Articles
A scientist disputes conventional wisdom about mercury in seafood
News reports and government warnings about eating seafood that contains high levels of mercury have frightened many consumers into avoiding certain fish species altogether and prompted some consumer advocates to warn against eating any seafood, What’s more, fishermen and seafood processors go nuts every time they hear another expert warn people away from seafood, because
The “Codfather”A Martha’s Vineyard fisherman works to restore a “foundational fish”
Once, as they were in so many places, the codfish that formed the economic basis for the early colonies were plentiful all around Martha’s Vineyard. “The migrating cod would come between the Vineyard and Nantucket, all the way to Buzzards Bay,” said Tom Osmers of West Tisbury, a lifelong resident of the Vineyard and a
Ozonated WaterThree Portland seafood processors swear by it, cutting chemical use
Nothing looks unusual about the three seafood processing plants located next to each other on the Portland waterfront, but they may be the only seafood producers north of Boston using a clean, green technology to make seafood safer. Their not-so-secret is ozonated water — a technology employed throughout the bottled water industry and used for
Canadian sealers get stuck in the ice
The last seal-hunting vessel was freed from the ice a bit earlier than anticipated in the waters off Newfoundland after the end of a particularly unusual sealing season affected more by weather and a shortage of seals than by the many protests against the hunt. Around 120 longline vessels were trapped in April when a
Newfoundland processor’s sale is imminent
Newfoundland’s largest seafood processor is inching closer to having new owners. If the deals go through, the U.S. division in Danvers, Mass., may be sold to a longtime competitor, and its Canadian holdings will go to another Newfoundland seafood company. One monkey wrench in the works has been a stalemate between the federal and provincial
SCARCE WHARFAGE – Historic schooners seek a permanent home in Rockland
Once Camden held the title, but now Rockland is the windjammer capital of the world. But Rockland could lose the title along with the historic sailing vessels that bestow it, if a group of historic schooners fails to find a permanent home in the harbor, soon. The owners of four of the city’s eight schooners
Lack of ice diminishes seal hunt, but the debate goes on
Controversy about the Canadian harp seal hunt has raged since French movie star Brigitte Bardot hit the ice floes for the cameras in the 1970s to call attention to the bloody slaughter of white baby harp seals. Clubbing of the white-coated babies ended in 1987, but a seal hunt still takes place annually on the
Newfoundland’s FPI remains in limbo; strike looms
The fate of the largest seafood company in Newfoundland hangs in the balance, and the outcome of its current situation may determine the economic future of at least seven small communities — their fishermen, plant workers and possibly the viability of some of the towns themselves. Fishery Products International, Ltd. (FPI) based in St. John’s,
In a million little ways, climate change affects all of us
With luck, the people who don’t believe in global warming won’t be affected by it. However, the odds are not good. Already, scientists say rising ocean and land temperatures are exposing people to diseases and pathogens they have never known before and threatening the food supply. A shellfish farmer in Cordova, Alaska, grew oysters in
Maine’s Northern Shrimp Bigger, better, but a blip on the world market
Northern shrimp, coldwater prawns, pink shrimp — whatever Pandalus borealis is called in a given market, it is one of the few major commercial species where the problem is not supply. Right now, the resource, especially in the Northwest Atlantic, is strong and appears to be building. That’s the good news for shrimp producers in