October 1, 2018 — In the summer edition of 850 Magazine, editor Steve Bornhoft profiled Raffield Fisheries, a Gulf County business that for generations has farmed the Gulf of Mexico, harvesting food fishes and baitfish.
Here, he explores the career of Bob Jones, the longtime director of the Southeastern Fisheries Association, established by commercial fishing interests who recognized that they needed representation by a strong advocate.
For 54 years, Jones has filled that role with a voice that is today a little breathier than it used to be, but always has been as sweet as fresh water and steadfast in support of livelihoods and a culture he is committed to preserving.
Bob Jones, his brother, his sister and his mother moved into a 12 x 16 cabin at a fish camp in Vilano Beach, Florida, near St. Augustine, in 1948. For the family, the place was a relative palace.
Jones’ parents had divorced four years earlier and, homeless, the family essentially free ranged until the camp’s owner, P.J. Manucy, a commercial fisherman and shrimper, permitted the Joneses to indefinitely occupy a cabin usually reserved for weekend anglers.
Manucy was a savior and a protector and would soon emerge as a hero.
Mary Frances Jones had often sternly demanded that Bob’s baby sister, Lessie, never go out on the dock at the camp without an adult escort. But the dock, as most things forbidden do, became irresistible. Lessie, unaccompanied, fell into the dark, moving waters of the North River.
Jones, 13 at the time, was cleaning up a room where outboard motors were kept and did not see Lessie tumble from the dock, but he caught in the corner of his eye Manucy sprinting toward the river while trying to remove his wristwatch.