Fishing on Docks and Floats Reinstated But With Limits

Harbors and Waters Board members endorsed town Harbormaster Webb Russell's recommendation on Monday to reopen docks and floats to fishing but with limitations.

One limitation at the popular Commercial Street docks is the portion where people can fish. The section open to fishing is the 80-foot leg to the left when you walk to the end of the L-shaped docks.

Signs will be posted, and fishing permits required, as well as life jackets for children 12 and under. People will be required to keep the areas clean and must refrain from using generators.

Board members met Monday at the Harbormasters' Quarters on Ferry Lane where a standing room audience weighed in on the ban the board imposed at their Aug. 5 meeting, prohibiting fishing from town docks and floats until at least Sept. 9.

The ban came after members of the public and board members said the docks were teeming with people fishing for squid, the crowded conditions putting children's safety at risk and making it hard for commercial fishermen to dock and load and unload as well as raising sanitation concerns.

Many of the people fishing for squid were from out of town and of Cambodian descent, and some critics of the ban, including Michael Bourne, said it gave the impression that the town was acting in an exclusionary manner.

Some in the audience Monday, including Paul McCauley, said the board acted appropriately with its Aug. 5 fishing prohibition. Supporters said the situation had become progressively worse, calling it chaotic and needing an immediate response. 

They said the crowding resulted in parking problems and docks and boats discolored from the ink squid eject when threatened.

Others said the board acted rashly on Aug. 5, calling the action a shotgun approach that punished everyone when a more measured approach was in order.

Furthermore, some critics of the decision said they had been to the docks fishing and did not witness access or sanitation problems.

Board member Jay Michaud said he reluctantly supported the ban as a stop-gap measure to prevent a possible tragedy.

"We do not want to pick up the body of a 9-year-old child who fell off the dock," he said. 

The board member said he had heard from the members of the public about the overcrowding and had witnessed it himself, as a commerical fisherman who is at the Commercial Street location seven days a week.

The board also voted to place life rings at fishing locations, flotation objects that can be tossed to a person in distress in the water.

A port-a-potty will be placed by the fishing docks, presumably at Commercial Street.

Signs will be posted with regulations at Commercial, Cliff Street, Parkers Boatyard, Tuckers Wharf, State Street South and North and Village Street.