A Day in Photos

Old-time commercial fishermen share many tales of fishing down in New Jersey or Florida, heading to Alaska to make money and coming home to buy a boat. Our personal favorites; coming from away to fish for a month or two, loving it so much they move to the Cape.

Small- boat fishermen from around here still land at other ports to make sure they have the most successful year possible, and captains from ports up and down the seaboard depend on this peninsula’s harbors. This port patchwork helps make the industry strong. This month’s photo gallery explores one important, nearby port that matters to Cape fishermen: Galilee on Point Judith, Rhode Island.

The Chatham Fish Pier deserves its own book. Better yet, if those old wooden pilings could talk they would share a wealth of history, history that would both delight and inform us. But, for the moment, we will have to satisfy ourselves with a snapshot of a few hours at the pier, a series of images that give a sense of the world that exists at the edge of the harbor, but by no means does it come close to doing it justice. Because as packing house lease holder Jamie Bassett says, the pier has a pulse of its own. 

The Hookers Ball is the best non-profit fundraiser of the year – officially and unofficially. (The ball took the gold last year in Cape Cod Life’s Reader’s Choice Awards ) The event is the highlight of the summer for many who love eating the delicious, local seafood and seeing friends, but also support the mission of the Fishermen’s Alliance.

The 23rd annual ball, held in the big white tent behind the Harwich Community Center on Aug.2, was one of the most successful yet. The event wouldn’t be possible without volunteers, sponsors and community members who donate to our auction. If you couldn’t make the event this year – and even if you could – look at this gallery of Salty Broad Studios and see who you recognize among the 400 people on hand.

Provincetown’s Blessing of the Fleet has been a tradition for 77 years and this year Beau Gribbin, captain of F/V Glutton, led the procession of fishing boats past Bishop Edgar da Cunha, standing on the ferry Provincetown II, to be sprinkled with holy water. The Glutton carried a statute of St. Peter, patron saint of fishermen, on her bow. As every year, fishermen carried the statue from St. Peter’s church on the hill down to MacMillan Wharf for the celebration. 
“(Fishermen) went into inclement, unpredictable, dangerous seas to fish, so they could bring food to so many people and support their families,” said da Cunha. “They wanted God’s blessing to go with them.”
Hopes for a year of fair winds, following seas and bountiful catch.

The summer is heating up and piers across the Cape are bustling as commercial fishermen pick up more crew to take advantage of growing demand and – fingers crossed – long stretches of good weather. Earlier this spring we held a Fishermen Training and we have another one planned, in partnership with the Brazilian Resource Center, in Hyannis in July. Check out our second training gallery that provides a glimpse into on-the-water training and how to set off flares and extinguish fires.

Talking to fishing captains across the Cape there is a steady refrain – we need more crew. The Fishermen’s Alliance has been working to introduce people to the profession of commercial fishing for decades and in 2020 launched a fishermen training program. More than a dozen have graduated from the program which focuses on safety, but also covers navigation, knot tying and abbreviated Fisheries 101 that touches on the myriad fisheries the Cape offers.
One of the best parts of the training is learning from the captains and finding out about the various fisheries and what is expected on deck. Check out this first of two photo galleries to see the initial day of training and visit boats at Wychmere and Saquatucket Harbor.