Iconic Fishermen and the Fates of New England Fisheries Regulations, 1883–1912

Abstract

One distinct feature of recent marine environmental history is its more considered treatment of natural agency. In our rush to explore the power of ecosystems over human actions, however, the cultural context of marine resource use and abuse has fallen out of view. Early twentieth-century debates over beam and otter trawling on Georges Bank offer a unique opportunity to explore those relationships. I argue that popular cultural representations of fishermen, developing out of larger discourses about immigration, industrial change, and the alleged passing of traditional New England folkways, played critical roles in the fates of conservation efforts seeking to restrict mechanized fishing on Georges Bank. By exploring how imagery affected regulation and thereby environmental change, we can better understand the power of popular perception in shaping the marine environment.