The new Base Gloucester seafood exchange on Fishermen's Wharf off Rogers Street not only hosted its ribbon-cutting grand opening Wednesday, it hit the ground running.
Twice during the first hour of the new auction's open house, fishing boats landed their harvest for the day, bringing in cod and pollock — and giving Mayor Carolyn Kirk the chance to ceremonially handle at least a piece of the day's catch.
Kirk was among the officials who attended the opening and welcomed New Bedford waterfront businessmen Richard and Raymond Canastra, whose Whaling City Auction technology is being utilized at the new Gloucester facility, providing anew link between the twin capitals of Fishing Nation.
The new auction, whose Base name signifies "buyers' and sellers' exchange," is owned by brothers Nick, Chris and Vito Giacalone, Jr. and is operating on a site owned by their father, Vito Giacalone Sr., policy director of the Northeast Seafood Coalition.
While Wednesday marked the grand opening and the first landings to be put up for sale on the site, today brings a milestone as well. The first auction, expected to bring more than three dozen buyers, began at 6 a.m.
Read the article in The Gloucester Times