Gloucester's 'Riskiest Catch' cod fleet at it again

The 88-foot offshore Maine dragger Aaron & Melissa II steamed over Middlebank the morning after New Year's Day to offload in Gloucester.

"It was snowing, the wind was blowing 35 mph (out of the north-northwest), and the waves must have been 10-feet high," said the Aaron & Melissa's captain, Glenn McIntyre of Harpswell, Maine.

"We were washing the deck on this (taking on water through the scuppers), and they were outbound," he said. "I just shook my head."

The Berring Sea might have its "Deadliest Catch" crab fleet, but Gloucester certainly has its winter and spring "Riskiest Catch" cod fleet of about 15 to 20 gillnetters, ranging from 31 to 45 feet long.

They've been heading to sea just about every day regardless of the weather for the past few years for their 800-pound daily cod limits during Middlebank's Dec. 1 to April 30 opening.

This year is no exception — as already witnessed by McIntyre.

"When you put it to scale (the size of our boats compared to the crab fleet's much larger vessels), we go out in worse weather than them," said Pete Shoares, a crewman on one of those gillnetters, the 35-foot Gillian Anne.

Years of fishing experience have shown McIntyre that "the boat is as tough as the man behind the wheel."

"If you want to go, you will," he said. "There is always someone out there fishing."

Although the weather hasn't been kind to the Gloucester gillnet fishermen so far this winter, they have some advantages over other harvesters, and these men have their reasons, including a new one this season, for fishing in hard weather.

From Dec. 5 on, winter has really been winter for a change, giving repeated easterlies and hard northwesterlies along with rain, snow and cold.

"The weather this December was much worse than last December," said Mike Flaherty, a crewman on the 44-foot S.S. Melon III.

Capt. B.G. Brown, owner of the 31-foot gillnetter Kathryn Leigh, added, "Instead of getting 15 to 20 mph forecasts this year, we have been getting 20 to 25 mph or greater forecasts."

The weather during a pre-Christmas Day trip really challenged Brown and his crewman, Charlie Williams, on the ride home from Middlebank.

"The wind was only blowing 25 (mph out of the west-northwest) while we were hauling (the gillnets on Middlebank)," Brown recalled. "But on the way home, it just picked up. It was a steady 36 (mph) with gusts up to 46.

"If anything, the wind helped. It blew the tops off of the waves," he said. "We headed right into it (the wind and waves). We took a few waves over the bow. If I hadn't put in my Lexan (safety glass) windows last summer, we would have been in trouble," he added, suggesting the 6 to 10-foot high waves would have probably punched out the pilothouse windows.

The Kathryn Leigh's homebound trip normally takes around an hour and a half; it took the 31-footer more than three hours that morning.

"That was the worst that I've been out in this boat," Brown said.

Brown, like many of his peers, has fished offshore and weathered many storms there.

They know the feel of their boats and when to throttle back and even throttle ahead their engines in rough conditions.

"You have to be careful," said Mark Byard, the owner and captain of the S.S. Melon III.

Many in the riskiest catch cod fleet prefer going out in a northwest wind.

"It's more of a fair ride down; you do your thing (haul the gear) and then pound home," Brown explained.

His father, Capt. Billy Brown, believes the southeast wind is about the worst to work off Gloucester. "You take such a beating getting there (and then to have to haul your gear tired out), but you have a fair ride in," he said.

Strong easterly and southerly component winds usually create high-amplitude, long-period waves on Middlebank off Gloucester, while strong westerlies and northwesterlies often produce short chops, sometimes 10-feet high. The tide going into the waves only steepens them.

Several factors not only allow the gillnet fishermen to fish in extreme weather but also to frequently make quick dock-to-dock trips that often last less than six hours.

First, their cod have already been caught in their nets by the time they arrive on the fishing grounds, which is usually around daybreak. Their cod harvesting also involves neither baiting hooks nor dragging heavy bottom gear, but first just mechanically hauling up strings of gillnets from the bottom and picking out the fish from the netting and then re-setting the gillnets for tomorrow's cod.

In addition, the gillnetters' fishing grounds are within 20 miles of Gloucester where they often work closely together. Most of their vessels' hulls are made out of seamless fiberglass, and their wheelhouses have good windows.

Why do these men fish hard?

"The money," said Byard. "Prices have been better because of the weather.

Cod boat prices have topped $3 per pound compared to $1 to $2 per pound earlier last year.

Also, "It's (going out in the severe weather) the last challenge (left in the groundfishery)," explained Billy Brown. The regulations for most finfish have eliminated going out and coming back with the biggest catch in the quickest time.

The last reason popped up this season because of the upcoming sector and common pool management.

"We all see the end in sight (groundfishing under days at sea management)," said Brown.

"This is really the last hurrah," his son added. "We will never be able to do this again."

Peter K. Prybot writes weekly for the Times about the fishing industry and related issues.

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