When the subject turns to fishing, the consultants advising the city on economic development opportunities in Gloucester Harbor speak less and listen more.
The rules of the marketplace governing most of the terrestrial world often don't apply in an industry dominated by shifting federal regulations, residents and industry leaders reminded Mount Auburn Associates at the last of the city's three "Harbor Lyceums" last week.
"They won't let us fish," said Vito Calomo of the Massachusetts Fisheries Recovery Commission, referring to the federal rules that have so much to do with the landings figures quoted by the consultants.
But Mount Auburn's preliminary fishing industry findings did find some potential opportunity areas to keep more fishing dollars local, including the expansion of fish processing and direct local retail of fresh seafood.
An unnamed shrimp processor has approached the Cape Ann Commercial Fishermen's Loan Fund about a shrimp plant in Gloucester, the report indicates, and that could stimulate the harvesting of native shrimp in the area, a product for which there is national demand.
There is also some potential for processing whiting, a fish that is now shipped whole to the international market.
Mount Auburn did not single out added capacity for processing of mid-water fish such as herring and mackerel, which constitutes 48 percent of the local landings by weight and was noted as an opportunity by a consultant studying the State Fish Pier earlier this year.
Looking at a growing demand for high-quality local food among consumers, Mount Auburn cited the emergence this year of the Cape Ann Fresh Catch program, which sells fresh day-boat fish to local customers who sign up to participate, as a sector with potential.
A variant on the community sponsored agriculture model, Fresh Catch has the ability to increase prices for local landings and take advantage of Gloucester's prominence in day-boat groundfish landings, the report noted.
The Fresh Catch model aligns with an opportunity identified in an earlier Mount Auburn report on the visitor economy for a new local fresh fish market.
That recommendation was met with support from Angela Sanfilippo of the Gloucester Fishermen's Wives, which partners with Fresh Catch. She called the high quality of seafood coming from the day-boat fleet, Gloucester's greatest strength.
"Buy local," Sanfilippo said.
Vito Giacalone of the Gloucester-based Northeast Seafood Coalition said drawing new processing operations to the city should be the top development priority to keep as much of the value of the wild catch in Gloucester.
"We are exporting jobs with not having more processing," Giacalone said.
Federal regulations aside, Mount Auburn said the other big challenges facing the fishing industry include the high cost of water in Gloucester, the need to pretreat fish waste and vulnerability of support services.
Environmental Consultant David Lincoln said he was worried that fleet consolidation brought on by the catch-share system pushed by the government could prove costly to related businesses, even if landings returned.
The consultants did not have any easy prescriptions for the well-known struggles of Cape Pond Ice and the Gloucester Marine Railway, two critical facilities for the fishing industry that have suffered from the shrinking fleet.
"If the railway is going to be preserved, it has to be a part of another business," Peter Kwass of Mount Auburn told those gathered for the Lyceum.
Mount Auburn, which is working on a $150,000 commission from the city, is expected to issue its final report this winter.
Patrick Anderson can be reached at panderson@gloucestertimes.com
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