![]() Mud City celebrates the rich seafaring history on Long Beach Island and the mainland. They also have fascinating displays of how pound fishing worked.ĭeb Whitcraft, our local curator and historian, says pound fishing “played a monumental role,” in the Island’s history. The New Jersey Maritime Museum, across the street from Parker’s Garage, is a treasure trove of information, photos and displays focusing on our coastal heritage. They’d also net bluefish, striped bass, croakers, congor eels, whiting, herring, kingfish and sea trout, even flying fish and sun fish. Among them were many we still serve today like cod, flounder, tuna, squid, monk. ![]() The pound fisheries produced dozens of species of fish. Alban’s Fish Co., Ship Bottom Fishery, and Beach Haven Fishery. Long Beach Island was home to seven pound operations – Long Beach Fishery, Crest Fishery, Barnegat City Fishery, Surf City Fish Company, St. After the 1930s, the pound fishermen used outboard engines and tractors to move the boats.įrom there, the fish was shipped, usually by rail to the Dock Street Market in Philly, North Jersey, and South Street Seaport in NYC. During the summer, a good haul would always attract a crowd of onlookers. The occasional bigger fish was a windfall. The fish were sorted into hand-woven baskets. They would unload the fish and pack them in ice stored from the previous winter – cut from local freshwater sources and insulated. Once they hit the beach, the skiffs were pulled by Clydesdales. In the early days, these hardy seafaring gents would row out to the pound and row back through the surf. ![]() The boat would wait beyond the sandbar and try to time a shot after a set of waves, before the next set arrived. The return trip through the surf, weighted down with as much as 15 tons of fish, was equally sketchy. Out on the sea they’d work in unison to haul up the net. The men would head out on 33-foot cedar and oak skiffs. Generally, the pounds were set in March and fished through November, but occasionally the season went into the winter. Fish swimming along the coast would encounter the nets and swim east, into the pounds were they were essentially trapped. They would lace them with nets, forming fish traps or “pounds.” An over 1,000-foot stretch of net called the “wier” was built perpendicular to the shoreline. The technique involved men driving hickory poles into the ocean floor, about a half mile off the beach. ![]() According to the New Jersey Courier, at one point there were 128 pound-fishing operations in New Jersey, employing some 605 fishermen. Eventually, pound fishing was done in the ocean when European immigrants took it to the next level. It had originally been used by Native Americans in bays and more protected waterways. But this is the New Jersey Coast, and we do what we have to do. We're inspired by those who came before us and looking back at those who paved the way for our coastal communities is a great way to appreciate our history.įrom the 1870s through the 1950s, pound fishing was central to the economy of the coast and all of New Jersey. Pound fishing was never an easy way to make a living.
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