Gloucester, Massachusetts is probably the town in the U .S.
most generally associated with the fishing industry, and until it was recently
surpassed by New Bedford, in most years over the last century Gloucester was
the number one fishing port in America in terms of value of catch. I suspect
that figure might be for the Lower 48 since Alaska has some major fishing
grounds, but that’s at least what the statistics in Massachusetts claim.

That’s given Gloucester and unique history and a somewhat unusual
charm. Whereas other coastal towns have primarily reinvented themselves as
tourist centers with some small scale fishing, in Gloucester tourism still
plays second fiddle to the fishing industry. The businesses down by the
waterfront still cater to fishermen and working class types with restaurants
serving hearty food in good size portions. And what you get is coffee at Dunkin
Donuts rather than $6 half-skinny-tall-caramel macchiatos prepared by a
barrista. The parking lots on the pier mostly have “Employees Only” signs
rather than revenue-generating meter systems, and much of the waterfront is
still given over to establishments that don’t really want tourists there
because they’re busy cleaning, packing, and freezing fish rather than trying to
serve overpriced seafood meals to weekend excursionists .

I recall driving through Gloucester on the way to Rockport
in 2004 with my family and being somewhat unimpressed with it. “There really
isn’t anything to see or do here!” I thought, and the harbor was nowhere near
as pretty as the one farther out in Rockport. This time through, though, I
wanted to walk around a little more and see what this unique town was about.

A good place to start is along the waterfront and the
Fisherman’s Memorial, an eight-foot tall bronze statue of a fisherman dressed
in oilskins at the wheel of the sloping deck of his ship. The statue is quite
famous and shows up on Gorton’s frozen seafood products. What I didn’t realize,
though, is that the statue is surrounded by a half circle of plaques with the
names of all the Gloucester seamen and ships lost at sea over three centuries,
literally several thousand names cast in the bronze. 1879 was the worst year of
all with 249 men and 29 vessels lost during a single terrible storm.
Fortunately, the annual tally of names listed in bronze diminishes through the
twentieth century with most years over the last few decades happily displaying
none at all . An exception to that is 1991, the year the Gloucester fishing
vessel Andrea Gail sank in a storm, an event made famous by the very successful
2000 movie “The Perfect Storm”.

The fishing industry attracted a mixed ethnic population to
Gloucester, as displayed by the variety of churches and social clubs scattered
around town. As well as the New England Yankees that come to mind as sea
captains, the population includes Italians, Irish, Portuguese, Swedes, French
Canadians, and other ethnicities. In the 21^st century those ethnic
groups have pretty much melded together and no longer have strong separate
identities, but the surnames on the Fisherman’s Memorial and the variety of
restaurants in town indicate the diversity. For a small town of about 15,000
people, Gloucester also has some impressive churches, public, and civic
buildings around its slightly hilly center. Overall I find the town to be much
more interesting than posher or gentrified resort towns along the eastern
seaboard.

As a major fishing port with lots of Portuguese immigrants,
I figured Gloucester would be my last chance for good Portuguese food in New England,
so I decided to stop for dinner at the Azorean Restaurant. Although my Chourico
and Kale Soup and Caldeirada (Fish and Seafood Stew with Potatoes) were good, I
must admit to having been spoiled by my Portuguese dinner in New Bedford. The
portion sizes here were geared toward normal appetites, and I left satisfied
but without a doggie bag for breakfast with me.