12 T . . ! Herald - Lantern Dispatch 2 April '86

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Goose-Egged Fisher Goose-Eggs Freeholders

By GREGG LAWSON COURT HOUSE - Ruth Fisher brought county freeholders an early Easter present last week: a big basket, complete with a purple and white bow on the handle. Inside were six smaller baskets, each containing hay. a large goose egg, and | a note which read, "In case I you have already apI pointed me. Happy Easter. I If not. these goose eggs I speak for themselves." I They were intended for the I five freeholders and county Administrator Diane Rudolph. Fisher. 55. of South Dennis. got goose eggs in return when the freeholders refused to recommend her for a seat on the New Jersey Pesticide Control Council. Fisher seeks to replace Joseph Loir.ax of Swainton ' on the nine-member council. According to Fisher, his attendance is poor. "HOW CAN MR. Lomax continue to be seated when he never attends the meetings?" Fisher asked. "He wasn't present again at the last meeting." A council representative told this newspaper that Lomax. head of Joseph Lomax Associates. local environmental consultants, missed the first meeting of this year, and three of six in 1985. The council meets bi-monthly. "We are not the appointing committee for the Pesticide Council." said Freeholder Director William E. Sturm Jr. "You .should address your ques- " tions to that body." The council is a gubernatorial appointment based on the county's recom-

mendation. Fisher was before the freeholders in February asking them to recommend her instead of Lomax. "I FOR ONE will not endorse you." Sturm said at the March 25 meeting. "Each freeholder can speak for himself." "How shocking." Fisher replied. "Is there any other comment?" Sturm asked the / board. 1 Silence followed from the three other freeholders (Gerald M. Thorton was absent, recovering from surgery). Later, Sturm asked. "Anyone care to make a motion supporting Mrs. Fisher for the Pesticide Council?" More silence. OVER THE YEARS. Fisher has asked the freeholders to name her to the county Planning Board, the Municipal Utilities Authority, the Mosquito Control Commission and the new Agriculture Development Board, with no success. She was interviewed for.

but not appointed to. the Advisory Commission on the Status of Women, appointed by the freeholders, but recommended by a freeholder-named screening committee. Fisher is an environmentalist and head of the 40-member Citizens Association for the Protection of the Environment (CAPE).

AF Promotes Wesolowski NORTH CAPE MAY - Gayle S. Wesolowski has been promoted in the U.S. Air Force to the rank of master sergeant. Wesolowski is a Combat Training Division superintendent at McChord Air Force Base, Wash., with the 25th Air Defense Squadron. Her husband, Edward, is the son of Walter and Stalle Wesolowski of 708 Wilson Ave . this community. 1 . f ACS to Hold Telethon RIO GRANDE - April has been designated as "Cancer Control Month" by resolution of the governing bodies ih Middle and Dennis Townships. Other county communities are also planning similar - proclamations in support of the American Cancer Society's annual Cancer Crusade. As part of the crusade, the 10th annual telethon of the Cape May County unit of the ACS will air beginning noon April 26 on WMGM TV 40

State Post For Plousis COURT HOUSE - Govcrnor Thomas H. Kean recently appointed Cape May County Sheriff James T. Plousis to the State Advisory Council on Corrections. The council conducts research on institutional needs, reviews and make recommendations to the commissioner with respect to budget requests from the institutions and encourages cooperation between public and private institutions.

—Jersey Cape Historically ^P| By john Merrill |

The sturgeon is seldom caught or seen today, yet for approximately 15 years, sturgeon fishing was an industry little known to Cape May County residents. The main product desired from this archaic fish is the roe. Sturgeon roe is called caviar and is considered by many to be the best tasting in the world. Beginning in 1899 and continuing until 1914/1915, sturgeon were commercially fished for in the Delaware Bay by county residents. The home base for the Cape May County sturgeon industry was> Bate's Avenue Beach in the Villas section of Lower Township. THOSE FISHERMEN who arrived at Bate's Beach initially came from Penn's Grove (then known as Bayside). New Jersey. The fishermen operated a fleet of five 20 to 25-feet long open skiffs. Each skiff had two masts and eight feet of beam with shipplapped sides. In case the wind failed, each vessel was equipped with 14 oars; each man on the vessel pulled upon a pair. MOST PROMINENT Cape May participants in this industry were John Bate, Ellsworth Hughes. Charles Elliot. Levi Dickinson, Milton Taylor. Frank Dickinson. William and Harry Thompson. William Kimsey, and Theophilus McCane. When the sturgeon "ran" in April, the sturgeon fishermen would work the Delaware Bay until the "run" ended in June. USING GILL nets, the sturgeon, weighing anywhere from 25 to 250 * - pounds, would be caught ( unless the larger sturgeon tore the net into shreds ) . Sometimes, if the fishermen were lucky, they

would also catch drum. Today we would be happy with the catch of drum> then they were considered pests. The sturgeon were processed on Bate's Beach where the roe was sieved and then packed into 22-quart kegs in which they were heavily salted. THE PRESERVED roe (caviar) was sold to the same company that provided the salt. The keg of caviar was then sold for $140.00. while the meat of the sturgeon sold for only two and one half cents per pound. Pay was set for the various individuals of the fishing party from $50 a month for the 1st mate. $40 00 a month for the 2nd mate, and the rest a percentage. The housing of the fishermen. when they were not on the water, consisted of cabins on the beach .> 6y 1915, the sturgeon were becoming increasingly scarcer. A few of the owners of the fishing skiffs lost all the money they had put into the caviar industry. Those fishermen wanting to remain in the industry moved back to Bayside. The Cape May County caviar industry was still another attempt at establishing an industry based upon one particular item when regulations were non-existent. It. like the whaling and porpoise industry, faded into the history of Cape May County. (ED. NOTE Merrill teaches social studies at * Lower Cape May Regional High School and has lived in the -county since 19 75. If you're interested in a particular historical item. write him care of this newspaper. P.O. Box 430. Cape May Court House. NJ 08210).