or two that hadn ’ t f ollowed its f riends up to the Gulf of Maine ,
scowling in the late morning sun , one eye on their coffee and one sharper eye on the seagulls and terns cruising the low thermals over the Narragansett Bay . They ’ re waiting to see what those seagulls are seeing , waiting to see if they group together above a darkened and exploding patch of water .
If the seagulls launch themselves toward that water in rapid Kamikaze dives , the lobstermen know it ’ s because there are jumping bay anchovies breaking the surface like wet and stinky French fries , springing wildly from the sea in one last-chance escape . They flee the big yellow flashes cutting through their school like tracer rounds , illuminating individual anchovies crashing into each other head-first , or getting sawed in half , all trying to make it out of the water just as the lazy birds zero in with open beaks and growling stomachs .
It happens so fast a tourist might need an explanation , and a seasoned fisherman might say , “ A massive school of bluefish has worked itself into a frenzy underwater on the anchovies ’ blood , and now they are ready for a fight .”
Boaters wait in the waters . Men wait on the docks . With fishing poles in hand they look for the seagulls . It ’ s a tense moment when the first bird torpedoes toward the water . Is it a false alarm ? No one moves . But then seagulls appear from every direction , dozens of them screaming like paupers in a bread line , and every boat follows them toward the hunting ground . It ’ s over in thirty seconds . The sea is red with blood . The seagulls disappear as fast as they arrived . And a thunk of thick meat can be heard bouncing on the bows and sterns of any boat lucky enough to have gotten to the killing field in time .
Then , no matter who you ask the question : “ Do you eat all these bluefish ?” the answer is always the same . “ They don ’ t taste good .” Even Michelin star chef Eric Ripert is emphatic : “ A lot of people make fun of it .”
I ’ ve always taken this bit about bluefish as gospel , but for the endless months I quarantined on Jamestown , with no internet
52 RHODE ISLAND MONTHLY l MARCH 2021