Fish on Fridays

The Fish on Fridays series is a collaboration between Gloucester photographers Kathy Chapman and Marty Luster. Look for various aspects of Gloucester’s centuries-old fishing industry highlighted here on Fridays.

Fish Tales

Fishing  aboard a locally owned and operated charter boat is a part of Gloucester’s fishing industry.  As catch limits make it increasingly difficult for small commercial fishing operations to remain viable, we can expect some of the fleet to turn to sport fishing charters for livelihoods.

We visited with Capt. Dave Marciano and Mate Jason Muenzer aboard FV Hard Merchandise.  Dave has merged commercial groundfish and tuna fishing with taking on private charter parties.

Unfortunately, last winter, a through-hull fitting failed and Hard Merchandise sank at her dock. The resulting damage has been repaired and all is ready for the new season.

Of course Hard Merchandise is also well known as one of the competitors in National Geographic Channel’s WICKED TUNA series. Dave reports that he is in negotiations with Nat Geo for a third season.

Color photo and video © Kathy Chapman 2013
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B+W photos © Marty Luster 2013
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