The city will take the first step Friday in determining how to use a $75,000 state grant designed to help sustain Gloucester’s shore-side businesses until its commercial fishing industry can regain its economic footing.

The grant, secured in October, largely on the work of state Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr, will help identify essential harbor resources that could be in danger of disappearing before a more comprehensive plan for rescuing or reinventing the fishing industry can be developed.

But in the eyes of the city, this initial grant can lay the groundwork for so much more, serving as a springboard to reignite the discussion that first began in earnest last spring with the development of the so-called “bridge plan” on how best to proceed with the recovery of the port, encompassing all of the complex economic and social issues.

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