Longstanding fishermen lose appeal to Public Pier Corp.

Alex Darus
Banner Staff
Leo Rose, a Truro resident, has been fishing on MacMillan Pier for 17 years in Provincetown.

PROVINCETOWN — The Provincetown Public Pier Corporation directors have stuck with their decision to move two commercial fishermen from their long-standing spots on MacMillan Pier, despite appeals from both men.

During a May 28 meeting via conference call, fishermen Leo Rose and John Brown appealed reclassifications made at the beginning of May.

“These guys have been here for 17 years,” said Chris LaMarco, Rose’s colleague, who spoke for him because Rose said he was “too emotional.” “And all the sudden in the middle of COVID-19 we’re changing his classification. We’re changing his rate probably to a point where he’ll no longer be able to be in business.”

Rose, who fishes for tuna, had been given a letter on May 12, notifying him that he was being reclassified as a limited commercial fisherman, according to LaMarco. That meant that his dockage fees were doubling. Additionally, those with the commercial fishermen status are the first to be leased the space at the floating docks, according to the town harbor regulations. LaMarco and Rose believed that was wrong considering Rose does sell his fish commercially.

“When he takes his boat out, he’s not really taking it out to do anything else but fish tuna,” LaMarco said.

The pier corporation, with a five-member board of directors, is under a memorandum of agreement with the town of Provincetown to manage, operate and maintain the town pier. The pier, located in the center of town, is vital to the town's economic well-being because it supports both the tourism industry, such as being a hub for passenger ferries and whale watch boats, and also the commercial fishing industry, according to the agreement. Also, to the extent possible, the pier corporation is to maintain and operate the pier with the revenues from pier operations.

The subcommittee that reviews the applications, composed of Pier Corp. board members LeRoy “Scott” Fraser and Carlos Verde, determined that because last year Rose only took his boat out about 20 times a season and only had four fish landings for his tuna, that he didn’t classify as commercial. Other commercial fishermen on the docks report between 40 to 70 landings, Fraser said.

A commercial fishermen is described as someone who possesses a valid commercial fishing license, owns or leases a “small-boat commercial fishing vessel” and spends the “major portion of their annual working time fishing/working said license,” according to the regulations.

“It would seem to me that you were occupying a place at the dock which could be occupied by a full-time commercial fisherman,” Fraser said.

Additionally, Fraser didn’t believe it was fair for Rose to receive the discounts associated with full-time commercial fishermen, and assured him that he’d still have access to dockage at the pier with limited status.

“It seems to me that’s a fairer thing than to deprive a young fisherman who is trying to support their family by fishing commercially year round,” Fraser said.

However, LaMarco felt that Rose was being discriminated against for his age, and cited the board members’ references to “young fishermen.” But the board members did not agree.

“This is not discrimination in any way. I kind of take offense that you’re just throwing that word around,” Verde said, referencing his longtime experience fishing in town. “I know what a true commercial fisherman is and I certainly know what one isn’t.”

Brown, who has also been on the pier as a commercial fisherman since 2003 and was born and raised in Provincetown, was represented by his wife, Fran Coco, and was also appealing for the same classification. Coco explained that it’s difficult for her husband to bring in a lot of fish, as he typically fishes for bass, which are harder to catch in recent years.

Additionally, there are restrictions on fishing striped bass, such as limits on the number of fish someone is allowed to catch per day and how many weeks they can fish. And because of the coronavirus, the timing was not ideal for the increase in dockage fees associated with the status change.

“It just seems like the worst time to do this,” Coco said. “The bottom just fell out of the seafood market.”

However, because of the information presented in Brown’s application, the board stuck with their classification.

“The level of activity did not appear to be consistent with the definition in the harbor regulation of someone who is spending a major portion of their annual working time,” Fraser said.

The board is working to revise vague language in the harbor regulations but at the request of local fishermen, the public hearing on that is postponed until it can be held in person. And because of issues with classifications in the past, the corporation is trying to make corrections based on their interpretation of the current regulations available.

“They should've been right from the beginning," Verde said. "We’re trying to hit the reset."