Saving Seafood

MASSACHUSETTS: New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center Launches “Women’s Work” Project

February 26, 2021 — The following was released by the New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center:

New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center launches its new project, Women’s Work: At Sea, On Shore, At Home, In the Community, this March with two public programs. This project will shine a light on the many roles women play in commercial fishing communities.

On Thursday, March 11th at 7:00pm the Center will host a virtual concert and presentation, Women and the Sea by musician Debra Cowan. This program offers an engaging and informative look at the often overlooked and varied roles and experiences of women and the sea through the lens of Maritime songs and ballads. Debra emphasizes that women can overcome adversity and in some of these songs and stories, take charge and win the day. The program will be live-streamed on the Center’s Facebook page, facebook.com/NBFishingHeritageCenter. This program is free and open to the public.

On Friday, March 19th, the Center’s Virtual Dock-u-mentaries series continues with a screening of the film, Women in the Fishing Industry in Point Judith by filmmaker Markham Starr. As with other traditional industries throughout the country, tightening labor markets and a dwindling supply of men willing to commit to heavy work has created opportunities for women. This film follows a handful of women now working in the industry through a typical day on deck or on the factory floor. This film is part of a larger series documenting the commercial fishery in Point Judith for the Library of Congress. Filmmaker Markham Starr will speak about the film and answer any audience questions. Join the ZOOM Meeting at bit.ly/March2021Dock. Dock-u-mentaries are presented by New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center and New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park. The program is free and open to the public.

Learn more about these programs on the Center’s online calendar, fishingheritagecenter.org/programs/calendar.

Women’s Work: At Sea, On Shore, At Home, In the Community is funded by the National Endowment for the Arts, the Women’s Fisheries Network, the Mass Cultural Council, and the Westport and Mattapoisett Cultural Councils.

Women’s Work will use the arts of photography, film, music, poetry, and storytelling to highlight the often-untold stories of women in commercial fishing communities. From March through December 2021, public programs and an exhibit will engage visitors in exploring the lives, skills, and experiences of women who work in the fishing industry as well as those who are connected through family. The Center will partner with Our Sisters School, Greater New Bedford Vocational Technical High School, Global Learning Charter Public High School, and the YWCA to engage young people in this project.

Please contact programs@fishingheritagecenter.org with any questions.

MASSACHUSETTS: Double feature at New Bedford Heritage Fishing Center

November 17, 2016 — Dock-U-Mentaries continues its free monthly film series on Nov. 18, 7 p.m., at the New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center, 38 Bethel St., with “In History’s Wake: The Last Trap Fishermen of Rhode Island.” A new film by Markham Starr.

For as long as people have lived along RI’s meandering coast, the ocean at their doorstep has provided them with a ready supply of food. Faced with assaults from the broad Atlantic Ocean, fishermen from Rhode Island experimented with new designs, capable of withstanding the punishment delivered by wind and waves, eventually creating the unique floating trap system still in use today. While dozens of companies deploying hundreds of traps once fished the state’s waters, only four continue using this ancient but effective technique.

Following the film, the Center hosts the opening reception of its first gallery show: “New England Fishermen: The Photography of Markham Starr”.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

Film captures day in the life of a scallop fisherman

May 20, 2016 — “I should have been born 150 years ago,” said Markham Starr, a man who actively documents the present so it can be preserved for the future.

In recent years, Starr has documented working cultures throughout New England, mostly through photography. Many of these images have been organized into books, such as “In History’s Wake: The Last Trap Fishermen of Rhode Island,” which “documents a tradition now hundreds of years old, capturing the spirit and work ethic that drives Rhode Island’s fishermen to continue providing food for their neighbors.”

More recently, Starr began capturing these stories through video. In 2011, he spent a day scallop fishing on a small boat called Mister G with its owner, Mike Marchetti, and that experience has been made into a 45-minute film, “Scallop Fishing on the Mister G,” which will have its first public showing at Peace Dale Library, 1057 Kingstown Road, Peace Dale, Saturday at 2 p.m.

Starr said he first met Marchetti a number of years ago, when he was photographing around Point Judith and got to know people working in the area. He said fishermen tend to be very welcoming when it comes to letting him on their boats, for a day or the week. After taking many still photographs of life and livelihoods on the water, he decided scallop fishing would lend itself to video production. So he asked Marchetti about filming on one of his two boats. He agreed, and the two set out from Point Judith on the Mister G, a typical 40-foot lobster boat converted to trail a dredge.

The subject of scallop fishing is significant because it is an industry in peril, at least for the independent fisherman trying to make a living at it. While scalloping is now the most successful and largest fishery in New England, large corporations dominate the industry. Big industry has “knocked out all the little guys who used to scallop,” Starr said, noting there are only six licenses left in Rhode Island, and only four people scalloping from small boats like the Mister G.

Read the full story at the Independent Rhode Island