Chincoteague Island Commercial Fishing
Chincoteague Island Virginia has been the home port to commercial fishermen for centuries. From the first settlements of Chincoteague and Assateague Islands, commercial fishing in the area thrived. Oysters, clams, gray trout, croakers, drum, sea bass, hake, cod, sharks, flounder, mackerel, swelling toads and other local fish were all harvested and shipped out.
During the 20th century commercial fishing continued and a few commercial fisheries still exist in the area despite ever widening restrictions and a decline in stocks of fish and shellfish. Today commercial fishing includes harvesting of blue crabs, lobsters, hard clams, ocean quahogs, flounder, monkfish, spot, croakers, trout, drum, striped bass, sharks, and others.
Commercial harvests of sea scallops began in the last part of the 1900's and scalloping saw a huge increase during 2003-2006, due to changes in regulations which allowed a flood of smaller independent boats to enter the fishery. Scallop fishing came to a bitter and abrupt halt in 2007 when fisheries managers closed the grounds off Chincoteague to sea scallop harvesting.
The local lobster fishery consists of traps set along the continental shelf slopes, mostly found in depths of 40-100 fathoms(240-600 feet). Markers or "lobster balls" indicate each end of a series of 25-30 lobster traps. The groups of traps, known as "pots" are baited and fished after soaking for up to 10 days. The catch is kept in tanks and sold live. In addition to commercial fishing for lobsters, a small sport fishery exists where divers using spear fishing gear or simply catch the creatures by hand around sunken shipwrecks.
Harvests of blue crabs are common around Chincoteague Island. Commercial watermen catch crabs with crab pots, mostly in the shallow bay between Chincoteague Island and the mainland. A brief run of shedder crabs, known as peelers occurs in the spring, and some commercial crabbers will confine the crabs in special floats until they shed. The resulting soft shelled crabs are valuable as a local delicacy or to ship to other markets.
Commercial fishing for finfish and groundfish also continue. Small boats fish the inshore and coastal waters using gillnets. These small operations catch whatever fish are in the area and are valuable enough to exceed trip expenses. Larger boats trawl the ocean depths for flounder, red hake, sea bass and other fish. A targeted fishery exists for sea bass, where commercial boats set fish traps around shipwrecks or areas of rough bottom.
The inlet is easy to navigate and the channel is well marked, although the channel is narrow in spots and well known for being unforgiving. The shoals outside the inlet also claim their share of disasters, even today. Commercial fishing facilities are sparse on the island. Large boats can receive fuel from trucks that pump fuel directly to the boat. Ice and other supplies are available from a couple local seafood buyers.
Submitted by: cin