Researchers 

 find fishermen 

 live up to 

 their reputation 



By Kathy Hart 



North Carolina fishermen 

 have made themselves a 

 reputation. 



You can hear it whispered 

 on the docks in McClellanville, 

 S.C.; Cape Canaveral, Fla.; 

 and New Bedford, Mass. 



Off one person's lips, it's 

 said with respect; off 

 another's, there's a mixture 

 of spite and jealousy. 



But no matter where it's 

 whispered or how it's said, it is 

 a reputation that links Tar Heel 

 fishermen to every major 

 fishery on the East Coast. 



Just what is being said 

 about our fishermen? 

 For one thing, they're smart. 

 But more importantly, 

 they're mobile. 



They're willing to kiss the 

 wife and kids goodbye for 

 months at a time so they can 

 fill their holds with seafood 

 and their pockets with money. 



It's a reputation born of 

 necessity. 



Sea Grant researcher Mike 

 Orbach says there is no one 

 North Carolina fishery that has 

 the abundance, value or avail- 

 ability to support a fisherman 

 and his family year-round. 



Tar Heel fishermen must 

 either switch fisheries within 

 the state or go out-of-state to 

 extend seasons or to follow 

 the fish. 



Many fishermen are choos- 

 ing to cross state lines— to 

 challenge fishermen from New 

 England to Florida and some- 

 times beyond— for their catch. 



But when the harvesters go 

 to other states or regions, it 

 creates unique interdepend- 

 ences between fishermen, 

 seafood dealers, processors 

 and management agencies. 



These interdependencies 

 and the lifestyle of North 

 Carolina's transient fishermen 

 sent three East Carolina 

 University anthropologists 

 roaming out-of-state docks as 

 part of a Sea Grant study. 



Jeff Johnson, Mike Orbach 

 and Danny Rasch surveyed 

 three groups of migratory 

 North Carolina fishermen. 

 Rasch and Johnson actually 

 lived among and worked 

 alongside the Tar Heel 

 travelers. 



Jeff Johnson headed south 

 with Carteret County small- 

 boat shrimpers to the shrimp- 

 laden shores of South 

 Carolina. 



For several weeks in the fall 

 of 1986, Johnson lived among 

 a contingent of shrimpers who 

 docked in muggy, moss- 

 draped McClellanville, SC. 

 They had come south to ex- 

 tend their shrimping season 

 after a mediocre harvest in the 

 Tar Heel state. 



The shrimpers hailed from 

 Downeast towns— Harkers 

 Island, Marshallberg, Davis 

 and Stacy. But, during the fall, 

 home was the 21- to 45-foot 

 boat they docked at the 

 seafood dealer's in 

 McClellanville. 



Usually Tar Heel shrimpers 

 sell their catch to the same 

 seafood dealers year after year 

 In return for their loyalty, the 

 dealers provide the travelers 

 with a few amenities and ad- 



vance information about ex- 

 pected shrimp yields. 



If North Carolina waters 

 yield a bumper crop of shrimp 

 or the crustaceans are few 

 and far between in Sand- 

 lapper country, fishermen stay 

 home. 



It's the so-so years that 

 send shrimpers south. But the 

 shrimpers acknowledge that 

 there are social reasons for 

 the migration, too. 



Some fishermen like to 

 shrimp, Johnson says. They 

 find it more enjoyable than 

 fishing for finfish, which they 

 probably would have to do if 

 they stayed in North Carolina. 



And fishermen say, shrimp- 

 ing in South Carolina is easy. 



There, fishermen can only 

 shrimp during daylight hours. 

 "It's almost like they have 

 a nine-to-five job," Johnson 

 says. "It's such a contrast to 

 North Carolina where they 

 shrimp at night and sleep dur- 

 ing the day." 



Johnson says for some 

 fishermen the southern jaunt 

 is a working vacation. At the 

 docks, there is often a party 

 atmosphere. 



It's a very male-dominated 

 gathering, he says. Many of 

 the fishermen feel they have a 

 reprieve from home-bound 

 responsibilities. 



Although families are out of 

 sight, it doesn't mean they are 

 out of mind, Johnson says. 

 Most shrimpers arrange to 

 drive or carpool home every 

 week or two to see the family. 



Despite almost yearly migra- 

 tions, North Carolina's travel- 

 ing fishermen don't figure into 



