Executive Director

Paul Parker, as a conservationist and a fisherman, views community-based, ecosystem management with a strong emphasis on undersea habitat protection as the critical components to developing a sustainable future in our nation’s fisheries. Paul serves on the New England Fishery Management Council Groundfish Advisory Panel and Plan Development Team, as well as on the federal Spiny Dogfish advisory committee. Paul received a BA in Biology from Cornell University and a Master’s of Environmental Management from Duke University. An avid Scuba diver and a lifelong sailor, he has been a commercial hook and line fishermen aboard the Peggy B II since 1997.   Email Paul

Policy Analyst

John Pappalardo is the CCCHFA Policy Analyst. He spends a majority of his time attending state and federal meetings, advocating for incentive based sustainable fishery management. He is a member of the New England Fishery Management Council and the Massachusetts Marine Fishery Advisory Commission.  In 2006 he was elected Chairman of the Council and was re-elected in 2007.  John also is the manager for the Georges Bank Hook Sector, guiding the participating fisherman and tracking their landings. He also fishes for codfish, striped bass and bluefin tuna on his own boat in Chatham. John received his BA from Seton Hall University.   Email John

Operations Director

Tom Rudolph has shifted roles at the Hook, to the Operations Director for the regional Herring Campaign.  Tom joined the Hook to run the local segments of the Northeast Regional Cod Tagging Project, a NOAA funded collaborative research project between commercial fishermen and scientists.  Tom worked for a long time in the outdoor recreation industry, as a river and snowmobile guide, and interacted closely with thousands of tourists through this work. He feels very strongly that the discerning tourist will only return to those places which preserve their character, and so the value of New England’s small boat fleet is underestimated at the risk of all New Englanders, whether they are part of the fishing industry or not. More value should be placed on the contribution of traditional industry to the character of a place and the preservation of the skills and knowledge of the people who carry on these traditions. Tom feels that the CCCHFA is helping the fishing industry to find a way to sustain itself, and he hopes that he can help to stem the tide of progress if the cost is the loss of more heritage and history. He has also enjoyed discovering Cape Cod’s outstanding and uncrowded winter surf breaks.   Email Tom

Finance Director

Nat Mason is the CCCHFA’s part-time Finance Director. Nat grew up spending summers on the Oyster River, learned to swim and sail at Pleasant Bay Camp in Orleans, and raced and taught sailing at the Stage Harbor Yacht Club. After completing his undergraduate degree and MBA at Dartmouth, his business career took him for 27 years away from the Cape – to Frankfurt, Tokyo and London - running the Finance Departments of overseas branches of two international banks. A longtime desire to spend more time on the Cape and a chance meeting with Executive Director Paul Parker led to Nat’s signing on with the Hook in late 2002. Nat’s hobby is long distance swimming. He has three times tried to swim from Monomoy to Nantucket and reluctantly admits he won’t try again.  Email Nat

 

Program Manager

Melissa Sanderson is leading our efforts to develop, test, and implement technical solutions for monitoring and managing Sectors in New England.  Prior to this role, Mel spent almost two years as CCCHFA's Development Director and over a year and a half managing CCCHFA's cooperative research activities and organizing community educational outreach at the Shanty.  Mel grew up in Minnesota but earned her sea legs studying marine biology in Los Angeles, where she received her BA in Biology from Occidental College. She interned with CCCHFA while obtaining her Master's in Coastal Environmental Management from Duke University.  Working at the Hook integrates many of Mel’s interests: marine conservation, geographic information systems, scientific research, community based management, fisheries policy, marine education, seafood marketing, and being on the water!  Email Mel

Fisheries Policy & Management Coordinator

Eric was hired by the CCCHFA to manage a group of local gillnet and hook-and-line fishermen who have formed their own Sector. As their manager, Eric will monitor their day-to-day fishing activities, campaign for their business interests, and represent them at the state, regional, and federal level. Growing up on the coast of Maine, fisheries were engrained in Eric at a young age; his father is a commercial lobsterman and also used to harpoon bluefin tuna. Eric received his BA in Environmental Studies from Brown University, and recently graduated from Duke University with a Master's degree in Coastal Environmental Management. For his Master’s thesis, Eric produced a policy-oriented ethnography that characterized the social, economic, and regulatory structure of the sport and commercial bluefin tuna fishery in Beaufort and Morehead City, North Carolina. In the course of his studies and his involvement in the commercial fishing industry, Eric has had a growing interest in the role that fishermen play in creating more effective science and management. He feels that working with the CCCHFA provides him an excellent opportunity to apply his goals of promoting community-based management and preserving traditional fishing culture. Email Eric
 

Research Program Coordinator

Lara Slifka, Cooperative Research Program Coordinator, brings to the Hook Office a broad discipline in biological, chemical research and education. Working with local fisherman, Lara will be studying Spiny Dogfish mortality and Electronic Vessel Trip Reporting. She has worked as a stern man on the F/V Tonya Marie in Maine, a fisheries observer based out of the Cape, a research scientist at Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Studies and the Adirondack Aquatic Institute. Realizing that there are certain policies and management governing the fishing community that could use improvement, Lara is excited to become a working member of the CCCHFA.
Email Lara

Summer Interns-2007

Caitlin Luderer was born and raised in Tiverton, RI. She loves to travel and explore marine habitats whenever she gets the chance. She attended Northeastern University in Boston where she graduated with a B.S. in Biology and minor in Marine Sciences. Before beginning the Masters of Coastal Environmental Management program at Duke University, Caitlin spent two years tagging lobsters aboard commercial vessels. Her main interests are marine policy and community-based natural resource management. She is very excited to be interning at The Hook this summer where she will analyze the effectiveness of fishery monitoring programs and make recommendations for how to improve their enforcement at the community level.  ;

 

Anthony Rafferty joined the Hook team in May 2007 as a summer intern collecting data for the new fixed gear sector. Anthony is a graduate student from Duke University currently completing a Masters in Coastal Environmental Management. Prior to moving to the United States in 2007, Anthony lived in Ireland and achieved a BS in Zoology, concentrating on marine biology, with University College Dublin. He was also an international gymnast on the Irish team and today loves to spend his time high board and springboard diving. Previous work experience includes time spent with the fisheries science sector of the Irish Marine Institute where he completed a study on the Irish inshore whelk fishery. His time at the Irish Marine Institute spurred Anthony to pursue a more in-depth understanding of community based management initiatives. This has subsequently led him to work here in close collaboration with the CCCHFA looking at how fishermen play a pivotal role in creating more effective fisheries science and management techniques.

Melissa Vasquez will be working on a monitoring program for the Fixed Gear Sector as a graduate intern this summer. She is interested in community-based management of coastal and marine resources and is currently working on her Masters of Environmental Management at Duke University. Growing up in Portland, Oregon, Melissa has a love for the outdoors and rocky coasts and has spent years exploring them as a diver, kayaker and volunteer with Northwest Oregon Search & Rescue. She received a B.S. in biology from the University of Puget Sound and took a year off to do research on pelagic and inter-tidal marine ecology of the Pacific Northwest. She hopes to utilize her past experiences and time here at CCCHFA to develop a master’s thesis on community-based fisheries management.