September 25, 2013 — It’s been a tough year after a string of tough years for New England fishermen, with federal catch limits for groundfish off Georges Bank and the Gulf of Maine slashed by up to 77 percent in hopes of keeping cod and flounder from going extinct.
But in the heart of Boston’s Innovation District, a place where every week it seems you hear about another multimillion-dollar development plan, Boston’s Fish Pier and associated facilities are still landing a million pounds a month of fresh fish and lobster – 12 million pounds a year – and many fishing leaders are now wondering how much the underutilized pier complex could help save and grow the business locally.
That was the focus of a Massachusetts Port Authority event Wednesday where officials began officially celebrating the Fish Pier’s upcoming 100th birthday next year and brainstorming ideas about how to make fish-related industries stronger and more visible in this part of Boston.
One angle: With federal catch limits essentially shutting fishermen out of harvesting groundfish like cod and flounder, fishermen are being pushed by regulators and environmentalists to try to develop demand and customer taste for less commercially popular species that are still abundant off New England, like dogfish, redfish, pollock, and hake.
"There's a lot of good species out there that are underutilized, and I’ve always paid attention to groups that are really trying to promote those things. I'm on board with that 100 percent," said Tory Bramante, owner of Atlantic Coast Seafood, who’s also felt the pain of fishing cutbacks because he owns two trawlers of his own – the America and the American Pride – and has 18 more Boston-based fishing crews who sell their catch to him.
"There's a lot of good things that people have come up with, good recipes, and a lot of the chefs are being very creative these days, and there are a lot of the species out there that we can grow on," Bramante said.
If that happens, one place processors can definitely grow: Massport’s nearly half-empty Boston Fish Pier.
Read the full story and watch the video at NECN