November 15, 2014 — On Monday, what was left of the fishing industry in Gloucester all but died. Again. Come Friday, there was a groundbreaking for a controversial new upscale hotel and conference center on the city’s waterfront.
In between, a week of great tumult went by in Gloucester as outside forces and internal realities again pushed to the forefront a question that has nagged the city for decades: Does it make sense to bet Gloucester’s future on its past?
The drama began suddenly on Monday, when federal officials announced the latest blow to the fishing fleet: an emergency order that effectively bans cod fishing in the Gulf of Maine in an attempt to save the iconic fish from decimation.
The ban – which will last at least six months, if not indefinitely – has essentially grounded all but the largest fishing boats that are able to go far offshore, outside the restricted area. Smaller day boats say the ban eliminates their ability to catch any bottom-dwelling fish – the basis of the industry – since they cannot do so without accidentally catching cod.
All around, there is bleak pessimism about the opportunity for the city’s famed fishing fleet to ever truly go back to work again. The cod ban is just the latest blow in decades of cutbacks and catch restrictions meant to restore fish populations the federal government says are alarmingly low.
Read the full story from The Boston Globe