New England Fishermen Brave Sub-Zero Temperatures

BOSTON (CBS) - The Black Beauty, a 70-foot fishing boat out of Portland, Maine, was encrusted in a white peril, when it tied up at Massport's Boston Fish Pier Monday morning.

The crew braved negative and single-digit temperatures to unload their 15 tons of haddock, cod, monkfish, grey sole, and other fish they caught 40 to 60 miles off-shore in the Gulf of Maine over the past six days, which required even more bravery and left crew member Todd Rich with a battle scar.

"Cargo hook swung into my face. He yelled look out. So, I turned around, caught it right in the face," said Rich explaining the bruise below his right eye and a cut on the bridge of his nose.

WBZ-TV's Ron Sanders reports.

The crew started hoisting fish up from the dark cold hold into the bright morning sun just past dawn when many Bostonians were putting on extra layers but Todd Rich and his brother Larry took their work in stride, laughingly calling it a "piece of cake."

The fish they unloaded will be shipped to Pennsylvania within 24 hours said Tory Bramante, owner of Atlantic Coast Seafood, whose employees were helping make that happen. "My workers are all frozen," said Bramante, not to mention the fish.

"Refrigeration is not necessary today," he said.

Coast Guard Petty Officer James Rhodes said advisories were being issued to mariners because of sea spray which freezes almost instantaneously and causes vessels to become top heavy, increasing the risk of capsizing.

"It's dangerous. So when you're out, you have to be careful. Everything's ten times harder," said Bill Train, captain of the Black Beauty which faced gale warnings and winds up to about 40 miles per hour during its trip.

He hoped to get $1.50 to $2.00 a pound for the fish it brought in this morning which would total about $45,000 to $60,000 for the trip minus fuel and expenses.