Last year we started a new monthly feature in the weekly editions of The Fisherman profiling unique, interesting or exceptional members of our local recreational fishing community. When Capt. Al Ristori allowed me to hit the “record” button on my cellphone to document the entire hour-long ride from Manasquan to Jersey City for the Manhattan Cup tournament back in June, it was like recording 60 minutes of sportfishing history.
Since that two-part profile on Capt. Al ran back-to-back in the July 11 and 19 edition of The Fisherman I’ve gotten a lot of great feedback on the interview. But out of all the emails (and texts) I received, I think the following email from subscriber Bill Heaney pretty much sums it all up for everyone. Indeed, thank you Capt. Al!
Dear Jim,
I have been a subscriber to The Fisherman since 1974 (was 25 cents then). I’ve moved all over the country and the world but have always been a subscriber. I remember Capt. Al Ristori back in the mid ‘70s. It was Al who pioneered mako fishing – wasn’t done before Al.
Al contributed more articles to the New Jersey Fisherman than anyone, and I know I learned a lot from him, and will remain forever grateful. I can tell you, because I was there and saw it first hand, we had Russian, East German, Polish and other communist block flagged fish factory ships scooping up our fish well within view of shore. Heck, we had a cod area known as “Red Square” off New Jersey (Al will remember).
The fight for the 200 mile bill, i.e. the Magnuson-Stevens Act, was very bitterly fought, and we Fisherman subscribers waited for the mailman every Thursday to get an update from Capt. Al about how things were going. Our State Department fought tooth and nail against the 200 mile limit – the Cold War was very much in progress, and to their everlasting shame, our State Department believed that allowing the Eastern Block to deplete our fish, would somehow soothe relations with the Reds. They were a strong force against going to a 200 mile limit.
As far as I am concerned, Al Ristori was the one man willing to stand up to our state department to make the 200 mile limit happen. I do not believe it would have happened without him. He had a lot of opposition from the government – I well remember sending letters to congress in support of him. It was a very close run thing, and personally, I have always attributed the achievement of the 200 mile law to Al Ristori.
As with Lefty Kreh, I believe Capt. Al is one of the greatest anglers of my generation. I am thankful to him for the 200 mile limit law, and a heck of a lot more he taught me in The Fisherman.
Thank you Captain Al Ristori for all you have done for us!
Bill Heaney
Via Email