N.J.’s fishing industry fights to weather the pandemic as aid finally pours in
Updated Mar 15, 2021;
Posted Mar 15, 2021
Deckhand Albie Shopp unloads whiting caught aboard the commercial fishing boat Little Ike at the Belford Seafood Co-Op in Middletown, N.J. on Wednesday, April 29, 2020. Andrew Mills | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
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Selling his catch, however, has been a disaster.
Isaksen is the president of the Belford Seafood Cooperative Association in Monmouth County, a collection of about 20 independent fishing boats. When governments around the region ordered restaurants to close in efforts to slow the spread of COVID-19, demand for fish caught by people like Isaksen evaporated. Prices at the docks plunged.