ABSTRACT: Federal regulatory cutbacks in commercial fishing have weakened the supporting infrastructure of many fishing ports to where they have begun to succumb to encroaching gentrification, generating consolidation within the fishing industry. New Bedford, the nation’s largest fishing port by value of catch, is becoming a focal point for such consolidation, experiencing a growth trend in the number of fishing vessels within its harbor. This growth has created a serious shortage of dock space, acknowleged by the city’s Harbor Development Commission for the past five years. In response, over the past few years the city has proposed various plans with commitments to provide additional dockage. To date, however, none of those plans have been implemented, possibly intentionally. City government instead appears exclusively focused on trying to attract tourism, without much success, and in large part possibly due to the city’s high crime stigma. The impasse has the city’s waterfront in economic suspended animation. Seeking to effect action, the Port of New Bedford Business Alliance has conducted a survey with owners and captains of some one-hundred fishing vessels to establish a baseline of information on the severity of this problem, which overtly is reaching negligence proportions. The Alliance also has produced an analytical report toward its resolution, along with a new vision for New Bedford in published articles viewable on its website.

Read the full report compiled by Gene Soccolich


This document is available in PDF Format. To view the survey results, click here.

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