June 2, 2014 — Mayor Carolyn Kirk is poised to head for Japan on a two-week trip that will spotlight new fisheries science opportunities, renew old ties to a company once rooted in Gloucester — and put City Council President Paul McGeary in City Hall’s corner office while the mayor is away.
Kirk is set to leave on June 9, embarking on a largely economic mission to The Land of the Rising Sun. The trip is being funded by a Japanese bank and the Gloucester Marine Genomics Institute, an organization established last summer and based at Rowe Square off Main Street.
According to GMGI’s co-founder, Gregory Verdine, the institute is counting fish like nobody else. The organization is working to sequence fish DNA to see if fish species and counts are mixing, an effort that will “bring an entirely new science to counting fish,” Verdine says.
GMGI is also tracking fish by the bacteria they leave behind, which gives another new aspect to fish counting by linking specific bacteria with fish.
”GMGI’s promise is to bring modern science to the problem of counting fishwe can bring modern science to the problem of counting fish,” Verdine said.
Verdine, also a Harvard University professor and entrepreneur, is leading the excursion to Japan.
The itinerary is packed to the gills, starting off by discussing sciences between a global pharmaceutical company and GMGI. The trip also includes a visit to the world’s largest fish market, collaborating on sustainable fishing practices, industry innovation, a tour of a state-of-the-art fish processing center and an aquaculture facility.
Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times