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editorial

The Port

Of Cape May Fishermen are a'hardy lot. And it’s probably because their livlihood is wrotight with danger and uncertainty that they are also so independent and, oft times, steadfast ih their

ways.. - •

Enter something new.

*One of the area^ larger commercial fishing enterprises, Lund’s Fisheries, located just off Middle Thoroughfare, between (Sold Spring and Two Mile, opposite the Cold Spring InleC* is selling squid to Portuguese commercial fishermen. The sauid, a delicacy in many Mediterranean diets but primarily only a bait fish in this country, was sold to Lund’s by

other area fishermen in the area

While Lund’s has previously sold other a uanlities of squid for export and has thus ealt with foreign fishermen before, the aspect of this latest sale worthy of note is the quantity—some 300 tons—and that it is going

out from the Lund’s dock.

THE PORT OF CAPE MAY has traditionally been one of the biggest fishing ports along the East Coast of the united States. But until recently the tonnage has,been toHJ.S. food processors and has consisted . only of Tish

agreeable to' the American palate.

For various reasons, many of these once plentiful seafood varieties have become scarce in nearby waters. Over-fishing has all but depleted some species. Commercial fishermen who once fished for scallops, for instance, have weighted anchor and sought new

homeports, sortflTas far away as Alaska.

Thus the significance of the Lund’s sale of squid this week to ,1116 Portuguese. If more area commercial fishermen join, in, perhaps with other species of fish as well, there could

be a renaissance for Port Cape May.

" Since it is said that our offshore waters provide some of the best squid fishing in the world. Cape May — which is more convenient and less expensive to get to than Philadelphia, Baltimore or New York — becoming a major port of export for foreign fisheries is no mere

pipe dream.

Clearly, no effort should be spared in giving it a go. And hopefully other fishermen here will join in. ^

Sept. 1982

COLD SPRING Down on Seagrove Avenue, along one of the moat picturesque roads in the township, are magnificent stands of wild clematis. Moat people think they're in nearby Cape May Point when they, • travel along Seagrove (the former name af The Point). And probanly evenn more people are unaware of the name of the exquisite white flowers that fill the air with the subdued aroma of licorice or anisette. It matters not' that the road is actually in Lower Township. Nor that the

Perhaps there is even some of this wild clematis growing somehWere near the multi-million dollar County MU A sewage treatment' plant in Ocean City. You know, the one that’s been in the news because of. the horrible odor emanating from it and upsetting so many in the neighborhood. Down this way, closer to Seagrove in West Cape May, I know there is more cletnaUs. I'm also aware that the Smith Landfill Which straddles the West Cape May-Lower Twp: border, has been giving off some really rotten smells

odors from a landfill? Why do people in a residential area of Ocean City have to be insulted and injured by a new treatment facility which used public tax t dollars to build in the first

familiar scenario: Destroy a part of nature — whether a beautiful vista, a fragrant aroma, the symphony of sounds created by tiny, unseen creatures - to build a house or, worse, bunch of houses,, so that

Country isfote

wiidflowers on these vines which spring up year after year are correctly called the yam-leaf clematis. What is significant is that these plants, which cover supporting trees, shrubs or fences with millions of tiny snowfiake-like flowers that give forth a glorious faint perfume, prove that some of the best things ip life are free. Of course, you don't have to travel to Seagrove Avenue to find the yam-leaf clematis. It grows profusely throughout the county. In fact, we had some ih the backyard by a corner of the garage at our old home in Cape May, supported by a piece of lobster trap which I had carted home one day from a winter’s foray to the beach.

this sumifter. Odors caused by man which were most annoying the way they in- ' truded upon the scents of nature, whether the wild honeysuckle along our fenceline, the unmistakable leather-like smell of the horses in the neighbor’s pen, or the aroma from the herb garden, especially f.he basil, close to the back dor of the screened in porch — my summertime retreat where I held court — surveyed my surroundings, and contemplated the future. Why is it that man has to be so inconsiderate not only . of nature but of fellow man? Why were my neighbor's and I in a' beaujiftincountry setting ass^ultep^by obnoxious

place and then fouled the summer air even as users paid a fee for the service? Some service! Now perhaps someday not too distant, whoever owns the land along the Side of Seagrove Avenue will' come in with a bulldozer and lay waste to the wild clematis vines. That, to me, is a horrible thought, but one which comes to mind because I have seen it happen too Often before. You know it well yourself ; man’s all to

human ^habitants will have beautiful surroundings. What’s left of them. No wonder the sights and sounds and smells of nature become so important with the advance of age. It’s because our lives hold constant reminders that too many of our fellow creatures on two legs are makers of ugliness, and in that process not only impinge upon the free glories of nature but destroy them ip the name of creature comfort called progress. J.H.A.

British Seagull 387 The Repulsive Smell Is Attractive

by Ima Bird r'

more than the

Something stinks in Ocean City and itl

sewage plfint.

A couple of wise, old birds who flew further south to get some fresh air, told us that the once sweet-smelling town was taking on new airs and the smells seemed to be emanating from the MUA’s new sewage plAnL

goodbye comments Understand, Appreciate & Protect The Sand that’s in Your Shoes

by John Andrus, rditor It is traditional that departing newspeople leavf with a swan song - a last chance to expound on failures, perceived or realistic ;l am going gentle into this farewell, capping off almost two decades of journalism on. the Jersey , Cape simply by repeating the underlying themes of my writihg since 1963

lhave always preferred the word Journalism and Journalist lo describe the work of chronicling the day to day events > which together become-The history of the community If you were to look back over piy writings in The Press, the old Wildwood Leader. Cape May Star and Wave, or back issues of the Cape May County Herald

or Lower Township Lantern what would you find; what would be the threads of my Journalistic fabric? FOREMOST, the belief

have Jhe Vo-Tech. But has it helped stem the massive rates of urtemployment which was among its ‘ goals? Politically, the sins are

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Darrell Kopp

Editor General Manager te Advertising Coordinator Publisher

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P O Ho* 484 Cold Spring, N J OIQrM

ghat's more, they consider such degradation inevitable because they do not realize that “progress” is a determination that lies within their province

that education isn’t afforded the priority it deserves and that it commands in other areas. Here, education gets short shrift. The proof is in the lengthy discussions at school board meetings bereft of talk about children, and in the lackluster credentials of those who teach and of the colleges to which graduates gravitate — if at all. Certainly there are exceptions. But by aniLWfgeN show me a list /of the universities when<{e cometh the teachers anowhere goest the graduates, and I’ll show you the antithesis of topnotch institutions of higher learning. Since it was decided 20 years ago that the Jersey Cape would stress secondary vocational skills., we

not corruption, annually alluded to by neophyte opponents, but, in effect lethargy; primarily a oneparty system which is seen more as a job-dispensing mechanism than a system for governing. Again there are exceptions, but why should it be that only a handful of names come to mind when we think effective politicians; and why is it that the likes of Congressman Bill Hughes ^come Via the legal system md not the political system? When it comes to planning and zoning regulations, most who sit on these boards reflect the insufficient educational system and the provincial political system. And their actions (Page 35 Please)

Well, I hate to say we told you so, but we did. What did you expect? Are mortals so stupid that they couldn’t see what has happening? Just look at the administrative costs of that operation. Did you hear that? Administrative costs. Check it out and see where the money went. We birds attended a meeting recently, just out of curiousity mind you, where a lone citize^ in Ocean City managed to attract more than a 1,000 other people outraged over the MUA’s operation. These people ait calling for an investigation of the organization. NOW WHAT WE SEAGULLS have been wondering about is why all the politicians who willingly signed over their present sewage plant operation to be replaced by the MUA didn't see the handwriting on the wall long.before this. There has been so much going on in that organization, so much politics that one would think the people's protectors would have noticed something before the smell got too bad. Just mention ‘‘menhaden plant" and "integrity" in the same breath — we dare you. Actually it’s a blessing that Ocean City is getting unfavorable smells. Because man reacts much quicker to something as silly as a smelly sewage plant then he does to all the countless dollars put out for surveys and surveys of surveys and land that isn't worth the money and salaried "experts" who know little or nothing about

sewage plant operations.

FROM WHERE WE FLY. taxpayers deserve to be ripped off because they really don’t give a dam and if things didn’t start to smell in Ocean City they would have put up with the nonsense for another decade. The MUA wasn’t too smacUYou’d think they would have produced a sweet smejnng plant at any cost just to keep the public in check..You’d think they would have been able to control that part of the operation. That mistake was just bad public relations. Our Ocean City birds4ay that when the MUA cleans up its act and removes the obnoxious smell, then things will go on as usual. The public is stupid. They don’t really cire where their taxes go. They rant and they rave over high prices and high taxes but when they have to pay three times as much for their sewage disposal, most of them

don’t even let out a whimper.

THE MUA Is a good example of what happens when things get too big, when too many hands are flushing the

toilet, so to speak.

Wildwood Crest and other resort towns are already getting a little frightened about the high costs prought about by the MUA operation and at least they have enough foresight to question the astronomical costs to their tax-

payers.

The entire thing is a mish-mash and is a reminder that citizens in this country are either apathetic or looney. In a nation that still pays support for a president who has dishonored his nation and lets men who shoot presidents get off without a prison term, a nation that has high unemployment, yet builds an expensive third gym for its senators — well, we find it not too surprising that the MUA sold its bill of goods to the public The waste in the sewage plant smells, no matter how you look at it.