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New Bedford holds onto title as richest fishing port
By Becky Evans
Standard-Times staff writer
 New
Bedford fishermen hauled in $281.2 million worth of
seafood in 2006 to capture the title of the nation's
most valuable port for the seventh year in a row,
according to a report released Thursday by NOAA
Fisheries.
The city maintained its No. 1 ranking despite
restrictive groundfish regulations that have kept
fishermen from catching large amounts of high-value
stocks such as cod, said Richard Canastra, co-owner of
the Whaling City Seafood Display Auction.
"The scallop industry is doing well, but the groundfish
fishery is having a hard time," Mr. Canastra said.
Landings of sea scallops, lobster, ocean quahogs,
flatfish, Atlantic mackerel and herring helped the
Whaling City earn the top ranking in 2006 in terms of
the dollar value of the catch, according to the report.
Meanwhile, for the 18th consecutive year, Dutch-Harbor
Unalaska held onto the No. 1 ranking in terms of overall
seafood landings. The Alaskan port recorded a catch of
911.3 million pounds of seafood in 2006. In that
category, New Bedford placed seventh with 169.9 million
pounds of fish and shellfish.
In 2005, New Bedford landed 153.4 million pounds of
seafood for a total value of $282.5 million.
How did the port land more seafood for less money in
2006?
Mr. Canastra said it has to do with groundfish
regulations aimed at reviving depleted stocks of cod,
yellowtail flounder and other fish that swim along the
bottom of the ocean. The regulations forced fishermen to
target low-value stocks instead of high-value stocks, he
said. Instead of landing cod, which can sell for $2 per
pound, fishermen caught lots of skate wings, which sell
for around 40 cents per pound, he said.
As for the higher amount of landings, Mr. Canastra
attributed it to the addition of Southern scallopers
that fished out of New Bedford in 2006 to be closer to
scallop fishing grounds.
Jim Kendall, a former scallop fishermen who now heads up
New Bedford Seafood Consulting, blamed the $1.3 million
drop in the value of New Bedford's landings on a weak
U.S. dollar in 2006.
When the dollar drops in value, market prices for
seafood fall, too, he said, adding that this is good
news for consumers but bad news for the industry.
Although the city's groundfish fleet may be struggling,
two new plants that harvest and process herring and
mackerel are doing well and adding value to New
Bedford's seafood landings, Mr. Kendall said.
He noted that the $281.2 million in landings translates
to about a $1 billion injection into the New Bedford
economy when considering the contributions of shore-side
seafood businesses.
The annual rankings are a source of pride for New
Bedford fishermen and "a bellwether" of how their
industry is faring, Mr. Kendall said.
"When you look at the tightening of regulations and
management actions, to be able to hold onto that
distinction of being the number one port means we are
doing a lot of things right," he said.
Contact Becky W. Evans at
revans@s-t.com
July 13, 2007 |
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