Christopher Seufert photo
By John Pappalardo
While much of the nation ponders the role of ICE, here on Cape Cod we also have confronted the dramatic natural version, not witnessed like this for more than a decade.
Oldtimers will tell you that Nantucket Sound and Cape Cod Bay once froze to the horizon with some regularity, and historical accounts prove this is no “times-were-tougher-when-I-was-a-kid” kindah talk. Call it global warming, call it cycles, call it both, but we had thought those days were behind us.
Tragedy has struck. The fishing vessel Lily Jean, with seven onboard, went down off Gloucester, all lost. No official cause has been announced, but up and down the coast people are speculating that ice, making the vessel top-heavy, could have played a role.
In Eastham, a couple died because they were caught and immersed by treacherous ice that filled the bay by First Encounter Beach.
And in harbor after harbor, everything from fishing boats to the county’s dredge were encased, hard if not impossible to move, in danger of serious damage, no fishing possible. Poles and pilings uprooted as the ice clamped on them like the world’s strong vice grips, then tides lifted or knock them over like the world’s strongest fist.
If there is something positive to take away from this ice-bound month, here it is:
With Barnstable County as the key organizing entity, public officials from across the Cape joining, state Senator Julian Cyr’s office coordinating, private sector willing to step forward and support the Coast Guard, a remarkable rapid response to this icy crisis emerged.
Ice breakers public and private, with key ports prioritized, were able to free up boats and access long before Mother Nature eventually would have. As a matter of public safety and protecting our waterfront, this was more than welcome. For commercial fishermen who had been iced out of work, this was a huge help.
Emergency support and funding came out of Barnstable County, with hope for reimbursement from state coffers. And it highlighted the county’s role and potential, often overlooked around these parts.
No town alone could have accomplished this response, and there was neither federal nor state resources available and sufficient to get the job done. The county was uniquely positioned to do so, and the good news is that it did, with speed.
A related county function is the dredging program, again a crucial part of waterfront access, again essential effort no single town could accomplish for the peninsula. Ironically enough the county dredge was one of many vessels frozen in place at Sesuit Harbor in Dennis where it had expected to continue work.
The ice crisis is now compounded; with the dredge behind schedule, and a narrow window of time when it is allowed to work, we may see ripple effects into the spring and summer in the form of rippling sandbars that block access to the sea.
Two important lessons to apply:
First, create an emergency fund at the county level to be able to address crisis moments even faster, now that we have a rapid process in place.
Second, time of year restrictions for dredging, many decades old and meant to protect spawning fish, need to be reviewed, updated, and removed where no longer necessary. Research and science to justify that is happening, but too slowly.
The ice, one of the most dramatic of my lifetime, has receded as it always will and must. But we also know what that means: It will come back, just one of many repetitive challenges communities face that live by the sea, and off the sea.
What can we do, faced with that inevitability? Know the truth of it, think ahead, and prepare.
John Pappalardo is CEO of the Cape Cod Commercial Fishermen’s Alliance.