gloucester times article and public hearing

[MSilvia]

Yes, if the pols support the lobstermen, they get reelected. If they support the divers they don't. Pretty simple really.

Although it seems to be the lobstermen who are primarily interested in having this rule enforced, I think there are a lot of Gloucester residents who would be happy to have rules that dissuade divers in place too. Fewer divers means a more pristine view of beaches, less competition for parking, less noise in the evening, fewer people changing on the streets, peeing in the bushes, etc.

 

[Vtdiver2]

Although it seems to be the lobstermen who are primarily interested in having this rule enforced, I think there are a lot of Gloucester residents who would be happy to have rules that dissuade divers in place too. Fewer divers means a more pristine view of beaches, less competition for parking, less noise in the evening, fewer people changing on the streets, peeing in the bushes, etc.

That's funny, the Gloucester residents have never had any problem taking my money at the restaurants and hotels I stay at when I come to go diving.......when we drive down from VT, there are normally 6-10 of us and we'll each drop $300-$500 depending on what we do (charters, dinners etc) into the local economy. And we are just one group. Divers must account for a significant portion of the tourist industry, why would they want to run us off? Seems foolish to me.
Seems like the smarter thing to do is market themselves the way the Keys do, as a dive destination, encourage the divers to come, and use the money generated to install public bathrooms/changing stalls, and shuttles to get Divers from public parking lots to the dive locations. I honestly believe they would boost their economy tremendously.
Sadly, we all know that won't happen.
C-Dawg

 

[matt_unique]

I think part of the problem is just what you described, we inject tourism dollars into their community and perhaps it is not well known. I dive nearly every weekend (in the winter) in Cape Ann and have lunch/drinks after. We spend $90 every weekend between 3 of us getting lunch. We can't be the only 3 doing this and I'm sure the restaurants we use appreciate the fact that we're there, particularly in the winter.

Is there any info on additional public hearings? Or is it all done?

--Matt

 

[MSilvia]

Divers must account for a significant portion of the tourist industry, why would they want to run us off? Seems foolish to me.

It's not the local business owners (lobstermen aside) that I'm referring to, so much as the affluent waterfront homeowners.

Seems like the smarter thing to do is market themselves the way the Keys do, as a dive destination, encourage the divers to come, and use the money generated to install public bathrooms/changing stalls, and shuttles to get Divers from public parking lots to the dive locations. I honestly believe they would boost their economy tremendously.

It might be a boost to the land-based economy, but Gloucester has been a fishing town since the first settlement there. Fishing is the life-blood of Gloucester, and to the extent that divers are percieved as an inconvenience to fishing vessels (like lobster boats), becoming a dive destination is not necessarily something the fishery-oriented town would embrace, even if it means a few more dollars spent at local restaurants and hotels.

 

[Mr.X]

From what I can ascertain it's politics as usual. It would be interesting to see who sits on the legislative board. Additionally, property owners have never truly fancied anyone enjoying adjacent, or public beach property. Sounds like incremental legislation hidden behind a mask. I will also assume that it's a first stab at enacting legislation that would exclude rec. lobstering, reserving space etc.

A contentious meeting would be interesting to attend. Seems there are a lot of them in Gloucester.

My personal feelings about American lobsters is: fun critters with unique personalities. I had a rescue lobster which I took care of for 3 years. He now resides at the NE Aquarium.

X

 

[SteveAD]

That's funny, the Gloucester residents have never had any problem taking my money at the restaurants and hotels I stay at when I come to go diving.......when we drive down from VT, there are normally 6-10 of us and we'll each drop $300-$500 depending on what we do (charters, dinners etc) into the local economy. And we are just one group. Divers must account for a significant portion of the tourist industry, why would they want to run us off? Seems foolish to me.
Seems like the smarter thing to do is market themselves the way the Keys do, as a dive destination, encourage the divers to come, and use the money generated to install public bathrooms/changing stalls, and shuttles to get Divers from public parking lots to the dive locations. I honestly believe they would boost their economy tremendously.
Sadly, we all know that won't happen.
C-Dawg

The problem is that we're not wearing scuba gear while supporting the land based economy, so while we're "@$%* divers" on the beach, we're "nice tourists" in the restaurant. we should try to make it a point to always identify ourselves as divers. I almost always wear my drysuit undies into dunkins Particularly in the winter.

 

[Mr.X]

The problem is that we're not wearing scuba gear while supporting the land based economy, so while we're "@$%* divers" on the beach, we're "nice tourists" in the restaurant. we should try to make it a point to always identify ourselves as divers. I almost always wear my drysuit undies into dunkins Particularly in the winter.

That's funny and smart. Divers should wear their dive thermals while shopping at Bearskin Neck, into the galleries, clothiers etc.!!!

 

[Vtdiver2]

The problem is that we're not wearing scuba gear while supporting the land based economy, so while we're "@$%* divers" on the beach, we're "nice tourists" in the restaurant. we should try to make it a point to always identify ourselves as divers. I almost always wear my drysuit undies into dunkins Particularly in the winter.

When on dive trips such as that, I almost always wear a dive t-shirt or polo shirt with a diving logo, just to identify myself as a diver when I go out on the town. I've met a lot of other divers that way, and we get to discuss where we've been and where we'd recommend going. Letting the locals know who's supporting their economy is just another good reason.
C-Dawg

 

[johlar]

From what I've been told the lobsters captured by divers in MA represents 1% of the total annual catch. We are not impacting the catch in such a way as to cause all this aggravation. It would not surprise me if the total catch is down combined with increased operating costs is the real cause for the bickering.

I've also been told that Rockport at one time was very aggressive in making it unpleasant for divers...so much so that it caused a negative impact to the towns economy, end result was a relaxation of the enforcements.

Why is it that commercial fishermen are not complaining about the weekend boater out there catching all those fish and impacting their catch.

I relatively new to the sport (5 years) but I've never seen a diver touch a lobster trap. For me taking lobster out of a trap would spoil the fun.

Just one old farts comments!!

 

[ScubaNorth]

I feel for the guys that make a living fishing for anything at all. We are not the problem just one of the many problems they encounter. It is easy to rally against divers as some of us do tend to be intrusive. I try to be humble around the locals when I would rather slap them upside the head. I hope that cooler heads prevail in this whole deal. We really do need an formal org to speak for us and help with these issues. The problem is after buying all the fancy new gear and such we have no money left over for dues.