Saving Seafood

Director of New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center to receive Massachusetts History Commendation

June 7, 2017 — The following was released by the New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center: 

The New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center is pleased to announce that its Executive Director, Laura Orleans, will receive the Massachusetts History Commendation at this year’s Massachusetts History Conference.  The award recognizes individuals who have made an outstanding contribution to the interpretation and presentation of Massachusetts history.  The award ceremony will take place at the 2017 Mass History Conference to be held on June 12 at the College of Holy Cross, Worcester. 

Ms. Orleans will be recognized for her more than 20-year commitment to documenting and presenting community history of New Bedford’s working waterfront. Her work emphasizes programming that gives voice to those who are often unheard and helps communities find common ground. These ideals drove her early career as an ethnographer and folklorist and also led her to more recent work as Founding Director of both the Working Waterfront Festival and the New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center. Orleans is also an Archie Green Fellow with the Library of Congress, documenting workers in the shore-side trades of the New Bedford/Fairhaven fishing industry. 

Now in its 13th year, the Massachusetts History Conference draws hundreds of organizations each year to discuss preserving, interpreting, and deepening the exploration of Massachusetts history. This year’s conference will focus on the ways that public history organizations and institutions large and small inspire and engage audiences and constituencies.  

The event is co-sponsored by Mass Humanities and a coalition of historical organizations around the state. The full program and registration information are available online at masshumanities.org. Mass Humanities joins the rest of the conference committee in congratulating the awardees. 

The New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center is dedicated to preserving and presenting the story of the commercial fishing industry past, present, and future through exhibits, programs, and archives.

MASSACHUSETTS: Fishing Heritage Center seeks volunteers

March 2nd, 2017 — New Bedford, MA – The Fishing Heritage Center is looking for volunteers to help with day to day operations, walking tours, educational programs and maintaining the Center’s growing archive.  The Center, which opened to the public last June, is dedicated to telling the story of the fishing industry past, present and future through exhibits, programs, and archives. 

Volunteer opportunities include: welcoming visitors, staffing the reception area and gift shop, engaging visitors with the exhibits, assisting with educational programs, and helping with special events.  During the summer months, the Center will provide weekly walking tours for cruise ship passengers and seeks volunteer tour guides to “learn the ropes” and become tour leaders. Additionally, the Center is developing a digital archive of scanned photographs and documents and seeks volunteers interested in assisting with this project. Training will be provided for all volunteers.

For those with a fishing industry connection, we hope you will consider talking with school groups and/or the public about your work and life.

Volunteers are needed during Center operating hours (Thursday-Sunday 10-4) and for occasional evening programs and special events. Volunteer hours are flexible and can be scheduled according individual availability and particular areas of interest. The Center is located at 38 Bethel Street, in the heart of the National Park. The Center is wheelchair accessible and free off-street parking is provided to volunteers.

For more information please contact the Fishing Heritage Center at: operations@fishingheritagecenter.org or call (508) 993-8894

MEDIA CONTACT:

Laura Orleans, 508-993-8894

info@fishingheritagecenter.org

MASSACHUSETTS: A day in the life of a scallop boat captain

January 23, 2017 — NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — “We’re really pleased to see such a great turnout,” Fishing Heritage Center Director Laura Orleans told the standing-room-only crowd filling the center on Jan. 11. The capacity audience was there to hear Fairhaven scallop boat captain Chris Wright talk about “A Day in the Life” of the master of not one but two local 200-foot scallopers.

Pleased, but not surprised at the big turnout. “It’s no surprise because Chris Wright is one of my favorite captains,” Orleans said. By the end of the interesting lecture on his life at sea, and a spirited question-and-answer session, Wright was the favorite scallop boat captain of everyone in the room. 

“Don’t be in awe of us” braving fierce winds and mountainous waves far offshore, Wright suggested modestly at one point in the question-and-answer period. “It’s just what we do.”

What Wright does is skipper the Huntress out of Fairhaven, and the Nordic Pride, based in New Bedford. A shared captain is not uncommon these days, with each scallop boat limited by fishing regulations to a maximum of 75 days at sea, he noted.

“I’m getting ready for my 29th year as a captain,” Wright said, looking back on a life at sea that started with summer and vacation work on his father’s fishing boat as a youth, and through college. He graduated from a maritime academy in 1983, and spent a year working on commercial vessels, traveling far and wide over the oceans.

“But it was too much time away from home,” he suggested. “After a while, I went back home and started fishing.” 

He said he is lucky to have found two good boat owners to work for, and build long-term relationships with over the decades. He alternates trips on the two vessels, helming each for 10 or more trips per year with the same crew.

A captain spends much of his time on shore preparing for the next trip, with each fishing voyage lasting from 10 to 14 days. If the maximum catch allowed for that trip is 17,000 pounds of scallops, the boats generally stay out as long as is needed to get close to the allowed harvest.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

MASSACHUSETTS: Salted, Pickled & Smoked: an exhibit of fishing community artifacts to open on Thursday, November 10th

November 1, 2016 — The following was released by the New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center:

New Bedford, MA – The Fishing Heritage Center is pleased to announce the opening of Salted, Pickled & Smoked: Preserving the Cultural Heritage of new Bedford’s Fishing Community, an exhibit of fishing community artifacts.

Co-curated by FHC Executive Director Laura Orleans and New Bedford Free Public Library Art Curator Janice Hodson, the exhibit will be on display on the 3rd floor of the New Bedford Free Public Library (613 Pleasant Street) from November 10, 2016 through January 7, 2017.  An opening reception is scheduled for Thursday, November 10th from 6-8 p.m.  Maritime Anthropologist Madeleine Hall-Arber will present a short talk about the project at 7 p.m. that evening.

The Fishing Heritage Center has been busy digitizing photographs and artifacts from the local fishing community as part of a year-long project.   Salted, Pickled, & Smoked: Preserving the Cultural Heritage of New Bedford’s Fishing Community is an exhibit highlighting some of the most interesting photographs, documents, objects, and stories that have been shared.

The project is a collaboration involving the New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center, University Archives and Special Collections at the University of Massachusetts Boston, Clair T. Carney Library at the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth, MIT Sea Grant, the New Bedford Free Public Library, and New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park. The project is funded by a Common Heritage grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Project will record oral histories of the local fishing industry

July 18, 2016 –NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — The New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center has received a prestigious Archie Green Fellowship from the Library of Congress to support a year-long effort to document shore-side workers in New Bedford and Fairhaven, center officials said,

The center received support for “Workers on the New Bedford Waterfront.” Folklorist and Director Laura Orleans, working with anthropologists, Madeleine Hall-Arber and Corinn Williams, oral historian, Fred Calabretta and photographer, Phil Mello will conduct a large ethnographic field project interviewing approximately 60 shore-side workers involved in the local commercial fishing industry.

The project will focus on recording oral histories about rarely documented occupational skills, knowledge, and trades including: marine electronics and engine repair; fish processing, packing, and trucking; the design and manufacture of fishing gear; work in ice plants and on fuel barges; offloading of fish and scallops; the seafood auction, settlement houses; and shipyard work, the center said in a news release.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

Federal grant to fund New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center film

May 2, 2016 — NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — A $20,000 Maritime Heritage Grant is going to be used to produce the orientation film for the fledgling New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center, according to Executive Director Laura Orleans.

She told The Standard-Times it was the full amount the center sought from the the Maritime Heritage Program, which is part of the National Park Service’s Park History Program. “We got the full amount I was flabbergasted,” Orleans said.

Tentatively titled,“Resilience: The Story of New Bedford’s Fishing Industry,” the film will be produced by local filmmaker Kevin Kertscher, whose Big Ocean media is located on lower William Street near the Whaling Museum.

The plan is to have the film ready to roll in June 2017.

The heritage center is already using a $12,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. It is paying to digitize all the materials being brought in by private parties to build a digital library for the center, which is opening June 25 at 39 Bethel St.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

Massachusetts: New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center Plans June Opening

The following was released by the New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center:

April 13, 2016 — NEW BEDORD, Mass. — The New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center is pleased to announce its plans to open to the public on Saturday, June 25th with a Grand Opening Celebration.  The Center has leased space at 38 Bethel Street in the heart of New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park. The 3000 square foot, handicap accessible space will accommodate changing exhibits, public programs, school groups, archives, and community gatherings.

“The commercial fishing community deserves a place to preserve and present its stories and artifacts, share its skills and knowledge, and educate the public about its rich traditions, heritage, and contemporary existence. We are excited to provide that opportunity.” Executive Director, Laura Orleans.

The Center’s initial exhibit From Boat to Table will include sections on Gearing Up, At Sea, Sustainability, and Landing the Catch, touching on all aspects of the industry from the time a keel is laid on a vessel to the time the catch is landed and brought to market.  The centerpiece of the exhibit will be a wheelhouse complete with demo/simulator navigational equipment.  More details including preliminary elevations are available on the Center’s website: www.fishingheritagecenter.org

In addition to providing information about the organization and its programs, the website includes several digital exhibits exploring various aspects of the fishing industry past and present as well as an industry timeline.  The website project was funded through grants from Mass Humanities, the Henry H. Crapo Foundation, and the New Bedford Cultural Council.  Several local teachers developed standards-based curriculum materials and various community historians contributed to the timeline and accompanying articles.

The June 25th Grand Opening is envisioned as a mini-festival with demonstrations of industry skills such as net mending, dredge making, shucking, and filleting, as well as safety demos, model boat making, fishermen-led walking tours, and hands on kids activities.  Fresh local seafood will be available for sale and Center exhibits will be open free of charge during the event.

During 2016 the Center will continue to present Dock-u-mentaries, its monthly film/speaker series and Something Fishy, its free summer camp program presented in collaboration with the National Park and Whaling History Alliance. Weekly cruise ship programs and fishermen-led walking tours will be offered during the summer months.  A variety of public programs including author readings, talks, occupational demonstrations, and performances will be presented.  The Center is also working in collaboration with MIT Sea Grant, UMass Dartmouth, UMass Boston, and the New Bedford Public Library on a year-long initiative to create a digital archive of fishing community history with funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

The Fishing Heritage Center is dedicated to preserving and presenting the story of the commercial fishing industry past, present, and future through archives, exhibits, and programs. The Center is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. For more information visit www.fishingheritagecenter.org.

MASSACHUSETTS: New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center Leases Downtown Space

NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — March 8, 2016 — The following was released by the New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center:

The New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center is pleased to announce its plans to lease space at 38 Bethel Street beginning on April 1st of this year. Located in the heart of New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park, the 3000 square foot, handicap accessible space will accommodate changing exhibits, public programs, school groups, archives, and community gatherings.  Exhibits are under development with a public opening planned for late June.

“The commercial fishing community deserves a place to preserve and present its stories and artifacts, share its skills and knowledge, and educate the public about its rich traditions, heritage, and contemporary existence. We are excited to provide that opportunity.” Executive Director, Laura Orleans.

During 2016 the Center will continue to present Dock-u-mentaries, its monthly film/speaker series and Something Fishy, its free summer camp program, in collaboration with the National Park and Whaling History Alliance. Weekly cruise ship programs and fishermen-led walking tours will be offered during the summer months.  A variety of public programs including author readings, talks, occupational demonstrations, and performances will be presented.  In addition, an interactive website with digital exhibits, an industry timeline, and standards-based curriculum materials will be launched in April. The Center is also working in collaboration with UMass Dartmouth, UMass Boston, and the New Bedford Public Library on a year-long initiative to create a digital archive of fishing community history.

The Fishing Heritage Center is dedicated to preserving and presenting the story of the commercial fishing industry past, present, and future through exhibits, programs, and archives. The Center is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. For more information visit www.fishingheritagecenter.org.