Tag Archives: Naples

One fish, two fish: The local commercial fishing industry faces daunting challenges despite high demand

June 3, 2022   Gulf of Mexico

It’s just after noon on an unseasonably warm Friday in early spring. Naples has had a string of cold days and now this hot one, but no one standing in line in front of Mike’s Bait House in East Naples seems to mind. The line extends from the street, where cars are parked nose-to-bumper. It snakes through the parking lot and winds beside a black extended-cab Chevy. In the back of the truck, two young men from Dilly’s Fish Co, owned by Tim “Dilly” Dillingham, lean over Grizzly coolers. “What’s the difference between a lane snapper and a red snapper?” a man in line calls out. “A red snapper’s going to be a little more firm,” one of the young men in the back of the truck answers. That’s Dominick Biagetti, Dillingham’s right-hand man. Biagetti serves as boat captain and crew, and he helps with offloading and delivery. He has a seascape tattooed on his leg, an underwater reef scene with a turtle and a moray eel. >click to read< 12:10

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Fishing and football is a full life for Perry

September 4, 2020   Gulf of Mexico

Jimmy Perry is a hard working football coach and commercial fisherman, who was born in Naples. Always having a passion for time afloat, he has been fishing since the age of 5. He owns and operates Big Jimmy’s, a small business that provides customers from Immokalee to Okeechobee, and everywhere in between, with delicious, locally caught, fresh fish, shrimp and crabs. When asked about the perks of crabbing and commercial fishing, he said, “My favorite part of what I do is watching the sunrise every morning.” As for the hard parts,,, >click to read< 11:26

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End of era for Naples fishing industry? Commentary by Tom Marvel, commercial fisherman, Naples

May 6, 2017   Gulf of Mexico

It is noteworthy in our city of Naples when a business lasts for 70 years. Such is the case with Combs Fish Co., where local commercial fishing vessels have unloaded their catches since the 1940s. As a commercial fisherman in Naples for the past 38 years, I have been closely following the potential sale and redevelopment of this business and the adjoining restaurant collectively known as Kelly’s. The significance of this property is that it is home to the last vestige of Naples’ commercial fishing heritage; it is our last remaining fish house inside the city.,, On some days, at the height of the fishing season, up to 10,000 pounds of fish will cross the dock, all before 7 a.m. With the proposed redevelopment, the future of this fish house is in question. click here to read the story 18:41

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