No more Maine sardines

[rbgarr]

http://www.pressherald.com/news/cannery-closure-end-of-the-line-for-a-way-of-life_2010-02-21.html

[Lew Barrett]

We have no impact on the environment. None. It's a figment....just like those herring.

[capnharv]

Are those herring red by any chance?

[JimConlin]

One of my fondest memories of cruising in Maine in the seventies was getting to watch a sardine carrier pump out the weirs at Christmas Cove and at Moore Harbor on Isle au Haut. The procedure was great fun to watch. The weirs were fixed traps that partially closed off the coves and the herring would come in on the tide and some would get caught in the trap on the ebb. When the weir’s operators decided that they had enough herring in the weir, they’d call the for the cannery’s carrier and stop the weir off. The sardine carriers were handsome vessels, burdensome but able to get a load back to the cannery quickly When the carrier came, they'd run a purse seine around inside the perimeter of the weir and purse it in until the herring in the weir had been pulled into a near solid mass of fish next to the carrier. The carrier got the herring out of the weir using a pump whose suction side was a large hose that was lowered into the seething mass of fish. Kids, their parents and other gawkers were allowed to come onto the carrier to watch and to try to grab the few dozen mackerel as they slid down a chute toward the hold. Occasionally a dogfish would go through the pump and the vessel would shake. Fish scales were everywhere and a trail of foam and scales streamed down-tide. A good many scales got collected in a mesh bag on the carrier’s deck. I recollect that they were used for pigments in cosmetics. As soon as the weir was emptied, the carrier set off for the cannery in a hurry. The cannery workers have been alerted that a load was coming in.

My other memory of sardine canning on the coast was an improbable part of the Maine Seafood Festival in Rockland in August. The festivities included (no kidding!) THE WORLD SARDINE PACKING CHAMPIONSHIPS. Each of the dozen or so canneries on the coast would send a contestant and they’d see who could pack a case of sardines fastest. The winner got a trip to New York and was on the Johnny Carson Show.

This is a loss.

[StevenBauer]

Not just no more Maine sardines. That was the last cannery in the country.:( Great story, Jim.





Steven

[paladin]

soon, no sardine carriers...white man did it to himself...first the buffalo to get rid of Native Americans, now their own food....shoulda sent all those darned Immygrunts back where they came from.

[rbgarr]

The sardine scales were used to make fingernail polish 'pearlescent'. I worked for Port Clyde Sardines one summer, but I've told that story before.

[Harbormaster]

The availability of "fresh" fish has also doomed the sardine industry, canned fish doesn't have the market it did after the 2nd World War.

World's Fastest Packer, back when the Lobster Festival had some relationship to the water.... http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&ct=res&cd=1&ved=0CAYQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.islandinstitute.org%2Ffiles%2 FVSarticle092708.pdf%2F92%2F&ei=HX2CS4HTNoOVtgfjsIzSBg&usg=AFQjCNGcNu1DXotzWFOoHxVACmGkgCpIGw

[Doug Wood]

Sad to see the last one go. The cannery was the economic anchor of the area. It's gonna be a rough go there.

[JimConlin]

The availability of "fresh" fish has also doomed the sardine industry, canned fish doesn't have the market it did after the 2nd World War.

World's Fastest Packer, back when the Lobster Festival had some relationship to the water.... http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&ct=res&cd=1&ved=0CAYQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.islandinstitute.org%2Ffiles%2 FVSarticle092708.pdf%2F92%2F&ei=HX2CS4HTNoOVtgfjsIzSBg&usg=AFQjCNGcNu1DXotzWFOoHxVACmGkgCpIGw

Good to see the Rita Willey piece. The festival had a number of er, unique stage events in addition to the sardine packing contest. My Father in law was the master of ceremonies of the festival for many years. There was professional entertainers (one year, the Ink Spots) and a beauty pageant of local girls. One of the girls was aspiring to be either a neurosurgeon or a beautician. Another's favorite recipe was 'box cake'. Nobody would call those girls frail. It was quite a production. Fatherinlaw fancied being the downeast Bert Parks.

[Roger Long]

I was going to buy cases of these for my long cruises. Looks like I'll have to buy them sooner than planned.

Anybody know what the shelf life of canned sardines is?

[StevenBauer]

There is still a cannery in New Brunswick, we will still be able to buy sardines. For now, anyway.


Steven

[johngsandusky]

It is sad for the locals.
I'm always a bit divided about catch limits. The ten year restriction on Striped Bass saved them from extinction. But the fisherman suffer. Local (LI) lobsterman feel that the stripers are too protected, as they eat lobster larvae. I hope NMFS knows what they're doing.

[stevedwyer]

It's a painful thing to watch our fishing industry slide away,
a little at a time, and see the waterfront condos edge out the commercial operations.

There is still a cannery in New Brunswick, we will still be able to buy sardines. For now, anyway.I've always liked the Seafood Snacks (kippered herring) from Brunswick.

[Boatguy1972]

I was going to buy cases of these for my long cruises. Looks like I'll have to buy them sooner than planned.

Anybody know what the shelf life of canned sardines is?

"Unopened cans can last for 2 to 3 years. If the can is opened, that will only last about 3 days. If kept in an airtight container and in the refrigerator."

[jak3b]

The Dorymans Reflection:A Fisherman's Life by Paul Molyneaux,Great book about commercial fishing in New England.It sums it all up pretty well,Theres boatbuilding in it as well.