Jane

What is a Fish Tug?

The Commercial Fishing industry is an important part of our maritime heritage on the Great Lakes. Beginning in the late 1800’s, old wooden tugboats were sold or chartered for use as fishing vessels. Bigger and stronger than the ancestral open skiffs, these large tugs were given temporary enclosures over the bow and stern to provide shelter for the men and equipment as they worked their nets. Equipped with net lifters, these tugs were able to bring in a large catch and withstand the harsh weather that is common on the Lakes.

With the success of these converted tugs, new hulls were eventually constructed to similar designs. The tugboat-shaped hulls, now fully enclosed, became known as “fish tugs”. They are the commercial fishing vessel of the Great Lakes on both the U.S. and Canadian side.

Today, the fish tug is reaching an end of an era. With the exception of a few areas of thriving industry on the Canadian side, the once-common fish tugs are quickly disappearing from the scene. Since the 1950’s, factors such as industrial pollution and the arrival of invasive species carried in the ballast water of sea-going ships have greatly contributed to the depletion of Great Lakes fish stocks. Tighter restrictions on commercial fishing have, in recent decades, forced many families out of the business through buy-outs of their licenses.

Every year, more and more fish tugs fall victim to the scrapper’s torch, are burned at local boatyards, or simply left to rot away into oblivion.

History

The fish tug Jane is a fairly standard gill net tug from the 1920’s era. Built of 1-1/4” white oak hull and tongue-and-groove cabin, this classy, hard-working vessel was constructed by the Sturgeon Bay Boat Works of Sturgeon Bay, WI in 1929. The Jane was built for Nels Sorensen of Kewaunee, WI and said to be named for his niece Verla Jane Jepson.

In July of 1941, the tug was sold to Clarence LaFond of Algoma, who resold her that November to George LaFond, his father. In July of 1942, Jane was sold to George, Russell, and Spencer Nelson, of Washington Island, WI. The tug made her way to the Island, where she would remain for the next sixty-three years. The Nelson family continued on as owner and operator until 1989, when the tug was purchased by Randy Sorenson, a grand-nephew of the original owner Nels Sorenson. Back in the Sorenson family once again, the tug kept on until 1999 when she was sold to McDonald Fisheries, also from Washington Island.

The 40-foot tug originally had her pilothouse amidships, much like the earlier converted tugs. At some point in her career, it was moved aft, but most of the original cabin still remains. In 1962, her hull was “iron-offed” (plated over the wood) with 1/4” steel, done professionally by the T.D. Vinette Shipyard at Escanaba.

The tug, always a gill-netter, has fished chub, trout, and in recent years mostly whitefish. A typical day’s catch would bring in roughly 1000 pounds of fish.

Machinery

The Jane was originally powered by a 30-36 HP 2-cylinder Kahlenberg oil engine, but was upgraded to a 40-45 HP Kahlenberg B-3 model in the 1940’s. This later 3-cylinder engine had been removed from the 1936-vintage fish tug Islander, another Sturgeon Bay hull similar in size to the Jane, which was also being repowered. In 1988, Jane was repowered with a D-318 Caterpillar diesel. After an engine failure only one year later, this was replaced by another Caterpillar of the same model, which she still has today. These 110-HP diesel engines were started using a gasoline “pony motor”. The Jane’s has since been modified with electric start. She has a Capitol 4:1 reduction gear. On the other end, a Cat PTO powers a belt drive to a 1937 Chevy 4-speed transmission, which is used to power the net lifter. The big Chevy shifter sticking up from the floor below the net lifter shows the ingenuity of Great Lakes fishermen, who made do with what parts were available when repairs or modifications were needed.

Her Future

In April of 2005, McDonald Fisheries donated the Jane to the Northeastern Maritime Historical Foundation. She will be a welcomed addition to the museum collection on Lake Superior. Apart from the relocation of her pilothouse early on, the Jane has retained much of her original appearance. Only small modifications, such as some steel plating over her parts of her superstructure (to strengthen her bow and towing post) have been completed. Her superstructure, hull and machinery remain in excellent condition and the vessel is fully operational.

Special Thanks to Jeffrey McDonald and Wendell Wilke for making this acquisition a success.

Back to The Fleet