Archive Record
Images
Metadata
Title |
"A good oyster crop aids yards;Va. crew converts buoy tender," Bubbie Crown, Crown Marine, Deltaville, Va.; Cockrell's Marine Railway, Heathsville, Va. |
Collection |
National Fisherman Articles by Larry Chowning |
Catalog Number |
2020.9.2.456 |
Date |
JANUARY, 2012 |
Scope & Content |
NATIONAL FISHERMAN, JANUARY, 2012, Pgs. 37-38 AROUND THE YARDS, SOUTH "A good oyster crop aids yards; Va. crew converts buoy tender," By Larry Chowning There seems to be a resurgence in Virginia’s oystering that has benefits for both fishermen and boat- yards. When the oyster season opened Oct. 3 on public oys- ter beds off the mouth of the Rappahannock River, 60 to 70 boats showed up the first day. They came from as far away as Tang- ier Island to work grounds that hadn’t been harvested in several years. A lot of those boats took advantage of the services of the nearby boatyards and marinas. Bubbie Crown of Crown Marine in Deltaville, Va., says he had 25 boat slips available and all were rented to oystermen. Several other Deltaville boatyards are renting space to oystermen. "All these commercial oyster boats coming right here have helped us," says Crown. His boatyard also leases space to J&W Seafood, a local oyster buyer, and the boats in Crown’s slips are selling at his dock. Besides offering a spot to tie up, the boatyards were available on opening day when boats broke down and had to be hauled. In one case, oysterman Terry Haydon of Millenbeck, Va., had shaft-coupling problems with his 38' x 12' Delta Dawn. Crown Marine hauled the boat and re- paired the shaft in time for the Delta Dawn to be in the water for the second day of the season. By then there were about 80 boats dredging for oysters. Oystermen are using 23-inch-wide dredges. Regulations allow no more than three men per boat and a daily limit of 10 bushels per man. "It’s been a real good season for watermen so far," says Jim Wesson, Virginia's head oyster re- plenishment officer. "We are opening up Area 2 off Stur- geon Bar in a couple weeks and there are more oysters there then were on Area 1. I think we are helping the watermen by managing the fishery so these oyster grounds get a couple years oft'to rebuild." Better oystcring has also given Cock- rell’s Marine Railway in Heathsville, Va.. additional work. Cockrell’s is con- verting a steel 46’ x 16' former Coast Guard buoy tender and dive boat into an oyster aquaculture boat for Oyster Company of Virginia in North, Va. Cockrell's painted the former buoy tender, overhauled its Detroit Diesel 6-71 main engine, welded new plating onto the deck, added four bilge pumps and a new Onan 6-kW generator, overhauled the hydraulics, and installed windows in the pilothouse. The boat came with a 10- ton deck crane that will be used for low- ering and raising oyster cages. As a "bridge" for watermen to be- come successful aquaculture farmers Oyster Company of Virginia created the oyster cage co-op program. "They are training commercial watermen to become oyster growers and equipping them with cages, oyster seed and other supplies to raise oysters on leased areas of the bottom," says Myles Cockrell of Cockrell’s Marine Railway. Oyster Company of Virginia was formed in response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mex- ico, as a way to improve market share for Chesapeake Bay oysters. Founding members include representatives from the Virginia Watermen’s Association, Virginia Institute of Marine Science, Army Corps of Engineers, Virginia Ma- Cockrell’s Marine Railway is converting this buoy tender into an oyster boat. rine Resources Commission and the Chesapeake Bay Oyster Company. Cockrell’s Marine Railway had a couple of other projects going. One is repowering a rod-and-reel commercial tuna boat that will be fishing out of Vir- ginia Beach, Va. The engine that went into the boat is a new 450-lip Cummins with a 2.5:1 ZF reduction gear and a 2 1/2-inch stainless steel shaft. On a 43-foot wooden crab boat owned by Thomas Gaskins and built by Tangier Island boatbuilder Jerry Pruitt, Cockrell’s installed a new gauge panel, caulked the bottom and did some deck work. "Thomas plans to bring her back in the winter," says Cockrell.Then the boatyard will be making some major repairs to the boat’s hull. |
Source |
Chowning, Larry |
Imagefile |
011\202092456.JPG |