Gloucester mourns loss of one of its own

Authorities said Prybot, 63, of Gloucester, died Sunday doing what he loved.

His leg appears to have gotten tangled in the line of one of his traps, and he ended up in the water, according to the Essex district attorney’s office.

Prybot was found about 3:30 p.m. Sunday off Avery’s Ledge, about 1.8 miles off Rockport, an area he knew well. He had fished in those waters for decades and kept his boat, October Sky, moored nearby at Pigeon Cove Harbor.

Prybot “was alone in the October Sky, and a fellow lobsterman noticed the vessel was empty and went to investigate,’’ said Steve O’Connell, spokesman for the district attorney’s office. “The Rockport harbor master was notified, and the victim was found floating in the vicinity.’’

He was wearing orange heavy-duty rain gear and a single boot, O’Connell said. No foul play is suspected.

The close-knit community of lobstermen mourned the death of one of their own yesterday. Gathered in fish shacks, they remembered a friend and colleague whom they described as a good man but declined to comment further out of respect for Prybot’s family, which declined to comment as well.

Scott Story, Rockport’s harbor master, said by phone that he had known Prybot since the 1970s. Story was a student at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, which was Prybot’s alma mater.

“He encouraged me to continue there,’’ Story said. “That was the kind of guy he was, the kind who would encourage you.’’

Story said Prybot was an experienced lobsterman who knew how to fish the breakwaters near Avery’s Ledge, a task that can be daunting for some.

“It took a lot of talent to fish out there, and he was good at it,’’ Story said.

Prybot was, in some ways, part of the institution of fishing in Cape Ann. He penned a regular column, “Ebb & Flow,’’ for the Gloucester Times about the people and policies of the region’s lobster and fishing industries.

He has also written books on the subject, the most recent, “Lobstering off Cape Ann: A Lifetime Lobsterman Remembers,’’ in 2006.

“My father was dealing with Peter Prybot before I had my license,’’ said Vince Mortillaro, owner of Mortillaro Lobster Co. in Gloucester. “. . . That was over 30 years ago. He was a nice guy. He was everywhere.’’

Mortillaro said Prybot was a daily fixture in his office, there to drop off lobsters each morning between 8 and 10. He was also Mortillaro’s only seaweed supplier.

In recent months, Prybot’s name had become associated with controversy as he was one of three people indicted in Maine on charges of illegally cashing in more than 100,000 out-of-state bottles and cans for deposits.

He adamantly denied the charges, saying he had accumulated the cans and bottles during road trips to Maine and insisted that all the bottles were purchased in state.

The case was ongoing.

In his 2006 book, Prybot explained his love of the sea and of his profession:

“Although lobstering has largely consumed my life since age 12 and nearly taken it at least once,’’ he said, “it’s also given me a livelihood, a hands-on education, a defined and meaningful purpose in life, a unique sense of freedom and pride and a job that I wouldn’t trade for the world.’’

Akilah Johnson can be reached at ajohnson@globe.com.