What gets dragged up? Herring have schooled in the bay recently. Seals have followed them in.
Dutch Girl, Lobster Boy, and Miss Callie follow whatever harbor fish in from outside the Narrows themselves. Notice the hourglass dayshape in the rigging above denoting that trawling is underway.
What else might come up in the trawl nets? What deep harbor life or trash? What off-limits areas are there? Any submarine habitats of the Captain Nemo luxury condo sort? Have any exclusive underwater hotels opened their doors–er… hatches–under the bay, as Peter spotlighted recently in his fantastic Sea Fever blog?
Question for longer-term witnesses that I am: was there a time when NO fishing happened here in –say–the 50s? For now, there’s some reassurance to see fishing fleets, fuel barges, and our Lady juxtaposed.
Photos, WVD.
All fotos, Will Van Dorp
tugster: a waterblog 
3 comments
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February 14, 2008 at 4:04 pm
Mike
Hi Will, I had an interesting conversation with Capt. Al, of the newly reopened Capt. Al’s Harbor Casino on Warren St. in Jersey City. He grew up in Jersey City and said that he used to fish for crab all around the harbor. Said there were particularly large crabs over by the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.
I asked him if he was ever concerned about the pollution in the river, but he said that crabs are filter feeders, so that there was never any problem with contamination (I can’t vouch for that, just repeating what he said).
There are still people who catch smaller blue crabs right around the docks in the marina here.
I don’t know how often Al is at the restaurant, which is being run by his kids, but if you ever get the chance, go in and talk to him sometime… he’s full of lots of info about the waterfront stretching back for the last 70 years or so.
February 14, 2008 at 4:10 pm
Mike
PS, have you heard of the Jules’ Undersea Lodge in Key Largo FL?
http://www.jul.com/
February 14, 2008 at 10:06 pm
cegrundler
Regarding the January 27th ‘Upper Bay Mystery’, the boat in the photo may be one of the Normandeau Associates http://www.normandeau.com/index.html doing research work. If I recall, they operate a pair of Bruno Stillmans in the area, doing all sorts of environmental surveys. From personal experience, I’ve caught (and released) some respectable striped bass and bluefish from the very same spot. And being on the Hudson for 30+ years, I’m constantly amazed by the improvements I’ve seen. Growing up, I never saw any of the wildlife that’s become commonplace these days. Everything from seals to osprey and eagles now populate the region.
Very enjoyable blog, by the way. I stumbled across it in a search, and now check it daily to see what you’ve posted. If you don’t mind, I’ll be adding a link to you in my blog.