Tag Archives: Bruce Tarr
Massachusetts: Lawmakers want to pay lobstermen during right whale conservation closure
State senators next week will debate a plan by South Shore lawmakers to pay lobstermen during a months-long annual fishing closure advocates say cuts income of some fishermen by as much as half each year. State senators Patrick O’Connor and Bruce Tarr have filed a budget amendment that would allocate $12 million to pay lobstermen $1 per week per trap they are licensed for during time they are not allowed to fish. The state annually shuts down more than 9,000 square miles of water for at least three months in efforts to protect migrating right whales. > click to read < 08:28
A Petition – Re examine the data of North Atlantic right whale entanglements and the Fishery closure
Meredith Cooney started this petition to Governor of Massachusetts Charlie Baker and 4 others. Currently there is a 3.5 month Massachusetts state water lobster fishery closure. Commercial lobster fisherman feel like we have been taking the brunt of blame on right whale deaths in recent years. The fact is that our lobster gear (bouy lines) have not caused any documented right whale deaths ever. Please >read, and sign the petition< 14:00
Gloucester: Open Door, fishing vessel win food security grants
The Open Door and a Gloucester fishing company will share in $5.9 million in state grants to help ensure a secure food supply chain for Massachusetts residents,,, The Open Door, which operates food pantries in Gloucester and Ipswich and other food delivery services, received $201,073,,, Also, the Russo Fishing Co., which operates the F/V Miss Trish, received $95,000 to develop an automated fish-gutting and conveyor system on the deck of the vessel to reduce the amount of time its catch remains on deck. The award to the Russo Fishing Co. is one of eight to seafood harvesters, producers and processors, as well as aquaculture operations throughout the state. The inclusion of fishing industry elements among the grant awards was a key point of emphasis, according to state Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr, R-Gloucester. >click to read< 16:10
Ray Lamont, former longtime editor and staffer of the Gloucester Daily Times, has died
Ray Lamont, former longtime editor and staffer of the Gloucester Daily Times, died Thursday after a long illness. He was 67. Lamont, who came to Gloucester in 2008 and retired last year, fully embraced the role of newspapers in serving their community. He was far more than a writer, caring deeply about Cape Ann and its residents. The Gloucester Daily Times earned numerous state and national journalism awards under his tenure, including several Newspaper of the Year awards. A funeral Mass will be celebrated at a later date. >click to read< 21:17
“Recipe For Disaster” – Filmmaker documents ravages of green crabs
More than a year ago, Gloucester filmmaker Nubar Alexanian laid out his airtight case against the rapacious European green crabs for Bruce Tarr and the incredulous state lawmaker had a suitable response: “There’s a horror movie happening in my district and I didn’t even know about it,” Tarr told Alexanian. As Alexanian’s new documentary short film, “Recipe For Disaster,” makes clear, the call is coming from inside the Great Marsh, which stretches from Gloucester to the New Hampshire border. “In the film, we say there are millions and millions of the green crabs here already,” Alexanian said. “Now I would say it’s billions and billions.” Watch the video trailer. >click to read<17:44
Gloucester: Intershell’s new boat a sign fishing still to be done
A week before Gloucester gives itself over completely to the annual St. Peter’s Fiesta, the city’s fishing fleet and shoreside stakeholders had something tangible to celebrate in the effort to return the city to its fishing glory. Undaunted by gray skies and passing showers, nearly 50 people assembled Saturday at the Intershell facility on Harbor Cove to honor the christening and blessing of the newest vessel in the Gloucester fleet — Intershell’s wholly refitted, 55-foot surf clam boat, F/V Bing Bing. The all-metal vessel, though built in Moss Point, Mississippi, in 1977 as a sea clam boat, has evolved into an all-Gloucester boat through the 10-month re-fitting that included the work of dozens of local tradesmen, the facilities at Rose’s Marine and the entire Intershell team. >click to read<15:23
Monitor costs shift to fishermen Tuesday, fall out from Carlos Seafood, and EDF opportunists.
Cape Ann lawmakers Bruce Tarr and Ann-Margaret Ferrante walked a thin line last week when they sat down and penned a letter to state Attorney General Maura Healey on the issue of at-sea monitoring. While the fishermen’s lawsuit has drawn the most attention, there is another that could prove equally as troubling to NOAA and the fishing industry: maritime environmental group Oceana’s lawsuit challenging NOAA Fisheries’ bycatch rule. The issue of monitoring burst back into the public arena on Friday, when federal agents — including those from NOAA Law Enforcement and the Internal Revenue Service — raided the operations of Carlos Seafood,,, The arrests prompted a quick response from environmental groups seeking expanded monitor coverage for the groundfish fishery. Read the rest here 07:22
BREAKING: $33 Million to New England in Disaster Funding.
Bruce Tarr confirms officials expect NOAA to announce about $33 million in fish disaster aid for New England. More to follow. 11:36
The Magnuson-Stevens Act reauthorization road show hit Boston on Monday – hears pleas for fishing reforms
“If folks in Washington are really looking for a path to help rebuild and sustain the fishery, they got the answers to that today,” said Massachusetts Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr, R-Gloucester. “The one message that came through loud and clear for everyone is the science is inadequate, and the decisions based on that science, by extension, are questionable.” more@GDT 07:20
