Tag Archives: Keper Connell
From the Gulf of Maine to a tin can: A glimpse into high-end tuna production on NH’s coast
“I left today at, like, 12 midnight,” he said, his face hidden behind mirrored sunglasses and a beard. “And then it’s about an hour and a half ride out, and it was beautiful last night because that big fat moon is waning.” Keper Connell is a one-man operation aboard his boat, The Figment. When conditions allow, he cruises into the Gulf of Maine in search of bluefin tuna, a torpedo-shaped fish that can reach more than 1,000 pounds. Rather than sell his bluefin to a wholesaler, where cuts may end up in a fishmonger’s display case, or as toro on a sushi menu, Connell is doing something that nobody else in the U.S. is apparently doing. His fish is put on ice and sent to Oregon, where it will be packed into tin cans with a high end olive oil and some salt. (There are no canneries on the East Coast where an independent fisherman can bring his catch, he says.) Photos, >>click to read<< 11:07
Fisherman’s Diary: Bluefin Tuna in the Northeast
When I say to folks,”I am a Bluefin Tuna Fisherman” the response is usually something along the same lines: “Oh my, you must be rich! Don’t those sell for thousands of dollars a pound?” My nose curls and my hands clench – the fact is that this kind of stuff is just not true. I don’t make a lot of money catching one fish at a time. Thanks to the highly successful reality show “Wicked Tuna,” the viewing public has a wildly inflated impression on just how much New England fishermen are getting paid. Read the rest here 20:17
