8 AM NARRAGANSETT
Point Judith
After a full day and night on the water, Shawn Manville and his daughter, Allison, pull into Point Judith to offload their catch. Two nights ago, the forty-five-foot-long Natator departed Galilee for the fishing grounds about fifty miles south of Block Island, where the crew netted close to 1,700 pounds of fluke. While the summer bounty allows for a more regular schedule— Manville fishes 3:30 a. m. to 2 p. m. daily during the warmer months— the winter scarcity means trips are fewer and longer in duration.“ We had six hours’ drive just to get where we were going,” he says.“ I try to get to bed by nine o’ clock just so I can function.” Manville learned the fishing trade from his stepfather and built his own boat in 1993. His daughter, Allison, studied to be a certified dental assistant but never worked in it, preferring the long hours and tangible exertion of the sea.“ I’ d rather be outside,” she says.“ She’ s the best deckhand I ever had,” Shawn adds. Today, they unload their catch at The Town Dock, a seafood wholesaler based in Galilee and one of the country’ s leading suppliers of calamari. Along with his three daughters, Shawn’ s grandchildren have grown up on the Natator, though Allison hopes her own children, ages eight and fourteen, pursue a different profession. The past few years have been tough on the industry, a decline her father attributes to the introduction of wind turbines near Rhode Island Sound and fluctuating seafood prices.“ The fishing gets worse every year,” Allison says.“ It’ s a struggle to be a fisherman.” Shawn says he has no plans to retire anytime soon, as long as he and the Natator remain seaworthy.“ Until I can’ t get on the boat anymore,” he says. 🆁
RHODE ISLAND MONTHLY I APRIL 2026 95