Monthly e-Magazine Articles

Lobster and a local connect Mac’s Seafood to Maine

Dec 27, 2023 | Fish Tales

Sam Bradford, tall and lanky, stood in a crowded hallway at the Lobster Trap in Bourne, dwarfed by hundreds of stacked white boxes printed with lobster in red letters and destined for places all over the world.
Bradford, chief financial officer at Mac’s Seafood, had climbed the narrow stairs from the concrete floor below where lobsters were being sorted in an enormous, chilly room.
“We have a really good system; they are grading for shell quality and size,” Bradford said as gray crates filled with lobsters moved along watery tracks in a tank that can hold 100,000 pounds. “We have a 20- to 25-person crew during the day and eight at night. The first job is to pack the international stuff.”

Fisheries work receives boost

Dec 27, 2023 | Aids to Navigation, News

As a fishing boat full of silvery mackerel unloaded below, State Representative Dylan Fernandes, up from Falmouth, stood on the Chatham Fish Pier and presented the Fishermen’s Alliance with a $500,000 check, approved in the state budget, to help support and modernize the Cape’s commercial fisheries.
“Fishing is not just an industry on the Cape and Islands. It is woven into the very culture and fabric of our communities,” Rep. Fernandes said on a blustery late November day.

Comments abound on potential wind energy areas

Dec 27, 2023 | Plumbing the Depths

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) published a Draft Wind Energy Area that extends across approximately 3.5 million acres of ocean off Maine, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire. Most of the area is off the coast of Massachusetts.

A number of commercial fishermen, fishing industry organizations and others have commented on the Draft Wind Energy Area, which begins 23 miles east of Wellfleet. As the final wind energy area and proposed sale notice for interested companies will be published in the new year, we thought we would share some comments submitted for the draft.

Provincetown fishermen’s monument effort is reborn

Dec 27, 2023 | Charting the Past, News

A monument to honor Provincetown and Truro fishermen who lost their lives at sea has been talked about for decades.
“For 47 years. The idea was conceived by Carol Peters, the daughter of a fisherman, in 1976 after the sinking of my father’s boat, the Patricia Marie,” said Lisa King. “It has stalled.”
King, who has the energy of a coiled spring, is determined to make sure the monument happens, and soon. She brought together about a dozen people and created the Fishermen’s Memorial Foundation, which she chairs, because she feels this may be the last chance.

Photo Gallery: The Cape’s Downeast connection

Dec 27, 2023 | A Day in Photos

Mac’s Seafood and the Lobster Trap have done business together for decades and know many of the same people, have heard many of the same fish stories. Although there is a 20-year age difference, the businesses have grown in similar ways, had similar successes with small-boat commercial fishermen at the core of their successes. Last year, Mac’s bought the Lobster Trap and its properties in Bourne and Maine. Check out this gallery to get a glimpse into Mac Hay and Sam Bradford’s new venture.

The amazing collection of people and pieces that creates “Small Boats, Big Taste”

Dec 27, 2023 | Over the Bar

Wrapping up another year, one of our many 2023 accomplishments shines as the calendar turns:
The success of the “Small Boats, Big Taste” program.
By year’s end we will have provided close to two million servings of Haddock Chowder and Provençal Fish Stew to food banks and pantries across Cape Cod and Massachusetts since the early days of COVID. Next month we’re adding a third great offering, Cape Cod clam chowder.