafood products (such as black sea bass chowder) to be sold in local grocery stores and other outlets.
  • Wellfleet Shellfish Company Inc., Eastham: $100,000 to help offset capital costs associated with the installation of a solar array for its ability to promote resilience against the impacts of climate change.  Installation of the Enphase Energy Monitoring Unit will help track energy performance, production, and usage in real-time.
  • School of Marine Science and Technology, UMass-Dartmouth, New Bedford: $99,290 to create a system that will give fishermen real-time information of the fish entering their net so that they can terminate a trawl immediately if they encounter fish they wish to avoid catching.

The Massachusetts Fishermen’s Partnership, Gloucester: $58,000 for a project to expand awareness, increase the scope and accessibility of business development, and develop technical assistance and training programs.

Bullard’s Public Life in New Bedford Highlighted in Memoir

July 3, 2023 — Former New Bedford Mayor John Bullard said he wrote his memoir Hometown for two reasons: to recognize all of the people who helped with his public life successes, that their stories be told. Bullard also wanted to encourage young people trying to figure out how to make an impact to consider doing what he did, which is try to fix up their hometown.

Bullard sat down with us this week Townsquare Sunday to discuss the new book and his career in public life.

There were a few memories that will never fade. As an agent for the Waterfront Historic Area League, Bullard and others worked to convince Mayor John Markey to invest in what is now the Waterfront Historic District.

“The district at that time was full of empty buildings, run-down streets. It met every definition of blight there was,” Bullard said.

Both men kept talking, however, and Markey made what Bullard called “a courageous decision,” investing $1.3 million into historic preservation.

Read the full article at WBSM

U.S. reviewing proposal for 2.4GW wind farm off the Massachusetts coast

July 1, 2023 — A proposed wind farm off the coast of Massachusetts with a potential to meet the energy demands of 850,000 homes is under an environmental review, the U.S. government said Thursday.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management announced the review process was under way for the 2.4 gigawatt facility proposed by Beacon Wind.

BOEM is advancing the Administration’s ambitious energy goals while remaining diligent in our efforts to avoid, minimize, and mitigate impacts to ocean users and the marine environment,” said BOEM Director Elizabeth Klein.

The Energy Department released a plan in March to meet President Joe Biden‘s goal of deploying 30 gigawatts of offshore energy by 2030, which would power 10 million homes.

Read the full article at UPI

MASSACHUSETTS: First Major U.S. Wind Farm Construction Begins Off Massachusetts—And More Are Coming

June 10, 2023 — Construction of the initial turbines in the first major U.S. offshore wind farm began this week south of Martha’s Vineyard off the coast of Massachusetts, following a years-long legal battle and a series of federal slow-downs over the controversial project—part of the Biden Administration’s push for green energy and the first in a wall of offshore wind projects off the East Coast.

Construction began on the foundation of the first of 62 nearly 850-foot-tall turbines as part of the Vineyard Wind I project, the country’s first commercial-scale offshore wind farm, roughly 15 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard, the company announced Wednesday.

Vineyard Wind, which was first approved for a nearly 167,000-acre federal lease site from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management in 2015, is one of nine proposed offshore wind farms south of Massachusetts and Rhode Island leased through the federal government (totaling roughly 742,000 acres)—part of President Joe Biden’s goal of creating 30 gigawatts of offshore wind energy by 2030 and an instrumental part of his ambitious goal of achieving net zero emissions by 2050.

MASSACHUSETTS: Turbine blades arrive in New Bedford as second heavy load carrier navigates harbor

June 7, 2023 –A few hours after the UHL Felicity departed the Port of New Bedford to head back to Portugal, another blue-hulled heavy load carrier, RollDock Sky, eased through the hurricane barrier Tuesday morning, bringing more wind turbine parts (this time, blades) into port.

The foreign-flagged 460-foot vessel departed the Netherlands in May, and then stopped in Gaspe, Canada, to retrieve blades from General Electric’s manufacturing facility before coming to New Bedford.

A GE spokesperson said the vessel was carrying six blades. The 62-turbine project, with three bladers per tower, will require 186 in total. The carrier’s deck equipment obfuscated the 351-foot blades a bit, but four were visible atop the ship.

The movement of new parts comes a few days after the local longshoremen’s union reached a contract with Vineyard Wind. The union previously shut down work at the New Bedford Marine Commerce Terminal — the project’s staging site — in protest of Vineyard Wind’s hiring practices. The strike started one day after the first turbine components arrived, and ended late last week.

Prior to the contract, 12 local longshoremen members had part-time positions for Vineyard Wind out of more than 300 union workers, most of which came from the Boston area. The new contract guarantees a 40-hour week for some workers and hires additional part-time longshoremen, The Light reported.

Read the full article at The New Bedford Light

 

Nobska completes its first trip for Blue Harvest Fisheries

June 2, 2023 — Blue Harvest Fisheries’ newest vessel, the F/V Nobska, returned to port earlier this week after a successful maiden voyage.

Blue Harvest acquired the vessel, previously named the Francis Dawn, earlier this year as part of the company’s pivot to focus on growing its groundfish fishing business. Built in 2019, the vessel is equipped with state-of-the-art electronics and a slurry ice vat system for its fish hold.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

MASSACHUSETTS: Bullard’s guiding light throughout his career: Improving his ‘Hometown’

May 31, 2023 — It’s fair to say that most people hope they can make a difference in their lifetimes. John K. Bullard can safely say that he has, particularly for New Bedford and the environment.

The historic preservationist, former mayor, federal bureaucrat, fisheries manager, Sea Education Association administrator, climate activist, and renewable energy advocate has written a memoir, “Hometown,” that chronicles his life and career and delineates the principles that guide it.

As a descendant of whaling merchant Joseph Rotch, Bullard’s roots are sunk deep in New Bedford. He acknowledges in the introduction to “Hometown” that he benefited from a privileged background.

Read the full article at the New Bedford Light

Blue Harvest Fisheries’ Newest Vessel, Nobska, Successfully Completes First Series of Fishing Trips

May 30, 2023 — The following was released by Blue Harvest Fisheries:

The newest, most modern vessel in the New England groundfish fishery, the F/V Nobska, has returned to port after its successful inaugural deployment. The vessel was acquired earlier this year by Blue Harvest Fisheries, as part of the company’s investment in the future of its groundfish operations.

The Nobska embarked on four back-to-back trips between April 7 and May 10, and landed 335,000 pounds of fish in its home port of New Bedford, Massachusetts, with additional landings in Gloucester, Massachusetts. The catch included several groundfish species, including monkfish, flounder, haddock, Acadian redfish, hake, and pollock. A series of three to four back-to-back trips, followed by a short break for maintenance and crew rest, is a typical operational plan for this vessel.

The Nobska sailed under the leadership of Captain Aldie Leeman, and with the same crew as before the Blue Harvest Fisheries acquisition.

“We’re very pleased with the performance of the Nobska on its maiden voyage, and are excited to see its future potential,” said Chip Wilson, CEO of Blue Harvest Fisheries. “We are confident in the future of the groundfish fishery, and vessels like the Nobska are an important part of that future.”

Blue Harvest Fisheries acquired the Nobska in February from Maine, where it previously operated as the Francis Dawn. Built in 2019, it is a state-of-the-art vessel that replaces an older Blue Harvest Fisheries vessel, also named the Nobska. It includes features like a modern electronics system, and a slurry ice/vat system for the fish hold that allows it to keep groundfish fresher for longer.

“This is the first step in implementing our long-term investment strategy for groundfish,” said Wilson. “With these investments Blue Harvest Fisheries will be able to consistently offer high-quality groundfish, like those just landed by the Nobska.”

Blue Harvest is also making plans to launch a sixth groundfish vessel, the Schelvis (named after the Dutch word for haddock). With a registered length of 85′, and gross tonnage of 175 tons, Schelvis was purchased as part of the company’s 2020 acquisition of 12 vessels and 27 fishing permits from the Carlos Rafael family. The vessel, which never fished under the Rafael family ownership, will make its first Blue Harvest Fisheries voyage upon completion of a $1.9 million upgrade. The Schelvis will be run by Captain Luke deWildt, who has 25 years of industry experience. He was previously captain of the F/V Teresa Marie III for 18 years, the last four under Blue Harvest Fisheries ownership.

Captain deWildt stated that he is “looking forward to the utilizing the upgrades on this newly renovated vessel,” which represents the newest class of vessels in the fishery. It will be safer for his crew, and with state-of-the-art equipment and electronics, he expects the Schelvis to be among the top performing vessels in the fishery.

Read the release here

 

MASSACHUSETTS: Massive wind turbine parts arrive in New Bedford harbor

May 25, 2023 — The first wind turbine components arrived in the Port of New Bedford Wednesday afternoon on a nearly 500-foot heavy load carrier, sailing through the hurricane barrier without incident at around 4:50 p.m. and wowing those who watched the massive ship enter the harbor.

After days of travel across the Atlantic Ocean, the UHL Felicity arrived from Portugal, met by New Bedford Police boat escorts and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which manages the New Bedford hurricane barrier.

Small groups of curious onlookers and reporters watched from both the New Bedford and Fairhaven sides of the barrier gates as the blue-hulled carrier, with white tower components lying on top, glided into the harbor. It took about an hour after that for it to slowly back in — with the help of two tugboats — and dock at the New Bedford Marine Commerce Terminal.

The Light for nearly two weeks has been tracking several vessels in the U.S. and Europe that are set to support the nation’s first commercial-scale wind farm, Vineyard Wind. With New Bedford serving as the construction and staging base, several barges, carriers and supply ships will be coming to the port in the next several months, some making repeated trips.

Read the full article at the New Bedford Light

Striped bass are in trouble again. Can an emergency measure save them?

May 24, 2023 — To understand the emergency catch limits being rushed into place for recreational anglers who chase striped bass — by far the most popular saltwater fish in the Northeast and the centerpiece of a multibillion-dollar industry — you have to understand “the slot” and how the “class of 2015″ is swimming right into it.

The slot refers to the size range of fish an angler is allowed to keep. In Massachusetts, where an estimated quarter-million anglers chase “stripers” each year, the slot has been 28 to 35 inches since 2020.

As a management practice, the restrictions allow for the harvest of wild food — licensed anglers can keep one slot fish per day — while protecting the larger fish, which are the most important breeders, requiring they be released back into the ocean to replenish the population.

Read the full article at the Boston Globe