A small commercial fishing vessel of unknown type, although the bushels on deck would imply that she was after some kind of shellfish.
There are three basic types of commercial fishing vessels found in the Mid-Atlantic region: trawlers, seiners/gill-netters, and long-liners. A trawler or "dragger" operates by towing its fishing gear across the bottom. Weighted nets take bottom fishes, while cage-like steel dredges take clams and scallops. A seiner uses a floating net to encircle schools of surface-swimming fishes such as herring and tuna. A long-liner sets out miles of buoyed line with baited hooks to catch sharks, tuna, and swordfish. One could also add lobster boats and charter fishing or "head" boats to this list. And of course, dive boats.
N.J. Shore inlet to be surveyed after large sandbar forms
By Nicolas Fernandes NJ Advance Media for NJ.com Aug. 17, 2022
Sand piling up in Manasquan Inlet
Linda Anne, a 38-foot sportfishing boat based in Manasquan, heads outbound from Manasquan Inlet on Thursday, Aug. 11, 2022, in Manasquan. Sand has piled up along the south jetty, which some say has created hazardous navigational conditions as well as a new beach inside the inlet. Andrew Mills | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
The Army Corps of Engineers will visit the Manasquan Inlet next week to survey a large sandbar that has formed in the waterway, U.S. Rep. Chris Smith, R-4th Dist., said Wednesday.
Sands at the inlet have shifted before, but the low-tide sandbar is larger than anything seen there before, the congressman said.
"We are gravely concerned that it will pose a serious hazard to navigation," Smith said.