Saving Seafood

MASSACHUSETTS: One Square Mile: Opioids In New Bedfordโ€™s Fishing Industry

February 8, 2018 โ€” Commercial fishing consistently ranks as one of the worldโ€™s most dangerous jobs, which may help explain why fishermen have been hit hard by the opioid epidemic.

In this next story in [Rhode Island Public Radioโ€™s] series, โ€œOne Square Mile: New Bedford,โ€ health reporter Lynn Arditi visits the Port of New Bedford. Hereโ€™s part one of the two-part story.

Captain Mario Gonsalves drove up to the docks one December morning to find his fishing boat caked with ice. A storm was coming and he wanted to get another run in before it hits. One of his crew used a sledge hammer to smash ice off the boatโ€™s roof.

Gonsalves and his five-man crew fish for whiting, squid and scup year round โ€” in all kinds of weather. Itโ€™s a lot of lifting and pulling on slippery decks, often at night. So he said canโ€™t risk having someone on his boat impaired by drugs or alcohol.

โ€œRight now we drug test all the time,โ€™โ€™ Gonsalves said. โ€œWe never used to do that but since a couple months back we started drug testing everybodyโ€ฆ.You donโ€™t want somebody thatโ€™s all high and stuff playing with machinery to hurt somebody.โ€™โ€™

Read and listen to the full story at Rhode Island Public Radio

 

Massachusetts: Battling Ice On A New Bedford Fishing Boat

January 3, 2018 โ€” The normally bustling docks along New Bedford harbor were practically deserted Tuesday as an arctic cold front kept some boats off the water.

On one pier, a deckhand heaved a sledge hammer against the ice-caked roof of the Gabby G, a fishing boat on the New Bedford pier. Ice covered practically every exposed surface of this 105-foot dragger.

The boatโ€™s captain, Mario Gonsalves, said he wanted to get another run in before a snow storm thatโ€™s predicted to hit Thursday.  But first, the crew had to de-ice the boat.

โ€œYouโ€™re seeing a lot of ice build-up from spray from the ocean,โ€™โ€™ he said. โ€œThe boat goes up and down and the spray from the wavesโ€ฆjust freeze(s) instantly, almost. This is what happens when you fish and itโ€™s really cold out.โ€™โ€™

Gonsalves and his five-member crew fish for squid and whiting, also known as Silver Hake. Once they catch the fish they store them in boxes with packing ice โ€“ not to keep the fish cold, he said, but to stop them from freezing.

Read the full story at Rhode Island Public Radio