News

Read the March issue of Small Boats. Big Ideas! Read about third generation fisherman Zach Bennett, oyster bars, the perils of ocean acidification, Nick Nickerson's unique way of scalloping, a photo gallery primer on fishing gear and more!

Zach Bennett’s grandfather and father were well-known, successful captains, but he never went fishing with them. “That would have been nice,” Bennett said, his voice part slow drawl, part Cape Cod, unfailingly polite. Bennett, 28, was sitting in his truck at Saquatucket Harbor, his black dog Otis beside him. He was looking at his new boat, having just gotten back from a trip and in a few hours he’d be headed out scalloping again...

Ocean acidification has often been called climate change’s evil twin, and both global perils are so pervasive it can be hard to put them in perspective. Seth Garfield found a way. Many growers and towns on the Cape, and beyond, get the shellfish seed that drives their businesses and anchors their recreational harvest from A.R.C. Hatchery in Dennis, noted Garfield, president of the Massachusetts Aquaculture Association...

At 6’4”, Nick Nickerson has to duck when he opens the door to the studio of his Chatham Coastal Creations business, tucked by the Little League fields behind the Harwich Cultural Center. Nickerson smiles as he introduces himself and explains he was running a bit late because he’d just got off the phone with a woman from Hopkinton; she wanted one of those scallop shell mirrors she had seen at a friend’s house in New Seabury, Mashpee...

Did you know that in the 1800s oyster bars in New York City were located in the basements of buildings? They were called oyster cellars, refectories (a room for communal eating) or dives (presumably for diving down the stairs). These cellars were distinguished by the red lanterns or balloons hung above the cellar stairs. The only women welcome in these establishments were prostitutes...

Fishermen are always at it, as a great winter photo spread in last month’s issue proves, but the rhythms of work and weather are always in play as well. So now comes a recurring moment that in many ways, year in and year out, is pivotal. This year that’s true more than ever, given all that’s happened and hasn’t happened since last March...

The commercial fishing industry helped build the Cape, is a pivotal part of the peninsula’s present and will be essential to its future success. But it’s not a monolith. People are drawn to the harbors and ports to see the fishing boats, but those boats, like the ports, and indeed their captains, are very different. We decided to put together a photo gallery of several of the different types of fishing vessels that help keep the Cape afloat, so you can better recognize them as you see them on trips to the dock to buy some fresh seafood or just appreciate the view...

Read the February issue of Small Boats. Big Ideas! Read about Mike Abdow's fishing journey, Dan McKiernan's take on COVID and the fishing industry, getting more fish into college, a photo gallery of winter fishing, and a boat builder from the past and more!

Mike Abdow was born in Worcester in March, 1954. That summer he was in Provincetown in a converted milk truck at the edge of the sea. “We lived on the beach in P-town. You were allowed to do that then,” he said. Abdow spent summers, weekends during school, fishing with his grandfather, who he is named after, and when you ask where he grew up he often says Race Point...

Last year, when the pandemic sent fishery revenues crashing and had the industry on the rocks, Dan McKiernan, then acting director of the state Division of Marine Fisheries, got a call from John Pappalardo. “We have a big problem and we have got to do something about it,” Pappalardo, the chief executive officer of the Cape Cod Commercial Fishermen’s Alliance, told McKiernan...

February is heart health month and well-known sustainable fish foodie and Chef Barton Seaver has a friend who is a doctor and dean of the Tufts School of Nutrition. He passed along three top wellness tips: “Wear your seatbelt, don’t smoke, eat more seafood.” Seaver repeated that advice to a virtual crowd gathered for the “Farm to Institution of New England Seafood Summit” earlier this month...

Tom Leach, who served as the Harwich Harbormaster for close to 40 years, has seen a lot of fishing vessels. Looking through old photos the other day he came across the Doris B. being loaded with bait at Saquatucket in 1972, a few years after the harbor was built and a year before he got there. Curious about the blue boat, he posted a request for info on Commercial Boats of New England, a Facebook page, and quickly received close to 60 comments...