Groundfish Landings Today In Gloucester Are Not Even A Fraction Of What They Were In 1947

Boats were tied up next to each other at Fisherman’s Wharf 6 deep at the State Fish Pier as well.  Now they are commissioning a study to ask if there’s enough dockage space for the commercial fleet for which yet another round of 100million dollars has been appropriated for further buyouts of the Gloucester Fleet.

August 30, 2012

Fishing aid plan: $100M in buyouts

Draft federal aid package adds $80M in subsidies

By Richard GainesStaff Writer

A draft letter that outlines a proposed disaster relief program for the Northeast groundfishery — featuring a $100 million permit and boat buyback program, and $87.5 million in various subsidies for those who stay in business — is circulating among members of the New England congressional delegation.

What kind of idiot really tries to make the argument that there isn’t enough commercial dockage in this harbor after round after round of buyouts and the landings in this port have dwindled to a mere shadow of what it once was?

You need a study to tell you that the amount of commercial fishing boats and captains and crew have been consolidated and further consolidated many times over? Really?

It must be that these people weren’t around when the Ida and Joseph came in day after day filled past the scuppers with checkerboards stuck around the rails to contain more fish, the boat nearly sunk with pogies.  They weren’t around at 6AM when the fish cutters and packers from Portagee Hill and East Gloucester funneled down from their homes to go to the dozens and dozens of wharves which offloaded processed packed and shipped fish.

That level of fishing wasn’t sustainable we found out starting in the 70s and through the 90s and it will never be sustainable to allow our fleet to put up those kinds of landings.  It is and was necessary to reduce the fishing effort for the future of this port.  A port which if it is to keep on MUST operate at lower levels of landings than what was happening in the heyday when 6million pounds of groundfish were landed weekly.

There are many stuck in fantasy land that this port or the worlds oceans could sustain that type of overfishing.  Back then the fishermen didn’t know any better.  What they knew was WORK and to kill and land as many fish as possible.  They didn’t know the ramifications of overfishing because those landings were unprecedented.  They thought it would go on forever.  Today we know better.

August 21, 2012

City study aims for full picture of waterfront

By Nancy Gaines Correspondent

A new study of current harbor docking facilities and future needs just commissioned by the city aims to aid the commercial fishing fleet that now calls Gloucester home, as well as marine science and technology vessels the city hopes to attract.

Under a contract of about $11,000, researchers from the Urban Harbors Institute at the University of Massachusetts Boston last week began studying existing conditions of the state-designated port area to determine how many vessels are home-ported here — a number already in dispute — and create, by November, a database of vessels, dockside property owners and available facilities.

1947!

Week of October 13th 1947 6,737,100 lbs of groundfish landed in Gloucester Ma. 

Today it’s a big day if 100,000 lbs of fish gets landed and some days they don’t even hold an auction because there’s no fish, LOL

Please.