Tag Archives: “Sustaining Sea Scallops
Sustaining Sea Scallops
SUSTAINING SEA SCALLOPS is a 35-minute documentary on the history and resurgence of the Atlantic sea scallop fishery, seen through the eyes of fishermen and researchers. In 1999, facing fisheries closures and bankruptcy, the scallop industry began funding a unique research program to minimize impacts on the marine environment. Fifteen years later, the Atlantic sea scallop is hailed as one of the most sustainable and lucrative fisheries in the world. From New Bedford, Massachusetts to Seaford, Virginia, fishermen and researchers tell a rare tale of renewal, offering cooperative research as a new model for sustaining healthy fisheries and fishing communities. A Connecticut fishermen describes tough times when trawl fishing went bust, and what changed once scallops started to rebound. Researchers at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth, and Virginia Institute of Marine Science explain how gear innovations and better surveys ensure scallop future harvests while reducing needless harm to other species and habitat. At the heart of it all, a former NOAA Fisheries captain-turned-farmer works to increase fishermen’s access to these technologies through his non-profit research organization, the Coonamessett Farm Foundation. Watch the video here 09:52
Sea Scallop Documentary To Be Screened At the 25th annual Woods Hole Film Festival August 3 at 6 PM
Over the past two decades, the unassuming sea scallop has brought on a quiet revolution in East Coast fisheries, one based on cooperation between fishermen, scientists, and government managers. In the 35-minute documentary “Sustaining Sea Scallops,” Woods Hole-based filmmakers Daniel Cojanu and Elise Hugus ask if this cooperative research approach could be the new model for beleaguered fisheries. Premiering at the 25th annual Woods Hole Film Festival on August 3 at 6 PM, with a repeat screening on August 5 at 7 PM before the feature documentary “The Memory of Fish,” “Sustaining Sea Scallops” tells a rare tale of renewal in a commercial fishery. The documentary brings audiences back to 1999, when fisheries closures and bankruptcy prompted the sea scallop industry to start funding research to improve catch efficiency, while simultaneously minimizing environmental impacts. Fifteen years later, the Atlantic sea scallop fishery is hailed as one of the most sustainable and lucrative in the world, with New Bedford ringing in as the highest-grossing port in the nation. Read the rest here 20:11
