Brian White of Mobjack has been a waterman just about all of his 46 years. He tried working construction for a while a few years back, but decided he’d rather go back to working on the water. He said he’ll continue doing it as long as he can pay the bills.

White spends eight hours a day, seven days a week working alone in his 25-foot Seahawk to support his family—his wife Jenny and their three sons, Anthony, 2; Grant, 5; and Jeffrey Croxton, 16. He sets his gill nets in the Mobjack Bay from early spring until early fall, catching menhaden, croakers and spot. During the winter, he fishes for oysters.

On Thursday, White was at the East River Boat Yard in Bohannon offloading baskets of menhaden, also known as bunkers. The boat yard is a convenient place to land his catch, said White. It has a small dock and a hard, flat surface for dragging the baskets to his truck.

The menhaden are used as bait fish by recreational and commercial fishermen, and White said his catch will end up at Pride of Virginia Bait and Oysters.

When the weather warms up, White will switch to catching croakers, and sometime in July, he’ll change to spot. Around October, he’ll start oystering and continue until it’s time to go back to catching menhaden.

White is from a family of watermen. His father, the late Grant White, was a tugboat captain who was raised across the road from the East River Boat Yard and whose first job was there, working for Curfman & Hughes Oyster Company. His uncle was a ship’s captain, and his grandfather worked on the water, as well. His mother, Rosemary White, is a Hudgins from New Point.

White said he hopes Mathews County will make long-planned-for improvements to the East River Boat Yard “as long as watermen can still use it and they don’t make it for kayakers only.”