Shot Fired At Sea

The Shinnecock-based dragger Bookie was 130 miles offshore on Jan. 10 when those topside heard a shotgun blast from below deck.

The crewman responsible for the blast had a gun in his lap with live shells on a table before him. He was demanding to be taken to shore. An emergency call was made.

"The crew felt threatened," Boatswain's Mate First Class Steve Hoagland, the Montauk Coast Guard station's executive officer, understated on Tuesday.

Moriches Coast Guard ordered the Bookie to head for Montauk, the closest port, "at all possible speed," as there was no cutter in the area and a helicopter, without boarding capability, would have been of little use.

Boarded

The matter has been turned over to a Coast Guard investigations unit. As a result, the crewman's name is being withheld, Mr. Hoagland said.

The trip to Montauk took 12 hours, according to the Coast Guard report. Just past Montauk Point a patrol boat from the Montauk station boarded the dragger. The boarding team reported no hostility. The shotgun had been taken from the crewman and secured.

"We brought the crew and put them in the [communications] center and took statements. We took statements from all of them. He said he did fire a round."

Mr. Hoagland said the man accused of firing the gun apparently never pointed it directly at anyone.

Wanted Out

Mr. Hoagland said the reason for the blast seemed to be that the crewman wanted to get ashore badly, and was trying to impress upon Capt. Frank Green that he meant business.

"He got involved in a fishery he was not experienced in. He didn't want to be offshore," Mr. Hoagland said, adding that people are sometimes lured to offshore fishing for the money and learn once at sea that they are doing hazardous and exhausting work.

Investigators are said to be determining whether the incident qualifies as a mutiny. More likely it will be seen as an assault, as defined by Federal law within the Maritime Territorial Jurisdiction, a charge that carries the possibility of jail time.