Tag Archives: Tom Orrell

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

‘It means a lot’ – Wounded warriors treated to Fourth fishing trip

Tuesday morning and the Fourth of July arrived in Gloucester as if ordered directly from the fine weather catalog: warm, sunny and the water of the Atlantic like glass. A perfect day for fishing. Roland Snow used to dream of days such as this during each of his 10 deployments throughout the Mideast — first as an Army noncommissioned officer and later as a member of the Air Force – following the carnage of 9/11.,, On Tuesday, Snow joined nearly 70 other veterans and their invited guests aboard the 100-foot Yankee Freedom for a free day of groundfishing, courtesy of Dave Marciano of the TV show “Wicked Tuna,” Tom Orrell of the Yankee Fleet charter company, Jim Destino of Destino’s sub shop, the city of Gloucester and the Wounded Warrior Project. click here to read the story 22:44

Recreational fishermen can target cod starting Monday

charter, cod restrictions, yankee freedomAs of Monday, recreational anglers will get a chance to reacquaint themselves with the much-coveted Gulf of Maine cod when federal fishing restrictions for the species are lifted until the end of September. The bag limit for the iconic species, whose stock NOAA Fisheries maintains is in freefall, will be one cod per fisherman per day. (Anglers are mentioning the huge numbers of cod they have to throw back.) The anglers’ comments are representative of the overall narrative of local fishermen — commercial, recreational and lobstermen — who continue to insist they are seeing far more cod in the water than the scientists at NOAA Fisheries say are there. It is a disconnect that, in many ways, has come to define the plight of the commercial fishing industry and its lack of trust in the science that comes out of NOAA Fisheries. They hear one thing in the stock assessments. They see another with their eyes when they’re out on the water. Read the story here 09:16