commercial fishing under sail

[Thad Van Gilder]

I was talking to a friend this weekend, whose father had the last fishing schooner that fished under sail out of Atlantic City, and as I was driving home, the thought hit me That maybe that could be profitable today.

Do any of you think that comercial dragging under sail could be profitable?

Being that South Jersey is a hotbed of tourist money in the summer, I was thinking fish caught under sail might sell at a premium.

What do you guys think? Impractical? Possible? I'm just curious.

-Thad

[Bruce Hooke]

There was an interesting discussion about this (http://www.woodenboat-ubb.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=6;t=004980) down in Misc. Boat Related just a couple weeks back...

[Gary E]

Originally posted by Thad Van Gilder:
Being that South Jersey is a hotbed of tourist money in the summer, I was thinking fish caught under sail might sell at a premium.

-ThadYou think the shoebies go to the shore to buy fish?...
They go to "GO FISHING"...and to BUY FISH DINNERS...not to buy fish and haul it home...

[ 10-30-2005, 07:00 PM: Message edited by: Gary E ]

[Thad Van Gilder]

The "shoob's" must buy fish... There are so many at the fish stores in cape may, sea isle, and wildwood all summer. some of them have to be actually buying fish!!!

-Thad

[TimothyB]

I think it might be possible, but I don't know the state of various fisheries so I can't be authoritative about the details...

If the fishery were dense, decent, and you could sell direct to markets (instead of to fishhouses) then sure, you could make money at it. Not much money, but money nonetheless. It would have to be a fishery, though, in which you were not competing with 100+ foot trawlers. Plus there is trouble with fishing regs that limit seasons and time on water...those regs are made only with powered vessels in mind so the seasons might not coincide with good sailing weather.

That in mind, the fishing vessel would have to be inexpensive to operate and easy to manage for a small crew. It would have to be weatherly, have good cargo capacity, and with the margins that exist today, absolutely no concessions to aesthetics other than bare minimums. It would also need to be easy and inexpensive to maintain.

It seems like a simple, single chine planked vessel would work here very well. Possibly strip planked and sheathed in plywood or double diagonal planking to save weight (to increase cargo capacity), then covered in one layer of dynel and epoxy. Rugged steel grounding shoe, half round for the stem, etc.

In "Practical Junk Rig" There is an unbuilt design of a Junk rigged Ketch fishing boat that was developed for such things. It's in the back area and looks very shippy.

[Thad Van Gilder]

I was thinking a bughler type boat, with a plywood hull, and either a junk or a gaff rig, schooner or ketch. Maybe even steel.

-Thad

[uncas]

You are gonna have to ask some skip jack owners as these guys are not allowed to use power...From what I can see, the number of skip jacks lect is under 20 and many of them now charter to make ends meet...
Check with those pros though for alternative thoughts.

[Thad Van Gilder]

but, There are almost no oysters left due to msx and dermo.

There are a fair amount of ground fish and other fish off of NJ

[Gary E]

Go for it Dude...

Just one pc of advice...dont invest you life savings...