New Bedford Archives - Page 111 of 112

MASSACHUSETTS: Working Waterfront festival gives visitors a free, fun behind-the-scenes look

September 24, 2015 — NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — Do you know how to properly cook and eat a lobster, or how to fillet a fish?

Perhaps you’d like to watch some of New Bedford’s most handsome fishermen model the latest in fishing gear, listen to some sea chanteys, cheer for your favorite in a nautical tattoo contest, or tour a scallop boat.

These are just a few of the many fun-filled and fascinating activities the 12th annual Working Waterfront Festival will offer guests of all ages as they explore the rich cultural history and get an inside look at the city’s dynamic fishing industry and bustling waterfront.

According to Laura Orleans, festival director, this year’s theme, “Every Object Tells a Story,” will be interpreted in various ways, including several skills demonstrations and a new area at the entrance to Steamship Pier where large industry objects, including a full-sized groundfishing net, will be displayed.

“The Working Waterfront Festival provides a rare opportunity for the public to get an inside look at the commercial fishing industry which not only generates over a billion dollars for our local economy each year, but is also a huge part of our culture and history,” Orleans continues.

Orleans says that this year’s festival is “a great mix of old favorites” such as the scallop shucking contest and seafood cooking throwdown, as well as new activities such as the fishing gear fashion show and nautical tattoo contest.

Read the full story at New Bedford Standard-Times

Colossal scallop impresses even veteran New Bedford fisherman

NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — September 21, 2015 — Danny Sylvia stopped by The Standard-Times on Monday with a just-caught sea scallop almost the size of a hockey puck.

At .39 pounds, he called the scallop a “U-2,” meaning only two would come in under a pound. It’s about five times the size of an ordinary large scallop.

“I’ve been out since 1968, and I have never seen anything that big,” Sylvia said.

The scallop was brought up by one of the New Bedford boats where Sylvia, 65, manages the lumpers, off-loading catch at the dock.

He wouldn’t name the boat, but he insisted that the beast was caught in legal waters.

Read the full story from the New Bedford Standard-Times

Massachusetts: Rep Koczera Joins Fishermen’s Call for Better Science and Better Funding for Groundfish Monitoring

September 17, 2015 — The following was released by Massachusetts State Representative Robert Koczera:

State Representative Robert Koczera (D-New Bedford) has joined Massachusetts officials and fishermen in calling for a reassessment of the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA)’s recent decision to shift the costs of federally-mandated At-Sea Monitoring expenses onto the shoulders of the struggling Massachusetts fishing fleet.

“NOAA’s insistence on at-sea monitoring as the only means to reach observational requirements is symptomatic of a bureaucracy wedded to one approach, especially when science has demonstrated there are other alternatives of fishery management and data collection that can possibly better meet the short-term and long-term needs of the fishing industry and the monitoring program,” stated Rep. Koczera.

“I would like to see NOAA reach out to local research organizations — like UMD’s School for Marine Science & Technology (SMAST) or the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute – – to bring together unbiased scientific research and local knowledge for alternative monitoring ideas,” added Rep. Koczera.

“Our fishermen are seasoned professionals with years of expertise which is being disregarded in current discussions,” added Rep. Koczera. “The ongoing disagreement between policy-makers and hands-on practitioners on the best approach underscores the need for a better understanding of current stock conditions and more research before a scientifically and statistically-sound monitoring program can be developed and implemented successfully.”

In a recent letter to Secretary of Commerce Penny Prizker which highlighted his concern with the structure and rationale of the current at-sea monitoring program, Rep. Koczera also decried the anticipated effects of the cost-shift on the fishing fleet.

According to NOAA’s recent assessment, each fishing vessel would have to absorb a $710/day expense for an at-sea monitor. Collectively, this would lead to an industry cost $2.6 million annually, with the dire prediction that 60% of the fishing fleet would have negative returns in the first year of implementation.

“For an industry that has been through a federally-recognized commercial failure, these actions equate to an ill-advised and insurmountable unfunded mandate that would cripple any progress towards sustainable recovery,” said Rep. Koczera.

NOAA recently suggested that remaining “Bin 3” federal disaster funding be specifically allocated towards at-sea monitoring expenses. Governor Charlie Baker and the entire Massachusetts Congressional delegation are strongly opposed to this proposal.

“It is disingenuous to suggest this proposal is for the relief of the fishing industry, while, in truth, it would undercut the support system put in place to assist in their long-term viability,” added Rep. Koczera. “I join with my colleagues in insisting that this would be an inappropriate use of the “Bin 3” allocation of disaster funding.”

“The history of contention between the New England fishing fleet and NOAA is well known, but both have incentives for maintaining a healthy fishing industry and both agree that better information is needed to achieve that objective,” said Rep. Koczera.

“However, shifting the cost of an unfunded mandate onto the backs of the fishing industry – an indispensable partner in the federal government’s efforts to ensure a thriving fishery – is NOT how we will reach that objective,” added Rep. Koczera. “If NOAA is serious in this commitment, it should address the cost-effectiveness concerns of the at-sea monitoring program, be open to alternative strategies of meeting monitoring goals, and commit appropriate federal funding to prevent this unjust costshift to the fishing fleet,” concluded Rep. Koczera.

Read the press release from Rep. Koczera here

Read the letter from Rep. Koczera to the Secretary of Commerce Penny Prizker

Seafood Takes Center Stage at the 2015 Working Waterfront Festival: Program Includes Cooking Demonstrations, Book Signings, and a Seafood Throwdown

September 17, 2015 — NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — The following was released by the New Bedford Working Waterfront Festival:

Come hungry to the 2015 Working Waterfront Festival, an educational celebration of the commercial fishing industry. The free event takes place on the working piers of New Bedford’s historic waterfront on September 26 & 27. The Foodways Area features hourly cooking demonstrations followed by tastings. Visitors are invited to learn the basics of preparing fresh seafood at home as well as ethnic approaches to seafood cooking and galley fare. Some highlights this year include North African Style Monkfish Stew, Bacalhau A Bras, and Begali Fish Chowder. Ann Pieroway, author of Tastes and Tales of Cape Cod and the Islands and A Lobster Tale and Some Tastes Too, will demonstrate her recipe for Haddock Chowder on Saturday at 12:30 followed by a book signing at 1:30. Heather Atwood, author of In Cod We Trust, will demonstrate Nantucket Scallop Pie, also known as “Boyfriend Pie,” on Sunday at 1:00 followed by a book signing at 2:00. Carlos Rafael, owner of Carlos Seafoods, will demonstrate his expert fish filleting at 4:30 on Saturday.

The Festival culminates on Sunday afternoon with a Seafood Throwdown, in which two chefs compete to create a winning seafood dish using a surprise seafood ingredient which is revealed to them at the event. Chefs can bring three of their favorite ingredients and, once the secret seafood is revealed, they are given $25 and 15 minutes to shop the Festival Farmers’ Market for their remaining ingredients. After their shopping spree, they have one hour to cook and plate their entry for the judge’s consideration. This year’s contest will pit Chef Chris Cronin of Padanaram’s Little Moss Restaurant against Rob Pirnie, Executive Chef of Warren, Rhode Island’s Trafford. Judges include food writer Heather Atwood (author of In Cod We Trust), Chef and Culinary Arts Instructor Henry Bousquet, and Margaret Curole Executive Chef for Commercial Fishermen of America. The Seafood Throwdown is a collaboration between the Northwest Atlantic Marine Alliance and the Working Waterfront Festival.

All of this activity is sure to whet the appetite. Festival attendees will be able to enjoy a wide variety of fresh, local seafood. The Seafood Hut will serve a full menu of the finest local seafood including fish and chips, fried scallops, and clam cakes. Newburyport Crab Company will offer crab cakes, lobster quesadillas, salmon tacos, and more. Littlenecks and oysters on the half shell will be available from R. Shucks Raw Bar and Oxford Creamery’s Ox-Cart will serve up lobster rolls, quahog chowder and more. Looking for fresh ingredients? The festival farmer’s market features produce and specialty items from a number of local farms as well as fresh local seafood provided by Revolution Lobster which will be sold directly off their boat.

The Working Waterfront Festival is a project of the Community Economic Development Center of Southeastern MA, a non-profit organization. The FREE festival, a family friendly, educational celebration of New England’s commercial fishing industry, features live maritime and ethnic music, fishermen’s contests, fresh seafood, vessel tours, author readings, cooking demonstrations, kid’s activities and more. It all takes place on working piers and waterfront parks in New Bedford, MA, America’s #1 fishing port, on the last full weekend in September. Navigate to us at www.workingwaterfrontfestival.org.

MASSACHUSETTS: Warring plans delay awarding of fish aid

September 10, 2015 — The consensus toward developing a plan to distribute the approximately $6 million remaining in federal groundfish disaster aid seems to have degenerated into a contentious melee and now local stakeholders anxiously await the decision by the state Division of Marine Fisheries on which Massachusetts fishermen will qualify for assistance.

“I think we should hear something pretty soon,” Jackie Odell, the executive director of the Northeast Seafood Coalition, said Wednesday. “I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s as soon as the end of this week.”

The process for formulating a distribution plan turned ugly at a two-hour Friday afternoon meeting in New Bedford, according to several people who participated, with different Bay State fishing regions — and fishermen of different species — pitted against each other in their respective efforts to influence DMF’s final spending plan. The meeting had been expected to end with a decision on what plan to forward to DMF.

“When I left that call, I was feeling very frustrated and very upset,” said Gloucester Economic Development Director Sal Di Stefano, who participated via conference call. “It was very unfortunate. We shouldn’t be pitting one fisherman against another. It shouldn’t be Gloucester versus the Cape or the Cape versus New Bedford. That doesn’t move the industry forward at all.”

Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times

New Bedford Working Waterfront Festival to debut Fishing Gear Fashion Show

September 10, 2015 — The following was released by the New Bedford Working Waterfront Festival:

On the eve of Boston Fashion Week, fishermen in New Bedford, the nation’s top dollar fishing port, will strut their stuff in the world’s first fishing gear fashion show. Fishermen will model the latest product lines as well as gear from different fisheries and different eras to provide an entertaining look at how workplace clothing has evolved over time. The fashion show will take place on Saturday, September 26^th at 2PM as part of the 2015 Working Waterfront Festival, an annual event celebrating commercial fishing culture.

Local businesses that manufacture and retail clothing for the commercial fishing industry have stepped up to provide the gear to be modeled. Skips Marine, Euro Fishing Gear, and Guy Cotten will present the latest in foul weather gear including outerwear, sea boots, and work gloves. Hercules LLC will model safety gear such as PFDs and survival suits. The Landing will show off its line of gear for women who fish commercially as well as specialized aprons developed for fish cutters. In addition, the event will include examples of gear from earlier times to provide a historical perspective.

According to Festival Director, Laura Orleans, “Like most occupations, the fishing industry has its own particular clothing much of which is designed to keep fishermen dry and warm while at sea. The fashion show concept was inspired by Jon Campbell’s (a Rhode Island singer songwriter) song Fredericks of Galilee which he will perform live at the event. I think this will be a fun way to promote these products and the local businesses that sell them.”

The Working Waterfront Festival is a project of the Community Economic Development Center of Southeastern MA, a non-profit organization. The FREE festival, a family friendly, educational celebration of New England’s commercial fishing industry, features live maritime and ethnic music, fishermen’s contests, fresh seafood, vessel tours, maritime authors, cooking demonstrations, kid’s activities and more. It all takes place on working piers and waterfront parks in New Bedford, MA, America’s #1 fishing port, on the last full weekend in September. Navigate to us at www.workingwaterfrontfestival.org.

Activity increasing all along New Bedford, Mass. Harbor

September 6, 2015 — The Port of New Bedford is not only home to the vastly profitable scallop industry, making it the No. 1 value fishing port in the nation, it is also the No. 2 commercial port in Massachusetts, after Boston.

Commercial and recreational activity in the port has grown by leaps and bounds in recent years, with an occasional setback. Plans for a waterfront casino fell through this year when the developer could not find financing. The state-funded development of a $100 million-plus maritime shipping terminal in the South End wound up without its major client when the Cape Wind offshore wind energy project was abandoned.

Even at that, there is activity everywhere. This summer has seen a large increase in the number of recreational boaters who have decided to dock in New Bedford. Some of that is a reflection of the good publicity that the port received when the Boston 2024 Olympic Committee, now disbanded, chose New Bedford to be the home of the sailing competition in those games.

Shipping is also increasing. Cargo ships carrying clementines from Morocco or Spain have sharply increased their number of arrivals at State Pier in the last couple of years. Plans are in place to refrigerate the State Pier storage facility so clementines can be shipped through the port during warm weather, which they cannot do at present.

Read the full story from the New Bedford Standard-Times

MASSACHUSETTS: Exhibit to Showcase Fishing Industry Artwork

NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — September 2, 2015 — The following was released by the New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center:

Inside Out: The New Bedford Fishing Industry Through Industry Eyes, a multi-media exhibit featuring the work of six artists who are all employed in or retired from the local fishing industry will be on display at the main branch of the New Bedford Public Library (613 Pleasant Street) through October 31st. The public is invited to meet the artists at an exhibit opening on September 10th (AHA night) from 6:30-8 pm. The exhibit, which features photographs of Alan Cass, Serina Gundersen, and Phil Mello, illustrations of Bobby Bowers, knot work of Manny Vinagre, boat models of Manuel Silva, is a project of the New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center.

While many past exhibits have explored aspects of the working port and the fishing industry through the eyes of artists and photojournalists, this exhibit features the work of those on the inside. From this vantage point, these artists have access to what is often a closed world. Their often intimate work provides viewers a unique opportunity to see the fishing industry from the “inside out”.

Each of the artists focuses on a unique aspect of the fishing industry. Serena Gundersen’s photographs industry objects and provides an intimate portrait of a single family business. Phil Mello documents shoreside workers over a forty year period. Alan Cass captures the everyday and extraordinary aspects of life at sea. Bobby Bowers creates detailed drawings of the boats and their gear. Manny Vinagre uses his knot tying skills to create pieces that are both decorative and functional. Manny Silva, who recently passed away, created, in miniature, the workboats on which he spent so much of his life.

The New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center is dedicated to the preservation and presentation of the history and culture of New Bedford’s fishing industry through archives, exhibits, and programs. For more information contact the Center at 508-993-8894 or nbfishingheritagecenter@gmail.com.

$113m New Bedford, Mass. marine terminal sits largely idle

August 30, 2015 — The new waterfront terminal in New Bedford was supposed to be teeming with activity by now, a staging ground for a massive wind farm in Nantucket Sound.

But with a cancellation of a lease by Cape Wind, the 28-acre site has instead remained largely idle this summer. Efforts by the quasi-public Massachusetts Clean Energy Center to hire a company to position the property for cargo shipping are also taking longer than anticipated.

The $113 million terminal was built primarily with state bond money under Deval Patrick’s administration as a staging ground to ship and repair heavy offshore wind turbines. The idea, in part, was to enable New Bedford’s struggling economy to capitalize on an emerging industry by creating more clean energy jobs. But without Cape Wind as an anchor, there is no offshore wind work in sight.

To supporters, the terminal is still viewed as a potentially viable, vibrant piece of the city’s waterfront. To critics, the terminal is seen as an unnecessary expense of millions of dollars in taxpayer funds.

For Matthew Beaton, Charlie Baker’s energy and environmental affairs secretary, the real question is how the state can recoup its hefty investment in a mostly dormant terminal.

Read the full story from The Boston Globe

DON CUDDY: Spreading misinformation about our fisheries

July 15, 2015 — Anyone knowledgeable about the commercial fisheries of the United States will find nothing original in the op-ed piece recently submitted to the New York Times by the environmental organization Oceana.

Even its title ‘A Knockout Blow for American Fish Stocks’ is misleading. American fish stocks are healthy. NOAA’S annual report to Congress, submitted at the end of 2014 showed that only twenty-six of the three hundred and eight fish stocks assessed were subject to overfishing.

‘Overfishing’ occurs when too many fish are removed from a population to produce maximum sustainable yield. As a scientific term it is quite misleading, carrying, as it does, the clear implication that low stock assessments result solely from fishing pressure; whereas ‘overfishing’ can result from a number of other factors, such as changes in water temperature or salinity, degraded habitat and increased predation.

NOAA also maintains an ‘overfished’ list; comprising any stock whose biomass is such that its capacity to produce its maximum sustainable yield is in jeopardy. Only thirty-seven of two hundred and twenty eight stocks found themselves on that list. Hardly a knockout. No new stocks were added to the list in 2014. In fact, three were removed from the previous year, according to the NOAA report.

The Oceana piece also asserts that recent estimates determined that New England cod stocks were at three to seven percent of target levels. As fishermen in the Gulf of Maine can attest, most of that bottom is now taken over by lobster gear and neither the fishermen nor the NOAA survey vessel can tow through that. So nobody can determine with any certainty how much cod might be out there; not to mention the fact that if a fisherman sees cod in the water he goes someplace else. Why? Because the introduction of fishing sectors and catch shares in New England have made cod a commodity, like pork bellies. The result is best illustrated by New Hampshire fisherman Dave Goethel’s plight. He has a photo showing 2000 pounds of cod that his 40-foot boat caught, after a one-hour tow on a research trip last December. If sold, the cash value at the dock would have brought him $3,000. But to lease those 2,000 pounds of cod would have cost him $4500. That’s what you call a knockout. In a multispecies fishery you need some cod quota, even if you are targeting haddock or other groundfish species and so the lease price keeps going up. That is one reason why the percentage of fishing quota actually caught in the New England groundfishery in 2013-2014 was only 33 percent of the allowable catch limit. Because of regulatory constraints fishermen are now avoiding fish that allegedly are not there.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times