NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — April 29, 2014 — They were "beautiful fish." One hundred pounds of fluke fillets — enough to make 250 meals — donated to the Veterans Transition House on Friday with a surprising but welcome knock at the door.
It was the Massachusetts Environmental Police donating fillets of fish the agency had confiscated earlier in the week.
"They just showed up with it, knocked at the door," Veterans Transition House Chef Melissa Mann said. "They were beautiful fish, those flounder. They are very kind to come here."
Veterans Transition House was just one of four city shelters and food kitchens to receive a donation Friday. The Salvation Army, Missionaries of Charity and Market Ministries also received 100 pounds of fillets.
Such donations are not everyday occurrences. In fact, Environmental Police Captain Patrick Moran said that though he knows donations like this have been given by the agency before, he couldn't remember the last time.
The story of these fillets' "unusual circumstances" began on April 22. That's when the fluke fishery's usual 500-pound trip limit decreased to 100 pounds.
The decrease is meant to ensure fluke don't get caught in smaller nets used in the squid fishery, which opened on April 22.