I took these photos in early September. That’s New Bedford on the far side of the Acushnet River; I was standing on the Fairhaven side of the hurricane barrier. Acushnet was also the whaleship name in Moby Dick.
Note the Portuguese name: Sao Paulo, built 1977
A member of the crew looks homeward.
Mary K, built 1990, and registered
in Woods Hole.
Megan Marie, built 1980, is registered in
Montauk. If you want to watch fish boats, the hurricane barrier is a good spot.
Sao Jacinto, 1977, and registered n New Bedford. And following them out, it’s
Jim Dandy, 1977, of So. Dartmouth.
Direction, Westport, MA.
Michigan, Fairhaven, 1947.
Nicole Danielle, Atlantic City, NJ.
Whitewater, Marathon FL!
Here are four vessels of the Eastern Fisheries fleet.
There are two boats by this name in New Bedford, as is
true of this one.
The registration on the stern says “New Bedford.”
The density of boats on the docks makes credible that this port is rated #1 in the US for catch value, and has been for the past decade and a half.
Check out Cape May NJ and Lowland, NC.
All photos taken over a two-day period around the mouth of the Acushnet by Will Van Dorp.
Someone more informed than me could identify what fishery each of these vessels engages in.
5 comments
Comments feed for this article
November 13, 2015 at 12:41 pm
Les Sonnenmark
I’ve never seen so many fishing boats without a trailing flock of birds. Are they so well fed that they don’t need to follow the boats? Many years ago I worked on fishing boats out of Fall River and we felt like we were in Hitchcock’s “The Birds”.
November 13, 2015 at 1:18 pm
William Lafferty
The Michigan had an interesting start in life. I’m pleased it’s still around. It was launched 7 December 1947 at Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, (christened by local high school drum majorette Sally Fairchild!) as the Sirius Star for Sirius Star, Inc., Boston, by the Sturgeon Bay Shipbuilding & Drydock Company, its hull number 218. SBSB&DDCo had developed a post-war niche in constructing trawlers for East Coast interests, and this was the yard’s fourth. Because of the difficulty in acquiring components for the vessel in the post-war, pre-Korean War economy, especially its gen sets, the yard couldn’t deliver the boat by the time specified, and, to make a long legal story short, the bank financing the building pulled that financing. It had (has?) an Enterprise 8-cylinder DG series Diesel, 550-bhp. The boat reverted to the yard, controlled by Captain John Roen, noted Great Lakes tug operator, and he established the Charlevoix Transit Company at Detroit to operate the boat, which he renamed Michigan, out of Boston. Charlevoix, Michigan, was where Roen began his maritime career in earnest. In 1963 Roen and his yard would build his own trawler, the Sturgeon Bay, to operate out of Boston. As Provider, it still works in Alaskan waters.
November 13, 2015 at 1:50 pm
sfdi1947
Talking fisheries and fisherman, check out the commercial about the ‘Fight with the monster. May go see “Heart of the Sea” Sat. or might wait for DVD.
Great Thanksgiving to all and to all the Men and Women at sea working to feed their families.
Remembering our friends on El Faro lost in Hurricane Jacques, thinking about their families this Holiday Season, links to a Gofundme site on the SIU.org site.
November 13, 2015 at 3:28 pm
Tony A
The Michigan is what is known as a scalloper, she drags the bottom with two dredges that scoop up and capture the scallops. You will see two rust and wear marks on each side of the hull from the dredges coming up. They have large crews because of the need for shuckers. The Megan Marie and vessel like her are known oficialy as stern trawler, sometimes called draggers. They drag an otter trawl net behind them which rides over the bottom. You can ID them by the stern door, large net reels and the doors, which serve to separate the mouth of the net. The generally run with crews of 4 to 5 men. They typically take: cod, hake, haddock, flounder, fluke, lobsters and any other groundfish they catch.
November 14, 2015 at 7:34 am
Richie Clams
Great variety of boats here, Will. The MARY K, MEGAN MARIE, and SAN JACINTO are draggers. They target groundfish (Haddock, Hake, Pollock, Monkfish, Skate, various Flounders, etc.) FV SAO PAULO is dual permitted. Here she’s rigged for groundfishing. She primarily is a scalloper however. When scalloping, they will swap out the net, for a scallop dredge. FV JIM DANDY is a lobster boat. FV DIRECTION is an offshore lobsterboat. She makes her sets on Georges Bank. She’s a “highliner”, meaning she’s one of the top money makers in the fishery. FV NICOLE DANIELLE is a clam dredge. FV WHITE WATER is a longliner targeting swordfish and tuna. She is one of only a handful of U.S. longliners left that still go out to the famed Grand Banks. FVs DISCOVERY, EDGARTOWN, and LIBERTY are scallopers. FV DISCOVERY is an “eastern rig” (wheelhouse aft).