They are business rivals and they go about their jobs knowing the deadly risks involved, but at the end of the day they comprise a community and watch out for one another. When they learn that one of their own was lost to sea, and one more still missing, fishermen and business owners along the inlet reacted with both dismay and resignation.
Jim Lovgren, a third-generation fisherman from Brick, told that it is kind of like losing a family member in a way because it is someone in your occupation, and it’s not a common occupation. The body of Merele Rubert, who lived in Eastampton, Burlington County, was found 33 miles off the coast Monday, approximately one mile from where an inflated, empty life raft and an empty life ring was found floating. These were the only objects recovered from the 40-foot scalloper, Mary James, now presumed to have sunk.
Workers at Ken’s Landing, where Drayton worked as a deck hand for the past three or four summers, said they were trying to keep optimistic about finding him alive. For these fishermen it is difficult to think that anyone of their big family loses life at sea. This common concern leaves their business rivalry behind for fishing community.
