Fishing

2005

September 22, 2005

Scientists Study Groundfish Net by Net, Sifting the Sea in Pursuit of Knowledge

Mark Alan Lovewell
Fishing
Groundfish industry

On an open sea deck, with the rolling waves of Georges Bank a mere eight feet away, Jon Brodziak cuts, and with tweezers takes a bone from each of the two inner ears of a haddock.

He places them in a small envelope for future study.

Then he does it again with another haddock. And again.

The bone is the otolith, which is used to tell the age of the fish; it is a far better measure than length.

Mr. Brodziak, along with several other scientists, is in the middle of a six-hour shift on the Albatross IV, in the pitch black night on the open ocean.

September 22, 2005

A Lifetime Devoted to Oceangoing Science

Mark Alan Lovewell
Fishing

Linda Despres, the chief scientist aboard the Albatross IV, has a
haunting memory of visiting Georges Bank as a 23-year-old scientist.

"I have this picture in my mind of Georges Bank at night and
seeing the lights of over 50 ships going back and forth across the
horizon," she says.

September 22, 2005

The Story of the Codfish Is Written Across 400 Years of Island History

Mark Alan Lovewell
Codfish
Fishing

The old wooden sailboat up on blocks inside the shed at the
Martha's Vineyard Historical Society in Edgartown doesn't
look like much.

The white lapstrake boat, less than 20 feet in length, has not been
in the water since it was brought to the society in December 1936 from
Menemsha Creek. The paint has come off in many places. There is little
chance she will ever float again.

September 22, 2005

Managers and Fishermen Collide in Search for Answers, Solutions

Mark Alan Lovewell
Fishing

The question of how cod stocks fell so low in the waters off New
England is almost as perplexing as the question of how to bring about
recovery.

The favorite reason - too much fishing pressure - is
followed by other explanations, including changes in ocean temperature
and degradation of the environment. Perhaps it is a combination of these
things.

Pinpointing the cause or causes of plummeting cod stocks is key to
their rejuvenation.

September 22, 2005

Cod in State of Collapse; Haddock Sees Recovery at Fabled Ocean Ground

Mark Alan Lovewell
Fishing

Capt. Gregory Mayhew, a Vineyard native and lifelong resident of Chilmark, runs the 75-foot steel dragger Unicorn out of Menemsha. This summer, for the first time in more than 20 years, he went sea scalloping. The reason, he said, is economics.

September 22, 2005

On Board Ship in Ocean Storm: Shoals Brew Powerful Weather

Mark Alan Lovewell
Fishing

Pots and pans rattle. The television slides back and forth. Each time the bow of the Albatross IV slides up over the crest of a wave, something inside the 187-foot vessel bangs or rolls.

Twenty seconds later, when the bow descends into the valley of the next wave, the pots and pans bang back and forth again.

On this day, Sunday, April 3, the ship is on Georges Bank, more than 100 miles east of Cape Cod, so far from land it is not worth seeking shelter. The ship rides the waves at Cultivator Shoal, once a prime fishing area.

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