Commonwealth Conversations: The Great Outdoors

Seafood Throwdown: All About Lobster

Mary Griffin
Commissioner, Department of Fish and Game (DFG)
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Scott J. Soares

Commissioner, Department of Agricultural Resources

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This October we celebrated locally-caught, fresh seafood that supports Massachusetts fishing communities by participating in the Boston Local Food Festival’s Annual Seafood Throwdown. 

We served as judges, rating the seafood cooking skills of celebrity chefs, Christian Collins and Derrick Prince during a “Seafood Throwdown” and lobster fisherman Captain Steve Holler provided the “mystery fresh catch of the day” for the contest – which was lobster! 

Contest rules were simple: chefs were given $25 and 15 minutes to shop the festival’s farmers markets and stalls for fresh ingredients and prepare the lobster. It certainly wasn’t our worst job assignment to taste test the two delicious dishes prepared by the chefs – a grilled lobster salad and a lobster dish served on top of pureed potatoes with other vegetables. Congratulations to Derrick Prince for coming out on top!

During the event we announced the first commercial lobstermen to become certified under the Commonwealth Quality Program (CQP), an exclusive state label program that identifies Massachusetts agricultural and seafood products that are produced, harvested and processed responsibly. Consumers who purchase products from a CQP-certified lobsterman can be sure that they are getting a high-quality product, fished from Massachusetts waters, using approved practices for harvesting and handling.

Dave Casoni, secretary of the Massachusetts Lobstermen's Association and Beth Casoni, the Association’s associate director, helped kick off the launch. Captain Holler, who is captain of the November Gale and a CQP-certified lobsterman, brought his boat and fresh, live lobsters for sale to the event.

The event highlighted the work by the Northwest Atlantic Marine Alliance and the Gloucester Fishermen’s Wives Association to support small-scale fishermen and fishing communities and the development of local seafood markets. 

Lobster landings continue to be plentiful this time of year, and consumers should know the fall is an excellent time to get a quality lobster at a reasonable price.  Bon appétit!   

Information about lobster fishing.

Fishing and crabbing offer multiple rewards

Bob Greco

Chief of Staff, Department of Fish & Game (DFG)

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My annual summer vacation with a large group of friends and our families on Martha’s Vineyard allows time for a number of outdoor activities such as hiking, bicycling, beachcombing, kayaking and two time-honored favorites—fishing and crabbing. Our large group has made it a tradition to take the kids crabbing and fishing for staples such as scup and fluke (summer flounder) at least once during our week away.

This year we had some success fishing in the early evening for scup and fluke at State Beach in Oak Bluffs. Pictured is a five year-old girl catching her first ever fluke. Her father cast out the line but she was able to hook and land the fish without any help; a real thrill for her, her parents, and the entire group of us who were watching.

  
The fishing for scup and fluke was even better on another day at a jetty in Menemsha. Fishing with bait where there is moving water at an inlet to a salt pond, harbor, or river, or from a jetty or pier, usually provides consistent action for scup and sometimes other species such as fluke, sea bass, striped bass, and bluefish. This type of fishing is great to keep children interested.

When crabbing, you can use leftover squid from a fishing trip, other fish, or chicken parts for bait. Tackle shops in coastal areas usually sell simple traps for crabbing or you can rig a hand line with a safety pin on the end to hold your bait. You do not hook the crab; usually you can see or feel the crab pulling at the bait and then you pull it in slowly and use a dip net to catch the crab when pulling it out of the water.

Fishing and crabbing are a lot of fun and also help kids learn wildlife identification skills. My experience fishing and bird watching with kids leads me to believe that a child that views wildlife close up is much more likely to remember the name of the species and take an interest in learning more about it.   

 

Weekly outdoor events

Reginald Zimmerman

Assistant Press Secretary, Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA)

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With fall officially underway, there are a lot of great events to get you outside this season and connected with the environment!

Tonight, from 6:30 - 7:30 p.m. in Athol, biologists from MassWildlife will host a Wildlife Habitat Site Walk at Millers River at the Cass Meadow parcel of the Millers River Wildlife Management Area. Site walks are designed to provide an opportunity for interested conservation-minded citizens and landowners to observe habitat management operations that benefit different kinds of wildlife in special need of conservation.

This week kicked off the Eastern States Exposition, also known as The Big E, in West Springfield. Running through October 2, the Big E, the largest agricultural fair in the Northeast, features crafts, cooking demonstrations, concerts, and traditional fair events including a giant pumpkin and squash weigh off for kids, cheese and pie competitions and livestock competitions!

National Public Lands Day is this Saturday, September 24! National Public Lands Day is the largest hands-on volunteer effort to improve public lands in the nation. From 9 a.m. – 1 p.m., join the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) and the Waltham Land Trust at the Lyman Estate at 185 Lyman Street in Waltham to lend a hand on trail work on the Massachusetts Central Rail. Gloves, tools and refreshments will be provided.

Also on Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., The Friends of Myles Standish State Forest, the DCR and MassWildlife present the 5^th Annual Take Me Fishin' family event. Bring the whole family down to Myles Standish State Forest’s Fearing Pond for a fun day of fishing contests and nature activities. Fishing poles and bait will be provided, but feel free to bring your own. A Massachusetts fishing license is not required.

For more Massachusetts Outdoor Events, visit The Great Outdoors interactive Google Calendar.

From the Field: Bass Surveys—An Electrifying Experience

Marion Larson

Outreach Coordinator, MassWildlife

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Recently, I spent a fascinating day with MassWildlife fisheries biologists and technicians on Lake Congamond in Southwick. Our task was to collect information on bass in one of the most popular bodies of water for bass fishing in the state. For years, biologists from MassWildlife have been assessing the “bass demographics” of Lake Congamond.

So how does a fish biologist actually catch a sample of fish? A number of fish catching methods are available including the use of rods and reels or fish nets. It may sound bizarre, but the most efficient method is to use a specially equipped boat to shock the fish in the water with electricity. The current is delivered through cables dangling from the bow of the boat (see photo) and from two droppers of cables mounted on booms extending in front of the boat.

The amount of electricity used momentarily stuns all fish within a few feet of the boat, allowing time for biologists to net the immobilized fish and place them in a container on the boat known as a live well. Here is MassWildlife’s Leanda Fontaine netting for fish, with the boom and dropper dangling just in front of her net. The fish recover and right themselves within a minute, sometimes sooner and dart about in the live well. Another biologist scoops up fish in the live well, measures each fish’s length and gives that data to another person filling in a data sheet. Girth measurements of all fish over 150 millimeters are also recorded. The fish is then released back into the lake, unharmed by the experience. It’s a noisy operation due to the generator buzzing away for the electric current. We wear ear plugs, rubber soled shoes and try hard to remember to keep our fingers out of the water!

I had my turn at the bow of the boat with another biologist. Wielding an 8-foot fiberglass pole (you don’t want to handle metal poles in electrically-charged water!) I successfully netted some good-size bass (over 450 mm) as well as a number of fingerlings. (Pictured above is MassWildlife’s Jim Lagacy with a large bass.) Due to my rookie skills some fish got away; other fish only caught the edge of the electrical field and went from belly-up to upright within a second or two and zipped out of reach. Among the fish caught or seen included alewives, killifish, sunfish, perch, bullheads, and even an eel was pulled in for a closer look. The lead fisheries biologist, Richard Hartley, was happy with our take—the bass were a good size and distribution and the schools of alewives we saw were evidence of a good food base for the bigger fish. Other bonuses for the day included sightings of a great blue heron, osprey and eald eagle!

Congamond Lakes pond map

Looking for other places to land a big bass or other fish? This web page will guide you to the waterbodies where multiple trophy fish have consistently been caught.

Best Bets for Fishing

Take your Food Shopping Outside!

Anna Waclawiczek

Chief of Staff, Department of Agricultural Resources (DAR)

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With the local harvest season well underway, now is the perfect time to take your shopping to the great outdoors and enjoy the bounty of Massachusetts farmers’ hard work.

A recent trip to Gloucester revealed a large and festive farmers’ market in Stage Fort Park overlooking Gloucester Harbor. 

With lots of room and over two dozen vendors or more setting up each week, the market offers a wide variety of farm and food products, including produce, fresh fish (right off the boat), two wineries, baked goods, honey, maple products, and mushrooms. Market vendors also include a wide variety of locally made specialty foods including pasta, soups, tarts, dips, prepared foods and more. Several artists from the Gloucester art community show their wares as well.

With weekly music, children’s activities, and community booths, one could easily spend an hour or more to take it all in. Bring a blanket and take your goodies down to the beach for an impromptu picnic after you shop. The park even has a small beach! The Cape Ann Farmers’ Market is located in Gloucester’s State Fort Park every Thursday, from 3:00 pm – 6:30 pm through October 13^th.

The Cape Ann Farmers’ Market is one of 245 markets up and running across the state this summer and fall.  Find a local market near you!

Weekly outdoor events

Tracey Workman

Multimedia Intern, Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs

View Tracey Workman's Bio

Take a trip to DCR’s Blue Hills Reservation this weekend and try something new by participating in DCR’s Houghton’s Pond Fish Festival. On Saturday, July 23 from 10 to 3 p.m. at Houghton’s Pond DCR rangers and instructors from MassWildlife will be teaching how to use fishing rods, how to land a fish (reeling it in, removing the hook, and letting it back into the water safely) and what kinds of hooks and bait are most commonly used in fishing.

You don’t need a Massachusetts fishing license to participate, and the program is free to the public. Equipment will also be provided, but is limited, so if you have your own, please bring it along! Crafts, games, and other fishy activities will also take place during the festival.

Check out more Massachusetts Outdoor Events on The Great Outdoors interactive Google Calendar.

5th annual Great Park Pursuit

Edward M. Lambert Jr.

Commissioner, Department of Conservation & Recreation (DCR)

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This year marks the 5th anniversary of the Department of Conservation and Recreation’s (DCR) Great Park Pursuit. As part of DCR’s No Child Left Inside initiative, The Great Park Pursuit 2011 encourages families to join together and travel across Massachusetts to visit state parks, forests, and reservations to discover how fun and exciting the outdoors can be.

The program starts on July 1and runs until September 10, ending with an afternoon celebration of outdoor fun and festivities, with chances to win prizes such as t-shirts and outdoor recreation packages.

During the ten-week program, families and teams will design their own “Personalized Park Pursuit.” To help teams determine where to go, and which state parks to visit, teams visit the DCR Calendar of Events homepage and select at least six Great Park Pursuit designated programs. These programs will be determined by an icon placed next to the description of the event or activity. At each event they attend, teams receive stickers for their Great Park Pursuit team game card, which organizes activities into categories (see below).

Activities include mountain biking through Cutler Park, which completes a “Nature Sport” category, or taking a wildlife safari through the Blue Hills Reservation, which completes a “Walk on the Wild Side” category. Other categories are “Wild about Water” and “Arts in the Parks.”

We encourage teams to chronicle their adventures on their own personalized homepage that they will receive after registering with the program. On this homepage, teams or families can upload photo albums from specific activities completed, write a blog entry on what they saw, experienced or felt on one of their adventures, and keep track of which categories of activities they have completed.

The Great Park Pursuit 2011 Registration

Sign up today. It’s the first step in getting outside to hike to magnificent views, learn to fish or canoe, discover the secrets of the coast, and view the wonders of the night sky!

    

 

Weekly outdoor events

Tracey Workman

Multimedia Intern, Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs

View Tracey Workman's Bio

Ever had the desire to learn how to fish? This Saturday, June 11 take your family on a trip to Spot Pond in Stoneham and join the Family Fishing Festival. Designed for all ages, learn about the ethics of fishing, different kinds of fish, fishing equipment, and how to cast a line.

You don’t need your own equipment, but if you already have it, bring it along! Let your curiosity guide you and get ready for a weekend of wet and wild fun. Meet at “Straw Point” at the corner of RTE. 28 and South St. at 9 a.m. The event will last until 1 p.m.

Check out more Massachusetts Outdoor Events on The Great Outdoors interactive Google Calendar.

Weekly outdoor events

Kate Samp

Multimedia intern, Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA)

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Don’t have a fishing license? No problem! This weekend only, June 4 and 5, anyone can fish in Massachusetts without a license.

On Sunday, MassWildlife hosts a family fishing festival on Horn Pond in Woburn.

Check out more Massachusetts Outdoor Events on The Great Outdoors interactive Google Calendar.

Get in to the Great Outdoors with Outdoorswomen!

Ellie Horwitz

Chief of Information & Education, MassWildlife

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On the first weekend in June, I invite any interested women to join me in Becket with other women who want to learn some great outdoor skills such as archery, bird watching, canoeing, Dutch-oven cooking, fly-fishing, kayaking, firearms shooting and much more. There are over 26 skill sessions from which you can choose four. We’ve illustrated some of the sessions from previous workshops, including a fly tying session that Department of Fish and Game Commissioner Mary Griffin attended one year.
 
It’s a laid-back, skills-learning experience where for three days you can try out new activities. You might even find a new hobby! The instructors are experts in their craft and in teaching beginners. There is no pressure, so you can just relax and enjoy the learning process.
 
I’ll be teaching outdoor cookery, Great Outdoors blogger Marion Larson will be leading a bird walk. Got a camera? You may want to try your hand at nature photography. There are lots of things to try - we’re sure you’ll find something you’d like and you’ll find an amazing group of people who love doing things outdoors! Register now before this popular session fills up. I look forward to seeing you in Becket!

Registration information (PDF)
 
Becoming an Outdoors-Woman (BOW) page