Fred Bennett has been a fisherman for about 60 years and he just stared, perplexed, at a graph supposedly showing a halibut, tagged to track its progress, moving in the water column. He shook his head in consternation and looked at fellow captain Mike Anderson who has spent more than 40 years on the water. How is that possible? Bennett wondered. Anderson was laughing. It’s not, he said – unless the st...

CHATHAM – The central portion of the iconic house at the corner of Shore Road and Seaview Street will be saved from the wrecking ball. Peter Polhemus of Polhemus Savery DaSilva Builders Architects told the historical commission last week that the firm has been working “quite intensely” with owners Ronald and Ann Cami on a design that will incorporate the original 1927-section of the building at 233 Seaview St....

What convinced Angela Sanfilippo, president of the Gloucester Fishermen's Wives Association, that filmmaker David Wittkower could tell the story of the decline of the New England commercial fishing industry was that he wanted to interview fishermen and let them speak in their own voice. “That never happened,” she said. In most stories in the media about the industry, fishermen's words “are always twisted,” she...

CHATHAM – A plastic barrier system is being eyed to protect against flooding and perhaps combat erosion in the Little Beach neighborhood. Last Thursday representatives of Muscle Wall were at Outermost Harbor Marine to demonstrate possible uses of the four-foot-high polyethylene structures, which can be linked together to form a continuous wall. “We refer to it as giant Legos,” said Chaz Housley, general man...

CHATHAM — For many seasonal residents, this is the weekend for cleaning up, packing up and heading south for the winter. But before they go, members of the town’s summer residents’ advisory committee gave their annual report to selectmen Monday, staking out positions on a number of key issues facing the town. Committee Chairman Colette Trailor said her group and its subcommittees received detailed informatio...

CHATHAM — On Aug. 18, the environmental education group Ocean Protection Advocacy Kids, or OPAK, led a small group of ocean advocates on a marsh scavenger hunt through the Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge. After getting an introduction from refuge staff, participants set out into the field with a guide. Students learned how to use a seine net for population studies, and how to use water quality testing kits ...

CHATHAM – A plastic barrier system is being eyed to protect against flooding and perhaps combat erosion in the Little Beach neighborhood. Last Thursday representatives of Muscle Wall were at Outermost Harbor Marine to demonstrate possible uses of the four-foot-high polyethylene structures, which can be linked together to form a continuous wall. “We refer to it as giant Legos,” said Chaz Housley, general man...

CHATHAM — If this summer’s humidity has you down, you’re not alone. Last weekend, the span of the Mitchell River drawbridge was kept in the lowered position because of continued problems related to swelling of bridge timbers during humid weather. Crews made the latest round of stopgap repairs Monday, and are hopeful that the $14 million bridge will remain operational until more extensive repairs can be made ...

CHATHAM – After a flurry of last-minute bidding, this year's Sharks in the Park online auction netted a total of $72,004, topping the $62,461 raised last year by more than 15 percent. The top shark went for $5,000, the highest ever, and nine went for more than $2,000. “It's definitely an all-time high,” organizer Janice Rogers said of the auction total. Bidding on the 60 shark sculptures, which have been...

CHATHAM — Once logistical details are worked out, crews will begin widening and deepening a critical channel providing access to Chatham Harbor, despite threats of a lawsuit from a shorefront property owner. In a special meeting last Wednesday, the board of selectmen authorized the county dredge to conduct the work, and a necessary permit was received from state officials later in the week. Together with the...

CHATHAM – Before her family boarded a charter boat for a day of fishing last Wednesday, 17-year-old Beth Fineberg rinsed her hands in the water off the float at the Ryder's Cove town landing. She'd seen seals swimming about 20 feet out and thought nothing of it. Then she felt a sharp pain in her hands. “It came up from under me and bit a couple of fingers,” she said. She immediately pulled her hands away from ...

CHATHAM – South Chatham residents will be happy to learn that they'll soon no longer have to worry about stains from high iron levels in water pumped from a town well in their neighborhood. In September, water from well number seven will begin flowing through the town's new water treatment plant, a $10 million facility designed to remove high levels of iron and manganese from drinking water. Currently, the pla...