Tag Archives: Yankee Fishermen’s Cooperative

Kittery woman, owner of Southern Maine Crabs, creates seafood niche

Twenty-three-year-old Jillian Robillard is the owner and founder of Southern Maine Crabs, a processing facility based out of Kittery that specializes in Jonah crabs and lobsters. Growing up on the docks, Robillard noticed lobster fishermen were catching crabs in their lobster traps and throwing them back or crushing them up for bait. When Robillard noticed the price of lobsters increased and the crab prices remained the same, she saw an opportunity in the market. photos, >click to read< 13:27

Yankee Fishermen’s Co-op had banner 2020. Does it have to pay back Coronavirus relief funds?

Yankee Fishermen’s Cooperative weathered the Coronavirus pandemic and then some. The cooperative at Seabrook Harbor grossed more revenue in 2020 than 2019, according to president Jim Titone.  He said he is concerned the cooperative will have to return the grant partially or in full, because on paper, it appears as though they were more prosperous, despite the pandemic, even though many of the facilities and equipment are at least 30 years old and are due for replacement, Titone said he would like to use the Main Street Relief monies to upgrade the cooperative, including installing a new 20,000-gallon lobster tank to accommodate the additional Maine lobstermen who joined the cooperative during the pandemic, and to build a new ice house. >click to read< 07:54

Fishing community grieves the loss of a Hampton lobsterman

Juan Peralta-Martinez became a lobsterman at a time when many say the industry was struggling to stay afloat, but those who worked alongside him said he was born for a life at sea. “He was meant to be one of the lobstermen,” said Linda Hunt, manager of Yankee Fishermen’s Cooperative,,, A husband and father of two from Hampton, Juan died at age 36 years Monday from what authorities believe was a drowning while working on his boat in the harbor. He left behind a wife and two sons, 9-year-old Juan Gabriel and 8-year-old Alejandro. >click to read< 07:48

Hitting the Trail: NOAA’s GARFO leader looks to cultivate culture of collaboration

As debuts go, Mike Pentony’s first day on the job as the regional director for NOAA’s Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office was a corker. The federal government marked his ascension on Jan. 22 as only the federal government can — shutting down all but the most essential government services as a consequence of the usual congressional mumbley-peg. “My first action was to come in and proceed with the orderly shutdown of government operations,” Pentony said recently during an interview in the corner office on the uppermost floor of GARFO headquarters in Gloucester’s Blackburn Industrial Park. The respite was short-lived. The shutdown lasted a day. >click to read< 23:52

WWII veteran reels in one more tuna

Frank Chase became the talk of the dock in Seabrook this week after the 91-year-old landed a 300-pound bluefin tuna and hauled it into Yankee Fishermen’s Cooperative. Chase, who lives on Railroad Avenue, landed the catch Saturday afternoon after a 35-minute fight with the fish. He caught the tuna on a 22-foot boat with just one friend to assist. .,,, Chase said it was 1:30 p.m. when he saw his rod on the side of the boat hook up to a fish that pulled so hard he thought it was a shark. Chase grabbed the rod from its holder there and carried it to a holder at the front of the boat so he and his friend could follow the tuna from behind. The tuna became caught at the boat’s anchor, where many fishermen lose their bluefins that are able to use the anchor to cut free from the line. Chase skillfully guided the boat around the anchor without breaking the line, and the battle went on. click here to read the story 12:13

New Hampshire Fishermen are optimizing the value of their catch – Fishing for new markets

peter kendall yfco-opLeaving New Hampshire’s shores early in the morning in small 40-foot boats and returning in the afternoon to sell the day’s catch, groundfishermen seem to personify the state motto, “Live Free or Die.” But their numbers are shrinking. In communities across the country, a movement has sprouted up aimed at helping the local fishing industry create markets that deliver higher prices to fishermen for the fish they can catch. Read the article here 19:26

Where do local fish come from? UNH says Red’s Best

Red’s Best is a Boston-based fish processor which caters to several fishermen fishing in the Gulf of Maine. For the pilot program, UNH Dining will be purchasing seafood from Red’s Best due to their capability of meeting the demands of the university and their support of NH fishermen through the Yankee Fishermen’s Cooperative.  Read more here 09:03