Working the Sea: Historic Images from National Fisherman

National Fisherman, a Maine-based magazine for commercial fishing billed as “the saltiest magazine on the newsstand,” and its predecessor, Atlantic Fisherman, have documented the lives of those working the sea for over a century. The entire pre-digital collection—over 3000 images—was donated to the Penobscot Marine Museum archive. With more than 100 photographs featured in Working the Sea, each one was carefully selected to highlight the changes that took hold in America’s fisheries across the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Focusing on the boats and people that have served as the backbone of the industry, Working the Sea provides a fascinating look at a rarely seen slice of American history.

The images in Working the Sea are culled from those vast collections donated by magazines that have always focused on commercial fishermen—the industry that surrounds them, the boats they fish, and the gear they rely on to harvest the bounty of the sea. Author: Michael Crowley. Paperback; 160 pages.