The Life of a Fisherman, On the Small Screen: Gloucester's Famous TV Stars - NewBostonPost (2024)

By Diane Kilgore | June 22, 2018, 13:23 EDT

Printed from: https://newbostonpost.com/2018/06/22/the-life-of-a-fisherman-on-the-small-screen-gloucesters-famous-tv-stars/

Gloucester Captain Dave Marciano and first mate Joe Marciano aboard their boat Hard Merchandise hunt the tuna in National Geographic Channel’s television show ‘Wicked Tuna.’ Deckhand Angelica Marciano is hidden by Captain Dave. The series’ 100th episode airs this weekend. Photo courtesy of National Geographic Channel. (PFTV)

America’s oldest seaport, Gloucester, Massachusetts is 31 miles north of Boston. Settled in 1623 as an English colony, its charter predates both those of Salem and Boston (1626 and 1630, respectively).

Because it was deemed too rocky to sustain a farming village most early settlers abandoned Gloucester and moved to more fertile grounds nearby. The seaport’sidentity as a fishing community was realized in 1713 when the area was reestablished as an important destination for schooner building.

By the late 1800s word of Gloucester’s rocky beauty had sailed well beyond its coastline. A reputation for the salt air and soft light surrounding latitude 43 North drew an eclectic group of painters, writers, and sculptors of significance to the area. Winslow Homer, Rudyard Kipling, and Paul Manship (creator of the Prometheus sculpture at Rockefeller Center) with Isabella Stewart Gardner were a few of the many artists to find inspiration in the village where a vibrant art colony continues to thrive.

This 21st century city additionally boasts of robusteconomic diversity. It’s the home base of Gorton’s Seafoods, Varian Semiconductor Corporation, and the Ocean Alliance, an ocean-animalresearch centerfunded in part by actor Sir Patrick Stewart, Captain ofStar Trek‘s intergalactic star-fleet.

The lore of Gloucester’s brine also includesa colony of commercial fishermen. Some of those seafarers are featured onNational Geographic’s hit television seriesWickedTuna.New Boston Post caught up with Dave Marciano, captain of theHard Merchandise, for some behind-the-scenes dish about the show, to discuss why the popular series launches from Gloucester, and most importantly tounderstand how the endangered bluefin tuna population is protected from over-fishing.

Fifty-three-year-old Marciano ties the voyage ofWickedTunato theappeal of the filmThe Perfect Storm. The movie, released in 2000, stars George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg, andDiane Lane and tells the non-fictional tale of theAndrea Gail,a commercial fishing rig out of Gloucester, and her crew of six who were lost at sea in October 1991. Remembering the dramatic land and sea scapes of the area, a producer of thefilm developed atelevisionproject to snapshot the present-day lives ofcommercialfishermen and the dramatic scenery that surrounds them.

Charting his unlikely course from tuna captain totelevision celeb, Marciano said that about eight years ago Pilgrim Productions, apartner ofNational Geographic, set up a 10-day casting-camp at Gloucester’s Cape Ann Marina. On the hunt for characters, producers frequently heard “youshouldtalk to Marciano.” The tuna captain with thewicked Boston accent explained he wasn’t interesting in trying out for a TV adventure show because he was busy trying to make a living. Assured the TV gig would include asupplemental paycheck, Marciano agreed to make a 45-minute demo-reel ofreal life on one of the smallest, slowest, and oldestcommercialtuna boats around, theHard Merchandise.

Seven seasons laterWickedTunaiscelebrating its 100th episode of fishing for the biggest bluefin paycheck, on Sunday, June 24.Originally hoping to capture the imagination of anglers 25 to 45 years years old,Tunareeled in a wideraudiencethan anticipated. Marcianocredits the show’s physically and emotionally competitive spirit for landing male and female followers of all ages.

As this season concludes, crews of theFish Hawk,FV Tuna.com,Hot Tuna,Pinwheel, andWickedPissahcompete against theHard Merchandiseto harpoon “just a few more blues” before thelucrative, legal North Atlantic fishing season ends (around the first week of July).

Capturing the highlights and hardships of working fishermen andtheircommunities, theseries reaches and teaches beyondGloucester. It also serves as a source of information about an evolving industry that is heavily regulated in recognition of itsimportanceto our national and globalwellbeing.

In 1976 President Gerald Ford signed a bill passed by Congress to promote optimal exploitation of U.S. coastal fisheries, theMagnuson-Stevens FisheryConservation andManagement Act. Federal policies under the act are amended annually to establish sustainability quotas based onscientific research and to avoid overfishing.

Explaining the Act inpractical terms, Marciano said “overfishing” is a controversial, often emotionalized phrase. He said quotas are calculated annually by scientists using an equation thatfactorsin the total number of live fish in a species,their natural rate of birth and mortality, and the ratio ofpredator to prey. Once the bio-mass has been determined, the quota is set: in general, allowingfishermen to catch 20% of the estimated species population is considered sustainable fishing. If at the end of the legal fishing season the combined catch of all crews exceeds 20% of the allotment then the next year the total catch will be reduced accordingly. (As an example, Marciano said, if the State Piersrecordthis year’s bluefin catch as 21% of their population than next year’s fishing quota will be reduced by 1%.)

Unlike trollers, bluefin fisherman use a reel and harpoon, catching one fish at a time.Once onboard the highly perishable tuna is iced on its way to be weighed and sold at port as quickly as possible. Cruising from port to port to negotiate a sale price wastes gas and risks decomposition of the prized fish. Marciano said in the fishing culture trust is a must.

Captain Dave Marciano wasn’t born into the life of a fisherman. His father was an insurance man. But like many of the fisherman onWickedTunahe grew up loving the sea, and early on he knew he wanted to spend his life fishing. He worked on a charter fleet of whale watching and deep seafishing expeditions until he bought his own boat. Today, the crew of theHard Merchandiseincludes his daughter Angelica, son Joe, and nephew Jason.

WhenWickedTunaisn’t in productionDave and his wife Nancy fish together asopportunities presentthemselves. They’ve fished across Europe and will soon be teaching inner city kids of LA how learning to fish can lead to an unexpectedlyWickedadventurous life.