Saving Seafood

MASSACHUSETTS: Martha’s Vineyard Seafood Collaborative opens its doors

June 3, 2021 — A small but lively crowd of people clapped excitedly as John Keene, president of the Martha’s Vineyard Fishermen’s Preservation Trust, cut the red rope Tuesday, signaling the opening of the Martha’s Vineyard Seafood Collaborative. The red rope was a significant symbol because it is a weak line that’s mandatory for fishermen to use for traps because it breaks at a certain weight and is safer for whales, according to the Trust’s executive director, Shelley Edmundson.

The Seafood Collaborative was created as an extension of the trust, and will act as a wholesale market to connect Island fishermen to buyers. According to the collaborative’s website, the focus is “to wholesale a seasonal variety of local species both on- and off-Island to restaurants, markets, private chefs, caterers, and larger wholesale distributors.”

Present at the event were Keene, Edmundson, and Pete Lambos, director of operations for the collaborative.

Keene said the collaborative works to cooperate with the fish markets and fishermen of the Islands. He said the collaborative wants to conduct business “without disrupting balances that are already in place.” It will sell fishermen’s catches to various food providers, but not to individuals, to avoid being a competitor to local markets.

Read the full story at the MV Times

MASSACHUSETTS: Former New Bedford seafood company employee sentenced for embezzling nearly $600,000

June 2, 2021 — The former bookkeeper of a New Bedford, Massachusetts, U.S.A.-based seafood company who reached a plea deal in January for embezzling nearly USD 600,000 (EUR 491,257) from her employer has been sentenced to 18 months in prison and a fine of nearly USD 780,000 (EUR 638,646).

Kara Howland, of New Bedford, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Denise J. Casper after she pleaded guilty to bank fraud and filing a false tax return in January. Howland admitted in court papers that she had embezzled from her former employer by writing unauthorized checks, filing a false tax return in 2018, and failing to pay taxes on the stolen money.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

MASSACHUSETTS: New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center Launches New Exhibit

June 2, 2021 — The following was released by the New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center:

New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center is excited to announce the opening of its new, permanent exhibit, More than a Job: Work and Community in New Bedford’s Commercial Fishing Industry.

The Center will celebrate the grand opening of the new exhibit as well as its 5th Anniversary on Saturday, June 26 from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. with a free public event. The celebration at 38 Bethel Street will include demonstrations of industry skills, kids’ activities, and live music by the Rum Soaked Crooks. A speaking program will begin at noon with remarks delivered by Congressman Bill Keating, State Representative Tony Cabral, and Brian Boyles, Executive Director of Mass Humanities.

“The nation’s most valuable port has long deserved an institution dedicated to telling its story,” said Executive Director Laura Orleans. “The Fishing Heritage Center fills that void, and our new exhibit offers visitors the sort of immersive experience usually reserved for larger museums,”

More Than a Job provides visitors with an introduction to the New Bedford fishing industry. Visitors can explore the changing nature of work and community through displays that present labor history, immigration, and sustainability. They can also experience a working deck, which includes a scallop dredge, galley table and bunks. Guests can view historic and contemporary images and footage, and listen to more than sixty audio clips sharing the many voices of the fishing community:

“My husband, he didn’t tell me this, but he fell overboard while they were out to sea. They brought up the net, and he was in it. . . Now those kind of things our husbands didn’t tell us, because they didn’t want us to be upset over it.” -Barbara Calnan, fisherman’s wife

This quote is one from among the bounty of audio excerpts presented in More Than a Job, mined from the Center’s extensive collection of audio recordings to create five listening stations and an interactive touch screen.

In 2004, the Working Waterfront Festival began documenting the history and experiences of the fishing community through interviews and facilitated discussions with industry members. When the Fishing Heritage Center opened its doors in 2016, this rich collection became the foundation for the Center’s archive. Since then, the Center has doubled the size of its digital collection, engaging in several significant projects.

Funding for More than a Job: Work and Community in New Bedford’s Commercial Fishing Industry is provided by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities and significant support from Bristol County Savings Bank. Major in-kind support for this exhibit was provided by Fairhaven Shipyard and Blue Fleet Welding.

About New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center
Over the past five years, the Fishing Heritage Center has welcomed thousands of visitors, hosted hundreds of local students, recorded dozens of oral history interviews, created numerous exhibits, and hosted a wide variety of educational programs. See the Center’s website for updates on this event, www.fishingheritagecenter.org.

Located in the nation’s most valuable fishing port, New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center is dedicated to preserving and presenting the story of the commercial fishing industry past, present, and future through exhibits, programs, and archives. The Center is open Thursday-Sunday, 10:00am-4:00pm. Admission is free through June 30. Beginning July 1, admission is $5; $4 for seniors and students; and free for members and children under 12. To schedule a small group tour of the new exhibit or to learn more about the exhibit, contact programs@fishingheritagecenter.org or call (508) 993-8894.

MASSACHUSETTS: Fighting for fishing grounds in face of wind farms

June 1, 2021 — For almost a half century, Angela Sanfilippo has spearheaded campaigns to protect the physical and economic health of commercial fishermen, their families and the communities in which they live.

The longtime president of the Gloucester Fishermen’s Wives Association waged battle with energy behemoths while opposing two live natural gas pipeline terminals within about a dozen miles of Gloucester’s shores.

She fought foreign encroachment into U.S. fishing grounds and wrestled with fishing regulators over onerous fishery management regulations that have shrunk access to the rich fishing grounds that surround Cape Ann.

Now Sanfilippo is saddling up one more time to try to prevent the inexorable march of offshore wind projects in Massachusetts waters from blowing away elements of the Bay State’s historic and productive fishing industry.

“We are not crazy enough to think we’re going to stop this massive thing now,” Sanfilippo said at the beginning of an extended interview following the federal government’s final approval on May 10 of the Vineyard Wind 1 offshore wind project, located south of Martha’s Vineyard. “But we want to be at the table.”

Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times

South Fork Wind Farm to reduce turbines but fishing group has ‘serious concerns’

June 1, 2021 — Developers of a planned offshore wind farm to power the South Fork have agreed to reduce the number of turbines for the LIPA-contracted project to 12 from 15, but Rhode Island fishermen offered a $12 million compensation package say the turbine reduction won’t help and the package is inadequate.

Orsted and Eversource, partners on the $2 billion-plus project set to be built off the coast of Rhode Island and Massachusetts by 2023, disclosed the change last week before a Rhode Island coastal commission that is considering whether to issue a permit for the project.

In a statement, the companies said they will “move forward with the reduction of the project’s total turbines from 15 to 12,” while offering a compensation package for Rhode Island fishermen. The $12 million, if accepted, would cover lost earnings, among other things, for those kept from fishing either by construction or placement of the turbines themselves.

Read the full story at Newsday

Headwinds: Offshore wind will take time to carry factory jobs to U.S.

May 28, 2021 — When U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration approved the country’s first major offshore wind farm this month, it billed the move as the start of a new clean energy industry that by the end of the decade will create over 75,000 U.S. jobs.

Industry executives and analysts do not contest that claim, but they make a clarification: For the first several years at least, most of the manufacturing jobs stemming from the U.S. offshore wind industry will be in Europe.

Offshore wind project developers plan to ship massive blades, towers and other components for at least the initial wave of U.S. projects from factories in France, Spain and elsewhere before potentially opening up manufacturing plants on U.S. shores, according to Reuters interviews with executives from three of the world’s leading wind turbine makers.

That is because suppliers need to see a deep pipeline of approved U.S. projects, along with a clear set of regulatory incentives like federal and state tax breaks, before committing to siting and building new American factories, they say – a process that could take years.

“For the first projects, it’s probably necessary” to ship across the Atlantic, said Martin Gerhardt, head of offshore wind product management at Siemens Gamesa, the global offshore wind market leader in a comment typical of the group.

Read the full story at Reuters

MASSACHUSETTS: Meet the women of New Bedford’s Waterfront — she finds safety and security for fishermen

May 28, 2021 — On a sunny Friday morning, Deb Kelsey made her way to the Fairhaven Police Department with a box of Narcan, the overdose-reversing drug, in her car trunk. Inside she met with Sgt. Michael Bouvier and Peter Lagasse, a certified alcohol and drug counselor, to discuss what homes they would visit that day.

The three form part of Fairhaven’s Opioid Crisis Task Force. Within six weeks of a medical incident, sometimes an overdose, they make house calls and inform community members of different resources available to help them. They also offer packs of Narcan.

Bouvier went through his notes from previous meetings and recent incident logs. As he named people and addresses, Kelsey took notes in her notebook. They recalled whether the individual was home last time or who answered the door.

Kelsey, a 54-year-old New Bedford native, works as a “navigator” for Fishing Partnership Support Services, a nonprofit with four locations in Massachusetts, including New Bedford. As a certified recovery coach and community health worker, she enrolls fishermen in health insurance, connects them with recovery resources for substance use disorder, walks the piers to inform captains of training opportunities and makes house calls with local police and pastors.

“I like to think of myself as a bridge builder,” she said.

Kelsey previously worked in commercial printing and found her current job by chance when an acquaintance informed her of a part-time job opportunity.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

MASSACHUSETTS: Dunkin’ gift cards available to all New Bedford vaccine recipients; waterfront site to close

May 27, 2021 — On May 30, the waterfront vaccination clinic at Hervey Tichon Avenue will distribute its last doses of COVID-19 vaccines for walk-up appointments.

According to a press release from the city, the site operated by CIC Health will close this weekend. Vaccines will be available this weekend including Saturday, May 29, and Sunday, May 30, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Some second-dose appointments are also scheduled for June 1.

The waterfront site was a mobile vaccination site in partnership with the Federal Emergency Management Agency to provide additional doses to hardest-hit communities.

CIC Health will now offer vaccinations at the Andrea McCoy Recreation Center at 181 Hillman St. on Mondays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. starting June 7. Mobile vaccine clinics are available at grocery stores, schools and community partners. A full schedule of supermarket and community-based walk-up vaccination clinics will be announced.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

New fishing tech may pose risks to fisheries

May 25, 2021 — New developments in recreational fishing technology — from the use of aerial drones and social media scouting reports to advances in hook design — are creating challenges for fisheries management and effective policy making, according to a new study.

With the opening of the spring fishing season, millions of recreational fishing aficionados across North America are dusting off their tackleboxes, fitting together their rods, and heading to the bait and tackle shop to purchase the latest in fish-catching gear. But what impact does all that new technology have on the fish themselves?

“There are still so many unknowns,” says Andy Danylchuk, professor of fish conservation in the UMass Amherst department of environmental conservation, and co-author of a new paper that investigates the relationship between fishing technology and fish ecosystems. “There’s more attention paid to products we use with our pets than to what we use to try to catch fish in our streams, lakes and oceans.”

Fishing technology has come a long way since the days of hook and worm. Today one can buy battery-powered, artificial lures that wriggle like minnows and are slathered in fish-attracting scent. Underwater cameras and fish finders help anglers not only seek out their targets but also observe as fish either approach or reject the bait. Aerial drones scan for fish and even deliver lures to them. Social media helps pinpoint, in real time, what fish are biting where. Even the seemingly simple hook has been completely redesigned to better reel in the big one. And it’s not as if recreational fishing in streams, lakes, and in the ocean is a niche-activity — it is the second most popular leisure activity in North America, falling just behind gardening.

Read the full story from the University of Massachusetts Amherst at Science Daily

MASSACHUSETTS: New Bedford’s trash skimmer ‘Walley’ picked up about 500 pieces of this type of litter in one week

May 25, 2021 — Greg Pimentel and Shay Ribeiro bent over a folding table set on the dock at Pier 3. Covering it was a brown pile of organic matter speckled with the bright, artificial colors of plastic.

For more than one hour, they sorted with gloved hands through multiple piles  counting cigarette butts, food wrappers, plastic fragments and other pieces of human waste. When they were done, they dumped everything into a barrel.

“If more people took care or properly disposed of trash, we would only have organic material here,” Pimentel, director of community outreach at the Community Boating Center, said.

The material they pulled came from the trash skimmer first installed in 2019. For 24 hours a day, seven days a week, the floating box gobbles up harbor water and all its detritus.

The skimmer is named Walley and much like the Pixar robot, Wall-E, that cleans Earth one piece of trash at a time, the water skimmer sucks up human waste to make the New Bedford Harbor a bit cleaner.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times