Tag Archives: Joe Orlando

The Voices of Gloucester Fishermen: NOAA offers virtual trip through Gloucester fishing history

The voices speak to the experience of living and fishing in America’s oldest commercial seaport, of the challenges and the joys of working on the waters of Cape Ann and beyond. They are at once a snapshot and endurable timeline collected into recorded interviews and fashioned into an  integrated story map of the Gloucester fishing and community experience. The stories and the voices which tell them are contained in the newest online chapter of the Voices of Oral History Archives organized and produced by NOAA Fisheries’ Northeast Fisheries Science Center. It’s titled “Strengthening Community Resilience in America’s Oldest Seaport” photos, video, >click to read< 11:55

Gloucester Fisherman Nicolo Vitale, ‘He was the type of guy who would do anything for you’

On Monday, Vitale died after going overboard from the Miss Sandy as the vessel returned from fishing for haddock with a handful of Gloucester day boats. About a mile outside the breakwater, Capt. Vince Taormina turned from the wheel and the deck was empty. Vitale was gone. “We’re so grateful for everybody that helped,” said Joe Orlando, who owns and operates the Santo Pio. “We’re especially grateful to the Coast Guard for how quickly they came and for everything that they did.” Orlando was the captain that located Vitale’s body floating facedown and unresponsive in the water on Monday. “He was the type of guy who would do anything for you,” Orlando said. “He was a jewel.” By all accounts, Vitale lived life to the fullest and on his own terms. He fished on boats throughout the harbor, including the Angela + Rose, which is owned and captained by his first cousin, Paul Vitale. 9 photos, >click to read< Rest in Peace, Captain. 22:30

‘There’s no margin’ – Monitors final nail in coffin Feds propose up to 100% fish-counting, unclear on who’s on hook for costs

Groundfishermen, speaking Wednesday afternoon during the public comment period, drew a straight line from the increased monitoring costs to the economic collapse of the fishery. “I made 124 trips last year and each day was 10-14 hours,” said Gloucester fisherman Joe Orlando. “At $700 a day for 100% monitoring, that comes to $84,000 for the year. I didn’t even come close to making that. It would completely bankrupt the sector. And there’s only a handful of us left.” >click to read<  19:45

PFD’s: Fishing is a deadly business, but many fishermen won’t wear life preservers

One rogue wave or false step, an ankle caught in a line, is all it takes to cast a fisherman overboard. But those risks have never been enough to convince Rick Beal that it’s worth wearing a life preserver. Even though he has never learned how to swim. Commercial fishing ranks among the most dangerous professions, but fishermen — fiercely independent and resistant to regulations — have long shunned life preservers, often dismissing the flotation devices as inconvenient and constraining. click here to read the story 14:46 

While setting New England fishery rules, John Bullard was an exception

He’s been called a Neanderthal and the most reviled man in the region’s fishing community. At a public meeting broadcast on national TV, a fisherman once accused him to his face of lying for a living. As the regional fisheries administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, John Bullard has drawn ire from all sides — fishermen, environmentalists, and politicians alike. His decisions have been routinely controversial, and he has rarely minced words in defending them. click here to read the story 20:53

Gloucester Fishermen to council: Trust in data needed

One by one, the Gloucester fishermen settled in front of the microphone for those with something to say to the New England Fishery Management Council and, one by one, they delivered their thoughts. Some of the remarks, such as those from Tom Orrell of Yankee Fleet and Paul Vitale, captain of the Angela & Rose, were short and to the point. Orell wanted to know why the for-hire boats faced so many restrictions in the Gulf of Maine and Vitale simply wants more fish quota. Now. Joe Orlando of the Santo Pio talked science and cod, while longtime fishermen Al Cottone and Rick Beal (powerful comment) adopted more philosophical tones, speaking to the council on the need for a two-lane channel of trust and truth. click here to read the story 20:59

Amendment 22: Lack of action on whiting pleases most local fishermen

The New England Fishery Management Council on Tuesday didn’t appear to have much interest in limiting future access to the whiting fishery that includes Ipswich Bay. “It’s a victory of sorts,” said longtime Gloucester fisherman Al Cottone, who also is the executive director of the city’s Fisheries Commission. “It showed that the council really has no appetite for limiting access to the whiting fishery.” The proposal, developed by the council’s whiting committee during the formation of proposed Amendment 22, still will include the option of limiting access when it goes out to public comment at some point this winter.,, Cottone, along with fellow Gloucester fishermen Joe Orlando and Russell Sherman, spoke in opposition to limiting access to the fishery,, click here to read the story 09:15

Gloucester Fisheries Commission opposes limited access to the historically open-access whiting fishery

manatthewheelA mere two days after the NEFMC received its first look at the proposals being generated by its whiting advisory panel and whiting committee, Gloucester commission members raised concerns over the impact the proposals could have on the city’s whiting fleet — particularly the small boats. “We should not allow any other species to go under limited access,” said commission member Angela Sanfilippo, also the president of the Gloucester Fishermen’s Wives Association. “This is a healthy stock and I am totally against limited access.” Sanfilippo’s views were echoed by member Joe Orlando and Chairman Mark Ring. The three proposals to potentially limit access to the fishery are contained in currently being developed by the council. The council’s whiting committee hopes to furnish a more finished product at the council’s next meeting in late January. The city fisheries commission, however, wasn’t waiting around for the council staff’s final analysis. It voted 6-0 to oppose any attempts to limit access to Ipswich Bay for the local whiting fleet. Read the story here 08:49

US aid not enough, Gloucester fishermen say

421238_367823369911134_2112714610_nDespite last week’s announcement of a $14.5 million federal disaster grant to the Massachusetts fishing industry, area fishermen and marine analysts believe that the funds will only serve as a stopgap for an industry that has nearly collapsed because of declining groundfish stocks. Read more here 07:36  F/V Lady Jane info here

Gloucesterman haunted by urge to go to sea, loss of vessel

Joe Orlando still wakes up in the night, when the wind is whistling, and wonders if he should go down to the Gloucester House and make sure the Padre Pio’s lines are secure. There still are days when the longtime Gloucester fisherman, as if lured by something invisible and irresistible, finds himself heading toward the dock to check on his boat. “I say to myself, ‘What am I doing’?” Orlando said. He is doing what he’s done for the past 30 years, what he’s done since he bought the 65-foot steel fishing boat in 1983 in partnership with his sister Angela Sanfilippo and her husband John. There’s only problem: Orlando no longer owns the Padre Pio. more@gdt  01:58

Fishing Industry At Risk Of Disappearing In New England – Video

“You base all the management on best available science, now does that mean perfect science, of course not there is no such thing as perfect science,” says John Bullard of NOAA. According to Bullard, the science says there is no cod. As a result they have cut the catch limit for fisherman by 78 percent. Al Cottone says he recently caught his annual quota of five thousand pounds of cod. Not in a month or week, but in just five hours.  more@wbznews  00:38

Fishermen challenge stats in limit cuts – calling out the number fudging opportunists!

gdt iconNOAA Regional Administrator John Bullard and Peter Shelley, the senior counsel for the Conservation Law Foundation, point to the table from the NOAA Science Center showing participants in the Northeast groundfishery failed last year to catch anything close to their allocation in virtually every one of the 20 stocks as a sign that the ecosystem was so weak the fishermen could not find enough fish to catch. Both Bullard and Shelley ascribed special significance to the fact that fishermen were able to take about two thirds of the allocation in Gulf of Maine cod, the most important fish for the inshore fleet of day boats. continued

Gloucester Fishermen Albert Cottone, Joe Orlando – NOAA Northeast Regional Administrator John Bullard owes fishermen apology

We’re writing to you today in response to the story headlined “Fishermen look to White House” (the Times, Page 1, Thursday, Feb. 22). This is an extremely challenging time for the commercial groundfish industry, in particular the groundfish-dependent port of Gloucester. All segments of the fleet are faced with radical reductions in catch limits on critical stocks set to begin on May 1. These cuts will undoubtedly bring our industry to its knees. In turn, this hurt will trickle down and affect fishing communities, shore-side businesses that depend on our landings, and American seafood consumers. Read more