March 19, 2019 — The Coast Guard said it medevaced a sick fisherman Sunday from a boat 50 miles off Gloucester and took him to the hospital.
An MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter aircrew from Air Station Cape Cod picked up the 40-year-old ill fisherman from the fishing vessel America, approximately 50 miles east of Gloucester on Sunday.
The aircrew brought the man to Massachusetts General Hospital.
March 19, 2019 — Representatives of 14 companies from the municipality of Gloucester, Massachusetts met with the state’s governor, Charlie Baker, Lieutenant Governor Karyn Polito, U.S. Representative Seth Moulton, State Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr, and Gloucester Mayor on Monday, 18 March at Seafood Expo North America.
The elected officials each took turns praising Gloucester and the quality of its seafood, and proclaimed their support for an industry that is estimated to employ about 100,000 workers and have an economic impact of around USD 2 billion (EUR 1.8 billion).
“As somebody who has spent time in New Bedford, in Gloucester, and in a whole bunch of places in between, I am more than aware of the fact that this particular industry doesn’t just feed families by having them purchase the product that’s associated with what they deliver…it also feeds families who bring it to shore and ultimately get it to market,” Baker said.
At the reception, Baker announced more than USD 116,000 (EUR 102,000) in grants for research projects intended to benefit the seafood industry in Massachusetts. The grants will study Massachusetts’ port infrastructure, consumer preferences for local seafood, and fishermen’s approach to traceability technology.
March 18, 2019 — Perhaps the third time will be the charm. We shall see.
State Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr is back with his bill that would permit processing of fresh and frozen lobsters in Massachusetts and cease the mandate to send Massachusetts-landed lobsters out of state for processing into parts.
The Senate passed the bill. But then the Senate passed the measure the previous two times it appeared on the calendar, only to have the House each time put the kibosh on it.
This year, Tarr and supporters of the bill took a different route. They attached the bill to a supplemental budget already passed by the House.
That means the bill, now before the Legislature’s Joint Committee on Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture, still has a chance to live on if it remains in the supplemental budget following the conference committee.
And it should.
As we’ve previously written, supporters have made a strong case that changing the law would provide expanded and more efficient markets for lobstermen, create jobs and other platforms of growth for the processing industry, help coastal communities, such as Gloucester, diversify their waterfront infrastructure, and provide consumers with more choices.
March 12, 2019 — The following was published by the office of Senator Bruce Tarr:
The State Senate has approved a measure authored by Gloucester Senator Bruce Tarr, and championed by a bi-partisan coalition of state Senators, that will reform state lobster laws would permit licensed wholesale dealers to process unfrozen lobster parts, import unfrozen shell-on lobster parts, and allow for the sale of processed lobster parts.
While the sale of live, cooked, canned lobster and tails is legal in the state, the law currently requires Massachusetts lobstermen and seafood vendors to sell or transport lobster out-of-state for processing for parts. This often means that Bay State lobsters are brought back for sale to consumers with a ‘Product of Canada’ label. Up to 80% of lobsters landed in the state are sent away for processing.
The legislation, adopted as part of S.2181, the Senate’s $144 million supplemental budget bill, mirrors similar language the Senate adopted last session, a move that government and industry experts say will remove constraints on consumer product options and give the multi-million dollar seafood industry capacity to grow.
“We have the second-largest lobster catch in the nation yet, without this bill, our raw and frozen lobster parts are processed in Canada or Maine only to then be brought back to local consumers,” said Senator Tarr. “This legislation modernizes those lobster laws to bolster the fishing industry and give consumers, including local restaurants and food stores more choices while sustainably supporting coastal fishing communities.”
In January, Tarr filed Senate Docket 1, an Act Regulating the Processing of Lobsters, the first bill of the session. That bill is now before the Legislature’s Joint Committee on Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture.
A Division of Marine Fisheries report has recommended adoption of the proposal citing an evolving interest from consumers in value-added lobster in the form of shell-on tails and claws. The report says that the global market for Massachusetts landed lobster would be more readily accommodated with the new law.
“The Massachusetts Lobstermen’s Association greatly appreciates Senator Tarr’s ongoing efforts with his colleagues to allow for the complete processing and sale of lobster parts in the state,” said Beth Casoni, Executive Director of the Massachusetts Lobstermen’s Association. “We are looking forward to getting these operations running in the near future.”
Shifting handling from Maine and Canada will boost the viability and prosperity of the industry which will result in job creation.
“I’m proud that the Senate is working to ensure the sustainability and viability of the state’s lobster industry, which will give consumers more choices and benefit lobstermen in coastal communities statewide,” said Senate Committee on Ways and Means Chair Michael Rodrigues (D-Westport). “The lobster industry is a vital part of the Commonwealth’s economy and identity, and I applaud Senator Tarr and my Senate colleagues for supporting it.”
“Easing archaic constraints on lobster processing operations will allow a thriving industry to further invest in our local economy through expanding operations and creating new jobs, especially in New Bedford. I am proud to be a partner on this bipartisan measure, and it is my hope the House will finally accept this provision in conference and get it on the Governor’s desk.” said Senator Montigny(D- New Bedford), the lead cosponsor of the legislation.
Up to 80% of lobsters landed in the state are sent to out of state processing facilities and industry leaders say the move will facilitate opportunities to create and grow jobs in the state. The Marine Fisheries report notes that the lobster demand has spiked and has continued to evolve in favor of processed lobster parts.
“I am glad to join my colleagues in the Senate in support of our Massachusetts lobster fishermen,” said Senator deMacedo (R-Plymouth). “These advancements in our approach to lobster processing will provide an important benefit to the lobster industry and the fishermen who play such an important role in our communities and economy.”
The Senate’s supplemental budget bill will now be reconciled with the House’s version, which was also recently adopted. Once a final version is approved by both branches the bill will advance to Governor Charlie Baker’s desk.
March 5, 2019 — The opposing sides in the industrial espionage lawsuit filed by National Fish & Seafood against a Florida competitor have spent much of the past two months wrangling over discovery and a federal judge has set deadlines that could end the squabbling and allow the case to move forward.
U.S. District Court Judge M. Page Kelly on Friday acceded to requests from Gloucester-based National Fish and Florida-based Tampa Bay Fisheries and other defendants to extend the deadlines for discovery.
Kelly, who sits in federal court in Boston, set March 15 as the deadline for all written fact discovery and April 15 for the close of all fact discovery.
In its lawsuit, National Fish claims that executives at Florida-based Tampa Bay Fisheries encouraged and conspired with Kathleen A. Scanlon, a former National Fish employee, to copy “substantial volumes of NFS’ confidential business information and trade secrets” in her final days at National Fish before she started a position with Tampa Bay Fisheries.
Scanlon, who rose to chief of research and development and quality control in her 23 years at National Fish, denies the allegations, as do the other Tampa Bay executives named as defendants.
February 20, 2019 — The following was released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration:
Today, NOAA Fisheries published the proposed rule to set management measures for the Atlantic Sea Scallop fishery for the 2019 fishing year (April 1, 2019 – March 31, 2020). Framework 30 would:
To get all the details on these proposed modifications, read the proposed rule as published in the Federal Register today.
We are accepting comments through March 7, 2019.
Please submit comments either through the online e-rulemaking portal or by mailing your comments to:
Michael Pentony, Regional Administrator
National Marine Fisheries Service
55 Great Republic Drive
Gloucester, MA, 01930.
Please mark the outside of the envelope, “Comments on the Proposed Rule for Scallop Framework 30.”
Questions?
Fishermen: Contact Travis Ford at 978-281-9233
Media: Contact Allison Ferreira at 978-281-9103 or at
February 13, 2019 — Federal fishery regulators are considering new measures for the Atlantic sea scallop management plan and have scheduled a series of public hearings from Maine to Virginia to collect public comment.
The public hearings, which include an April 3 session at the state Division of Marine Fisheries’s Annisquam River Station on Emerson Avenue in Gloucester, will touch upon three primary issues contained in Amendment 21 currently being developed by the New England Fishery Management Council:
* Measures to support a growing scallop fishery in the federal waters of the northern Gulf of Maine.
* Increasing the individual fishing quota possession limit of 600 pounds for those fishing with a limited access general permit.
* Measures that would allow limited access vessels to transfer quota to vessels fishing on a limited access general permit.
Read the full story at the Gloucester Times
February 8, 2019 — Fishermen of an important species of lobster bait will have to contend with a deep cut in quota this year due to concerns about the fish’s population.
Atlantic herring are the source of a major fishery on the East Coast. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced on Thursday that it’s cutting this year’s herring quota from nearly 110 million pounds to about 33 million pounds.
January 29, 2019 — Furloughed NOAA Fisheries staffers returned to work Monday from the partial shutdown of the federal government and commenced the task of playing catchup as a new fishing season beckons.
In Gloucester, the furloughed workers, sent home 35 days ago, resumed their duties at the Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office on Great Republic Drive as Regional Administrator Mike Pentony acknowledged the shutdown’s impact on fishing stakeholders and set the overarching agenda moving forward.
“We will have three priorities as we ramp back up to full and normal operations: getting fishermen back to work; completing consultations so federally permitted projects in your communities can move forward; and ensuring that adequate monitoring and protections are in place for our protected resources,” Pentony said in a statement.
Pentony conceded the shutdown has left the agency behind schedule for completing several essential actions as the 2018 fishing season winds down and the May 1 start of the 2019 season moves closer.
January 28, 2019 — Many things fell into place Friday that led to the government reopening, including the words of a New Bedford scalloper in the nation’s capital.
Capt. Jack Morris, director of operations for FV Holdings LLC, spoke on a panel conducted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce as the shutdown prevented one of his vessels from fishing.
“We’re bleeding,” Morris said. “We need to go fishing.”
Hours later, President Donald Trump announced a deal had been struck to reopen the government through Feb. 15.
The shutdown didn’t allow Morris to transfer a license from an out-of-service vessel to a new one.
“It’s a simple application that’s done all the time, and it’s sitting on the desk of the permit office in Gloucester,” Morris said. “There’s nobody at that desk. It’s empty.”