A life working on the water: Fisherman, businessman serves Shelter Island and North Fork

Just back from a two-day fishing trip that took him 100 miles south of Montauk, Jermaine Owens was talking about tilefish.

The tile is a big-headed bruiser who lives at 600 feet. You need a 5- to 10-pound weight to keep your hook on the bottom and dragging that up through two football fields of water is no fun, he said. But it was a successful trip, and Mr. Owens is used to arduous days on the water.

On a recent afternoon he greeted a visitor in the garage next to his house in Peconic that he’s converted into a fish-processing room. 

Here he scales, guts and filets every species of fish that swims in East End waters. It’s a bright, spotless place that has a tall table to work on the fish, hoses to keep the place clean, a collection of the traditionally long, thin-bladed filet knives in a magnetized rack, drains in the concrete floor and a 1,000-pound ice-shaving machine.

A fishermen and businessman, who operates the North Fork Seafood Market out of his house in Peconic and on North Ferry Road next to Opties & Dinghies, Mr. Owens also works events and farmer’s markets all over the East End selling fish, shucking oysters, and at lobster bakes. In addition, he serves restaurants and private clients — about 150 on the Island — delivering freshly caught fish ready to cook.

“I market through social media, I’ll email clients, too, or they’ll email me,” he said. “I’ll send out notices like, ‘I’ve got fresh swordfish, or fresh tuna,’ and deliver to their doors or they’ll meet me at the ferry. I offer a pristine product.”

Mr. Owens is that rare person who knew what he wanted to do when he was a small child, achieved the goal, and never regretted the life choice. Born in Riverhead and growing up in Greenport, he remembers going with his father, who processed fish at Cooper’s, a retail and wholesale fish operation on the dock. He helped out, removing fish offal as his father fileted the catch off multiple boats.

“I loved it,” he said. “All the people lined up for fresh fish, all having a good time. It was great.”

His life’s work was sealed not long after that when his Aunt Diane took some fish guts for bait and took the young boy fishing. “I caught a 5-pound flounder,” he said with delight, as if he was still a bit stunned at his luck. And then, smiling, “I was hooked, you could say. One jerk on the end of a line waiting for a jerk on the other end.”

He worked for over 30 years as a mate on charter boats out of Greenport, including the Peconic Star and Fin Chaser for Captain Keith Williams. And in 2020, he achieved another dream of opening his own business. “I knew Earl Reiter on the Island and he told me the family was selling Bob’s Fish Market. It was the middle of the pandemic, but I was in.”

He used the same business model of getting fish then that he continues to this day. After years of working the boats, he has a wide contact base of boat owners, and engages them for trips. “I pay for gas and then I buy all the fish caught,” he said. “I process the catch and sell it.”

The first time around he couldn’t make a go running North Fork Seafood Market and had to close up shop. But then in the summer of 2024, Claudia Lin and Vincent Bertault opened the Opties & Dinghies restaurant next to the market and invited Mr. Owens to make a comeback operating it.

Mr. Owens is part of a growing industry. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has released data that notes America currently produces about $11 billion worth of processed seafood each year. Grand View Research, a market research and consulting company, headquartered in San Francisco, predicts the U.S. fish market to grow in the coming years, with revenue projected to reach $24.7 million by 2030.

It’s been a good run for Mr. Owens since helping his father years ago on the dock. The house in Peconic, which he shares with his wife of 18 years, Danielle Cullen, and their 16-year-old daughter, Rylee — “She’s an honor student, going on to college” — is undergoing renovations, with a garden and pool planned for the back yard.

The life of a fisherman still suits him. “When I’m out there, everything becomes clear to me,” he said. “I love being out on the water. It’s where I belong.”

North Fork and Shelter Island Seafood, 87 North Ferry Road. To order ahead call 631-765-8181 or 631-905-1123. Jermaine Owens can also be contacted via email for deliveries at [email protected].