Bait Mongers

Lately I've been noticing the gulls more than ever. It has been hard not to notice them this week.

It's common for there to be 20-30 gulls off of our stern, flying along behind us when we steam between buoys, riding the waves as we haul, and then flocking to the old bait that we toss back as if it is filet mignon. Their high-pitched calls are background noise, blending right in with the roar of diesel and the splash of the waves. They are seen as a nuisance to most fishermen. I've grown to find them entertaining and I enjoy their company.

During the four days of raging seas last week (Wed.-Sat.) the harbors lay practically dormant and only the bravest of the fishermen were out shrimping. The gulls didn't have any bait scraps to scavenge for days. When we were out on Saturday, the gulls acted famished. It was like a scene straight out of Hitchcock's "The Birds." As many as 50-60 gulls were hot on our trail, quick to plunge for even the smallest of herring fragments. Their excited calls were elevated to shrieks and they fought bitterly for any food.

I was surprised at how desperate they acted and found amusement in feeding them at first. However, this soon proved to be a mistake. They quickly became more brazen, sitting on the transom and eyeing our shrimp. One even snatched a shrimp right from an uncovered tray when our backs were turned! I couldn't believe it. Immediately after I finished spraying the mud off of a tray full of shrimp, a gull flew overhead, dispensing a generous stream of shit on my clean shrimp. He's lucky it didn't land on me instead. That was it. I started waving my arms at them and yelling to keep them off of the stern. Cap probably thought that I had finally lost it.

When I told my father he said: "There's only one thing to do about that." He's a former fisherman himself. "I'm not shooting them, Daddy!" "It only takes one to keep them away." This is a common practice at wharves. If the gulls become a nuisance, they'll shoot one and hang it by the feet to keep the others away. Apparently it's quite effective. However, I think my favorite gull scarecrow is at the South Bristol Co-op dock. Atop the mast supporting the boom and hoist sits a very nasty looking plastic fisherman's head. He has some grimace on that salty countenance of his. This seems to be just as effective as a dead gull. I don't blame them; I wouldn't want to mess with that bastard either!