Ospreys are back and other waterfront news

Right on cue, with the arrival of spring, the ospreys have returned from their winters down south, and the snow geese have started winging their way northward again.

The ospreys started showing up around their nesting platforms in Lewes and in Delaware Seashore State Park on St. Patrick's Day weekend. Now the males are busy carrying sticks and feathering their nests while they await the arrival of their mates.

It's a time of waiting. March has lived up to its reputation as the longest month of the year. Everyone is waiting for some heat - at least normal temperatures for this time of the year instead of freezing temperatures like we had this week.

On the waterfront in Lewes, the town is awaiting the return of the Overfalls Lightship from hull work being done across the bay in New Jersey. Guy Townsend, who arranges tours of the historic vessel, said the last word he heard was that the ship might be back in its slip in Lewes Canalfront Park by the second week of April.

And at Fisherman's Wharf on the waterfront, Capt H.D. Parsons is waiting to go fishing.

"The water has to warm up," he said. "It was 40 degrees or so last Sunday. That's cooler than normal for this time of the year. It was up to about 44 in the canal in mid-February but then along came March, cold and without much sunshine."

Parsons said there are plenty of gannets around, also waiting for the fish to turn on. "And there are plenty of ospreys too. Everyone's chomping at the bit for a good season this year."

He said there are lots of sea bass around too, but the season for them doesn't open up until May 15. "The government doesn't want us to work for six months of the year. Closed seasons. I wish they'd pay us for those six months like they pay themselves. But that's not how it works. If they were paid for the number of fish we catch, we'd be catching a lot more fish. But they say they can't do that. There are plenty of sea bass out there to be caught. The biomass is healthy and the season should be opening on April 15. But they don't use good sense."

Not counting what they should be

"They don't count where they should be counting," said Parsons. "They don't get out from behind their desks. They ought to go to work down on the border keeping illegals out. They're good at counting things they can't see. But we've learned to adjust and roll with it. There was a time when we were in the fishing business, but now we're in the entertainment business. Last year we did a lot of entertaining."

The third generation of Parsons taking fishing parties out of Lewes on head and charter boats, H.D. watches water temperatures, government regulations, currents and the natural cycles that can spell the difference between a good fishing season and a bad one. "Two years ago we had good fishing: flounder, sea bass and the croakers showed up. There was warm water along the beach and the fish like that. That's when we had that big run of bluefish inside the point. Then last year, the Labrador Current brought its cold water in closer to shore. That's a line the fish don't like to cross. Like I said, we did a lot of entertaining."

He'd like to see return of the mackerel fishery which three decades ago was usually good for about a month of fishing in March and April. "There were some good signs last year. I can be ready to go tomorrow morning if I hear the fish are coming our way."

Parsons said Fisherman's Wharf in Lewes is unlike a lot of other businesses like theirs up and down the mid-Atlantic. "Everywhere you go, the passenger-carrying industry for our sector is down. We're the only ones either holding our own or even adding a few boats. We usually don't have enough captains, enough fish, or enough people. But if we get all three this year, we'll be running eight or nine boats."

In last year's not-so-good conditions, H.D. said about 40 percent of Fisherman's Wharf business was in the entertainment realm: whale and dolphin watching, and an occasional bird-watching trip. "In a good season, the fishing side of things should be at least 80 percent of our business."

Always one to find a reason for optimism, Capt. H.D. is waiting for the middle of April, for a couple of reasons.

"That's typically when the dolphin return, always good for entertainment, and that's also when Chris and Anthony from Zogg's, and Al From Paradise Grill, hope to open their new restaurant here. They're calling it The Wheel House at Fisherman's Wharf. More of the entertainment business I'm in. Hopefully I'll get at least a two-hour boat ride out of some of their customers."