An old-school tale of fishermen's credit
Commercial fishermen often stop by to share their thoughts on everything from policy to prices, bureaucracy to boats, what’s working and what isn’t. We value the knowledge and the connection. During COVID the “stopping by” part isn’t happening much, but there’s still sharing going on. For example, retired Captain Mark Simonitsch recently shared some advice wrapped in a tale, sent as a letter to CEO John Pappalardo...
PHOTO GALLERY: The Science of Fishermen
The Fishermen’s Alliance values science, believing it essential to making good management decisions that protect fish and fishermen. But not all science is created equal; we believe that cooperative research involving scientists and fishermen, who know the ocean best, is the best. We have known the value of fisheries research since our beginning, 30 years ago,and became involved it not long after, so we can’t share all our work in this photo gallery, but we can celebrate a few projects...
Another way to lessen the damage: Fuel subsidies
As the pandemic descended on us all, here at the Alliance we kept racking our brains to come up with ways we could respond, ways we could help local fishermen stay on the water and stay in business. We worked with captains and crew one-on-one to make sure they were lined up to receive the state and federal support they deserve. We worked with local and state officials to create more opportunities for direct sales off boats and docks...
From starfish to scup, a fisherman's journey
On a warm, breezy fall day, Ken Baughman was within sight of Woods Hole’s stone pier fishing for tautog in a boat of his own making. With his dog Lucy in the bow, he cast into one of his favorite spots, came up empty handed, but still was all smiles. “I love rod and reel fishing,” he said. “People ask, ‘What would you do if you had a million dollars?’ I would go out and go fishing...
Working to stay on the water and protect whales
When more than 1400 people logged onto a virtual event the New England Aquarium hosted to discuss the documentary “Entangled,” focusing on the plight and politics of the right whale, there was one overriding question: “Do you think the lobster fishery and right whales can co-exist?”
A new use for old lobster line
On a crisp fall Saturday, John Morgan drove his battered red pick-up onto a long dirt road that runs along the Chatham Municipal Airport. The bed of the truck was full of lobster trap line of varying thickness and colors; a lobsterman, getting rid of old gear from a storage spot there, had helped sling it aboard. The gear travelled to Sandwich where it joined dozens of coils...
When Hyannis had a railroad spur jutting into Lewis Bay
“The fish shanties were right over there,” said Don Stucke, curator at the Cape Cod Maritime Museum in Hyannis, as he gestured across the inner harbor of Lewis Bay. “That white house over my shoulder on Lewis Bay Road, you can see it in the old photo of the shanties. Of course Cape Cod Hospital wasn’t there by a long shot.” Most histories of Hyannis and its harbor don’t say much about commercial fishing, and these days most people don’t think of Hyannis as a fishing port as much as a ferry terminal, home for big pleasure craft, a place for the Kennedys to come about...
PHOTO GALLERY: A forgotten wharf
Hyannis Harbor has gone through many transformations in its centuries of use, but none more dramatic than the period from the 1850s into the early twentieth century, when a long railroad spur and wharf turned Hyannis into a major maritime hub. Few vestiges of that commercial expression remain, replaced by other kinds of economic activity that reflect the changing economy of the Cape, more focused on summer, tourism, and ferry traffic...
Despite it all, or maybe because of it all, some achievements
Even after a year that will be remembered as one of the most challenging in our lifetimes, there are good things to hold onto and play forward. This is not one of those “glass half full” comments. It’s more a celebration of resilience and creativity, strengths that have always defined Cape Cod’s fishing community, attributes that take on even more importance as thing get tougher...
What made “the blob” in Cape Cod Bay?
Captain Mike Rego was on his lobster boat the Miss Lilly at the pier in Provincetown Harbor on a raw, blustery fall day when a man approached and grabbed a line. Rego smiled, yelled hello and told him to take whatever he wanted. The fellow picked up some Jonah crabs that were soaking in the water, as he had many times before, said thanks and was on his way...
