Volume XV. THE S T ATE
Number 4
д
Weekly Survey of North Carolina
June 26
1948
Entered
и
trcond-cl»»? matter. June 1. 1933. at the Poetoffice at Ralelih. North Carolina, under the Act of March 3. 1*79
A factory afloat is Ernal Foster's neat new Core-sounder. the Albatross
II. based at Hattcras. With his tliree brothers, Ernal operates two sport-
flshing boats. Rets from SHU to $50 per day for each, with around 100
charters a year. (Photos by John Hcinntcr.)
Floating Factories
Thai's ulial I hoy really iir«* — llio.se»
(lit'foronl ways of €»iial>liii^ fislior-
iiioii from all parts of the oounlry lo
«•a joy tlieir favorite sport off ilio
ooasl of IN'ortli C arolina.
Hi/ Kill MIX It M
APIEDMONTESE industrialist
would hardly speak of his fac-
. tory in terms used by lean,
slightly graying and windburned
Ernal Foster, of Hattcras. N. C.
"I like her.” he said with shy
braggadocio. "She's dry.
1люк
how
live she is. too. And she's got good
engines into her."
You will be making a big mis¬
take if you smile at Ernal Foster's
appraisal of his Albatross I. as he
described her while standing on
the Albatross II. There are some
1,000 to 1,500 people on the coast
THE STATE. June 26. 1948
of North Carolina like Ernal. work¬
ing in factories more or less pre¬
tentious than he is operating. Some
of them have piers which cost
thousands of dollars to build, and
some have only a couple of skiffs,
a pole, two stout arms, a merry
heart and ready tongue.
It is a motley industry, undis¬
ciplined. unstabilized, often part-
time. and difficult to catalogue, but
for all that it probably approaches
in overall economic importance and
in possibilities, the commercial
fishing industry itself, which is
much easier to squeeze into statis¬
tics. The commercial fishing indus¬
try grossed S8.821.64B in 1947.
which put it near the top of south¬
eastern states in this respect.
Hut the 21) party boats on Roa¬
noke Island averaged 100 charters
apiece last year, at $30 per charter,
for a gross of $78.000. If the 1,500
estimated guides grossed $2.000 a
year apiece, the return in North
Carolina would be $3.000.000.
That is only part of the picture.
In addition to the return to boat¬
men and guides, expenditures di¬
rectly dependent U|>on the sport
are made with grocervmcn. cafes,
hotels, sport stores, bait dealers,
filling stations, and many others.
For instance, boats leaving the
bridge at Roanoke Island are esti¬
mated to leave an average of $10
This S'z-poiind blue \\.i\ the only
one landed by ibis sportsman on a
deep-sea cruise, ami when lie fig¬
ures bis boat hire, hotel hill, trans¬
portation and other items, the fisli
will cost him well over $25 a pound.
But he loves it.
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