Les Fruits de Mer.

This is Mr. KrisC, on his fathers’ boat out of Provincetown.  Mr. C. comes from a long line of Portuguese fisherman and his people have been fishing these waters for five generations.  We have made a wonderful living because of it, as have the previous generations. 

The industry is dying, however.  Everybody sees it, and it affects us all.
Hold your breath and dive into the big blue below the fold……

The fishing industry is very well regulated and since the adaptation of on-board global positioning systems, very well managed.  Most of the fishermen I know and love are respectful of the regulations, the ocean and its’ marine life.  However, dragging the bottom of the ocean or over-fishing has serious consequences, which of course, results in fishing ground depletion. The fishing village of Provincetown has become more of an LGBT destination since the town people have had to move from the fishing industry into a seasonal tourist mecca. 

The fish market that once thrived on the pier has closed while a lone cold storage truck awaits the catch from the incoming boats.  Sail boats and small motor craft are slowly replacing the large and rusty, iron ladies usually named after the owners children. 

Therefore, it is increasingly necessary to move away from state waters into federal waters in order to find the catch.  That requires that the boats be larger, to fare the open sea, trips become longer in order to reach the fishing grounds and the permits become more expensive since the catch is increasingly dwindling.  It is the typical American nightmare (as opposed to the American Dream), the larger corporations, in this case, the larger commercial boats take over the market and close out the smaller family run businesses.

The owner of a large commercial dragger or trapper holds permits in both state and federal waters, is given an amount of fishing days for each permit and is given a schedule of when and where he can fish/drag/trap. He is also given limitations to his catch and a minimum size requirement, just as in recreational fishing. 

These regulations are constantly being reviewed and changed in accordance to the stocks themselves.  There are “open area” trips where boats with these types of permits have an alloted amount of time to catch as many bags of (let’s say) scallops in that time as possible.  The captain is given specific coordinates to fish and is heavily fined if he is caught outside of these coordinates.  This is closely watched by GPS. 

There are also (very expensive) permits for “closed area” trips.  This is an area that has been closed for a certain amount of time to replenish its’ stock-scallops require 7 years for example. These are usually the best type of trips, reaping the best tasting fruits and retrieving the highest price per pound.  These trips, too, are heavily regulated and sometimes require an “observer” from the Division of Fisheries.  They will record data pertinent to that specific area for future regulations.  Observers also watch that the crew are not taking anything other than what they are permitted to take. 
This is the type of boat Mr. C. works on and is gone for 16 days at a time, he is on one right now, as a matter of fact. 

I’m sure many of you have seen the Discovery Channel’s “Deadliest Catch”, it’s an awesome series.  The Discovery Channel has also been airing “Lobster Wars” filmed in the vicinity of Georges Bank filming boats from Mass. and Rhode Island.  These are great depictions of a fisherman’s life.  I am proud to be a part of this amazing lifestyle, even though I await my husband with bated breath.  (Umm, ewww!) (What the hell is “Bated” breath anyway?)

  Long Point Lighthouse-Provincetown, MA