Special Projects

The waterfront of New Bedford is lined with piers, boats arranged in the harbor like a game of Tetris and warehouses made of pale metal siding. A faint breeze stirs up the scent of fresh fish. It is evident the fishing industry has claimed its territory.  However, that claim is now being challenged. New Bedford, […]

NEW BEDFORD, Massachusetts — One might say that the fishing industry got its hooks in Tyler Miranda at a young age. Born into a family of fishermen, Miranda grew up on the water, going out on trips in his father’s lobster boat—a wooden vessel about 14 feet long and half-covered in ocean-worn lobster traps—since he […]

As New Bedford began to rely more and more on the fishing industry as its dominant economic force, other parts of life began to follow. As the saying goes “life imitates art.” While in this case, it may be that art imitates life, fishing, and art have always been intertwined. Between shifts on a fishing […]

As a 4th generation fisherman and starting his fishing career at 15 during the summers with his father, Chris Wright would work on the fishing boats while on break from school. Eventually going to college, Wright kept the tradition of fishing in the summers to support himself.  Wright now runs three fishing boats, one of […]

GLOUCESTER, Massachusetts — Lars-Erik Miller grew up right down the street from this harbor, where he started off fishing bass with his father.  And as his boat swayed on the water of the North Atlantic in the early April wind, he reflected on the culture this spot embeds him in; the worlds of fishing and […]

New Bedford, Massachusetts was first settled in 1652, but up through the 17th century, New Bedford (and its surrounding area) was home to the Wampanoag Native Americans. English colonists bought the land from the Wampanoag people and the settlement became a city, founded by Quakers. According to the New Bedford Historical Society, New Bedford itself […]

NEW BEDFORD, Massachusetts — Captain Alan Curtis is not a fragile man. He speaks with a strong raspy voice that always has a quick-witted response to what life throws at him. With a strong build created from years of serving in the scallop industry, Curtis gives valuable knowledge of what working in the fishing industry […]

In a city renowned for its high grossing commercial fishing port, citizens of New Bedford display their diversity through countless artistic mediums nested in historical architecture and colored on building sides. On the corner of Coggeshall and North Front Streets stands Antonio’s Restaurant, a recurring New Bedford dinner spot that serves authentic Portuguese cuisine. The […]

New Bedford is an industrious town about an hour south of Boston that has the distinction of being the nation’s largest fishing port. With a population of nearly 101,000 people, according to 2020 census data, New Bedford is a mix of historical colonial houses converted into dentists’ offices, upscale seafood restaurants dotted along the waterfront […]

The City of New Bedford is home to the wealthiest fishing port on the east coast. With commercial fishing at the core of its economy, is there room for a new industry? Dominique Hamilton has the story.

EAST SANDWICH, Massachusetts — Ken Perry has been a tugboat captain for over 30 years. Throughout the decades, Ken has experienced the other side of the world, ‘The Perfect Storm’ and the loss of a fellow fisherman. He says, if he has learned one thing at sea, it is that family matters most. So, when […]