The Fishing Industry in Gloucester

The Fishing Industry in

Gloucester

Gloucester Massachusetts is known for its fishing industry. Over 1200 people’s jobs in Gloucester lay in the fishing industry. The fishing industry first derived when people from Europe came over looking for a better life. Gloucester is America’s oldest seaport, and now it is fighting to survive. Now with new rules, and diseases in the sea, the fishing industry will never be what it was decades ago.

One of the earliest settlements, Gloucester, Massachusetts, is famous for being America's oldest seaport and the cradle of the country's fishing industry. It was in 1606 when the French explorer, Samuel de Champlain sailed into what is now Gloucester Harbor and loved the beauty of the land, and of course, the many fish that laid in the water. Later, English Captain John Smith, following Champlain's earlier voyages, reached Gloucester. When he arrived here he also fell in love with the land but most of all the cod. He then went back to England and told people of the good news. People started arriving right away.( A History of the Federal Biological Fishing Industry)

In the early 1900s people from Italy started to arrive on ship. They first arrived in Detroit, Michigan and later immigrated to Gloucester, to fish like they did back in the old country. Children, as young as ten years old went fishing to make a living for their family. When they first came the fishing industry was booming. There was no limit to how long you could fish or how much you could catch. Many men went fishing for weeks at a time. When Italian fishermen came upon the Atlantic off what is now Cape Cod, the waters churned with schools of fish. When they came nearly 800 of them in Boston and Gloucester combined became fishermen. In New England, cod was king. Enriched by a West Indies trade of fish for molasses, boat owners were referred to as the "codfish aristocracy. Sadly in the late 1990s the fishing industry went downhill and changed for the worst. (<http://www.nefsc.noaa.gov/history/stories/groundfish/grndfsh1.html>.)

In the late 1990s fishermen were getting stressed and many of them turned in their boats. This is because the government made new rules and regulations for the fishing industry. These rules are supposed to help endangered fish, although some are not helping at all. The government allows small boat fishermen to catch only 500 pounds of cod per day and requires them to toss any extra overboard before they reach shore. The rule is supposed to protect the fish, but fishermen often can't help but catch too much cod as they scour the sea, meaning that every year more than three million pounds of fish are squandered in the name of saving the fishery. Fishermen say the government won't even let them donate their catch to charity. The fishermen were furious and wanted to rebel.( A History of the Federal Biological Fishing Industry)

On March 9, 1994, a group of angry fishermen tore through the Gloucester waterfront, tipping over cars and tossing fish off a truck. Two days later several hundred New Bedford fishermen made their way from Leonard's Wharf to the local federal building, throwing rocks and setting off the kind of orange smoke devices used to declare an emergency at sea. (<http://www.visitnewengland.com/current_category.77/current_advcategory.431/companies_list.html>.)

Up and down the New England coast that month, their were protests at every major fishing port. The reason? The council had finally decided to act, announcing not only the amount of fish they caught but, limits on the number of day’s fishermen would be allowed to go to sea. The fishermen were not only mad but they were heartbroken. They could no longer make that much of a living, doing their favorite thing. Many fishermen quit their jobs, while others would not even think about quitting their dream job and their life. The worst had yet to come though. In 2005 red tide hit Gloucester. (<http://www.nefsc.noaa.gov/history/stories/groundfish/grndfsh1.html>.)

In 2005 Gloucester experienced the worst algal bloom event in over 30 years. The red tide organism produces enough poison that is strong enough to kill people when consumed enough in quantity. This meant that a lot of the fish the fishermen were catching were infested with the red tide. During this period in time many fishermen didn’t even bother going fishing. The red tide organisms were so dense in the summer of 2005 and the shellfish so toxic that in some causes eating even a single mussel could have been fatal.( A History of the Federal Biological Fishing Industry)

Gloucester reported that 2005 was the worst year for the red tide organism. It started two weeks earlier than usual and there were higher levels of toxicity at some locations. Many beaches