Charting the Past

Captain Tom Smith grew up in Orleans and remembers going down to Rock Harbor to see the fishing boats when he was a kid.

If you were to pick one English word that relates to commercial fishing with the longest history and deepest association, probably it would be “Billingsgate.”

Only the Great Depression of the 1930s rivals this moment for damage done to our livelihoods, our sense of security, our communities.

Louie Rivers was among the finest men I’ve known, and the times we spent aboard the Miss Sandy remain among my best memories of being on the water.

The year 1916 went down as one of the greatest in the fishing history of Massachusetts.

The week before Christmas the phone rang at the Fishermen’s Alliance office and Napi was talking, which meant I needed to stop and pay attention because anytime Napi started talking you needed to focus.

Peter Baker remembers when Nat Mason wandered into the office of the Cape Cod Commercial Hook Fishermen and asked if they needed an intern.

(Captain Fred Bennett, a Chatham stalwart, has seen a lot, done a lot, and caught a lot of fish.

Lobsterman Rob Martin was out with a crewman years ago when the fellow tried to gaff a sea gull that landed on the boat.