Dave Marciano sold his federal groundfishing permit earlier this year — putting him on the outside of a way of life that had given him the chance to work for himself, something that looked pretty darn good to "a guy with a high school diploma."
Born and raised in Beverly, Marciano fished from an early age.
"I always liked fishing with rod and reel, started working on party boats as a kid," he said.
He was only 9, in fact, when the mate didn't show up and he filled in.
"I moved to the party boats in Gloucester, worked as a deck hand for eight to 10 years, and bought my own boat in 1993," he recalled.
Marciano, 45, said the extremely low allocations of fish, imposed to achieve full recovery of overfished stocks by a 10-year deadline, left him the option of buying another permit or selling the one he had.
But permits he found to buy were going for $250,000.
"If your home is not paid for, and the boat's not paid for and the kids' education is not paid for ...," he said, his voice trailing off. "That's out of my league. If I bought, I'd be servicing debt for the rest of my life."
Instead, Marciano said he would sit and watch how the fishing season plays out under the new catch share system.
"I'm going to sink some money into the boat, then put a 'For Sale' sign on it, and dabble with tuna and lobstering this summer and see what happens," he said.
Marciano said the only good thing is he will have some time for his three kids, with one ready for college.
"It crushes me to walk away," Marciano said.
Richard Gaines can be reached at 978-283-7000 x3464, or rgaines@gloucestertimes.com.
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