November 13, 2012 — Federal regulators say groundfish stocks are low. To rebuild them, they’re going to have to drop the amount fishermen can catch.
The Obama administration has declared the New England groundfish fishery a disaster. That federal declaration paves the way for Congress to fund emergency relief.
Gloucester Mayor Carolyn Kirk doesn’t agree. She says the pending federal assistance is an opportunity that her city can’t afford to squander.
“You know, we’ve been fishing for over 400 years,” Kirk says. “So, you lose Gloucester, it’s really a symbol that you’re giving up on being in that business.”
Kirk is a former management consultant, and she thinks some of the money should go to shoreside businesses.
“[Saying] it shouldn’t all go to fishermen is very controversial,” Kirk says emphatically. “I’m the mayor of Gloucester! I’m saying: It shouldn’t all go to fishermen. It should also go to X, Y, Z. If we don’t have a city that can handle the fishing industry, we won’t have any fishermen, now or in the future.”
Kirk hopes that by using disaster relief money to maintain the port and the businesses around it, Gloucester might be able to attract different kinds of working boats, such as research vessels. She’s been meeting with marine business owners and entrepreneurs.
Kirk says Gloucester needs to diversify its oceanside economy if the city wants to keep people working on the shoreline for the next 100 years, rather than just living there for the view.
“You know, the easy way would be to go for the condos, right?” Kirk asks rhetorically.
“The harder way is to lay in place a different type of economy for the city,” she says. “Of course, Gloucester, being who we are, we’re taking that harder path that preserves what we value. Which is a working waterfront with good infrastructure to support the future of the ocean economy. That’s our opportunity.”
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