November 9, 2022 — Tyler Miranda went on his first fishing trip on his father’s lobster boat when he was six years old.
“It was a day trip to Vineyard Sound,” the 37-year old said. “I was doing the worst job on the boat: fixing the bait. I had to deal with the smells and all that.”
Little did that child know that over 30 years later he would launch to prominence among New Bedford scallopers when he led the charge against a proposed limited access permit leasing program earlier this year.
“I don’t want to be a Wal-Mart fisherman,” he said before representatives of the New England Fishery Management Council in May. “I think the fisherman’s voice should be heard.”
The oldest of four children, Miranda said he dropped out of school at age 15 in order to pursue a career in the fleet.
“By then I had to tape the lobsters,” he said, adding he earned 10 cents per crustacean. “It was a little more responsibility because now I had to keep count of it.”