Cooperative Living February 2015 - 34

striped bass,
flounder, crabs,
and jellyfish.
Rogers is a
pound-net fishermen,
and his dad,
brother, and two
uncles have also
earned their livings
on the water.
" We have
Peale Rogers is a 4th-generation pound-net fisherman.
FISHING FOR GENERATIONS
Menhaden aren't the only thing fishermen
in Reedville are after these days.
Fourth-generation fisherman Peale
Rogers says menhaden make up about
half his income, but he also fishes for
nylon nets now,
hydraulics, and
anti-foulant
paint, " says
Rogers, who has
one part-time
employee as
opposed to the
old days when
he would have
needed 12 men to
do the work of a
typical fishing
boat. All of that
makes the life of a
fisherman easier
and the work less
labor intensive,
but it's still one of
the hardest jobs around. Rogers says
the state grants fishermen net locations
these days, and he leaves his nets
at those locations March through
November. " We drive poles into the
bottom, hang the nets on them. Then
the fish hit the net. It's a little like
herding cattle. " He says he fishes
right off of Reedville and also has
nets about 30 minutes out. Rogers
says restoration of the Chesapeake
Bay has increased fish numbers, especially
for menhaden and crabs.
But even as numbers of fish have
increased, the number of those working
in fishing has declined. " You used
to have to get up super early to get
the fish first, " Rogers notes. He can
remember when the bay and creeks
outside Reedville had thousands of
pound nets. Today, he says, there are
only 80 or 90.
Rogers sells some of his catch to
wholesalers but, in the last eight
years, has gotten into freezing, packing,
and marketing his own fish. " It
allows me to make $8 per box as
opposed to $4, " he says.
A lot of the direct sales are local.
" People can come to my door and
buy fish, " he notes, though he's seen
the market for a lot of his catch
decrease. " Now people are more
interested in pre-boned tilapia and
mahi-mahi. "
Changing demands have diminished
opportunities in Reedville, and
Rogers is an increasingly rare breed.
" The fishing industry is no longer
central to the economy here, " Haynie
says. " But Reedville is a great place to
live. "
The Town That Reed Built ... Well, Not Quite
It might surprise you to know
the town of Reedville was named
after a Mainer. In 1874, Capt. Elijah
W. Reed moved from Maine to the
Chesapeake Bay, wanting to take
advantage of the largely untapped
bounty of menhaden in the region.
While there were watermen
already in what came to be known
as Reedville, they learned from
Reed how to render oil from the
fish by the millions, growing the
local industry by leaps and bounds
and making millionaires out of
32
local sea captains. Hence, the reason
for all the mansions on Main
Street.
Wendell Haynie's ancestors were
among those Reed would have run
into when he relocated to the bay.
His fishing family has been in the
community since 1640. " My family
got here 200 years before that old
carpetbagger, " Haynie jokes, though
he has to acknowledge the town
owed its great prosperity to Reed.
" The town's appearance hasn't
changed much, " he adds, though
you can explore the history of its
shifting economy at The
Fisherman's Museum of which
Haynie is a founding member. He
says pretty much all the museum's
artifacts came out of people's attics.
One exception is the model of
the B.H.B. Hubbard, Jr., one of 11
fishing boats that served in Europe
in World War I and the only one
that came back. Haynie was
among the museum founders who
constructed the model. 
continued on pg. 34
Cooperative Living/February 2015
Cooperative Living February 2015

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