Saving Seafood

National Working Waterfront Network, Urban Harbors Institute set to Host 2022 Conference in Boston

January 31, 2022 — The following was released by the National Working Waterfront Network:

The National Working Waterfront Network (NWWN), a nationwide network of organizations committed to preserving and enhancing waterfronts and waterways, will be holding its 6th national conference in Boston from July 19 to July 21, 2022. The conference will be titled Working Waterfronts: Traditions and Transitions, and will be held on UMass Boston’s oceanfront campus.

For the event, the NWWN will be partnering with the Urban Harbors Institute (UHI) at UMass Boston, a research institute focused on promoting thriving ocean and coastal communities and sustainable natural resources. Working together, their goal is to provide an opportunity for stakeholders to address the sustainability, resiliency, and future growth of working waterfront communities at the local, regional, and national levels.

“The NWWN conference is an important event that promotes information exchange among people involved in all aspects of working waterfronts, from commercial interests to waterfront research, planning, and management, to policymaking,” said Kristin Uiterwyk, Director of the Urban Harbors Institute. “We are excited to bring the conference back to New England where working waterfronts have been and continue to be so central to our culture and economy.”

Co-hosted by the Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management and Maine Sea Grant, the event will include keynote speakers and a series of presentations, panel sessions, roundtable discussions, and art installations. Session themes will cover the resilience of commercial fishing communities, developing waterfront industries, the threats of climate change, workforce development pertaining to maritime activities, and the impacts of COVID-19 on working waterfronts and new innovations for recovery.

“Coastal communities face many different challenges, such as how to protect our waterfronts from increased coastal hazards and guarantee space for industrial uses, how to balance old and new uses to include aquaculture and offshore renewable energy, and how to engage more young people in commercial fishing,” said Nicole Faghin, Chair of the NWWN, “This conference will bring together people to share tools, resources and connect with others interested in creating and maintaining healthy working waterfronts.”

In addition to a speaking program and discussions, the conference will include an evening at the New England Aquarium for a welcome reception, field trips for attendees throughout the conference, highlights of other NWWN initiatives including a podcast and webinar series, the NWWN internship, and a pre-conferencetraining by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Those interested in registering for the event, submitting an abstract, sponsoring the conference, and/or looking for more information can visit the conference website.

About the National Working Waterfront Network

The National Working Waterfront Network (NWWN) is a nationwide network of businesses, industry associations, nonprofits, local governments and communities, state and federal agencies, universities, Sea Grant programs, and individuals dedicated to supporting, preserving, and enhancing our nation’s working waterfronts and waterways. Participation in the NWWN is open to all individuals and organizations involved in working waterfront issues at the federal, state, and local level. Our mission is to increase the capacity of coastal communities and stakeholders to make informed decisions, balance diverse uses, ensure access, and plan for the future of their working waterfronts and waterways.

About the Urban Harbors Institute at UMass Boston

Founded in 1989, the Urban Harbors Institute (UHI), an institute within the School for the Environment at the University of Massachusetts Boston, advances ocean and coastal management through collaborative research and planning at the local, regional, state, federal, and international level. Working closely with governments, marine industry representatives, non-governmental organizations, and members of the public, UHI develops solutions to issues confronting coastal communities, marine-based industries, and activities, and reduces human impacts on the environment. Additionally, UHI’s position within the University of Massachusetts Boston allows the Institute to draw from the legal, economic, policy, and scientific expertise within the University.

MASSACHUSETTS: A meeting of the minds on the future of the fisheries

August 3, 2017 — For some, the focus was on collaboration and the need to build sustainable seafood partnerships.

“Much of what we have already learned comes from the farming sector,” said Jack Wiggin, head of the University of Massachusetts Boston’s Urban Harbors Institute. Opening a Wednesday morning conference on the seafood industry at The Gloucester House, he noted cited parallels between harvesting America’s farms and seas.

To Anamarija Frankic, however, the future of the seafood industry is tied to a more basic approach.

“It’s like the chicken and egg,” said Frankic, a UMass-Boston teacher of biomimicry — the science of seeking solutions based on time-tested patterns and models. “How can you have aquaculture? How can you sustain seafood without protecting the ocean (waters), not just in the harbors but in watersheds? Much of what we do is very specific, protecting and rebuilding specific species or specific habitat, but we have to work to sustain the entire coastal habitat.”

Those were just two of the ideas raised over the course of the daylong conference, which was funded by the state’s Seaport Economic Council and drew more than 50 experts representing government agencies, fishermen, seafood processors and community leaders.

“This is a summit — I would call it that,” Mayor Sefatia Romeo Theken said in welcoming the group to Gloucester. “We haven’t truly had something like this in 20 years.”

Read the full story at the Gloucester Times