Ocean Fishing We have witnessed with great interest the business of ocean fishing as we've travelled along the Atlantic. We know nothing of this business, but this is what we've seen: In Sandy Hook Bay we first saw the crab fishermen. One man, standing in each small boat, with an old nylon tarp fastened at either end of the boat to catch the wind. The fisherman drags and pulls with the assistance of the wind, a container along the sea floor. Certainly an odd sight to see all those fellows standing out there tugging away, but obviously it works. We also saw men on the pier there using traps baited with chicken and fish heads catching crab. We could barely get through the huge number of fishermen on private boats at the top of Sandy Hook, where it enters the ocean. (It was an early Friday morning with strong winds and temperatures in the 30's). All the way along the coast we've seen huge schools of fish. Yes, we can actually see them. They break the water with their flipping about and also we can see the change in the colour where they are in the water. We're told these are bunker fish and they are forced to the surface by larger fish (sea bass - stripers) chasing them from below. The harbours of the Manasquan River, Atlantic City and Cape May are full of commercial fishing vessels. We recognize the shrimp boats amongst them. We've seen a great many men fishing from the beach into the surf and every pier we've passed is loaded with lines in the water. We have dodged a constant profusion of buoys marking traps and nets set by commerical boats. We can't just say who's winning, the fish or the fishers, but we can say the chase is certainly on.