Poosikian's eclectic life has always included fluke
Craig Poosikian was a summer kid from New Jersey fishing in Harwich when he caught the fish that got him hooked.
“I caught my first fluke when I was 11. They are the most awesome fish in the ocean. The lowly fluke – just awesome,” he said.
He caught the bottom-dwelling summer flounder, as it is also called, with a popper which floats on the surface. He was curious about the flat, toothy fish and talked to one of his older fishermen friends about how he caught it.
“He told me it was a fluke,” Poosikian said laughing at the play on words.
When codfishing took a big hit in the Gulf of Maine close to a decade ago, longliner Eric Hesse went looking for something else to do in winter and found himself helping scientists test underwater research vehicles and gliders.
That introduction led to work on a project that may help explain cod’s decline and other changes to the New England fishery.
Captain Hesse fishes full-time, but has degrees in physics and engineering, and an interest in physical oceanography.
“I wouldn’t call it a hobby. It is intellectually interesting,” he said, more so because even small changes in the ocean can mean big differences for his business.
“We do these routinely. They are rarely controversial. But this one is.”
Those words were from Dan McKiernan, director of Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries, as he opened a public hearing earlier this month to get comments on a proposal from five lobstermen, calling themselves “Pioneers for a Thoughtful Co-Existence,” to test ropeless gear in an area closed to fishing to protect North Atlantic Right Whales.
To do so, the state needs to grant a “Letter of Authorization,” done for a variety of reasons as fishermen and scientific organizations seek to do research. The request was put forward by long-time lobstermen under pressure to see if ropeless, or “on demand” gear, will enable them to continue fishing traps without buoys and lines, a higher tech way to catch lobsters without entangling mammals.
Although McKiernan said these studies are important, ropeless gear is not something the state is pursuing to protect the right whale because of its very high cost and concerns it will create conflicts with other fishermen, such as draggers, who use Massachusetts waters.
At the most terrifying moment, storm overwhelming a ship, wind howling, waves off the bars pounding the hull, deck awash, many a fisherman and mariner has faced horrifying options:
Abandon ship and take your chances trying to get through the surf.
Go below for protection, hoping the cabin is not your coffin.
Lash yourself to the mast to avoid getting washed overboard, praying the ship stays upright.
The working waterfronts across the Cape serve as huge economic drivers, but many of us only think of them as picturesque harbors. With a number of challenges on the horizon – including escalating climate change, supply chain issues and gentrification – the ports across the Cape will be essential in protecting the character of the peninsula. As decisions get made about the future, we teamed up with state Division of Marine Fisheries and Urban Harbors Institute at UMASS Boston to showcase the value of our ports and the challenges they face. As part of that we compiled some highlights, which we are sharing with you in this photo gallery of seven ports. Stay tuned next month for the remaining eight.
A company called Holtec International now owns the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Plant site in Plymouth, responsible for decommissioning the reactor, cleaning up and decontaminating.
This is a daunting task; the spent fuel rods, now sitting in cement casks lined up like huge bowling pins, will remain dangerously radioactive for 10,000 years. But Holtec, with a lot of ratepayer money to accomplish its mission, has taken on similar challenges at other nuclear power plants around the country, and seems confident in its capacity to do the job and clear a profit.
Most unfortunately, one way they might try to accomplish that is to take a million or more gallons of water used in the process, with low levels of radioactivity, and dump it into Massachusetts Bay. They have “floated” this “solution” in paperwork with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which is the sole decisionmaker for matters related to nuclear energy in our country, including waste disposal.
Our board of directors thinks this is one very bad idea.
We aren’t alone in thinking so, but we want to add our voices to the chorus of opposition, hoping the Nuclear Regulatory Commission will hear. So the board is sending a letter to our federally elected officials. We know these officials share our views but we want to offer them as much support as possible, and urge them to make opposition a top priority.
Here is that letter, addressed to Senators Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren, and Congressman Bill Keating:
Greetings,
The unanimous board of directors of The Cape Cod Commercial Fishermen’s Alliance strongly endorses all efforts to stop any discharge of radioactive water into the marine environment anywhere in or around Massachusetts.
In particular, we believe that a proposal from Holtec International, responsible for decommissioning the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Plant in Plymouth, to discharge into Massachusetts Bay is a serious breach of public trust and environmental stewardship, with potential for wholesale economic harm as well.
For 30 years, the Commercial Fishermen’s Alliance has represented hundreds of small-boat, conservation-minded commercial fishermen. Our members include shellfish harvesters and growers as well, with thousands of community supporters.
Holtec has no right to use our Commonwealth’s marine environment as their dumping ground. While the company says there will be no environmental or health impacts, their proposal invokes a strategy that has been discredited time and again: The solution to pollution is not dilution.
At the very least, disposal of radioactive water from the decommissioned Pilgrim site into fishing and aquaculture habitat creates a serious negative perception for consumers, which would certainly damage one of the state’s most important industries.
Furthermore, exposures and risks this might represent, however small, are unnecessary. The company decommissioning the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant has disposed of a comparable amount of radioactive water by shipping it to a landfill in Idaho, mixing the water with clay to produce a stable, disposable product. Holtec has access to approximately $900 million of ratepayer money to accomplish decommissioning, so this alternative, while slightly more expensive than dumping into the ocean, surely is viable and affordable.
We stand ready to work with you and support you in whatever ways possible to ensure that this threat does not become reality. We thank you for your opposition to date, and for your support going forward.
Sincerely,
The Board of Directors of The Cape Cod Commercial Fishermen’s Alliance
Should you agree with us, and want to join in, please feel free to use any or all of this language, adding or substituting any of your own thoughts of course.
To reach Senator Markey use this link, then copy and paste your comments. For a subject, you could choose “fisheries” or “environment,” both work:
Monthly Giving is a convenient way to spread out your gift to the Fishermen’s Alliance with automatic, recurring contributions. By making a monthly gift, you'll join The Fishermen Friends Society. You can choose any amount to donate each month. Credit cards are charged monthly on the day of the first transaction until the credit card expires or you request a stop. Start your monthly gift today!
Hit the ground running in 2022: We have been selected to participate in the Numbers for Nonprofits program with the Asics Falmouth Road Race on August 21. We have 12 spots on our team and hope you will consider joining. Contact brigid@capecodfishermen.org for details to reserve your place on the #fishrunfalmouth team.
Warm up in style with a Fishermen’s Alliance hoodie or wool beanie. Visit our online store for apparel and gifts, and pick up something for your Valentine while supporting a good cause. All items are in stock and available for pick up or shipping. See what’s new.
On the Water
Ever wonder how a boat, or a fish, got its name? Want the word on what people are catching --- or how to cook it?
What do commercial fishermen share in common with professional athletes like LA Lakers’ LeBron James? Find out in the first episode of the Fishing Forward Podcast, which focuses on health and safety in the commercial fishing industry.
Available on most podcast streaming platforms as well as here.
Each episode features fishermen, health specialists and scientists whose research can be applied to the real-life challenges and the benefits of working in commercial fishing. Topics include sleep deprivation, crew retention and managing stress. Lifelong salmon fisherman, Eric Jordan, seen above with crew, is a featured fisherman in the second episode. He shares how he has worked to address crew burnout and increased productivity with ergonomic adaptations to his salmon troller.
On the Shore
This community thrives in large part because of a constellation of non-profit organizations and engaged businesses.
If you haven’t been to the New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center we encourage you to go, and from home you can see a stellar exhibit on the various roles women play in the fishing industry on their website. The exhibit “Women’s Work: At Sea, On Shore, At Home in the Community” is photographs of women who have carved out a life in the industry accompanied by quotes. Many faces will be familiar because Shareen Davis, fisheries advocate from a strong fishing family, is one of three photographers who helped build the exhibit. Read our story on the exhibit here.
People are drawn here to fish recreationally as well as commercially. There is a lot of data and information on the catch of commercial fin- and shellfishermen, far less for those who enjoy it recreationally. There is also not a lot of information on the economic value of the recreational fishery. Barnstable County Cape Cod Cooperative Extension Marine Program, Woods Hole Sea Grant Extension Program and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Marine Policy Center are trying to get better numbers for the economic value of the recreational shellfishery, and the value of shellfish to the ecosystem. To see why it matters and how you may be able to help, watch this video from Lower Cape TV.
Glen Gawarkiewicz
and Al Plueddemann, researchers at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, value their partnership with commercial fishermen to help get information about changing ocean conditions. The partnership, which involves individual fishermen, as well as the Commercial Fisheries Research Foundation’s Shelf Team, is working to understand warm waters and its effects on the fisheries.
On the Hook
We do a lot of reading, searching through the wide world of fisheries, and often find intriguing pieces to share. In the old days, you might call this your clipping service.
Calling it a “remarkable turnaround,” the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF) announced the state’s seafood value reached an all-time high in 2021, with ex-vessel value (money to the working boats) at more than $800 million. Read more here. The story would have been undoubtedly different without scallops and lobster.
Climate change is far from nebulous. Take this story by the Portland Press Herald, courtesy of Saving Seafood, which says The Gulf of Maine Research Institute in Portland announced findings that showed average sea surface temperatures in the Gulf hit 59.9 degrees, more than four degrees above the long-term average. Last fall’s figures exceeded even those in the infamous “Northwest Atlantic Ocean heat wave” of 2012, the story reports, which triggered a two-year explosion in green crabs that devoured clams and eelgrass meadows. That warming cycle also triggered the early shedding of Maine lobsters, which beget pitched battles between Canadian lobstermen and truckers trying to carry the soft-shell money makers to New Brunswick processing plants. Read more here.
Our friends in Maine recently launched a monkfish stew, similar to our haddock chowder that serves food banks and helps create a sustainable price for fishermen. Read more about Maine Coast Fishermen's Association project here.
