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.

American Lobster

Sea Grant’s American Lobster Initiative awards $5.4 million to further innovative research and outreach in support of the lobster industry and fishing communities

Since 2019, Sea Grant’s American Lobster Initiative has addressed critical knowledge gaps about the American lobster and its fishery facing a dynamic and changing environment. The Initiative supports a regional extension program in the Northeast and a national research competition. Fifteen emerging research projects were selected in 2023 and 2024 for $4.6 million in federal funding by the NOAA National Sea Grant College Program. Coordinated by Maine Sea Grant since 2019, the Northeast lobster extension program was recently renewed with an $840,000 federal award that supports work through 2026.

Sea Grant announces $987, 361 to fund 2024 Young Fishermen’s Career Development projects

Sea Grant announces $987, 361 to fund 2024 Young Fishermen’s Career Development projects Today, NOAA’s National Sea Grant Office is pleased to announce the selection

Sea Grant welcomes 2025 Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship finalists

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Sea Grant College Program is thrilled to announce the finalists for the 2025 class of the Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship. This year, for the first time in program history, all eligible Sea Grant programs are represented by a diverse cohort of 88 early-career professionals who will spend the next year working alongside federal agencies or legislative offices in Washington, D.C., applying their academic expertise to critical marine, coastal and Great Lakes policy issues.