The groundfishing fishing fleet in Gloucester, Mass., lost 21 vessels last year and now numbers just 75 working boats, while regionally, the industry continued to consolidate, according to a government report Wednesday.
From Maine to Montauk, N.Y., the number of working groundfishing boats dropped 20 percent, from 566 to 450 active vessels.
The total number of New England crew positions also dropped, but only by 6.8 percent, from 2,442 to 2,277 because some groundfishing boats shifted to target other forms of seafood.
