BOSTON – State Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr, renewing his call to confront “serious threats to the survival of the groundfish industry in Massachusetts,” has filed legislation aimed at putting the state’s clout behind marketing seafood products.

Tarr, the Gloucester Republican, said his bill is aimed at aiding an industry that remains caught in a federally recognized “economic disaster” since September 2012 and now continues to deal with NOAA-imposed groundfishing landing limits of up to 78 percent in the current fishing year, which runs through April 30.

The bill, which has already gained House side co-sponsorship from Gloucester-based Democratic state Rep. Ann-Margaret Ferrante, calls for the establishment of a Massachusetts Seafood Marketing Program within the state’s Division of Marine Fisheries.

The measure, which has drawn the support of 23 co-sponsors in the Senate and House overall, calls for setting up a program within DMF to market seafood landed in the commonwealth and to take actions to increase consumer demand and preference for the local seafood products while supporting for the commonwealth’s fishing and seafood industry.

“Reduced catch shares imposed under new federal regulations that went into effect May 1 have pushed our commercial groundfishing industry to the verge of extinction,” Tarr said in a prepared statement. “This proposal is just one of many avenues we can and should pursue to help save the industry and ensure that commercial fishing remains viable in Massachusetts.”

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