NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — September 17, 2012 — The sky is just beginning to lighten as Pat Moran eases the 27-foot Safe Boat away from its berth at State Pier. The aluminum-hulled boat equipped with twin 300-horsepower Evinrude engines is the workhorse of the Massachusetts Environmental Police.
Moran, a 31-year veteran promoted to captain in August, is heading out on a routine patrol of state waters with his partner, Sgt. James Cullen.
"We get out about twice a week, year-round," said Moran, a Mattapoisett resident whose father, James, was a long-serving police chief there.
With a top speed of 47 knots, the patrol can cover a lot of territory in a half-day cruise.
"We can go from down by Cleveland Ledge to Vineyard Sound to the back side of Nomans (Land Island) in about four hours," he said.
The boat is two feet longer than the Coast Guard's version and comes equipped with a full range of electronics, including sonar — which can aid in the location of bodies.
"When it's search-and-rescue, sometimes we're the only boat out here," said Moran, who has come to greatly appreciate the boat's ruggedness. "I've been out in 10-foot seas and we were still doing 20 knots," he said.
On Friday the sea is calm, and once through the hurricane barrier, Moran opens the throttle and the boat hits 29 knots with hardly a bump.
Most people associate the Environmental Police with hunting and ATV's, but the force has always had a presence on the water, Cullen said, and has boats in Woods Hole, Sandwich and Fall River.
The main mission of the "green police" on the water is to monitor the activities of commercial and recreational fishermen. Fishery management in state waters is no less complex than the federal regulations that begin three miles out. On Friday, for example, the day is closed to commercial scup fishermen, but open for tautog fish.
The police boat zooms through Quick's Hole toward a scattering of small boats fishing in the vicinity of Gay Head. Cullen scans the boats with powerful binoculars.
"That guy has rain gear on. Must be after tautog," he concludes.
Tautog is a live fishery, he explains, and when a fish is placed in a tank on the boat, it thrashes mightily, soaking the fisherman. They pass him by.
Moran decides to board a boat with Rhode Island numbers. There is a swell running, making the approach delicate but as he eases the boat alongside, Cullen hops nimbly aboard to find that one of the fishermen does not have a saltwater fishing license.
Read the full story in the New Bedford Standard Times