December 28, 2018 — The fishing year began with a changing of the guard at the helm of the regional headquarters of NOAA Fisheries and ended with a federal government shutdown that halted many of the agency’s administrative tasks.
In between, the local and regional commercial fishing industries were buffeted by the same regulatory and environmental gales that have come to define the current fishing crisis and the livelihood of those harvesting seafood from the oceans.
And this being Gloucester, there was — as always — something of the offbeat worth recalling.
So, here in no particular order are some of our most compelling stories from 2018 that chronicled the activity within the fishery and along Gloucester’s historic waterfront.
The Gloucester Marine Genomics Institute broke ground on its new Main Street research facility and headquarters in February. On Oct. 30, GMGI — with the assistance of Gov. Charlie Baker and other dignitaries — formally opened the new facility along the north channel of the Inner Harbor.