The unrelenting winds from the northeast continue to pummel the Outer Cape, and the prediction is for them to continue throughout this week. With these northeast winds come cooler than […]
Fisheries
SHELLFISHING
Summertime: Could the Clamming Be Easy?
Provincetown’s clam flats could be a year-round resource
PROVINCETOWN — Last Nov. 14, a Sunday, a record was set here: 200 people went clamming on one day. “Never have 200 people gotten together and dug clams in Provincetown […]
THE SCUTTLEBUTT
Visit to a Small ‘Drowned’ Island
On Anegada, conch fishing recalls a simpler time
The cold spring weather continues to put the fishing season on hold. Flounder are beginning to bite off the Pamet, and a few tautog are being taken around rock piles, […]
THE SCUTTLEBUTT
Stop and Smell the Plankton
Of cold water, sea lice, early birds, and a few new rules
The weather this past week — the temperatures remained cooler than usual and the winds howled — was not conducive to an improvement in fishing. With the water temperature in […]
THE SCUTTLEBUTT
Dolphins and Cruise Ships Find Our Hidden Harbors
Notes on playing safely as the season begins
Not much to report on the fishing front, as the water is still a bit too chilled to get things percolating. Striped bass continue their slow, deliberate trek to the […]
THE SCUTTLEBUTT
Painting Hulls, Tuning Up Engines, and Sharpening Our Hooks
Will the joys of fishing with smaller groups and more space on boats last?
Another season on the water is soon upon us and, with a little luck, we may not have Covid issues dramatically affecting everything we do. Still, the last two seasons […]
ECONOMY
E.U. Markets Reopen to Outer Cape’s Shellfish
The benefit to local growers will come slowly
WELLFLEET — Shellfish from Outer Cape Cod may soon make its way to Europe again after a 12-year hiatus. What that means for local growers is not yet clear, but so […]
ECOLOGY
Snackdown: River Herring Versus Stripers and Snappers
Studies show that manmade structures funnel herring into predators’ mouths
WELLFLEET — In the summer, alewives and bluebacks — two species of herring that in spring migrate from the coastal marshes here to the Herring River’s kettle ponds — stay in […]
PILGRIM NUCLEAR
Fishing Community Raises Alarm on Radioactive Water
Releases into Cape Cod Bay began as early as 2011, NRC documents show
PLYMOUTH — The Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station had slowly drifted out of the public’s consciousness in the years since the troubled reactor’s final shutdown in 2019. But the region’s residents […]
FISHERIES
Judge Rules Against Gloucester Clammer ‘Monte’ Rome
Questions about enforcement of hydraulic dredging rules remain
PROVINCETOWN — A Barnstable Superior Court judge last month ordered the North Shore owner of a 70-foot sea clam boat to pay $7,500 in docking fees and obtain a permit […]
STATE OF THE HARBOR
Shellfish Propagation Strategies Reap Promising Results
Insights from research on how to keep clams ‘happy’ and where oysters might grow
WELLFLEET — Sometime in June, a fleet of pickup trucks rumbled into the Dunkin’ Donuts parking lot and met for a handoff. Their drivers were “not making a drug deal,” […]
THE DREDGE REPORT
Shellfishermen, Scientists Study Wellfleet’s Goo
‘Black custard’ isn’t toxic, but it can be perilous
WELLFLEET — Chopper Young was working on his oyster grant one day when a shrill note pierced Chipman’s Cove. Stranded in the mucky tidal flats was a woman in a kayak. […]
WHARFINGERS
The Lagasses’ Marina Deal Required a Harbor Walk by 2019
Pier Corp. board members question using public money to help get it built
PROVINCETOWN — When Chuck and Ann Lagasse bought Fisherman’s Wharf in 2016, the Chapter 91 license they secured from the state required them to construct a harbor walk on the […]
THE SCUTTLEBUTT
When East Winds Pummel Our Harbor
It’s time for those who have boats to rethink readiness
The Provincetown waterfront once again took a severe beating from a coastal storm which, other than Hurricane Bob, was probably as intense as any coastal storm we’ve experienced in recent […]
THE DREDGE REPORT
Race to Rescue Oysters From Dredge’s Path
Silt would put Chipman’s Cove’s ‘tremendous’ oyster crop at risk
WELLFLEET — When the dense sea lettuce in Chipman’s Cove cleared up a few weeks ago, Nancy Civetta and Johnny “Clam” Mankevetch of the Wellfleet Shellfish Dept. strolled through at […]
