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by Brian Robbins<\/b><\/p>\n
ROCKLAND, ME \u2013 I\u2019d heard Paul McFarland\u2019s voice nearly 40 years before I met him face-to-face.\u00a0 I can\u2019t tell you that I recognized the voice when the tall, smiling man met me in the main office of the O\u2019Hara Corporation in Rockland; I\u2019d only heard it over the single sideband radio back in the late 70s and 80s.\u00a0 If it wasn\u2019t Frank O\u2019Hara himself calling various boats in the fleet to get an idea of what they had on board for catch (redfish was usually the target species) and when they expected to make port, it would be Paul.<\/i><\/p>\n
A poem Paul wrote a couple issues back for our Open Mic column \u2013 a tribute to the late Sanford Doughty \u2013 inspired me to connect with him and line up a sitdown to talk a little history.<\/i><\/p>\n
And I\u2019m glad I did.<\/i><\/p>\n
With 40 years of full-time service with the O\u2019Hara operation (and, as we\u2019ll hear, a few summers previous to that), Paul has seen and experienced a lot.\u00a0 A young-looking 72, Paul has witnessed massive changes in the how, when, where, and what of fishing in the Northeast (and, for the O\u2019Hara fleet, the migration to the Pacific Northwest); he\u2019s been there for some amazing landings and the inevitable broker trips; he\u2019s known men who are legends in our little corner of the world \u2026 and he\u2019s known men who never made it back to port.<\/i><\/p>\n
The O\u2019Hara Corporation\u2019s roots reach back over 100 years and the proper telling of the story could fill a book; and Paul\u2019s 40-and-counting year history would take many chapters itself to tell properly.\u00a0 For now, we\u2019ll just share a few memories of the O\u2019Hara fleet of the 70s and 80s \u2013 the last of the eastern rigs and the first of the stern trawlers.<\/i><\/p>\n
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A working arrangement<\/b><\/p>\n
BR: Paul, I want to begin by saying that the O\u2019Hara fleet played a big part in my brother Stevie venturing off into the Gulf of Maine 40 years ago to go offshore lobstering.\u00a0 Your boats were there; they were highliners; we respected them and we didn\u2019t want to be in conflict with them by trying to…<\/i><\/p>\n
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Please\u00a0choose from the\u00a0following options<\/i>:\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n BUY a Single PRINT edition of CFN that is delivered by MAIL.\u00a0PRINT EDITION<\/a> Quickly enjoy ONLINE access with our Hi-DEF flip-book.\u00a0<\/strong>PURCHASE ONLINE EDITION<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0 (Read online flip-book immediately with purchased access key and download a copy for yourself to keep. \u00a0Not sure if it works for you? Try a\u00a0FREE SAMPLE HERE<\/a>.)<\/em><\/p>\n![\"cfn-11_16-cover\"](\"https:\/\/fish-news.com\/cfn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/CFN-11_16-cover-243x300.jpg\")
To get the rest of this story and much more – you’ll need the November 2016 issue of\u00a0Commercial Fisheries News.\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n
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