Northshore magazine showcases the best that the North Shore of Boston, MA has to offer.
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57 JUNE + JULY 2020 Gloucester Harbor fishing industry has been hit hard by the COVID-19 crisis. In other cases, fishermen, fish dealers, and lobstermen have experimented with selling directly to consumers. Fishermen's Wharf, a fish dealer in downtown Gloucester, has been selling haddock and scallops for curbside pickup. The operation began as a twice-weekly drive-through pop- up, but the lines of waiting buyers stretched around the block and the team realized they needed a new approach. Brown has acquired a dealer's license himself, with the goal of tapping into some of this surging demand, but is still figuring out how to get his catch processed and prepared for sale while adhering to all the relevant health regulations. These pockets of activity, however, are not enough to sustain the area's fishermen, Marshall says. She urges anyone interested in buying local fish to pay attention to the details and think about how much money is making it back to the fishermen themselves. The situation, Tolley says, highlights the ways in which food distribution systems do not work to the advantage of small, local businesses like the fishermen of Gloucester. The goal of the current approach, bolstered by federal policy, is to move large amounts of food long distances, he notes. It is difficult in this environment, for independent producers to market themselves or participate as anything other than a very small-scale supplier. As Congress considers additional stimulus spending, however, Tolley's group and others are lobbying hard for future bills to include provisions that would support new models that could help fishermen make more of their catch. And despite all these challenges, local advocates remain optimistic that the current community connection to fishermen will linger even after the pandemic fades away. "We're seeing for the first time in a long time this response from communities along the coast that are telling the fishermen, 'We care about you,'" Tolley says. "This crisis is reminding people how essential our fishing community really is. I see fishermen finding hope in that." HAWTHORNE HOTEL 18 Washington Square West, Salem 978.744.4080 hawthornehotel.com Guest Rooms Weddings Dining Events