High School & Adult Level Books

LOBSTERING
Acheson, James M. Capturing the Commons. Hanover, NH: University Press of New England, 2003. A look at the management of the lobster industry.

Acheson, James M. The Lobster Gangs of Maine. Hanover, NH: University Press of New England, 1988. The lobster fishery in Maine and how fishermen manage their terretories.

Conkling, Philip, and Anne Hayden. Lobsters Great and Small. Rockland, ME: Island Institute, 2002. A report on a collaborative study of lobstering and the ecology and oceanography  of Penobscot Bay conducted by fishermen and scientists. Well illustrated. Excellent presentation of the biology of the lobster.

Corson, Trevor. The Secret Life of Lobsters. New York: HarperCollins, 2004. Fishermen and scientists work to unravel mysteries about the American lobster.

Doliber, Earl. Lobstering Inshore and Offshore. Camden, Maine: International Marine Publishing Company, 1973.

Gilbert, Elizabeth. Stern Men. Boston: Houghton-Mifflin Company, 2000. A novel depicting a feud between two islands over fishing rights.

Greenlaw, Linda. The Lobster Chronicles: Life on a Very Small Island. New York: Hyperion, 2002. Life as a lobster fisherman on Isle au Haut.

Martin, Kenneth R. and Nathan R. Lipfert. Lobstering and the Maine Coast. Bath, Maine: Maine Maritime Museum, 1985. Easy reading story of lobster fishery from colonial times through 1985. Contains photographs, drawings, and anecdotes.

Martin, Robert Delano. The Tale of the Lobster. Bloomington, IN: 1st Books, 2002. Overview of the lobster and the lobster industry, including anatomy and biology, the lobster fisherman, buying and eating lobster.

FISHING GENERAL
Bolster, W. Jeffery. The Mortal Sea: Fishing the Atlantic in the Age of Sail. Harvard University Press, 2012.

Bowden, Don and Minnie. Smelt Fishing on the Lower Penobscot: The Men and Their Families, and Other Stories. Privately published. 1998.

Chapelle, Howard. American Fishing Schooners, 1825-1935. New York: Norton, 1973.

Church, Albert Cook. American Fishermen. New York: W. W. Norton &  Co., 1940. Lots of photographs, many from the author’s marine collection.

Commercial Fisheries News. Stonington, ME. Monthly fisheries newspaper for the Northeast. On line at : http://www.fish-news.com/cfn/

Crowley, Michael and Nance Trueworthy. Down the Shore: Faces of Maine’s Coastal Fisheries. Camden, ME: Down East Books, 2003. Photographs and text portray contemporary men and women who earn their living along Maine’s coast.

Duncan, Roger. Coastal Maine: A Maritime History. New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 1992. General history of Maine with information on fisheries.

Fisherman's Voice. Gouldsboro, ME.  Monthly fisheries newspaper for Maine. On line at http://www.fishermensvoice.com/

Finn, William. The Dragger. Boston: Little, Brown, 1970. Commercial fishing boats. Good photos.

Gilman, John D. Masts and Masters: A Brief History of Sardine Carriers and Boatmen. Lord’s Cove, Deer Island, NB: J.D. Gilman, 1993. History of the sardine fishery.

Goode, G. Brown. The Fisheries and Fishery Industries of the United States. Washington: Govt. Printing Office, 1884-87. This seven-volume set baseline for fisheries studies, just after the U.S. Fish Commission was founded. An excellent, if hard-to-find resource. At  Penobscot Marine Museum. These volumes are on line at NOAA and Volume V at Mystic Seaport Museum. See below for on line links.

Hamlin, Cyrus, and John R. Ordway. The Commercial Fisheries of Maine. Maine Sea Grant Bulletin 5. United States Department of Commerce, 1974.

Kurlansky, Mark. Cod: A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World. NY: Penguin Group, 1998. A view of history as it has been influenced by the demand for cod, and the ecological outcomes.

Lunt, Dean L. Hauling by Hand: The Life and Times of a Maine Island. Frenchboro, ME: Islandport Press, 1999. The story of past and present life on Long Island, one of fourteen Maine islands still supporting a year-round community.

Maine Department of Marine Resources. Harvesters of the Sea: The Story of Maine’s Commercial Fisheries. Augusta, ME: Maine Department of Marine Resources, 1977. The history of fisheries in Maine.

Maine Department of Sea and Shore Fisheries. Report of Commissioner of Sea and Shore Fisheries. Augusta. ME, 1897-1919. Penobscot Marine Museum has 1903-4 and 1913-14. Portland Public Library has a complete set.

Maine. Governor’s Task Force on the Maine Groundfish Industry. Augusta, ME: Office of the Governor, 2004.

McFarland, Raymond. A History of the New England Fisheries, with Maps. Mansfield, CT: Martino Publishing, 2002. Facsimile edition of 1911 edition published by University of Pennsylvania.

National Fisherman. Portland, ME. Monthly fisheries magazine.

O’Leary, Wayne M. Maine Sea Fisheries: The Rise and Fall of a Native Industry, 1830-1890. Boston, Northeastern University Press, 1996. Very detailed account of fisheries from pre-colonial times to 1990s. Small section on lobstering.

Sheehan, M. Elizabeth. Maine Fisheries: A Re-Emerging Market. Augusta, ME: Coastal Enterprises, Inc., Maine Department of Marine Resources, 2000.

Sheehan, M. Elizabeth. Tracking Commercial Fishing Access: A Survey of Harbormasters in 25 Maine Coastal Communities. Portland, ME: Coastal Enterprises, Inc; Augusta, ME: Maine Coastal Program, 2004.