Saving Seafood

MASSACHUSETTS: 50 people who met at SMAST believe they can change the fishing industry

May 25, 2018 — NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — About 50 people assembled inside a classroom at UMass Dartmouth’s School of Marine Science and Technology on Wednesday night.

They formed the first Ocean Cluster meetup, merging the worlds of fishing and Internet of Things.

Those in the room believed the collaboration, small at its inception, has the potential to revolutionize the industry.

“This night, while there are only 50 of us here, is exactly how this happens,” said Chris Rezendes of CONTEXT LABS, ImpactLABS and Spherical Analytics.

Those who spoke at the event included: Ed Anthes-Washburn and Eli Powell of the New Bedford Port Authority, Cassie Canastra of BASE New England and the Whaling City Display Auction, Mike Carroll of LegitFish, Jeff Young of Advanced Marine Technologies, Liz Wiley of Spherical Analytics and Kevin Stokesbury of SMAST.

Each discussed the importance data plays in their respective organization.

Canastra and Carroll are working together to allow the fish auction to include blockchain technology for fishermen and purchasers.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

 

Massachusetts Gains Foothold in Offshore Wind Power, Long Ignored in U.S.

May 24, 2018 — NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — On the waterfront of this fabled former whaling hub, the outlines of a major new industry are starting to appear.

Crews of research boats perform last-minute tuneups before heading out to map the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. A large weather buoy decked out with gear for measuring wind speeds waits on the quay for repairs. And a 1,200-foot stretch of the port has been beefed up to bear enormous loads.

New Bedford hopes to soon be the operations center for the first major offshore wind farm in the United States, bringing billions of dollars of investment and thousands of jobs to the town and other ports on the East Coast.

New England is particularly well suited to offshore wind farms. There is not enough land for wind turbines onshore, and the area is not ideal for solar power. At the same time, Massachusetts has been under pressure to find new sources of energy to replace aging conventional and nuclear plants, as well as meet targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions blamed for climate change.

“We know in light of Northern Europe’s experience with offshore wind that many U.S. ports will benefit from the arrival of the industry here,” Jon Mitchell, the New Bedford mayor, said in an interview.

Whether Massachusetts can pull of its ambitious plans will depend to some degree on local issues — and not everyone in the area is enthusiastic.

In particular, some of New Bedford’s fishermen are worried. The city’s port is already home to hundreds of fishing boats, as well as seafood auction houses and processing plants. It generates about $3.3 billion a year and supports about 6,200 jobs, according to the local authorities.

Eric Hansen, a scallop fisherman, said that he and his colleagues were concerned about threading their way through a relatively narrow allotted path through spinning turbines.

“Think fog, heavy seas,” he said.

Read the full story at the New York Times

‘I was hopeful’: Vineyard Wind wins offshore wind contract with Massachusetts

May 23, 2018 — NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — Vineyard Wind is the big winner of Massachusetts’ first offshore wind contract, but a second company, Deepwater Wind, will receive a contract from Rhode Island based on its Massachusetts bid, according to Massachusetts environmental officials.

Vineyard Wind has been selected for an 800-megawatt wind farm — about 100 turbines — in federal waters about 14 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard. Deepwater’s project, called Revolution Wind, will be half the size, and is located south of Little Compton, Rhode Island, and Westport, Massachusetts.

In the days leading up to the decision, people seemed to be talking about the idea that Massachusetts could split the award between two winners, according to Erich Stephens, Vineyard Wind’s chief development officer. Getting a full 800 megawatts came as a surprise, he said.

“I was hopeful we might get something,” he said.

New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell congratulated the companies.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

 

Massachusetts: New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center celebrates Portuguese Heritage

May 23, 2018 —  NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — The following was released by the New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center:

The New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center will host a variety of programs to explore and celebrate Portuguese heritage during the month of June. Resident artists Manny Vinagre and Manny Catulo will demonstrate their crafts, a film chronicling the dory fishing days of the White Fleet will be shown, and Fado singer Ana Vinagre will entertain with songs of loss and longing. All events are free and open to the public.

Resident artist Manny Vinagre will demonstrate Portuguese decorative knot work on Saturday June 2nd and Saturday June 9th from 1:00 to 3:00 each day. Mr. Vinagre learned how to tie seaman’s knots at escolaprofisional de pesca (fish school) in Portugal over 50 years ago. Now a retired fisherman, he now creates intricately woven cintos (belts) and bolsas (bags) of his own design using synthetic rope.  Each belt or bag is unique, with original patterns created through the use of color and texture, that Manny plans out in his head for each piece.

On Friday, June 15th at 7:00 p.m., The Lonely Doryman will be the featured Dock-U-Mentary film. For more than four centuries, young Portuguese fishermen went to the Grand Banks of Newfoundland and Greenland to fish for cod. Known as the Portuguese White Fleet, men set off on schooners under full sail to then drift in a flat-bottomed dory as they baited hundreds of hooks on long-lines. They labored 18 hours a day in pursuit of cod. This 1968 National Geographic film provides a rare window into this life.  Retired fisherman Manny Vinagre, who fished as part of the White Fleet before emigrating to New Bedford, will share memories of his dory fishing days. The film will be shown at the New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park’s theater.

Resident artist Manny Catulo will demonstrate the art of model boat making on Saturday June 16th and Saturday June 30th from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. each day. Mr. Catulo recreates the traditional fishing boats that plied the waters of Portugal prior to World War II. These wooden boats predate the engine and were propelled by oar and sail. His detailed models begin as planked hulls and are then brightly painted in traditional blues, greens, and reds. He carves miniature oars, creates tiny anchors, fishing nets complete with floats and sinkers and even bailers. He will also have model boats on display.

A free concert featuring Ana Vinagre, one of the area’s best known, and most respected, Fadistas will take place on Thursday June 28th from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m. Born in Portugal, she immigrated to New Bedford as a young woman with her husband Jose. Both had been members of folkloric dance and music ensembles and they have continued to perform at area Portuguese restaurants, community events, and in festivals and concerts around the nation. They take great pride in their culture and enjoy teaching American audiences about the tradition of Fado music, a genre that developed in the port city of Lisbon and was performed at waterfront clubs and bars frequented by sailors and seamen.

This series is funded in part by Massachusetts Cultural Council.

The New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center is dedicated to preserving and presenting the story of the commercial fishing industry past, present, and future through archives, exhibits, and programs. For more information, email programs@fishingheritagecenter.org or call the Center at (508) 993-8894.

 

New Bedford fishing boat collides with oil tanker off Long Island

May 16, 2018 — A New Bedford-based fishing boat collided with another vessel in waters approximately 30 miles southeast of Bridgehampton, N.Y., on Saturday night, the US Coast Guard said.

Coast Guard officials said the commercial fishing vessel Polaris was traveling back to its home port in New Bedford when it collided with the crude oil tanker Tofteviken, based out of the Bahamas.

“The Polaris, an 84-foot steel vessel built in 2007, suffered damage to its bow and outrigger,” the Coast Guard said in a statement. “There were seven people aboard at the time of collision with no report of injuries. The vessel was able to return to its homeport safely. The Tofteviken suffered an approximate 30-foot gash along its portside hull. There were no injuries reported to the crew aboard the tankship.”

Read the full story at the Boston Globe 

 

New Bedford Fishing Vessel Collides With Loaded Tankship

May 15, 2018 — NEW YORK — The Coast Guard Sector New York responded to a report of a collision at sea Saturday evening, involving the loaded tankship Tofteviken and the commercial fishing vessel Polaris.

The collision allegedly occurred nearly 30 miles southeast of Bridgehampton, New York.

The Tofteviken was transiting to New York, while the Polaris was transiting back to its homeport in Massachusetts after a night of fishing.

The Polaris, an 84-foot steel vessel built in 2007, suffered damage to its bow and outrigger. There were seven people aboard at the time of collision with no report of injuries. The vessel was able to return to its homeport safely.

The Polaris is homeported in New Bedford, and according to the Boat Database, is owned by the O’Hara Corporation.

The Tofteviken suffered an approximate 30-foot gash along its portside hull. There were no injuries reported to the crew aboard the tankship.

Read the full story at WBSM

 

New Bedford Standard-Times: groundfishermen need to get back to work

May 14, 2018 — It was a bittersweet start to the fishing season on May 1.

Bittersweet because much of New Bedford’s already battered groundfish fleet could not go to sea.

Nearly 60 permits in Sectors VII and IX did not receive quota allocations from NOAA. The federal government withheld their quota because of overages accumulated by fleet owner Carlos Rafael when he admitted last year that he had falsified the numbers of fish he had taken, substituting valuable species subject to quotas for ones that were not so.

Rafael is in prison now but the results of his misdeeds continue to be paid by the community that made him rich. About 80 fishermen have been out of work since November when NOAA first instituted its groundfish ban for the sector in which Rafael perpetuated his fraud. Shoreside businesses, including the ones that manufacture nets and ice and repair boats, have also been greatly affected by the cut to New Bedford’s groundfish effort.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

 

Safety training is a must for all who go to sea

May 14, 2018 — On December 20, 2004 the 75-foot New Bedford scalloper Northern Edge went down in the Nantucket Lightship Closed Area. Five men perished. It was a loss that rocked the city. Pedro Furtado, the only survivor, was a 22 year-old man who had been through safety training in his native Portugal before coming to the United States. He had the presence of mind to jump into the wintry sea while the other men froze. It was this disaster that prompted the city to introduce safety training for those who earn their livelihood from commercial fishing, the most dangerous occupation in the United States.

It has been very successful, according to Ed Dennehy, director of safety training for the Fishing Partnership which runs these one and two-day programs in fishing harbors up and down the coast. “We’ve been all over, from Jonesport, Maine to Jones Beach, Long Island, he said. “We like to bring the program to where the fishermen are and it has grown over the years.”

In response to the loss of the Northern Edge the city received some funds from National Marine Fisheries in 2005 in order to develop safety and survival training. At the time Dennehy, a retired Coast Guard captain, was running New Directions in New Bedford and with the help of SMAST and others, like Rodney Avila, along the waterfront the program began. Since then more than 3500 fishermen have taken the safety classes which are offered free. The Fishing Partnership began running the program in 2012.

I had the opportunity to participate in the training myself on Thursday last. It was held at UConn’s Avery Point campus in Groton and there were 40 participants, a testament to the growing awareness and demand for this vital service.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

 

Massachusetts: Federal delegation ‘solidly behind’ New Bedford in fishing fight

May 14, 2018 — NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — Prior to a town hall-style meeting in New Bedford on Saturday, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren quietly gathered with fellow senator Ed Markey and Congressman William Keating in the Wharfinger Building on Pier 3. Inside, the three legislators sat for more than an hour, listening to representatives of the fishing community relay their present and future concerns facing the industry.

About 80 fishermen out of New Bedford have been unable to fish or lease their quotas since NOAA shut down Sector IX in November. The shutdown remains in effect until the feds can estimate how much quota convicted “Codfather” Carlos Rafael depleted in his overfishing scheme.

Massachusetts’ two senators have been all but crucified for what many see as inaction on the Sector IX closure. Following Saturday’s meeting, Senator Warren told WBSM News what appears to some as inaction is, in fact, a more tactful approach in discussions with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

“There are a lot of steps to go through to get Sector IX back up,” said Warren. “And NOAA seems committed to move forward on those. Senator Markey and I are pushing. We don’t want to turn this into politics. We want to facilitate this. We want to make it move forward.”

“But we have made it very clear that both of us and Congressman Keating are deeply committed to getting a fast process so that the innocent people that have been harmed by what’s happened here can get back out on the water and fish,” she said.

Read the full story at WBSM

 

Massachusetts: Elizabeth Warren packs a town hall meeting, sits with Markey, Keating over fishing

May 14, 2018 — NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., came to the city Saturday to hear the concerns of fishermen who wanted a faster resolution to the Carlos Rafael problems that have closed two fishing sectors, maybe throwing fishermen permanently out of their jobs.

These cases of licensing and ownership, and repayment of overfishing, “need to be resolved as quickly as possible,” Warren said later.

Warren also heard from Mayor Jon Mitchell and fishing representatives who contend that the wind energy companies that are the finalists for an exclusive contract are not listening to the concerns of the fishing industry, mainly scallopers.

Warren along with U.S. Sen. Edward Markey, D-Mass, and U.S. Rep. Bill Keating, D-Mass., listened about these matters in a meeting at the Wharfinger Building on City Pier 3, organized by Bob Vanasse of the industry lobby Saving Seafood.

They parted ways when Warren and her campaign staff went to the Greater New Bedford Regional Vocational Technical High School to conduct a town hall style meeting.

The event had an atmosphere much like a campaign rally, with Warren on stage answering questions from attendees who signed up in a lottery.

She touched on a dozen topics, taking her talk where the questions went, on everything from her late mother, poverty, and U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell, who rejects a bill that would insulate special prosecutor Robert Mueller from being removed from office by President Donald Trump.

She also condemned the recent trillion-dollar tax cut while Medicaid recipients are threatened by cuts and 90 percent of Americans claim zero percent in the rise of the economy in the past several decades.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times