The News Trawl
Fresh catches from around the web, the Town and the docks of New England.
See the 71st Blessing of the Fleet
PHOTOS AND VIDEO
Generations of Stonington families have worked these docks. We are proud to offer you the finest fresh seafood products, sustainably harvested, processed with care and delivered with speed.
That’s
Stonington
Fresh.
Sea to Table since 1750
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Stonington supports a dozen retail and wholesale fishmongers, and (at last count) 22 restaurants that prepare fresh, local seafood in award-winning ways. You can also buy direct from some of our boats. Just click on GET FISH HERE in the menu and discover them all!
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From year-round hard clams and oysters to the short spring Shad runs, fresh seafood is all about seasonal species. Click on GET FISH HERE in the menu and scroll down for the calendar.
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Commercial fishing in North America began in the early sixteenth century, when English fishermen made their first expeditions into the Gulf of Maine. The first British settlers to Stonington in 1649 brought their knowledge of fishing, boatbuilding and maritime trades from their Island to this harbor. In the 1850’s, two families from the Portuguese Azores came to Stonington, broadening the young fleet’s skills and abilities. These skills and abilities have grown with time and technology, but traditions such as the Blessing of the Fleet remain.
meet the FAMILY.
Live the HISTORY.
In 1993 Mystic Seaport Museum began the Stonington Fishing Oral History Project to document the history and status of the Stonington Fleet. The Connecticut Digital Archive includes several of these recorded interviews with Arthur Medeiros, Ann M. Rita, Vivian Volovar, Alfred Medeiros and Joseph A. Vargas III. You can listen to them here, and explore photos from long ago.
Bindloss Dock, Stonington, before the hurricane of 1938
Meet the
FLEET.
Photos by Lyndsey Pyrke-Fairchild, Empire Fisheries; Thomas Mitchell
F/V Furious docking for 2022 Blessing of the Fleet
F/V Heritage at sunset
Boats in full dress for 2022 Blessing of the Fleet
American and Ukraine flags flying on the F/V Furious
F/V Mackenzie Paige II
F/V Jenna Lynn II
F/V Invictus, F/V Furious, and F/V Starbrite of Empire Fisheries
F/V Susan C and the north dock
Boats at the Stonington Fishermen's Dock
Boats at the Stonington Fishermen's Dock
F/V Ruthy L in foreground, F/V Jenna Lynn II in background
F/V Miss Emily before it became F/V Tradition
F/V Furious at sea
Boats in fog at the Stonington Fishermen's Dock
3. F/V Jenna Lynn leaving the dock
Boats at the Stonington Fishermen's Dock, including the Williams-Mystic research vessel J&D
2. F/V Tradition and F/V Mackenzie Paige II at sunset
Fishing boats at the Stonington Fishermen's Dock before the Blessing of the Fleet 2021