Next Up In Dock-U-Mentaries Series: Family Farms and Floating Trap Fishermen

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September Dock-U-Mentaries program considers compares lives of farmers and fishermen (Photo: Markham Starr)

The Dock-U-Mentaries Film Series continues on Friday, September 20th with Hanging by a Thread: Family Farms and Floating Trap Fishermen, a narrated slide show presented by photographer Markham Starr. Dock-U-Mentaries is a co-production of New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park and the Working Waterfront Festival. Films about the working waterfront are screened on the third Friday of each month beginning at 7:00 PM in the theater of the Corson Maritime Learning Center, located at 33 William Street in downtown New Bedford. All programs are open to the public and presented free of charge.

The first European settlers to New England brought working traditions with them that would last for centuries. Their fishing and farming lifestyles transplanted well, with little need for modification. Despite initial difficulties, abundant land and fish stocks made their long-term success inevitable. With the dawn of the industrial revolution, however, life for farmers and fishermen alike began to change in ways they couldn’t have predicted. Throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, the rapid pace of progress has threatened their very existence, and today these ancient lifestyles hang by threads.

This slideshow looks at similarities between life on family owned farms and the last four vessels working the floating trap industry along Rhode Island’s coast. Photographer Markham Starr has documented fishing communities in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Maine and dairy farmers in Connecticut. His book publications include Against the Tide: The Commercial Fishermen of Point Judith, On Oceans of Grey: Portrait of a Fishing Port, Voices From the Waterfront: Portrait of the New Bedford Fishing Industry, In History’s Wake: The Last Trap Fishermen of Rhode Island, and Down on the Farm: The Last Dairymen of North Stonington. He has over a hundred of his fishing images in museum displays, and has been featured in magazines such as LensWork, The Sun, and Rhode Island Monthly.


About Michael Silvia

Served 20 years in the United States Air Force. Owner of New Bedford Guide.

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