"Offshore, the boats kept each other in sight, watching and waiting 

 until a captain ran across a school of fish," she continues. "As soon as 

 one boat began to feed out a net, four or five others crowded around, 

 sometimes setting their rigs so close that the currents would sweep them 

 together and a single trout would be caught in two nets." 



In recent years, the number of crews fishing for gray trout and other 

 fish has dropped. 



"When I first started 16 years ago, we packed for 67 fishermen," 

 says Tilman Gray, owner of Avon Seafood. "Now we deal 

 with about 20 to 25 fishermen on a regular basis." Some of 

 the decline is due to retirement or fishermen dying off, he 

 adds. "There are no young people getting into the fishing 

 industry." 



Because the Hatteras community is so tiny, most 

 commercial and charter captains know each other on a first- 

 name basis. 



Depending on the weather, they often gather early in 

 the morning at Oden's Dock that is on the bottom floor of 

 a building that overlooks the waterfront. The Breakwater 

 Restaurant sits atop the store. 



"If it is windy or rough, people stay here for a while," 

 says Oden. 



The store is packed with fishing gear, food and other 

 items. On the walls, mounted fish gaze at customers, and 

 a "Fishing Primer" reminds avid anglers to "pray to live to 

 fish until their dying day." 



POPULAR SPDT TODAY 



Early one fall morning, several men sit in the back of the store 

 around a stainless steel table. While drinking coffee and munching on 

 pastries, they trade fishing stories and catch up on local news. 



"I get in my fusion of life and coffee here," says Chris Hickman, 

 a Hatteras commercial fisherman who has been working the water for 

 nearly 30 years. "I fish from here to New Hampshire." 



Hickman has made this part of his routine since moving to Hatteras 

 many years ago. "Hatteras is one of the best places to be accepted," says 

 Hickman. "I grew up on the Eastern Shore of Virginia. It is more clanish 

 there." 



Whether someone has a small skiff or a large charter, they are 

 accepted along the docks. "We don't discriminate among boats here," 

 says Hickman. 



O'Neal usually joins the group. Often, he spins tales about bygone 



days. 



"I am a jack of all trades and a master of none," jokes O'Neal, while 

 mingling at Oden's. "It is easier to tell a story than to tell the truth." 



On a serious note, he says he misses the freedom that he used to have 

 in the village and the close-knit community. "Neighbors were friends, and 

 friends were neighbors. You only have a small amount of that now." 



Less than a hundred yards from Oden's, a young man washes down 

 one of the sportfishing boats in the Albatross fleet. 



Inside, Ernie Foster answers a customer's call for a fishing trip. He 

 is surrounded by black-and-white photos that date back to the early days 



of his family's charter fleet. 



One is of his father with 

 one of the first sailfish caught 

 in Hatteras in 1940. Another 

 shows his grandfather, Capt. 

 Charlie Foster who was a 

 menhaden fisherman, in 

 1 95 1 . A third photo shows a 



proud group of recreational anglers with channel bass and dolphin caught 

 in 1940. 



Throughout the small office are memorabilia from early fishing days, 

 including a radio finder, old fish hook, a feather jig used before nylon, and 

 one of his father's rod-n-reels. 



"Charter fishing has changed dramatically since my father started," 

 says Foster, who started helping his dad as a young boy. 



"Now, there are fast boats and great electronics. It used to take two 

 hours in the 1950s and 1960s to get to the Gulf Stream. Now, a fast boat 

 can make it there in an hour from Hatteras." 



For Foster, sportfishing offers diversity and immediate feedback for 

 his customers. 



"You get to see dramatic events — from storms to predators and 

 prey," he says. "I have seen a shark eating a fish next to the boat, a 400- 

 pound marlin chase down a 25-pound dolphin, and a tuna chase down a 

 flying fish. Though this is normal occurrence in the ocean, the average 

 person is not used to seeing this." 



16 Coastwatch I High Season 2006 I www.ncseagrant.org 



