Since Long Island is not in the bypassed east I am going to talk about something that is a common thread between the two regions. Fishing and seafood related industries. Today on TV you see lots of reality shows, depicting lobster and crab fishing in the Bypassed East. Many people might not realize it but Long Island was known for its clams and oysters and blue claw crab, other good catches for fishing are bluefish, flounder and fluke. Here is a phenominal video shot in 1972 depicting the life of a clammer in West Sayville, I grew up in Sayville, so this was a total blast for me to find and watch and brings back memories.
Much like in the Bypassed East the men go out on thier boats for long days, to catch in this case clams. As you can see in the video it was solo work, 1 man per boat, and dozens of boats in clam bed areas. 8-12 hour days most of which are spent on the boat, working the clam rake, which is exactly what is sounds like, a giant rake on a pole that you stick in the water and drag through the sand at the bottom on the Great South Bay, and hope you scrape up some clams. It is long hard grueling work, but boy let me tell you it is a great workout. In decades past large parts of local economies depended on fishing, clamming, crabbing for jobs and income. This is to a much lesser degree today. In the past the clams caught in NY provided 60% of the nations clams. As far back as the early 20th century things like oysters were exported as far away as Paris, France from the Long Island area.
As mentioned in an earlier blog about manufacturing, whaling was also a major component of Long Island life, and this was spread down from the Bypassed East in the 1600's. So it originated there and actually migrated to Long Island. I wonder if that makes some Long Islanders more like New Englanders?
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