Edward Lowell Ockers
Long Island Traditions
Folklorist Nancy Solomon has documented the maritime culture of Long Island through these interviews spanning the years 1987 – 2016. The collection includes baymen, fishermen, boat builders and other maritime tradition bearers.
National Capital Contracting
On July 6, 2000, Steve Warrick interviewed Edward Lowell Ockers, or Lowell, as part of the Long Island Traditions Oral History project. Ockers was born in West Sayville in 1933 and has remained a lifelong resident of the area. After serving in the Navy, he began to work on the bay, catching eels using traps purchased from his father–who had also made a living as a local bayman. Ockers discusses various fishing techniques and materials, providing an in-depth description of pound traps and gillnets. In addition to trapping eels, Lowell fished for flounders and caught scallops, crabs, and clams. During the winters, he found work bulk heading and ice cutting and participated in ice sailing when the bay froze over. Lowell details the typical day of a bayman, as well as the challenges and changes to the commercial fishing industry over the years. He explains how his career came to a close in the 1990s, as he and others faced declining fish numbers. Finally, he reflects on the impacts of government regulations and the increase of farmed-raised products.
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