Tag Archives: David Sullivan
Hundreds gather to remember those lost at sea
More than 200 people, many family and friends of fishermen who died at sea, listened to the stories of two men who each lost their brothers aboard the trawler Starbound over two decades ago, during the 2023 Fishermen’s Memorial Service along Stacy Boulevard on Saturday afternoon. They reminisced about fishermen who never returned in recent memory and those who died at sea during Gloucester’s 400-year history. Under increasingly cloudy skies against the backdrop of the Outer Harbor, those gathered around the the Man at the Wheel statute of the Fishermen’s Memorial listened to speakers paying tribute to the thousands of men whose names are on the cenotaph. 5 photos, >click to read< 14:15
Maine Lobster Union Points the Way for Organizing Gig Economy Workers
Lobstering is an inherently individualistic pursuit. Most boats are crewed by just two or three people, and some captains go it alone. They leave harbor before dawn, spend the day hauling traps up from the seafloor, then motor back to the dock to sell the creatures for the best price they can get. It’s hard work that draws rugged, self-reliant people, in other words, not your typical union members. That’s what makes Local 207, the only lobstering union in the US so unusual. The decade-old group in Maine represents about 200 lobstermen. The union more often referred to as “Lobster 207”, got its start after a crash in prices 10 years ago. >Video, click to read< 11:05
Fed appeals court reinstates lobster gear restrictions off Maine’s coast
A federal appeals court is reinstating restrictions on fishing gear in a nearly 1,000-square-mile swathe of ocean off Maine’s coast. In October, in an effort to protect the roughly 340 right whales remaining on the planet from potentially deadly entanglements with fishing gear, the federal government imposed a four-month restriction on the use of trap-rope in the area. Before the restrictions took effect, the Maine Lobstering Union won a stay from a U.S. district judge in Bangor. But Late Tuesday, a federal appeals court in Boston ruled that the lower court overstepped its authority. >click to read< 10:16
The Story Behind ‘The Perfect Storm‘
When the 70-foot longliner Andrea Gail was lost off Canada’s Grand Banks on October 29, 1991, Sebastian Junger was living in Gloucester, Massachusetts, the boat’s home port, working as a tree climber to support his freelance writing career. The F/V Andrea Gail was on day 40 of an extended commercial swordfishing trip when three powerful storms converged on the Northeast. Data buoys measured waves as high as 100 feet, and the boat was hit with winds measuring 80 knots (almost 150 miles per hour). The night before the storm, on October 28, Andrea Gail’s captain, Billy Tyne, radioed to area fishermen, “She’s coming on, boys, and she’s coming on strong.” >click to read< 07:20
Sam Parisi: Remembering the F/V Andrea Gail, and the loved ones left behind
On October 28,10991, we lost six fishermen during the Perfect Storm aboard the F/V Andrea Gail. Captain Billy Tyne, David Sullivan, and Robert Shatford of Gloucester, Dale Murphy and Michael Moran, both of Bradenton Beach, Florida, and Clifford Pierre of New York City. My heart goes out to those families, and loved ones, may they not be forgotten. I can still remember the boat and the owner Bob Brown, also called “Suicide” Brown. He was the first lobsterman to fish off the Canyons over a hundred miles from land with his forty five foot lobster boat. >click to read< 17:24
On This Day – November 4, 1991 – Swordfishing Boat Missing, Overdue
The Coast Guard continued searching today for a fishing boat due back in Gloucester last Friday from a trip to the Grand Banks off Newfoundland, Canada. The 70-foot Andrea Gail was supposed to have returned to port by Saturday with its crew of six fishermen. Several Gloucester fishermen were said to be aboard the vessel, but Coast Guard officials were withholding crew members’ names this morning pending notification of their families. The vessel has not been heard from since Thursday when it was reported to be 180 miles east-northeast of Canada’s Sable Island. The missing vessel was reported to be encountering 30-foot seas and 50 to 80-know winds kicked up by the northeaster that devastated coastal New England last week. click here to read the story 08:13
Maine lobstermen tap into union network for retail sales
A few months after buying a lobster pound and processing plant, Maine’s lobstering union is now tapping its connection to unions across the country to rack up online retail sales and reap greater financial returns for its members. The union is now shipping live Maine lobster caught by its 400 members anywhere in the country. The path these lobsters will take on their way from the ocean floor to your door is completely unionized, from the Vinalhaven lobsterman who traps it to the Rockland truck driver who picks it up from a transfer boat to the Lamoine plant worker who packs it to the UPS teamster who delivers it. Anyone can buy them, of course, but the Maine Lobstering Union is definitely looking to make the most of a nationwide union network. click here to read the story 14:31
