SAVING NEW ENGLAND’S GROUNDFISHING EXPLORED IN NEW PROGRAM

DOCUMENTARY PREMIERES MAY 19th on NHPTV PRIME

CONTACT Grace Lessner, Director of Communications (603) 868-4328 | glessner@nhptv.org | nhptv.org/fish Erik Chapman, PhD., Commercial Fisheries Specialist, New Hampshire Sea Grant erik.chapman@unh.edu --------------- For centuries, New England’s ocean waters sustained life, built an economy, and created an iconic culture. SAVING NEW ENGLAND FISHERIES is a new documentary that shows how lessons from the past and innovative thinking today can help create a sustainable future for our fisheries. Host Will Lange travels the coasts of Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Newfoundland to meet fishermen, government officials and other fishery experts who are deeply involved in developing a sustainable plan for New England’s fisheries. SAVING NEW ENGLAND FISHERIES is a one-hour special hosted by Will Lange premiering May 19th at 9 PM on New Hampshire Public Television, with multiple re-airings on NHPTV PRIME, NHPTV EXPLORE, and online. A DVD of the program also will be available.nhptv.org/fish ----------------------------------------------------- (DURHAM, May 12, 2016) — Over the centuries, New England's ocean waters sustained life, built an economy, and created an iconic culture. The Gulf of Maine was once so rich with Atlantic cod that the explorer John Smith reported he simply lowered baskets weighted with rocks into the sea and raised them loaded with fish. But much has changed since then. Today, regional fisheries and everything connected to the industry are threatened. In a new documentary, produced by New Hampshire Public Television in partnership with New Hampshire Sea Grant, SAVING NEW ENGLAND FISHERIES shows how lessons from the past and innovative thinking today can help create a sustainable future for our fisheries. The one-hour program premieres on NHPTV PRIME Thursday, May 19 at 9 PM. The Gulf of Maine is one of the most productive ecosystems in the world. It stretches from Cape Cod to the southern tip of Nova Scotia and is a haven for groundfish – species that live and migrate along the ocean floor, like cod, halibut, hake, pollock, sea scallops, redfish, monkfish, herring and flounder. In 1994, the Northeast region supported 1,145 active groundfishing permits. By 2014, that number dropped to 279. There are many thoughts as to why that happened - overfishing, climate change, technology, regulations – or perhaps all of these factors combined. SAVING NEW ENGLAND FISHERIES traces the history of groundfishing in the region, and shows parallels between coastal New England and Newfoundland where cod stocks appear to be on the rebound. Scientists, government officials, and fishermen from southern Massachusetts to northern Maine talk about the difficulties fisheries face, and how they are working to keep the industry alive by mapping out plans for its sustainable future. EXPERTS APPEARING IN “SAVING NEW ENGLAND FISHERIES” DOCUMENTARY: Erik Chapman – New Hampshire Sea Grant & Associate Producer Robin Alden - Penobscot East Resource Center, Stonington, Maine Ted Ames - Maine Fisherman, Stonington, Maine Jared Auerbach - Owner, Red's Best Seafood Tom Best - Newfoundland Fisherman Gabriela Bradt - New Hampshire Sea Grant John Bullard - Northeast Regional Administrator, NOAA Jayson Driscoll - New Hampshire Fisherman Mark Godfroy - Charter Boat Captain David Goethel - New Hampshire Fisherman Mark Grant - Fisheries Scientist, NOAA Jon Hare, Ph. D - Fisheries Scientist, NOAA Geordie King - Massachusetts Fisherman Bill Karp, Ph.D - Science and Research Director, NOAA Evan Mallett, Black Trumpet Restaurant, Portsmouth, NH George Rose, Ph. D - Memorial University of Newfoundland Sherrylynn Rowe, Ph.D - Memorial University of Newfoundland Geoffrey Smith - Marine Director, The Nature Conservancy in Maine LOCATIONS APPEARING IN “SAVING NEW ENGLAND FISHERIES” DOCUMENTARY: Woods Hole, Massachusetts Gloucester, Massachusetts Seabrook, New Hampshire St. John's, Newfoundland Petty Harbour, Newfoundland Portsmouth, New Hampshire Boston, Massachusetts SAVING NEW ENGLAND FISHERIES is the sixth in a series of award-winning WINDOWS TO THE WILD specials produced by NHPTV that explore and celebrate New England’s wildlife. Previous documentaries on migratory birds (PLIGHT OF THE GRASSLAND BIRDS, COUNTING ON BIRDS, BIRD TALES, SAVING SONGBIRDS, JOURNEY OF THE BROAD-WINGED HAWK) received Telly, Boston/New England Emmy, and NH Association of Broadcasters awards, and have been distributed to PBS stations across the country. All five bird documentaries are available as a two-disc DVD titled COUNTING ON BIRDS: TALES OF MIGRATION, distributed by PBS. nhptv.org/birds

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