Jersey Shore Views...: Fishing the New Jersey Shore!

Viking Village, located at 19^th& Bayview Avenue in Barnegat Light, NJ on Long Beach Island is one of the largest suppliers of fish and seafood on the Eastern Seaboard.   Each year millions of pounds of seafood are packed out over the commercial dock of Viking Village and shipped not only locally, but to many parts of the world.

The Scandinavians who immigrated here in the 1920s originally named it Independent Dock. It's said they chose the Barnegat Light area because it reminded them so much of their homeland.  They were fishermen.  Over the years, the catch has has changed but now the majority consists of scallops, tuna, swordfish, tilefish and different kinds of in-shore fish; weakfish, monkfish, blues, shad and dogfish.

The boats used by commercial fishermen out of Barnegat Light are long liners and inshore fishing-net boats.  Long liners use very long lines with a series of baited hooks.  Unlike the long liners, fishing net boats and scallopers return to port after a day's catch.  All boats are independently owned and use Viking Village for pack-out, marketing and sale of the catch.

Since new markets have opened up, now only 40 percent of the catch brought to Viking Village is shipped to the Fulton Fish Market in New York City. The remainder is shipped up and down the East Coast with a good amount going over seas. There are many local restaurants and seafood dealers that directly purchase Viking Village's products.

There are dock tours of Viking Village during the summer months, and plenty of shops in the Village to make a day of it.  If you're interested in charter boat fishing, the Long Beach Island season begins March 27^th with fishing for blues and sea bass on the Doris Mae IV.