Page 6. MAINE COASTAL NEWS December 2013 Maritime Gloucester - Educating the Public
GLOUCESTER, MA – Over the last century there have been vast changes in the com- mercial fi shing industry. Once thriving ports have dwindled signifi cantly due to normal business practices as well as a poor assess- ment of the future and keeping certain fi sh- eries stocks healthy. The normal business practices that infl uenced the ports has been the evolution of the boats, better machinery, equipment and fi shing gear, and the refriger- ated trailers used to move product to market. As for keeping the stocks healthy well there is a lot of blame to go around.
Along the Maine coast there were nu- merous healthy ports where the ground fi sh- ermen resided. Now there is just a handful of boats, and how long they can hold out is still in question. Gloucester, Massachusetts, at one time one of the biggest fi shing ports on the East Coast, is but a shadow of itself. Still a number of large trawlers call this place home. What is their future? What is the history and how did we get to this posi- tion? And how can we save it? Are questions constantly being asked.
Right in the centre of Gloucester’s wa- terfront, behind the artist Fitz Henry Lane’s home, you will fi nd Maritime Gloucester, headed by Tom Balf. Tom explained, “The history of this organization goes back around 1999 when roughly 300 local cit- izens got together to purchase this site. It was originally part of Gloucester Marine Railways, which owned this site and the
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site over on Rocky Neck. This site was less used and somewhat dilapidated and at the time they had fi nancial problems. This group of community members wanted to make sure that this site, which included the oldest continuously operated marine railway in the country, didn’t go underwater, so it was purchased. A nonprofi t was then created to sustain the operations and 13 years later here we are.”
There are several buildings on the site including the old railway. The main building was there, but had a major addition added. Tom continued, “Essentially the ice house was converted into a multi-use boathouse and physical science classrooms. The ma- rine science classroom downstairs, named after Sarah Robbins, were added and that includes a digital microscope lab. All the kids come through there, grab water sam- ples and take a look at the different kinds of plankton. There is also some space that we created a series of touch tanks in. Upstairs, the museum quality of rooms were created to support exhibits.
“The exhibits that we have right now, include one that celebrates Stellwagon Na- tional Marine Sanctuary,” continued Tom. “There is a lot of exhibit material, interactive kiosk that allows somebody to really appre- ciate the bio-diversity, the ecosystem, the shipwreck history, as well as the great fi shing heritage there. Upstairs our current exhibit is principally a look at the turn-of-the-cen- tury shoreside industries that were really fl ourishing at the time. There is also a little auditorium area where you can watch the ARDELLE being built and there is a number of ship models, especially those celebrating the great many races between BLUENOSE and THEOBALD.”
These exhibits change and right now they are working on developing ideas for next season. Tom said, “The two large areas that I am focused on is around fi sheries. There is so much misinformation, people just don’t understand what is going on in fi shing today. They simply just don’t under- stand the issues and the complexity of the
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demise of fi shing communities. Overfi shing, what to eat and what not to eat, is just not well understood and the noise of it all is just overwhelming most people. I think we can put together an exhibit that explains some of the basics about what’s happening and what the issues are. The other exhibit topic that I have been exploring is the history of bottom paint. The building out there on Rocky Neck was where copper bottom paint was fi rst discovered or invented in the United States in 1863. The Industrial Revolution played a critical role in advancing the Gloucester fl eet in terms of being better prepared for fi shing. I am interested in telling the full story of bottom paint and how it was an extraordinary innovation at the time that led to this sort of economic success. Then there were the unintended consequences of copper and heavy metals in paints that led to the sort of unintended environmental issues. Bottom paint manufacturers over the last 20 years have really looked at biomimicry and green chemistry. So far there is no perfectly benign bottom paint, but there has been extraordinary advances.”
Then they have Harold Burnham and the pinky schooner ARDELLE. Tom added, “He has been sailing out of here two full summers, almost 3 years. He’s one of those guys that is just very special on many levels. He has this ability to understand how things work and his ability to appreciate how things were done a hundred years ago. From our standpoint one of his great assets to us is fi rst and foremost the schooner ARDELLE being here, but he is a person who likes to educate. There is something special when
the guy that built the boat is talking to you. We have a great deal, if you purchase a ticket on the ARDELLE you get free admission to our site.”
Even though the museum is not open in the fall and winter they continue to have educational outreach programs throughout the year. For example, they provide a ma- rine science education program to all third, fourth and fi fth graders in the Cape Ann communities. Reaching out to children is key. Today we are not a maritime nation and most people, especially young children, have no idea about our maritime past. Tom added, “Gloucester has seen a
signifi cant decline in fi sheries. Twenty years ago many of the kids in school would come down to the harbor because their parents fi shed or worked in some job there. That is not so true today. Oddly enough, there is a majority of kids that don’t necessarily go to the harbor at all today. They don’t know what a trawler is; or a gill netter; or even a lobster boat. They don’t know what fi sh processing might look like or what the maritime history is let alone some of the different marine spe- cies. Connecting kids through their heritage and the harbor and the marine species is more necessary today that it has ever been. The vast majority of kids look at the water as simply recreational, if that.” Tom concluded by saying, “This is a museum and an educational facility that can play a necessary and potentially powerful role in getting the public to understand the issues associated with fi shing, historically and at the moment. It is important to our future and the ports future.”
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