Tag Archives: Capt. Al Cottone

Gloucester webinar tackles concerns about wind farm projects

At the nascent stage of wind farm development in the Gulf of Maine, a webinar last week looked at the possible impacts to marine life, coastal communities and fisheries while acknowledging there are many unknowns to such projects. Capt. Al Cottone, a commercial fisherman and executive director of the Gloucester Fisheries Commission, said the industry has “a ton of questions that haven’t been answered yet. And I don’t think these questions will be answered in the time frame that was shown earlier in the presentation and it’s very concerning to the industry.” “We are very concerned about the displacement of vessels,” Cottone said. “Once you start losing access to fishing grounds, it puts a lot of pressure on other fishing grounds.” >click to read< 12:28

A day at sea – Cod, skate, discards and an observer

It’s cold, dark and slippery at 2 a.m. at the Gloucester pier, and as most people are in bed or just going home from a late night out, Capt. Al Cottone is trying to start his engine and prepare his fishing vessel, the Sabrina Maria, for a day out at sea. The Sabrina Maria is a member of Gloucester’s day fishing fleet, now hovering around 12 boats of what used to be a much larger contingent. This morning Cottone is taking the 42-foot trawler out around Stellwagen Bank, about 15 miles southeast of Gloucester, to trawl for cod, haddock and other groundfish as he skims the coast. >click here to read< 21:18