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.

Four people install substrate for an oyster reef.

Alaska

Biden-Harris Administration invests $60 million to build a climate-ready workforce through Investing in America agenda

Today, the Department of Commerce and NOAA announced $60 million in funding to help train and place people in jobs that advance a climate-ready workforce for coastal and Great Lakes states, Tribes and Territories as part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda under the Inflation Reduction Act. To date, awards like these from President Biden’s Investing in America agenda have created more than 270,000 jobs across the country.

The funding will support nine projects around the nation, with $50 million going directly to the projects and $10 million for technical assistance to support the grantees.

Sea Grant Aquaculture Academy in New Hampshire

Sea Grant aquaculture professionals from across the country convened in Portsmouth, NH in early April for a 4-day intensive “Sea Grant Aquaculture Academy” hosted by New Hampshire Sea Grant with support from North Carolina Sea Grant.

Sea Grant takes center stage in Oceanography special issue

NOAA Sea Grant-funded research and work with coastal and Great Lakes communities across the nation are being highlighted in a special issue of “Oceanography,” the official journal of The Oceanography Society.

This special issue, published in April 2024, features 36 articles contributed by Sea Grant authors across 29 programs and the NOAA National Sea Grant Office.