News

My brother was in town for a visit and when we sat down at the kitchen table for a cup of coffee he asked me how things are going. I gave him the usual superficial stuff until he stopped me and said he meant it in a deeper way: What’s going on for people in the fishing industry? Not the day to day, nuts and bolts I mentioned by rote: What’s the big-picture, broad-stroke look? After a long sip, I found myself answering with a surprising little ditty that popped up seemingly out of nowhere...

Read the September issue of Small Boats. Big Ideas! Read about Jared Auerbach and Red's Best working to revolutionize the fish business, Senator Edward Markey visiting the Chatham Fish Pier, Women's Worlk on shore and at sea captured in photos our board of directors and more!

Jared Auerbach sails into a meeting room and plunks down in a chair with his back to a view of the Boston Fish Pier. He just finished making a video, which Auerbach, owner and chief executive officer of Red’s Best, explains is all about the glory of the skate species and why people should eat it. “It’s very affordable and versatile. It’s served at the fanciest restaurants in New York and France,” Auerbach continues, adding that people should be cooking it at home as well...

The waters around Cape Cod are home to many types of birds that most non-fishing people will never see. Known as “pelagics,” they spend their entire lives at sea, returning to land only to nest and raise their young. One of the most numerous is the Great Shearwater, a brown-and-white bird with a four-foot wingspan, often seen gliding a few feet above the waves in search of food...

United States Senator from Massachusetts Ed Markey looked out at the bustling Chatham Fish Pier as boats navigated the tide to bring in dogfish and mackerel while a crowd watched and took photos from the observation deck. He wondered how the industry had fared during the pandemic, if the money he had fought for in the CARES Act made a difference...

Peggi Joseph, long dark hair tied in a ponytail, blue sweatshirt and matching rubber gloves peeking out of orange Grundens, makes quick work of packing thousands of pounds of haddock. Her image was captured by photographer Shareen Davis at Stage Harbor as Joseph moved hefty haddock into totes beside a bin of ice. Joseph seems unaware of the camera...

We don’t like to brag, but in this case it is warranted: We have a stellar board of directors. Our board has always been a mix of accomplished, savvy captains and people in the community who understand the value of the Cape’s commercial fisheries. As a longstanding non-profit – we are celebrating our 30th birthday this year – we are involved in many, many projects that are focused on helping fish, small-boat fishermen, and this slice of sand we all call home...

Taking a moment to express what too often gets taken for granted: Gratitude. That starts with this community. You’ve supported us for 30 years, but never more so than in this past stretch. To mix metaphoric locations, Cape Cod’s fishing fleet is not out of the COVID woods yet – truth to tell, fishermen never truly get to some kind of secure, protected, predictable clearing...

Read the August issue of Small Boats. Big Ideas! Read about Alex Brown and his connection to Provincetown, celebrating our 20th Hookers Ball (and check out the photo gallery) why black mayo in Wellfleet needs a name change, new thoughts on fishermen and seals and more!

Alex Brown stepped out of his house in Provincetown’s West End, passed by homemade long rakes, tongs and shellfish culling boards to settle into a chair kitty corner to a rocker made of lobster pots, which he also makes. He held the book “Men’s Lives: The Surfmen and Baymen of the South Fork,” which details the disappearing way of life of Long Island fishermen...

In Sweden, fishermen, regulators, and environmental organizations work with government funding dedicated to developing fishing gear that is safe for seals. In the United States, that doesn’t happen. There is a section of the Marine Mammal Protection Act that provides fishermen with opportunity to deter seals, but to avoid penalties they are supposed to abide by a list of recommendations produced by National Marine Fisheries Service...

John Pappalardo looked out at a sea of smiling people who had just finished a traditional Cape Cod clambake, put together by Backside Bakes, under a white tent beside the historic Captain Harding House in Chatham, home of the Cape Cod Commercial Fishermen’s Alliance. Quite a difference from when the nonprofit’s biggest fundraiser got started 20 years ago in a 10-by-10 tent pitched in a private yard, with lobster rolls and a couple of cases of beer...