Saving Seafood

Brian Helgeland’s ‘Finestkind’ is a New Bedford fishing story — and his most personal film yet

September 12, 2023 — Early in “Finestkind,” a Massachusetts-based family drama that recently premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival, the crew of a New Bedford fishing boat huddles together, lit only by the glow of a flashlight. During a pause in the chatter, the boat’s rookie poses a crucial question to the group: “What the hell does ‘finestkind’ mean? You guys always say it.”

Brian Helgeland, the writer and director of “Finestkind,” is still sorting out the answer. “It means anything and everything,” he said over lunch just a few hours before his film’s premiere. “It’s kind of like you have to live the word to know what it means.”

Set and shot in New Bedford, “Finestkind” follows Charlie (Toby Wallace), a recent college graduate with an English degree, as he joins his older half brother, Tom (Ben Foster), on a commercial fishing boat named Finestkind. Tom, a huffy but experienced captain, accepts his kid brother onto his crew grudgingly; he believes that Charlie, who grew up wealthy, should be working a white-collar job instead. The pair nonetheless grow close, until a work mishap strains their relationship and puts them in the tough situation of needing a load of cash fast. The film also features Tommy Lee Jones as Tom’s cantankerous father, a veteran fisherman facing health issues.

Read the full article at the Boston Globe

Blue Harvest Fisheries reportedly shutting down all operations

September 2, 2023 — New Bedford, Massachusetts, U.S.A.-based Blue Harvest Fisheries is reportedly shutting down all of its fishing operations.

The company, which recently suspended its processing work and laid off workers in March 2023, told fishermen it will by ceasing operation on Friday, 1 September, the New Bedford Light reported. Luke deWildt, captain of the Teresa Marie IV – one of Blue Harvest’s fishing vessels – said his most recent fishing trip would be the last for the company.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

MASSACHUSETTS: Mayor Mitchell pushing NOAA to open new center in New Bedford

August 14, 2023 — New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell is re-upping a pitch for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to open a site in the Whaling City.

The mayor recently co-signed a letter with more than 50 others, including business owners and local and state officials, to urge NOAA to consolidate its Northeast facilities in New Bedford.

In the letter addressed to NOAA Administrator Richard Spinrad, the mayor and others want the agency to consider opening sites in New Bedford “when facilities owned or operated in the Northeast by NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service are scheduled to be rebuilt or re-leased.”

Read the full article at WPRI

MASSACHUSETTS: New Bedford said to be best place for National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

August 10, 2023 — Is there a better place to site the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Northeast operations than New Bedford?

Mayor Jon Mitchell doesn’t think so.

And he’s joined in that opinion by a “very broad coalition of business and civic leadership.”

Mitchell sent a letter co-signed by more than 50 business and civic leaders to NOAA Administrator Richard Spinrad this month making a pitch to consolidate its Northeast facilities in New Bedford.

A similar letter was sent to NOAA in 2016, but recent developments warranted another entreaty.

Read the full article at the Standard-Times

MASSACHUSETTS: Senator Warren speaks on port infrastructure in New Bedford

August 3, 2023 — On a visit to the city’s storied waterfront, Senator Elizabeth Warren on Wednesday praised New Bedford’s use of federal funds to prepare for natural disasters and develop new infrastructure to protect against climate change.

“I love seeing the activity over on the port now — you guys should be so proud,” Warren told New Bedford Mayor Jonathan Mitchell at the New Bedford Port Authority. “This is government at its best, because this is about partnership.”

Mitchell thanked Warren for helping pass federal legislation including the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act, which included funds to invest in the nation’s ports, and the American Rescue Plan Act, through which New Bedford has scored grants to sustain and build out its economy.

Read the full article at the Boston Globe

MASSACHUSETTS: Greater New Bedford Waterfronts Awarded $830,000 in Grants

July 30, 2023 — The City of New Bedford and the surrounding towns of Dartmouth and Mattapoisett have been awarded $830,000 in state Seaport grants for waterfront development projects.

In a release on Thursday, State Senator Mark Montigny (D-New Bedford) announced the Seaport Economic Council voted to approve $3 million in grants for 10 projects, four located in the Greater New Bedford area.

Established in 2015, the Seaport Economic Council consists of 18 members that award grants to municipal waterfronts to bolster maritime economies.

Read the full article at WBSM

 

Bullard’s Public Life in New Bedford Highlighted in Memoir

July 3, 2023 — Former New Bedford Mayor John Bullard said he wrote his memoir Hometown for two reasons: to recognize all of the people who helped with his public life successes, that their stories be told. Bullard also wanted to encourage young people trying to figure out how to make an impact to consider doing what he did, which is try to fix up their hometown.

Bullard sat down with us this week Townsquare Sunday to discuss the new book and his career in public life.

There were a few memories that will never fade. As an agent for the Waterfront Historic Area League, Bullard and others worked to convince Mayor John Markey to invest in what is now the Waterfront Historic District.

“The district at that time was full of empty buildings, run-down streets. It met every definition of blight there was,” Bullard said.

Both men kept talking, however, and Markey made what Bullard called “a courageous decision,” investing $1.3 million into historic preservation.

Read the full article at WBSM

MASSACHUSETTS: Turbine blades arrive in New Bedford as second heavy load carrier navigates harbor

June 7, 2023 –A few hours after the UHL Felicity departed the Port of New Bedford to head back to Portugal, another blue-hulled heavy load carrier, RollDock Sky, eased through the hurricane barrier Tuesday morning, bringing more wind turbine parts (this time, blades) into port.

The foreign-flagged 460-foot vessel departed the Netherlands in May, and then stopped in Gaspe, Canada, to retrieve blades from General Electric’s manufacturing facility before coming to New Bedford.

A GE spokesperson said the vessel was carrying six blades. The 62-turbine project, with three bladers per tower, will require 186 in total. The carrier’s deck equipment obfuscated the 351-foot blades a bit, but four were visible atop the ship.

The movement of new parts comes a few days after the local longshoremen’s union reached a contract with Vineyard Wind. The union previously shut down work at the New Bedford Marine Commerce Terminal — the project’s staging site — in protest of Vineyard Wind’s hiring practices. The strike started one day after the first turbine components arrived, and ended late last week.

Prior to the contract, 12 local longshoremen members had part-time positions for Vineyard Wind out of more than 300 union workers, most of which came from the Boston area. The new contract guarantees a 40-hour week for some workers and hires additional part-time longshoremen, The Light reported.

Read the full article at The New Bedford Light

 

MASSACHUSETTS: Bullard’s guiding light throughout his career: Improving his ‘Hometown’

May 31, 2023 — It’s fair to say that most people hope they can make a difference in their lifetimes. John K. Bullard can safely say that he has, particularly for New Bedford and the environment.

The historic preservationist, former mayor, federal bureaucrat, fisheries manager, Sea Education Association administrator, climate activist, and renewable energy advocate has written a memoir, “Hometown,” that chronicles his life and career and delineates the principles that guide it.

As a descendant of whaling merchant Joseph Rotch, Bullard’s roots are sunk deep in New Bedford. He acknowledges in the introduction to “Hometown” that he benefited from a privileged background.

Read the full article at the New Bedford Light

MASSACHUSETTS: Massive wind turbine parts arrive in New Bedford harbor

May 25, 2023 — The first wind turbine components arrived in the Port of New Bedford Wednesday afternoon on a nearly 500-foot heavy load carrier, sailing through the hurricane barrier without incident at around 4:50 p.m. and wowing those who watched the massive ship enter the harbor.

After days of travel across the Atlantic Ocean, the UHL Felicity arrived from Portugal, met by New Bedford Police boat escorts and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which manages the New Bedford hurricane barrier.

Small groups of curious onlookers and reporters watched from both the New Bedford and Fairhaven sides of the barrier gates as the blue-hulled carrier, with white tower components lying on top, glided into the harbor. It took about an hour after that for it to slowly back in — with the help of two tugboats — and dock at the New Bedford Marine Commerce Terminal.

The Light for nearly two weeks has been tracking several vessels in the U.S. and Europe that are set to support the nation’s first commercial-scale wind farm, Vineyard Wind. With New Bedford serving as the construction and staging base, several barges, carriers and supply ships will be coming to the port in the next several months, some making repeated trips.

Read the full article at the New Bedford Light