The Wilmington morning star., 1945-09-10
Carolina Farm Comment
BY F. H. JETER

! men just in from their emptiet
boats, striding along the road t.
their homes and delayed break
fast. They were IN groups of three
or four clad in the nondescrip
clothing of the working man bu
each alike in that he wore the hip
length rubber boots, turned dowr
at the top, and giving forth (
slushing sound as boot top rubbed
against boot top with the sturdy
strides of the men. Each one alse
wore his rubber hat, set at ar
angle according to the whim o.
the owner. Usually some one ir
each group would nave a bucket
from which projected the tail o1
mackerel or some other choice
selection from the fish caught dur
ing the night. The whole thing
was like a scene from some old
book telling of the brave deeds Of
those who live by and of the sea.
These men had just unloaded
their catch at the fishhouse
wharves, built along the canal.
At tie first of the. houses visited,
stood the covered truck from the
up country and as fast as the fish
were graded and packed in ice,
the boxes were dragged into the
truck so that the fish might begin
their journey to your table. Watch
ing these men unload their catch
and seeing them pack and grade
it for, sale causes one to realize
that the sea vies with the soil in
producing our daily food.
As the fish were unloaded from
the boats, they were placed in
piles, and then one of the fisher
men took a large scoop, and hold
ing it full of tie freshly caught
fish he picked out the larger ones
such as the mackerel or the floun-
ders or the bigger trout. They
were all pitched into separate box
~es and when the choice fish were
removed, the smaller fry were
dumped unceremoniously into a
pile to one side. George M. Wise,
operator of the Fisherman's Ex-
change at Stumpy Point. told me
that this small stuff is put into a
boat at the close of the days
business and carried out in the
bay and dumped. And they are
dumped by the ton each season
1 saw fish enough to feeG Char
lotte or Wilmington discarded on
the wharf there at the Fisher
mans Exchange on the day OF
my visit. One of the fishermen
said that the trouble is that there
is not a paved highway into Stun
by Point. Only few trucks come
that way and they mostly haul
the fish to Belhaven where deal
ers reship them to the consuming
centers. The small fish, which
would seem large enough to an
upland angler do not fetch enough
on the market at present to pay
the dealer to box, ice and haul
them away.
When one thinks of the fine pro-
tein feed that these waste fish
would provide for hungry hogs,
chickens and othe livestock, it
seems a crime that tons of such
valuable feed should 60 to waste
each season in that area. Stumpy
Point does have it's own paved
highway but it runs only for two
or three, miles. around the edge
of the bay and out to main dirt
highway from Mann's Harbor. If
connecting highway would make
this food and feed more readily
available and would help to pro-
vide the fishermen of that section
with better living, it would GER
tainly appear that the State has
an obligation here taat must be
met.
The men who follow the nets and
boats have done rather well this
wear because catches have beer
good and prices have been salts
factory; but, they look to the
future with some trepidation. Thi:
section alone could furnish a trem
endous amount of fine food ane
feed for all of the remainder o.
the State, and its present isolation
needs to be ended.