Captain Mickey Oglesby

A chat with Captain Mickey Oglesby
Mill Creek, NC
Fishing Vessel Kristy

How did you become a fisherman? “I bought my first boat when I was 15 years old. I shrimped in the Newport River and went to school. She was a small boat – didn’t have a name, just a NC number. Kristy here is the 32nd boat I’ve owned.” He shrimped in the summer and crabbed in the winter, always making a little money to pay his bills and keep up his boats. “You used to make enough to raise a family and educate your children. Now everything goes lacking.” Mickey explained that he was a third generation fisherman. “And I’ll be the last generation, too.”

How big is the Kristy? “65 foot. Carl Edwards from South River built her. I also have the Kristy L, a 58 footer, but I’m in the process of selling her. I built her outriggers, everything. You have to know carpentry, mechanics, welding – you do it all if you’re a fisherman. I put a lot into her. The fisherman interested in buying the Kristy L hit a wreck in Pamlico Sound and his boat sank.”

How far do you run your boat? “From here in Merrimon to Frogmore, South Carolina. I’m usually here for white shrimp season. I’m getting ready to leave for South Carolina any day now.” Mickey ties up at Kenny Pittman’s fish house in Merrimon. He recalled when 12 to 16 boats fished full-time in the South River area; today “there’s none fishing full-time.”

What’s on your mind? “I’ve been shrimping 46 years and this has been the sorriest year yet. When fuel prices rise, the grocer can pass that on to the consumer – you’ll notice bread, milk, meat prices are higher. Fishermen can’t pass increased costs on! In fact, we’re getting record low prices for our shrimp because the market is flooded with imports. It costs me $4,000 to fuel this boat. I need a good haul of shrimp to make any profit – you can’t scrap around anymore.” Mickey hires two crewmen besides himself, and splits profits evenly after fuel and groceries are paid for. Mickey has four nets ($6,000), each in equipped with a Turtle Excluder Device ($800). It costs $3,000 to haul and paint the boat every year, which many fishermen are neglecting to do because they can no longer afford it. Fishing is a huge investment!

Can you fish for something else? “I could rig up for sea scallops. I have a permit. But it costs $7,500 to switch over – new nets, cables…scallop beds are in federal waters so I’d be required to buy a tracker, you have to buy a more expensive life raft.” A tracker is a computerized system that allows the National Marine Fisheries Service to keep track of the whereabouts of fishing vessels at all times. They cost the fisherman over $3,000!

What’s the strangest thing you’ve caught? “A rocket. We were trawling for scallops off Cape Canaveral. The rocket was so heavy we had to dump it. I know people who have hauled caskets out of the ocean!”

Any parting words? “I’ve gone many a mile on an old trawler.”

Interview / Text: Dr. Barbara Garrity Blake