Fishery Council restores fishing days to scallop fleet 

PORTSMOUTH, N.H. — In a rare reversal of what was to have been a final decision, the New England Fishery Management Council on Wednesday rescinded its November decision and restored fishing days to the scallop fleet in the northeast.
The contentious, 10-5 vote with two abstentions was made in a hotel ballroom packed with about 200 people, mostly fishermen from New Jersey to Maine and their supporters. Environmentalists on the council and from the audience derided the whole process, the media and politicians.

Council fishing analyst Dierdre Boelke made a lengthy Powerpoint presentation about the scientific basis for the staff’s recommendations and defending the more conservative limits, but by mid-morning there was little doubt in the room about the outcome... [read more]

  Providence TV station showcases NB momentum 

NEW BEDFORD, Mass.—Downtown New Bedford is buzzing with new businesses.
Despite tough times, some 39 new shops and restaurants have opened their doors here in the past two years.

“New Bedford for a very long time has come into recessions early, has gone very deep and has come out very, very late.  That’s not what we’re seeing, exactly, this time around,” said Matt Morrissey of the New Bedford Economic Development Council.

Morrissey said vacancy rates in the downtown area have dropped from 38 percent in 2007 to 16 percent today... [read more]

  Rail plan on track despite grant loss 

NEW BEDFORD — South Coast Rail came up short in its bid for $1.9 billion in federal stimulus money, but the loss will not affect the future of the project, officials said.

"The project wasn't dependent on the money; we weren't counting on it," said Kristina Egan, South Coast Rail project manager. "Filing the application basically got our foot in the door for future rounds."

South Coast Rail was one of three projects submitted by the state for possible funding through the American Recovery and Reinvestment High-Speed and Intercity Rail program.

The awards, announced Thursday by President Barack Obama and Vice President Joseph Biden, did not include South Coast Rail, although Massachusetts did receive $70 million for its Knowledge Corridor project, which connects New Haven, Conn., Springfield and St. Albans, Vt., according to information from the state Department of Transportation... [read more]

  New downtown Korean restaurant receives rave reviews 

Sharpen your chopstick skills. A new Asian cuisine has come to town, and it is renowned for being tasty, nutritious, and a powerful boost to the immune system. The clean, slick and modern but casual Ginger Grill at 778 Purchase St. in New Bedford has a short menu designed to introduce the American palate to affordable Korean food.

A family business started by Jay Ghim and his son JT, it all began, JT explained, because Ghim was encouraged to cook by friends who came to his house for dinner. "The majority of our friends are not Koreans. There are not many Koreans here. So our American friends were introduced to authentic Korean foods and loved it."

Ghim emigrated to the New York/New Jersey area from South Korea 20 years ago, said JT, speaking for his father who still struggles to speak English smoothly... [read more]

  New fishing rules open up monitor jobs 

NEW BEDFORD — New regulations intended to rebuild groundfish stocks in the Northeast will also result in the creation of up to 100 new jobs in the fishing industry.

"Starting May 1st there is going to be a need for a lot of monitors for groundfishing boats," said Jo Michaud, a manager at AIS Inc., which currently supplies trained observers to both commercial fishing vessels and dredges. Monitoring, however, is a new development, she said.

The new measures, developed by the New England Fishery Management Council and known as Amendment 16, create fishing "sectors" allowing members of a designated group of fishermen to share in the allowable yearly catch.

Individual shares will be assigned to boats based on prior records of fish landings. As part of this new strategy, monitors will be required to work on boats at sea and while they land their catch on the docks to track how much fish is landed and how much is discarded as by-catch... [read more]