Fishing parties endeavor to stay afloat

By NICOLE FORTUNA
Some of my dearest high school chums teased me by saying “Would you do anything for tuna?” I defended my last name by saying it has an incredibly ancient etymology with roots in both Latin and Italian, and reminding them that Romans once ruled the earth.
But the teasing actually grew on me. I eventually got accustomed to being called Tuna.
Now I’ll do something else for tuna—and all of its friends/enemies on the eco chain—discuss catching it.
In the last few years increased gas prices have had considerable consequences on fishing, one of America’s favorite pastimes. Cape May County fishing parties have had to reel in expenses just to stay afloat.
Some fishing party businesses can rent out smaller boats depending on the number in the party. Others offer piers to fish from.
Jeff Cohn, owner and operator of Angler’s Choice Sport Fishing Charter Service in the Atlantic City area, said that despite a wide range of offerings for all age groups and levels of experience, he’s experienced a 40 percent decrease from last year.
Cohn has had to raise prices on the services offered to compensate for the increase in fuel cost.
“It’s a tough situation,” Cohn said, “Business is definitely suffering.”
Lakeview Docks, located in Wildwood Crest, hasn’t had to increase their fishing prices according to owner Claudia Garcia, but they had to raise prices for wave runner rentals.
Captain and owner of Sea Star III located in Cape May, Robert Schumann, cut the number of boats from three to one. Schumann said that the business has increased the number of people allowed on a boat, from seven to nine because of the combination of increased gas prices and regulations administered by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Council and the New Jersey State Fishery Council.
Schumann said that “everyone in the industry is just trying to hold on” just to break even at the end of the season.”
He also said, “I haven’t seen the bay this empty in 30 years.”
But although the fishing party industry has taken some hits, they are still ardent about this popular American pastime.
So catching tuna will never go out of style—no matter how high gas prices go.