Bart Taylor Ritchie, Montauk Fisherman

Bart Taylor Ritchie, a Montauk commercial fisherman, died on Nov. 20 of cancer in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., where he had a winter residence. He had been ill for a month.

Mr. Ritchie won a surfing contest in Montauk in 1973 at the age of 18 and stayed on in the hamlet for the next 38 years, before moving to East Hampton. He held a captain’s license and owned several boats based in Montauk — including the Black Bart, Christine Ann, and Mistress Too — and engaged in longline, dragger, and charter fishing. 

Captain Bart, as he was called, was the subject of a 2010 documentary film that chronicled the decline of commercial fishing in Montauk. “A Long Haul,” directed by Nathaniel Kramer, was shown at film festivals worldwide this year and won awards for best documentary short and for cinematography.

After Superstorm Sandy, he supervised the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s cleanup of marshlands in Nassau County. 

Born on Aug. 14, 1955, in Freeport, he was the son of George Ritchie and the former Yvette Carrick. He grew up in Point Lookout, another Nassau County coastal town, and graduated from Long Beach High School in 1973. 

He was married in 1980 to Madeleine Blake. The couple divorced in 1996. Mr. Ritchie’s partner of 15 years, Catherine Casey of East Hampton, survives him.

Mr. Ritchie is also survived by his mother, Yvette Ritchie of Point Lookout, and two sons, Justin Ritchie of New York City and Tyler Ritchie of East Orange, N.J. A sister, Collette White of Point Lookout, also survives.

A service will be held at Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal Church in Point Lookout at a date to be announced. Mr. Ritchie’s ashes will be dispersed off Montauk Point in a private ceremony in the spring.