A chat with Captain John Buster
Salter,
Atlantic, NC,
Fishing
Vessel Miss June
Whats your family
background? I'm from right here in Atlantic. Atlantic used to be
called Hunting Quarter, and its Indian name was Koranine. My
great-grandfather was James Mason, who owned property on northern Core Banks
through a King's grant. The property was sold to a hunt club called
Pilentary, named after the thorny bushes that grow on the banks." Buster's
grandfather worked as a caretaker, and was inside the clubhouse with Buste''s
father (then 11) when it was destroyed and washed into the ocean in the 1933
storm. "They survived but they were stranded on Core Banks for three
days!
Why did you become a fisherman? My father, grandfather, and
great-grandfather were all fishermen. When I was 5 years old I started going
with my uncle on Luther Smith's buy boat.
A buy-boat
runs out to
the fishing vessels of Pamlico and Core Sound to collect the fish; this
allows the crew to keep fishing while their catch - spot, croaker, trout, sea
mullet, bluefish, and flounder - is carried to market. So I got interested
in long-hauling at an early age, and did it ever since.
What is long hauling? Long hauling is the second oldest style of fishing
in North Carolina, after oyster harvesting. Over a dozen crews worked out of
Atlantic in the 1970s; today there's only two.
Two small skiffs holding
1,600 yards of net are towed behind two bigger boats to the fishing grounds.
The crew pays out the net and hauls it in a big horseshoe shape for 2 or 3
miles. The two boats head for a shallow shoal where the net is gathered and
tightened. Buster gets out of the boat and foots
the net, standing on
the lead line
or the bottom section. Stingrays have stung me
several times!
The men bail the fish out of the bunt
of the seine
using a dip net. In the old days they used a basket,
Buster notes. The
six member crew, including the captain, gets a share
or an equal split
of the total value of their catch -- even the boat earns a share!
What's on your mind? It"s not looking good for the environment or
the fishermen. I think the greatest threat is global warming the burning of
fossil fuels is heating up the atmosphere, changing the habitat of the fish.
Land ecosystems too! "I'm afraid we'lll see future scarcities in world food
supplies. Meanwhile, we're also developing the coast and pollutants pour into
the rivers and sounds -- our fisheries are paying the price.
Whatâ's your claim to fame? I came up with an escape panel made of
plastic rings that allow small fish to escape the net. The Division of Marine
Fisheries liked my design, and now every long haul net is required to be
fitted with an escape panel.
Buster's invention was featured on the front
page of the New Bern Sun Journal! "We don't want to catch the little fish,"
he explains. They'll grow.
What do you love about fishing? I was born to fish. I
grew up into it, and I love the beauty of nature and the outdoors. Working on
the water intrigues me -- a different adventure every day, a new problem to
solve.
Buster likes to bring his two grandsons fishing with him. When
he's not fishing he relaxes by reading all about coastal history.
Who'd you name your boat, the Miss June, after? My mother.
Interview / Text: Dr. Barbara Garrity Blake
