VIDEO: Celebrating America's Largest Commercial Fishing Port Community

VIDEO: Celebrating America’s Largest Commercial Fishing Port Community

December 13, 2013

Keeping maritime traditions alive

New Bedford is America’s largest commercial fishing port. The men and women who harvest the North Atlantic descend from a rich colorful history, and work tirelessly to keep their tradition alive and bring seafood from the ocean to our tables.
But what is the role of the traditional New England fishery in the ever-increasing global economy? How do local New Bedford fishing families stay afloat while competing with larger industry and keeping up with changing government regulations?
These are just some of the issues that MIT Sea Grant’s marine anthropologist, Madeleine Hall-Arber, has been helping fishermen in New England address for over 25 years. Among her many projects and activities surrounding the fishing industry, Hal-Arber advises fisheries managers on the likely impacts of their working decisions, as well as assists commercial and recreational fishing industry representatives on fishing vessel safety, working waterfronts, oral history, and spatial documentation of fishing and marine habitat research projects.
This video features Hall-Arber’s participation in the 2013 Working Waterfront Festival, organized by the local community to help give the public a fun and unique opportunity to see and understand the commercial fishing culture firsthand. Activities include walking the decks of a scalloper, dining on fresh seafood, watching fishermen contests and cooking demonstrations, fun and games for children, and more.

Environmental Literacy and Workforce Development

Sea Grant’s impacts ripple across U.S. communities

Sea Grant’s work addresses a range of coastal and marine challenges through four focus areas: healthy coastal ecosystems, sustainable fisheries and aquaculture, environmental literacy and

NOAA Sea Grant Develops 5-Year Aquaculture Investment Plan

Year-over-year, Sea Grant is committed to supporting aquaculture development across the nation, as a means of enhancing economic resilience and nutritional security in American communities. Sea Grant recently developed a five-year Aquaculture Investment Plan to guide its efforts in supporting aquaculture research, extension and education.

Sea Grant and NOAA Fisheries partner to invest $1 million to advance understanding of fishing community interactions with offshore wind development

The Northeast Sea Grant Consortium, in partnership with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)’s Northeast Fisheries Science Center, announces a research funding opportunity to improve understanding of fishing community interactions with offshore wind development in the Northeast U.S.