In late summer of 2002 I began a documentary project examining the lives of working fisherman primarily in the Outer Banks of North Carolina. I was interested in the towns of Salvo and Avon at the time and developed a relationship with a group of local private non-corporate fishermen. Over time I was forced to walk away from the work and unfortunately the notebooks of information on the photographic work were lost to house moves over and over during the last 18 years. Now, I have decided to pick the project back up and expand its width and breadth to include the Chesapeake bay and Delaware. As I track down the people in these photos, the names and stories will return and the contrast from almost two decades of change will begin to become apparent in the story.
For now, I have these photos and hundreds more like them that I will release and talk about over time. As I regain the information about their subjects, I will update the stories to include them. While I create new work, with new people, I will post those stories here as well. Come with me on a journey that just may span another two decades outlining the lives and stories of a people that have always lived on the brink and deserve to be recognized.
The four men you see in these photos all are fishermen in their own right. They choose to work together to combine their boats and to lessen the load when completing a larger task like long netting. Nothing like the corporate factory ships that send out miles and miles of net and draw in half the life in a given area of ocean, these men use a net that spans no more than a quarter to a half of a mile and produces a fair level of sustainable take from the waters in which they fish. Well aware of what overfishing can and has done to small fishermen they are careful to follow the regulations and only take what is needed to stay under the levels required by law.
Once near the fishing ground, a large amount of pointing and yelling to get the three boats lined up takes place. It’s an intricate aquatic dance to coordinate three small boats in an effort to get a quarter to a half mile of netting out without a snag or a tangle though those things do happen at times. There is sometimes a man on board who can repair a net if you're lucky.
The docks where fish are sold are almost always home to a restaurant and are always home to many local cats for obvious reasons. They await the boats daily with a fervor that cat owners recognize well from feeding time at home.,
FISH!