Tag Archives: Stonington Fishermen

Stonington fishermen fight for their livelihoods: The fleet’s past, present and tenuous future

While they have weathered storms, the loss of 41 fleet members at sea, declining catches and restrictions on how much fish they can land, the aging group of mostly men who make up the Town Dock Fleet now face a set of new challenges that threatens their future and that of the state’s last surviving commercial fleet. These include the difficulty of luring young people into a grueling but potentially lucrative occupation and the leasing of vast areas of their fishing grounds to offshore wind energy companies that plan to erect hundreds of massive turbines. >click to read< 09:17

Residents learn about fishing, local offerings at Stonington open house

They all were visiting the open house hosted by the town’s fishermen at Gambardella’s Wholesale Seafood at the Town Dock on Saturday afternoon to get an inside look at the fishing industry and learn more about the seafood caught by local fishermen. Ed Emery, a third-generation fisherman, encouraged people to shop locally at the Town Dock for fresh fish,,,  Mike Gambardella, owner of Gambardella’s Wholesale Seafood, who came up with the idea for the event, said the fishermen want to show people how wild-caught, chemical-free, good seafood tastes.,,He also said they want to show how hard of a job it is to be a fisherman under so much regulation. He said scientists should listen to the fishermen who go out every day to the ocean and see what is out there. >click to read<09:46

Today, from noon to 4 p.m. – Stonington fishermen holding open house to promote freshly caught seafood

As part of the Blessing of the Fleet, the fishermen of Stonington are sponsoring an open house at Gambardella Wholesale Fish Dealers at the Town Dock from noon to 4 p.m. to provide an inside look at how seafood is caught, processed and distributed. Local fishermen will be on hand to explain how the fishing equipment works and what it’s like to bring in the catch from out at sea. Visitors will also be able to tour the Regulus, a scallop boat, and the Tradition, a trawling boat. And there will be food. >click to read<09:33

Connecticut: Stonington Fishermen look to Sen. Blumenthal for change

Gambardella Wholesale Seafood used to unload boats every day at the Stonington Pier but now they are lucky if they see two boats a week pull into the harbor. They say federal fishing limits are putting their industry on ice. Joe Bombster who usually hauls in scallops on the Patty Jo says when they fish for Fluke the limits on catches force them to throw back most of it. “Every tow after that you have to just throw them back that amount over the side,” says Bombster. “It’s dead so it serves no purpose at all for anyone.” Additional photos, Read the article here 17:40