New Jersey Scuba Diving

Carlson II

Carlson II reef
Type:
artificial reef, trawler
Specs:
( 70 ft )
Sponsor:
Axel Carlson Jr.
Sunk:
June 1973 - Sea Girt Artificial Reef
GPS:
40°06.805' -73°57.176'
Depth:
70 ft

If the date is correct, then this would be the earliest "modern" artificial reef sunk off New Jersey, sunk by the Artificial Reef Committee before the state's reef program began. I've never been able to find a newspaper record of the sinking.

While this vessel has always been referred to as a trawler, it looks a lot more like a tugboat to me. I don't see any deck space for fishing, and the large cutout in the roof is typical of a tugboat reef - to remove the engine. Nor do I see a cargo hold. It looks like maybe the pilothouse has been cut off and placed in the stern. The stubby hull and rounded stern also look a lot more like a tugboat than a fishing boat.

By now, all the upper works will be gone, the hull will be basically a bathtub. The towing bits will last a thousand years, and if I'm right, they're still there. If anyone ever dives this spot, please let me know. I really see a tugboat in this picture.

Carlson is almost certainly not the vessel's real name.

Artificial Reef Sites, Artificial Reefs, Early Artificial Reefs, New Jersey Artificial Reef Sites, New Jersey Artificial Reefs, Sea Girt Artificial Reef, Trawlers,

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Scallop Dredges

scallop dredge
Scallop

Scallop dredging is similar to clam dredging in that large metal rakes are dragged across the bottom. However, that is where the resemblance ends. Since scallops live on the surface, unlike buried clams, they can be harvested with much lighter-weight gear. A scallop rake is typically much smaller than a clam rake, consisting of a triangular frame with a chain-link catch-bag. No hydraulics are necessary. Such gear does not require as much towing power as for clamming. Since scallops are cleaned at sea as they are caught, and all the heavy shells discarded, there is also much less on-board storage requirement. Scallop boats can therefore be smaller than clam boats, and some are quite small indeed. In fact, the entire business model seems to be different, and it appears that a few small privately-owned operations persist to this day, in contrast to clamming, which is now dominated by a few corporate fleets.

More: Scallop Dredges ...

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