Christopher Seufert photo
By John Pappalardo
Our natural focus for the fisheries is on people who work the decks, captains and crew who face the sea, ply the bottom, and bring home the bacon – oh, sorry, the fish.
That’s fitting. But there is much more to this industry, not as dramatic or (sometimes) romantic, but crucial. The work at sea is by no means the tip of the iceberg, but then again it is not everything; much lies below the surface, more like ballast than ice.
I’m thinking of an amazing array of contributors, a support system and infrastructure that buttresses the work offshore, and powers the community as a whole, indeed defines us economically. The list could go on for a long way, so here’s just a sampling:
Boat builders and menders, using wood and steel.
Designers who provide them plans.
Manufacturers who produce nets, hydraulic machinery, winches, widgets.
Banks and other lenders that offer loans, brokers who write insurance.
Marine supply houses who buy, stock, and sell every conceivable physical necessity, from gloves and boots to hoses and clamps, totes and gaffs, all the way to sophisticated sonar and communications.
Fuel suppliers, gas or diesel, and truckdrivers to deliver and pump it.
Makers of a crucial unsung ingredient, ice.
Haulers who carry harvests from docks to shoreside facilities.
People who work those processing facilities, lugging totes, cutting and boxing fillets, bagging shellfish.
Wholesale buyers and sellers feeding the market, moving fish around the town, state, nation, and world.
Retail outlets that make it possible to buy a pound of fish for the dining room table.
Then let’s include scientists and researchers who define strategies and goals, regulators and officers who enforce the law.
One crucial part of this amazing support system I’ve omitted until now are the mechanics and shop people who repair what breaks, rebuilding engines and retooling hydraulics, bolting and welding pieces back together that have broken apart from stress and rust, replacing what cannot be repaired. Every element is essential but if there is any truth in the idea of “more essential,” this is it.
So we take great heart in the recognition that a strong future for the fisheries, and the Cape as a whole, embraces the idea of more onshore vocational training, more support port by port, the concept of a maritime educational hub where young Codders can learn crucial trades like diesel mechanics, welding, electrical engineering, hydraulics.
The logical nexus for this effort is Cape Cod Community College, which already has stood up a great aviation mechanics program, piloted a welding course in partnership with us, and is committed to expanding its maritime curriculum and opportunities. The Cape’s delegation of elected officials also understands that creating a “maritime hub” for education and training is a top economic priority, a powerful way to keep the next generation on this side of the bridges and maintain our historic, independent industry and fleet.
As much as this Alliance is committed to supporting fishermen on the water, and on the tides, we stand ready to partner and strengthen the crucial economy that backs them up. “Part and parcel” is an old phrase that rings true:
Many pieces join to create the vital industry we celebrate.
John Pappalardo is CEO of Cape Cod Commercial Fishermen’s Alliance