February 11, 2014 — NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — A bill before the Legislature filed by state Sen. Bruce Tarr, R-Gloucester would give Bay State groundfishermen, who land 70 percent of the catch in New England, some traction in the seafood marketing business.
The bill emerged out of the state's Seafood Marketing Commission and would brand Massachusetts-landed fish along the lines of the U.S. Department of Agriculture "Buy Local" campaign.
Rep. Antonio Cabral, D-New Bedford, was among those testifying last Friday to the Joint Committee on Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture on behalf of the bill.
The legislation would establish the new marketing entity in the Division of Marine Fisheries rather than the Department of Agriculture. That is because, Cabral told The Standard-Times, the Department of Agriculture has never dealt with fish.
The idea, Cabral said, is to build up the public's awareness that Massachusetts-caught fish are a healthy, high-quality product.
Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times