Peter Cole looks back on fifty years in the industry
Peter Cole was sitting in his small bungalow in Chatham, birds inches away at his feeders. “When I was fishing I never thought much about birds. Ten years ago I started caring about them. As we head toward beneath the ground our spirits follow the birds,” he mused. Then the phone rang, and Cole set up a rendezvous in Taunton to pick up bait the next morning, real early, to miss the traffic coming back...
Telltale signs of the spring survey
A 44-foot wide bottom trawl net went into the water time and again, bringing up a narrow slice of ocean life in hundreds of spots across the North Atlantic, much as it has done for close to 60 years. Jon Hare, science and research director of the Northeast Fisheries Science Center, went up to the bow of the research vessel Henry B. Bigelow and saw nothing but vast ocean and an enormous blood-red moon...
New recipe book showcases local fish, fishermen and chefs
Jesse Rose had been catching monkfish for years, but none of his friends ate it. He couldn’t even get his father to give it a try. “I’ve been pushing free monkfish, handing it out,” said Rose, captain of F/V Midnight Our. It took the accomplished captain a little while, but now his father loves monkfish. He just needed the right recipe...
Old school fishermen immortalized in snapshots
An old fisherman stands by the trap dock in Stage Harbor, looking to the heavens, hat in one hand, mooring chain in the other. “He was Romanian, had been a priest and was in his 90s,” said Jamie Bassett looking at the black-and-white image of a bearded man, Martin, in oilskins. “He collected cans and went shellfishing. “The chains hearkened to a hard life...
PHOTO GALLERY: Nelson Brace’s fishing community
Nelson Brace loved photography and fishing boats. He also loved creating a community. He did that in his volunteer work and by starting a Facebook page, Commercial Fishing Boats of New England, which collected and celebrated photos of commercial fishing boats. The images were beautiful, and the camaraderie and swapping of fishy knowledge added patina...
Expanding the idea of community responsibility
We’re kicking off a new initiative here at the Alliance, and at first glance the focus might surprise you but the longer you ponder, the more sense it makes: We are going to offer as much help as we can to improve dredging for the harbors and ports in our communities. Here’s why:
Sam Fuller revamps his boat and fishing life
Running boats for other fishermen, crewing on trips for monkfish and skate, working on his own boat, Sam Fuller has been busy. “I don’t think I’ve had a day off since March,” Fuller said, paint brush in hand. Fuller was high above ground, his boat on blocks in a quiet Orleans neighborhood on a cloudy June day. The huge time commitment is meant to give him more flexibility in the future, sticking with a life plan that has fishing, and the Cape, at its heart...
Checking the boxes with MSI
Michael DeVasto is an oyster grower, wild harvester, and Wellfleet selectman, so when he was appointed to the Massachusetts Shellfish Initiative he had clear ideas about what he wanted to see happen. After more than two years, the lengthy report was completed and DeVasto, backdropped by a photo of his hometown, was on a press webinar with nearly 100 people for the release...
Chatham fleet faces gentrification pressure, study says
Of the top 29 fishing communities in the Northeast facing gentrification stress, Chatham is ranked third. Research undertaken by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) collated a host of indices including retiree migration and housing disruption into a story map, also highlighting voices of fishermen. “A story map puts it into context and can help raise awareness of issues that have been neglected,” said Matthew Cutler, a social scientist with NOAA’s Northeast Fisheries Science Center who worked on the project...
The country's connection to science and fishermen started on Cape Cod
We are celebrating our 30th birthday, so we thought it a good time to recognize the anniversary of a partner organization also dedicated to improving the fisheries through science. First called the Fish Commission, they are quite a bit older than us: NOAA Fisheries. The governmental organization and parent of the Northeast Fisheries Science Center got its start 150 years ago, fittingly enough on fishy Cape Cod...
PHOTO GALLERY: New beginning for boat, fisherman
If you talk to any fisherman on the Cape they can tell you all the owners of a fishing vessel, where it was built, who fished on it, if her name changed. The boats are windows into the history, present and future of the Cape’s fleets. Take the Mary Alice, bought in Gloucester by Sam Linnell, who sold her to Sam Fuller (a long-time crew man on Linnell’s uncle’s boat) when he bought a bigger boat, the Great Pumpkin, owned by Jan Margeson...
With your help, building a national model and call to action
We’re throwing an early summer outdoor bash, July 1 on the grounds of our old captain’s house in Chatham, and I’m tempted to say the reason why is simply because – finally -- we can! But even more so, it’s because we want to celebrate the great haddock chowder we’ve been making for almost a year now, find a way to share it with you as well as the food banks and pantries who do such great work in our communities...
