Tag Archives: Joe Rose
Capt. Mark Phillips and the Illusion, the last of its kind
‘It’s not fish you’re buying – it’s men’s lives.’’ – Sir Walter Scott. The Predator sits dockside in Greenport, behind Alice’s Fish Market, a rusting hulk of a fishing trawler, 75 feet long and with no certain future to speak of. It is Mark Phillips’ boat, but he is away most days trolling offshore for squid in his other trawler, the Illusion. “It is not going to sea anytime soon,” Phillips said by cellphone, an edge of weary disgust in his voice. “The Predator’s days have come and gone.” The Illusion was dragging for squid near Nantucket on a hot day in mid-July. Phillips had started that week near Jones Inlet on western Long Island, but the ocean had heated up and the squid, which don’t like warm water, were scarce, so he moved the Illusion farther east in pursuit of success. >click to read<09:41
