Paid Notice: Captain Paul George Forsberg, 86, of Montauk, New York, and Tarpon Springs, Florida, passed away peacefully on Friday, March 20, 2026, in Tarpon Springs, surrounded by family. A titan of the American fishing industry, a relentless advocate for fishermen’s rights, and a pillar of the Montauk community for more than seven decades, Captain Forsberg leaves behind a legacy as vast and enduring as the waters he spent his life navigating.
In a remarkable coincidence, Captain Forsberg passed the same weekend as Chuck Norris, who died just one day earlier at the same age of 86. Both men were larger-than-life figures who embodied toughness, grit, and an unyielding commitment to the lives they built.
Paul was born on November 3, 1939, in Freeport, New York, the son of Carl G. Forsberg and Adele Forsberg. His father founded the Viking Fishing Fleet in 1936 in Freeport, and from the beginning, Paul’s life was shaped by the sea. In 1951, when Paul was just twelve years old, Carl moved the family and the business to Montauk, believing the fish were “closer” at the Point. Paul’s mother, as the family story goes, wasn’t entirely convinced and noted there wasn’t even a traffic light in Montauk.
But Montauk would prove to be the making of the Forsberg empire. By twelve, Paul had already owned his own 24-foot boat. He worked in commercial fisheries throughout his teenage years, and at just eighteen years old, in 1957, he earned his 100-Ton Master Captain’s License, a credential he would hold proudly for more than 55 consecutive years. He ran his own charter boat from 1957 to 1959 before entering the party boat fishing business, where he would make his indelible mark.
Under Paul’s leadership, the Viking Fleet grew from a single boat into the largest, most diversified privately-owned fishing fleet in the northeastern United States. He was a visionary boat builder and designer. In 1970, he built the Viking Star, a 104-foot steel party fishing vessel — one of the first large steel boats of its kind in the industry. In 1977, he followed it with his masterpiece: the Viking Starship, a 144-foot steel vessel that became the flagship and icon of the Viking Fleet and the most recognized party boat on the East Coast. He later designed the 125-foot Viking Superstar, a high-speed passenger ferry featuring his innovative anti-seasickness hull design, which carries passengers to Block Island, RI and New London, CT. He also built the Viking Fivestar, a 65-foot luxury sport fishing vessel designed alongside his son Steven and grandsons Carl and Steven Jr.
Paul was never content staying in one place. Always the pioneer, he brought the Viking Starship to Key West, Florida, in the early 1980s for two seasons, seeking to extend the fishing season. In the mid-1990s, he ventured to Puerto Rico with the same ambition. He sailed the Caribbean aboard the Viking Freedom, a one-of-a-kind sail-assisted commercial research vessel he built for exploring virgin fishing grounds. In 2006, he expanded the family’s operations to Tarpon Springs, Florida, bringing the Forsberg name to the Gulf of America.
Captain Forsberg’s list of achievements reads like a maritime adventure novel. Viking Fleet boats discovered and fished on countless shipwrecks, including the legendary Andrea Doria. During the 1980 Cuban Boat Lift, Paul personally transported 520 Cuban refugees on the Viking Starship to freedom in Key West, including all of the personnel from the American Embassy in Havana, a feat of seamanship and courage that few other captains would have attempted. He was also an inventor: his creation of the first heated handrail on a fishing boat — sending hot engine exhaust through pipe handholds — transformed the experience of winter fishing for generations of anglers.
Paul chronicled his extraordinary life in his 2013 book, Gone Fishin’ with the Viking Fleet: The Forsberg Empire — 75+ Years and Still Going Strong, co-authored with Manny Luftglass. He dictated much of the book from his truck, his living room, and from the wheelhouses of his many boats — a fitting testament to a man who was always in motion.
Beyond the helm, Captain Forsberg was one of the fishing industry’s most tireless and outspoken advocates. He traveled at his own expense to testify at government hearings in more than a dozen states, fighting against what he saw as overzealous federal fishing regulations that threatened the livelihoods of hardworking fishermen and their families. He challenged the policies of NOAA and the Magnuson-Stevens Act with the same tenacity he brought to navigating rough seas. As one longtime Montauk neighbor put it, “Captain Forsberg goes to Washington and fights for fishermen all the time.” He considered it his duty, and he never sent a bill.
Paul was deeply woven into the fabric of Montauk. He served in the Montauk Volunteer Fire Department for ten years. He was a longtime member and former board member of the Montauk Chamber of Commerce. He was a member of the Montauk Boatmen and Captain’s Association from the 1950s onward, and a proud member of the Montauk Friends of Erin. In 2016, the Friends of Erin honored him as the Grand Marshal of Montauk’s 54th Annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade — an honor he considered one of the highest in Montauk. When told of his selection, Paul laughed and said, “I told Joe I’m not Irish, I’m Swedish.” He led the parade with characteristic warmth and humor, trading his captain’s hat for a top hat and shillelagh.
Paul was also a highly dedicated family man. In the winters, between running Viking boats with his family by his side, he would find time to take his children and grandchildren on family ski trips to Canada, Colorado, and California and he was an avid skier. He would also go hunting and he proudly displayed the busts of a Moose and a Caribou in his home. He also enjoyed his motorcycle rides and even rode across the country from NY to California.
In his final years, one of Paul’s greatest joys was watching his two sons, Steven and Paul Jr., work side by side to design and build the Gulfstar Endurance, a new vessel for the family’s Tarpon Springs fishing operation. The boat is ready for the upcoming season — and seeing it completed was one of the last things Paul wanted before he left this world. Watching his boys collaborate on such a beautiful craft brought him deep satisfaction and pride.
While Captain Forsberg was not a churchgoing man for most of his life, his final hours held a quiet and remarkable grace. On the morning of March 20, a Baptist pastor visited Paul at his bedside. Alert and fully aware, Paul was asked about his faith. He told the pastor plainly that he was trusting Jesus Christ as his Savior and that he was not afraid of death. His grandson, Drew, a retired Navy SEAL Chief Warrant Officer, was at his side during his last moments, reading aloud from the Gospel of John and singing Scripture songs as Paul took his final breaths. It was a peaceful departure for a man who had spent his life charging headlong into the wind. As the verse from 1 CHR 29:28 says, “And he died in a good old age, full of days, riches, and honor.”
Paul was preceded in death by his first wife, Muriel Forsberg (née McTurk), mother of his three children; his second wife, Elizabeth Forsberg, whose children from the Mulhern family Paul helped raise. He is survived by his beloved longtime partner, Patricia Smithlin, of Tarpon Springs; his three children: Captain Paul B. Forsberg of Florida, his daughter Patty Ann Forsberg and Captain Steven D. Forsberg; and his brothers Carl and Jon Forsberg; his sister Audrey; his eight grandchildren: Paul “Drew” Forsberg, Carl B. Forsberg, Melissa Williams, Steven N. Forsberg, Samantha Ganary, Tess DePetris, Grayson Forsberg, and Fisher Forsberg; and fifteen great-grandchildren.
The Viking Fleet endures. Today, the fourth generation of Forsbergs carries the family name forward in Montauk. Paul’s son Captain Steven D. Forsberg, and Paul’s grandsons Captain Carl B. Forsberg and Captain Steven N. Forsberg have all obtained their 100-Ton Master Captain’s Licenses and continue to operate the Viking boats, ensuring that the legacy Paul built — and that his father Carl started in 1936 — will continue for generations to come. As Paul himself once said, “Fishing is in my blood. It is how my family have provided for ourselves and our many full-time employees. It is what we do.”
A memorial service celebrating the life of Captain Paul G. Forsberg will be held in Montauk this spring during the annual Blessing of the Fleet. Details will be announced by the family.
Fair winds and following seas, Captain.
