Plenty of commercial fishermen are still plying the waters of the East End despite the occupation’s stressful nature: High operating costs, climate change, onerous regulations and physically exhausting work are all part of the job description. But one fisherman has made a practice of staying positive and recognizing the spiritual element of working on the water.
Regina Migdalski works as a deckhand out of Mattituck Inlet. She and her husband, Rob (who she fondly calls “the Cranky Captain”), have a lobster boat named after her, the Regina Ann — outfitted for conch and fish pots (a die-off in the late 1990s resulted in too-few lobsters left in the Sound to fish for). They also work on a dragger, a type of fishing boat that tows a net, called the Stinky, owned by the pair and their partner Teddy Szczotka, a fellow fisherman. They work year-round catching fluke, scup, sea bass, blackfish, conchs and striped bass, depending on the season.
It’s a dirty and dangerous business with a constant threat of injuries, breakdowns and bad weather — early mornings and hours of repetitive physical work are the norm. But, as they say, once the saltwater gets in your veins, there’s no turning back — and for Migdalski, it’s coursed through her being from the beginning.
surviving the sea
Suffolk County’s maritime industry has enriched life on Long Island for centuries. We have a healthy and highly regulated fishery here, with fishermen and aquaculturists working the bays, ocean and estuaries to feed the demand for seafood. According to Suffolk County’s Department of Economic Development and Planning, Suffolk commercial fishing businesses landed over 20 million pounds of fish valued at nearly $23 million in 2020.
Commercial fishing is not just a profession but a traditional way of life, stubbornly held onto as the East End changes and grows. It’s common for many to join the fishing community through family businesses, which are mostly small-scale in these parts.
Many women in the business (and they prefer to be called “fishermen”) step in due to necessity, like the Mattituck captain’s wife who set up a playpen in the wheelhouse for her toddler and suited up to work on deck when the crew quit, or another who packs fish, hauls ice and drives a truck into the city loaded with her husband’s catch. Or those like Migdalski, who found herself drawn to both the water and the work with someone who shared her passion.
Migdalski was no stranger to the sea when she met her husband; she grew up in Wading River and fished on the ocean and the Sound with her father and brother. When a friend set her up on a blind date with a lobsterman, she was intrigued. They ended up dating and, after a while, she went out lobstering with Rob to see what it was all about.
“I didn’t know much about it, but it was so interesting to me, I just had to go. At first it was just for fun and to help out; I figured I would band lobsters, make coffee and keep the boat clean. But once I saw how much work was involved, I stepped up to the rail. Little did I know what I was in for,” Migdalski recalls. When Rob’s deckhand quit, she started working full-time on the boat.
She lifted heavy traps and totes of bait and ice; plus she learned how to tie knots amid coils of rope while avoiding being pulled overboard. She stuffed smelly bait bags and was introduced to the hauler (a hydraulic device mounted on the boat’s side used to retrieve fish and conch pots).
“I’ve always been a strong girl, but I also know that I am not as strong as a man. I’m actually quite envious of their strength, how they pick up and throw heavy things around with ease, yet I struggle,” Migdalski says. “But I’ve learned how to drag things with hooks and slide them along the rail, tilt and spin when I can, whatever it takes. Where there’s a woman, there’s a way.”
At the end of that first fishing season Rob proposed; he named his new boat the Regina Ann and the two were married. He tried to hire a deckhand, but finding someone reliable was a challenge. Gradually, Migdalski became a permanent part of their business. “I started out just for the fun of it, then I worked for the necessity of it, then I just fell in love with it,” she says.
On any given day she will haul 70-pound boxes of fish, 80-pound bags of conch, and 70-pound totes of bait and ice. Already heavy traps are loaded with extra weights to prevent them from drifting in strong tides. She has more than pulled her weight, lifting thousands of pounds over the years. “And never has a tote been made just half-full for me — you lift it or quit!” she says. “It seems like it’s always low tide when you get back from a trip, with no other way than pure strength to get everything off the boat to the dock, from the dock into the truck, truck to scale, scale to cooler.”
But what fishermen gain is often intangible — independence and peace through working in nature. They may see the moon set and the sun rise on their way to work or deer swimming in the inlet and egrets buzzing the boat. They might find complete silence and peace on a foggy day or feel the thrill of hitting the throttle as they head out to deeper water.
women on the water
Many superstitions are associated with fishing vessels — bananas are omens of danger on boats; whistling while fishing can bring on bad weather; and women on board fishing vessels are considered bad luck. These days the consensus seems to be that if you can do the job, no one cares what gender you are. Physical strength is flat-out a requirement, but mental stamina is just as important.
According to the New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center, “women are integral to fishing communities … they are involved in all aspects of commercial fishing from skippering vessels to manufacturing gear; from running settlement houses to processing fish; from owning boats to running shoreside businesses … wives also commonly repair and maintain gear, purchase supplies, and manage the business finances. Additionally, women have formed grassroots organizations to build community, advocate on behalf of the industry, and lead seafood marketing efforts.”
Unfortunately, much of this work is unseen and unacknowledged. “Often considered extensions of domestic work … these ‘invisible’ roles can lead to women being overlooked in policy considerations which focus on the harvesters,” as noted in a study on women’s global fisheries participation by the National Marine Fisheries Service and the Alaska Fisheries Science Center. Due to lack of data it’s hard to estimate how many women work in commercial fishing, but in the U.S., the accepted figure is less than 10% — but rising.
Along the way, Migdalski gained a nickname taken from the inscription on a hot pink fishing rod that was custom made for her — “Sea Queen.” She posts photos and short videos on social media of herself working on the boat, of the strange creatures that come up in the pots, of the fog or the bright blue sky, of the mylar balloons and the garbage she pulls out of the water, of the boat rocking and rolling on a strong tide. It’s a vision many don’t get to witness firsthand. People can see what she sees out on the water, can recognize the hard work yet to be done, can practically smell the salty clear air and hear the osprey and seagulls calling.
Her Regina Ann Facebook page is a “virtual diary” that offers a glimpse into the seafaring life. “People really don’t understand what I do — the job or the work that goes into it. They don’t even know half the creatures that live in these waters or take notice of nature around us and the beautiful place we live,” she says. “Most of my writings are mine, but sometimes I post something I find because it means something to me. I truly believe that love is the currency of the new world.”
Gratitude is a common theme of her short poetic posts, as is her love for coffee and her dogs, and inspirational messages meant for anyone who might need to receive them on a particular day. They come loaded with emojis and her sense of humor shines through like a beacon.
April 30th: “When life seems hard, the courageous do not lie down and accept defeat; instead, they are all the more determined to struggle for a better future.”
~Queen Elizabeth
Good Evening!
Happy Tuesday!!
Remember, if no one hates you,
you’re doing it wrong!!!
May 11th: If you are reading this, I want you to know
that every time you felt out of place in the world was because you didn’t have
the proper support in a vulnerable moment.
It’s not because you don’t belong.
You matter.
Especially on your hardest days.
You’ve always mattered…
May 18th: If the world is getting worse,
then we must become better…
Good Morning!
She sends the positive notes like virtual messages in a bottle, tossed out to sea. But as much as they’re meant for others, they fuel her spirit, too. After nearly 30 years in the commercial fishing trade, Migdalski is far from ready to hang up her boots and still craves early morning trips out of the inlet, regardless of the weather.
“I’m there every day, smiling and waving, no matter what. It took a long time and a lot of hard work, but now I can call myself ‘Deck Boss’ because I just don’t wear the skins, I do the work.”
