Saving Seafood

Cape Cod, New Bedford fishermen train to survive the winter sea

December 21, 2020 — Temperatures at the Sandwich Marina on Friday morning stood at the freezing mark, with a bitter wind and driving snow. Despite this, 25 crewmen and captains from Cape and New Bedford fishing vessels sat down in slushy snow to wriggle into what could be the most important article of clothing they will ever try on.

They call them Gumby suits, and it’s easy to see why. A survival suit is bright orange with oversized hands and feet and a tight-fitting hood that reveals only a small moon of flesh: eyes, nose and mouth.

The water temperature in the marina was 47 degrees, and Dan Orchard, the vice president of Fishing Partnership Support Services, had the men suit up and jump into the water within a half-hour of arrival. The shock of going from comfort to cold, disorienting water temperatures was about as close to the real thing as could be had shoreside.

Orchard and other staff from the fishing partnership were conducting a day of survival training for fishermen after captains requested it following the sinking of the Emmy Rose. Four crew members and their captain died with the wreck 20 miles east of Provincetown in the early morning hours of Nov. 23.

Read the full story at the Cape Cod Times

America’s scallop catch expected to dip somewhat in 2021

December 18, 2020 — The United States’ scallop catch is likely to decline by more than a fifth in the coming year, federal regulators have said.

The catch is predicted to come in at about 40 million pounds (18.1 million kilograms), the New England Fishery Management Council said in a statement. That’s a dip from a projected 51.6 million pounds (23.4 million kilograms) this year and 60.5 million pounds (27.4 million kilograms) in 2018.

The scallop fishery has benefited from a very large number of new scallops that began growing in 2012 and 2013, said Janice Plante, a spokesperson for the council. Those scallops are reaching the end of their lives, and that likely means fewer will eventually find their way to the docks, she said.

New Bedford, which has been the nation’s most valuable fishing port for 19 straight years, relies heavily on the scallop catch. In 2018, scallops accounted for 80 percent of the seafood landed in New Bedford.

New Bedford, which has been the nation’s most valuable fishing port for 19 straight years, relies heavily on the scallop catch. In 2018, scallops accounted for 80 percent of the seafood landed in New Bedford.

Despite the likely drop in catch, the scallop fishery remains strong, said Andrew Minkiewicz, a Washington attorney who works with fishing advocacy group Fisheries Survival Fund. The projected catch would still be more than any of the year from 2013 to 2015.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the New Bedford Standard Times

MASSACHUSETTS: The seafood industry is the biggest winner in the latest round of state tax credits

December 14, 2020 — Move over, Amazon. Hang on, Wayfair. This year, the most successful industry in a state tax credit program meant to incentivize job growth certainly wasn’t high-tech, at least not in the traditional sense.

The big winner turned out to be an industry as old as the Commonwealth: the seafood sector.

With many office expansions sidelined because of the work-from-home trend in 2020, nearly all of the beneficiaries of the state’s Economic Development Incentive Program tax credits were decidedly blue-collar in nature this year. In particular, five of the 10 companies that won such tax credits in 2020 are in the seafood business.

The Economic Assistance Coordinating Council approved tax incentives for four of them on Thursday in its latest quarterly meeting. An affiliate of Raw Seafoods will get $203,000 in state tax credits, in return for building out its cold storage capacity in the SouthCoast Technology Park in Fall River and creating 35 jobs. The state will give $112,500 in tax credits each to Nantucket Sound Seafood and to Atlantic Red Crab Co.; Nantucket Sound is creating 15 new jobs and putting up a new two-level building in Fall River, while Atlantic Red Crab is increasing its capacity in New Bedford and adding 28 jobs. Eastern Fisheries, meanwhile, will get $375,000 from the state in return for consolidating its operations in a larger New Bedford facility and creating 50 jobs. All four are getting local tax breaks as well.

Read the full story at The Boston Globe

MASSACHUSETTS: Some New Bedford Businesses Growing Despite Pandemic

December 14, 2020 — Mayor Jon Mitchell and his economic development team have been working on growing jobs and the city’s economy despite the strong headwinds of COVID-19.

The seaside city of New Bedford has been hit as hard, if not harder, than most communities by the COVID-19 pandemic. Mayor Mitchell has done more than most local leaders to deal specifically with the virus – including a Roosevelt New Deal-esque move to convert two mothballed healthcare facilities into COVID-19 hospitals for his residence.

There will be a world after COVID-19 has passed.

Read the full story at WBSM

UMass Dartmouth and Farm to Institution New England Host Virtual Sea Summit

December 3, 2020 — The following was released by the New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center:

How can New England institutions better leverage their influence to support local seafood and seafood producers? With the nation’s top dollar fishing port in New Bedford, why do we not see more local fish on the menu at colleges and other institutions? Can our institutional supply chains take advantage of underutilized species to help address these issues?

UMass Dartmouth and Farm to Institution New England welcome you to attend an online Sea Summit focused on these questions. Join us for an engaging panel and stakeholder dialogue, where speakers will share how a team of colleges and supply chain partners tackled these issues through a 2018 New England Food Vision Prize from the Henry P. Kendall Foundation. Learn more about the challenges and opportunities of producing and sourcing farmed kelp and underutilized fish species in New England. Speakers will also share how they worked to bring underutilized species into community and university dining programs, even with the added challenges presented by a global pandemic.

The goal of the Sea Summit is to educate and unite anyone who is interested in: local and sustainable purchasing, procurement, food service operations, supply chains, and sustainable seafood. This event will highlight the importance of local food initiatives, and encourage restaurants, hospitals, schools, colleges, and universities to help our region produce at least 50% of our food by 2060.

About the New England Food Vision Prize

The New England Food Vision Prize was designed by the Henry P. Kendall Foundation to accelerate progress towards the New England Food Vision, a bold vision that calls for our region to produce at least 50% of our food by 2060, while supporting healthy food for all, sustainable farming and fishing, and thriving communities.

Registration details coming soon.

Questions? Contact Kirby Roberts, kroberts1@umassd.edu.

MASSACHUSETTS: Blue Harvest Relaunches Blue Water, Company’s Latest Upgraded Vessel

December 2, 2020 — The following was released by Blue Harvest Fisheries:

Blue Harvest Fisheries has relaunched the Blue Water, the latest vessel in the company’s fleet to undergo extensive refurbishment and restoration. Another significant investment in the company’s future, Blue Water now features many state-of-the-art improvements that set the standard for safe, sustainable fishing.

As one of eight scalloping vessels purchased from the Peabody Corporation in 2015, Blue Water has undergone two years of extensive upgrades to improve efficiency and safety. Blue Water rejoins Blue Harvest’s fleet of 15 scallop vessels, which fish out of Fairhaven, Massachusetts, and Newport News, Virginia.

“Over the last year we’ve made major investments in the long-term future of our company and the fisheries we work in,” said Keith Decker, President and CEO of Blue Harvest. “Blue Water is just one more example of these investments, which will help make Blue Harvest a leader in the scallop fishery for years to come.”

The restoration process included updating the vessel’s electronics, generators and hydraulic systems, as well as rebuilding two 400 horsepower engines. These upgrades allow Blue Water to operate far more efficiently than older vessels, lowering operating costs and reducing the vessel’s overall carbon footprint. The upgrades also include significant safety improvements, and the vessel’s interior was completely refitted to include quieter, more spacious rooms for the crews, to improve the workplace experience.

Read the full release here

Foley Fish navigating the pandemic with retail, direct-to-consumer sales

December 1, 2020 — Like most other seafood processors and distributors, New Bedford, Massachusetts, U.S.A.-based Foley Fish had to quickly pivot when the COVID-19 pandemic struck the United States in early March.

The 114-year-old company supplies retail, foodservice, and consumer accounts across the country, but the coronavirus proved an existential threat to the company’s existence.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

MASSACHUSETTS: New Bedford seafood giant Cooke buys insolvent U.S. fish processor, expands global reach

October 29, 2020 — A division of New Brunswick seafood giant Cooke Inc. has acquired Mariner Seafood LLC of New Bedford, Mass., expanding the family-owned company’s operations in the United States.

True North Seafood, the flagship brand and processing arm of Cooke, purchased Mariner Seafood for US$2.75 million after the U.S. company filed for bankruptcy protection last month. The sale was approved by a Massachusetts court Monday.

The sale includes two processing plants in the port of New Bedford capable of processing more than 8,000 tonnes a year of seafood product, including scallops, haddock, cod, salmon and shrimp.

Glenn Cooke, CEO of Cooke, said it has been a dream of the family seafood company to have a presence in the historic, high-value fishing port.

“We now have over 4,000 Cooke employees in 22 U.S. states and we will continue to invest and grow our New Bedford processing operations,” he said in a statement.

Cooke, which started in rural New Brunswick in 1985 with three employees, now has a global workforce of more than 10,000 employees in 10 countries. It claims to be the largest privately held family seafood company in the world.

Read the full story at the Preeceville Progress

MASSACHUSETTS: Hook-A-Cure hosting blood drive

October 27, 2020 — The nice folks at Hook-A-Cure, whose fishing tournament has been part of raising $200,000 in the past for cancer treatment and research, has had to cancel many of their events because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

But they remain undaunted. They are sponsoring their inaugural Red Cross Blood Drive to help increase blood supplies for transfusions needed by cancer patients.

The event is set for Nov. 7, from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m. at the True North Brewery at 116 County Road in Ipswich. Donors, because of the pandemic restrictions, must preregister at redcrossblood.org or by calling 800-733-2767.

Organizers said they need 36 donors to make the drive a success. So, pack a vein and head on out to Ipswich for a fine cause.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times