Point Judith, RI is a town where it still isn’t weird to say that your husband, father, son or brother is commercial fisherman. My new buddy Alessandro, or “Sans” (which he calls himself in order to avoid confusing the ladies) is a lobsterman at the fresh age of 20. He hauls traps and cooks on his father’s boat the F/V Dragon Lady. In a way Sans seems older than his years… I guess hauling traps and cranking cigarettes in the trenches of Georges Bank can have that affect on a person. Just the other day Captain Scott, owner of the F/V Dragon Lady actually invited me (me?me!) to board his fishing vessel and scope the winter Jonah Crab scene. Jonah crabs are not worth as much $ as lobster and they are more precious than lobs. They don’t live as long once harvested from the water. Chefs like to use the picked leg and body meat of the Jonah Crab in salads, crab cakes, spring rolls and other crazy inventions.
During the frosty months large commercial lobster boats like the F/V Dragon Lady stay a little closer to shore targeting Jonah Crabs. By a little closer to shore I still mean about 60 miles out there. These guys are tough as nails and cool as hell. Put it this way, if the apocalypse came down upon the earth I would REALLY want to be on their team.
