net. As it surfaces, Powell grapples it 

 aboard. The try net's contents are 

 spilled on the trawler deck. Cockfield 

 picks through the jellyfish, small blue 

 crabs and miscellaneous fishes to pull 

 out 24 good-sized shrimp — a fair num- 

 ber for this season. Powell swings the 

 try net back into the water and pushes 

 the leftovers through the left scupper, 

 an opening in the side of the trawler 

 that allows the water to drain from the 

 deck. 



Between hoists of the try nets, 

 Cockfield and Powell relax. Cockfield 

 listens to the chatter of his shrimping 

 buddies on the VHF radio as he steers 

 the trawler on its course. Powell 

 peruses a couple of comic books then 

 frys up a breakfast of sausage and eggs 

 about 4:15 a.m. 



Another haul of the try net brings up 

 31 shrimp and, after a third test of the 

 net about 5:15 a.m., Cockfield decides 

 to draw in the main nets. First he cuts 

 the engines to a slow crawl and winches 

 the doors to the end of the outriggers. 

 Then Powell pulls the right "lazy line" 

 aboard. The lazy line attaches to the 

 net at the intersection of the net body 

 and tailbag. By using the lazy lines, 

 shrimpers "haul back" or draw aboard 

 the tailbags for emptying without hav- 

 ing to bring in the main body of the 

 nets. 



The lazy line attached to the winch, 

 Cockfield draws in the right tailbag. 

 With the weight of the catch heavy in 

 the net, the tailbag swings aboard in an 

 arch. Powell quickly steadies the bag 

 and directs it toward the culling tray 

 where he releases the knot that holds 

 the bag closed. Out spills a mound of 



fish and crustaceans. The right tailbag 

 is tied and lowered back into the sea 

 and the procedure is repeated with the 

 left tailbag. 



With both bags emptied, the culling 

 tray is spilling over with the catch. 

 While Cockfield positions the doors 

 and prepares the trawler for a second 

 tow, Powell, Bahen and I begin picking 

 over the catch. Besides shrimp, Powell 

 is keeping the flounder, larger blue 

 crabs, squid and big spot to sell at the 

 fish house. But most of the nettings — 

 jellyfish, small crabs, ribbon fish and 

 other small fish — are cast back into the 

 ocean, a meal for the gulls and other 

 fish. 



Powell works fast. He spots the 

 curled crustaceans with an extra sense 

 that comes from sorting fish day after 

 day. He tosses handful after handful 

 into the bucket. Forty-five minutes 

 and six gallon buckets later we're 

 finished. We've filled just over two 70- 

 pound baskets with shrimp. Powell 

 transfers the shrimp to a large ice chest 

 and shovels in fine ice. Shrimp are a 

 highly perishable commodity that 

 must be iced or refrigerated almost im- 

 mediately after being caught. 



The sun is up and a dull gray morn- 

 ing greets us. But the gray seems to be 

 one that the sun will burn away. Ten 

 trawlers are counted around us, some 

 large like the Miss Bozy, others in the 

 35- to 50-foot range. With their out- 

 riggers spread, this fleet looks like a 

 flock of large birds just settling on the 

 water. 



But the trawlers aren't the only fleet 

 in evidence this morning. Another also 

 floats in the water — cabbage head 



jellyfish. Cockfield says he's seen more 

 jellyfish than usual this year. They 

 clog his nets. (Zoologists say the 

 jellyfish are more abundant this year 

 because of a variety of conditions, in- 

 cluding higher salinity levels and 

 favorable winds.) 



With daylight it's easy to see the 

 houses that line Carolina Beach. Less 

 than one mile offshore, the Miss Bozy 

 is trawling back and forth between a 

 point one mile north of the Carolina 

 Beach Inlet to a point Vi mile south of 

 the inlet. It takes 30 to 45 minutes to 

 make the trek. Shrimpers concentrate 

 around the inlet because the shrimp 

 are thickest here. The inlets are the 

 only escape from the sounds for the 

 ocean-bound crustaceans. 



Talk is thick on the VHF radio after 

 the first haul. Captains are chattering 

 about their night catches. One shrim- 

 per bellows out an occasional Tarzan- 

 like yell. Powell says most of the talk 

 centers on shrimp. "They talk about 

 what they caught the night before and 

 what they're catching tonight. But 

 mostly they lie a lot," he says with a 

 chuckle. 



Powell says five years down the road 

 he would like to captain a trawler. To 

 be a good captain, Powell says, "you 

 have to have a good memory and you 

 have to be a good pilot. You have to be 

 fair in money dealings. You have to be 

 easy to get along with. You can't be a 

 person who panics when you get in 

 tight spots, like when you get nets 

 hung." 



Again the grinding winches an- 

 nounce the try net is being pulled in. 



Continued on next page 



A trawl net sweeps just above the ocean floor. The tickle chain tickles the shrimp off the bottom and into the 

 mouth of the net. The shrimps are sucked into the tailbag by the onward push of the net 



