John Our
John Our was born and raised in Chatham and is a second generation fisherman. He studied marine mechanics at Cape Cod Regional Technical High School. He has been fishing for groundfish like cod, haddock, pollock and hake for more than 30 years. In 1992, he got his boat, F/V Miss Fitz, which is rigged as a gillnetter. Now, he also targets skates, monkfish and dogfish.
"Because groundfish like cod and haddock were not abundant and hard to find this summer, the gillnet fleet started fishing for lesser known species like dogfish and skates. This allowed us to carry our businesses through to the fall. It goes to show that there is versatility in the fixed gear fleet. This opened up additional opportunities and created more jobs."