A New Frontier Is Staring The Fishing Industry In The Face …. How Many Will Take Advantage?
I’m a bit befuddled.
Everyone I speak to in the fishing business is complaining.
Cutbacks, Regulations, Quantity, Size Limits, Closures, a Short Season, etc.
Kinda-Like a broken record, everyone says the the same thing ..… “It’s Over … None of Us Will Be In Business In 5 Years.”
Lately, when the conversation comes up, I ask them this question:
“If I could show you a way to make a nice living on the water without having to deal with all of that stuff, would you be interested?”
As you can imagine, everyone says yes – until I mention Offshore Wind. Some are interested in learning more, while others give me a condescending look and walk away muttering inaudibles under their breath.
It almost reminds me of a story my grandfather used to tell me about an old farmer when I was a kid – it goes like this ….
A young boy had to walk past an old farmers house on his way to and from school.
Every day would be the same thing – the farmer would be sitting on the porch in his rocking chair puffing on a pipe with his old hound dog sitting alongside him howling.
Day after day, the same thing …. the old man in his chair and the old dog just howling away.
Finally, the curiosity got the best of him and the one day the boy stopped and asked the old man: “Hey the mister …. why is that old hound dog always howling?”
The farmer replied, “well son, there is an old rusty nail sticking out of the deck into the dogs butt. I guess it’s pretty painful so he just howls away.”
So the boy asks, “why doesn’t the dog move over a little bit?”
To which the farmer replied, “He will someday when he finally gets tired of complaining.”
Kinda’ like what’s happening in the fishing business isn’t it?
Everyone complaining day after day and not looking at other ways of making a living on the water.
As I See It, Offshore Wind Is The New Frontier
It is a new opportunity for forward thinking watermen to adapt to a new industry and continue working on the water so they can live the lifestyle they desire and support their families the best way they know how.
Now I know there are a lot of haters out there claiming windmills are a waste of resources, that it takes more natural resources to build a windmill than it takes to do something else, so let me share a few thoughts before I get into the WHY I Support Offshore Wind:
IF IT TAKES MORE RESOURCES to make an engine block that it does to feed a horse for 20 years, why aren’t we still riding horses?
IF IT TAKES MORE RESOURCES to run a diesel engine why aren’t we still using sails?
IF IT TAKES MORE RESOURCES to build a road, then why are we using asphalt?
IF IT TAKES MORE RESOURCES to make a lightbulb than it does a candle, then why aren’t we still using candles?
IF IT TAKES MORE RESOURCES to make a rocket and launch a satellite into space to run GPS than it does to read the stars, then why aren’t we still using a sextant?
Get my point? Keep reading because I’m not done yet.
Looking back in history, it took the 6-110 diesel engine to win WWI.
The 6-110 gave us the 6-71 and it took the 6-71 engine to win WWII.
The 6-110 also was the beginning of the Caterpillar 343, then the 353, then the 3406 and now all the way up to the 3516 and the 3606.
To Say Windmills Don’t Make Any Sense, Try Looking At It This Way:
The diesel engine didn’t make sense to the gas engine builders and the gas engine didn’t make sense to the horseshoe makers and stable hands either.
And I’ll bet the wagon wheel makers went ballistic when Henry Ford began making cars.
Except maybe for Michelin, Goodyear, or the other wagon wheel makers who recognized it for what it was and switched from making wagon wheels to car tires.
When I was a kid growing up in a family fishing business a few of the better known fishing towns such as; Barnegat Light, Manasquan Inlet and Sheepshead Bay, Freeport and Montauk were loaded with passenger fishing boats.
They built super-cruisers – boats capable of taking hundreds of people per boat per day out fishing. And they did. Every weekend thousands of people would show up to go fishing for a day.
NOW LOOK AT IT …
The Legends:
Thumper – White Star – Vivian – Miss Barnegat Light out of Barnegat Light, NJ – Gone
Jamaica and Paramount Fleet out of Manasquan Inlet, NJ are a fraction of the size they were back in the day.
Tampa, Ranger, Amberjack and many others out of Sheepshead Bay, NY are GONE.
Starstream – Super Speedy, Peconic Queen and many others out of Eastern Long Island GONE – nothing more than a memory – never to return.
Family Fishing Legacies Destroyed – Careers Obliterated. Dreams Crushed. Lifestyles Abolished and Demolished.
So yes, I am in support of Offshore wind – it is a new frontier – As I see it, it’s a new opportunity for forward thinking watermen to adapt to a new industry and continue working on the water so they can live the lifestyle they desire and support their families the best way they know how.
A New Frontier Is Here ….
Are you willing to grab your piece of the pie so you can make nice living on the water and live the lifestyle you desire and support your family?
“At Offshore Wind Farm Support, we’ll continue to monitor for opportunities for watermen to get involved in OffShore Wind. If you’d like to know more contact us at 601-SEA-WIND