Photo of Tommy Martian carrying a Tilefish: Doug Kuntz
For some great photos of the fishing industry the way it was, check out a photo essay at Narratively on “The Last Fishermen of Long Island,” by Doug Kuntz and Tara Israel.
Writes Israel, “A few miles west of the big commercial fishing docks in Montauk you will find the baymen of East Hampton. Working in small crews, sometimes even individually, these families have been fishing the waters of their ancestors for nearly 400 years, using the same methods that were passed to the early European settlers by Native Americans.
“The same few crews, usually comprised of fishermen (and a few women) who are related to each other, set pound traps out in the bay, while a smaller number haul nets out of the ocean. …
“If you ask any of these men to describe how they lift the pound traps or set the nets in the ocean, they usually reply with, ‘You have to see it to understand.’ ” Read more here.
The elegiac text blames regulations that were devised to limit overfishing by bigger outfits but that catch all fishermen in one net. It’s a requiem for a vanishing way of life.
Photo of Chet Kent and a blowfish: Tara Israel
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