November 3, 2010, 4:00 PM, DeMeritt Hall 112
LectureSummary: The second half of the nineteenth century saw dramatic changes in the Gulf of Maine, both in the abundance and distribution of species regularly harvested by fishermen, and in fishermen’s attitudes to the need for regulations. As some stocks that had long been considered essential to the coastal economy declined dramatically, and as new technologies replaced hand-lining, some fishermen insisted on strict regulations to save the fish and their livelihoods. Drawing on a mixture of traditional historical archival research, and the interdisciplinary work of the UNH Cod Project, this talk reconstructs changes in the sea in the Gulf of Maine, 1850-1900, and the complicated human reactions to those changes.
Biography: Jeff Bolster is Associate Professor of History at UNH. He is the author of BLACK JACKS: AFRICAN AMERICAN SEAMEN IN THE AGE OF SAIL; the editor of CROSS-GRAINED AND WILY WATERS: A GUIDE TO THE PISCATAQUA MARITIME REGION; and co-author (with Alex Roland and Alex Keyssar) of THE WAY OF THE SHIP: AMERICAN'S MARITIME HISTORY RE-ENVISIONED, 1600-2000. Bolster has been a leading figure in the development of maritime environmental history, and has collaborated with scientists and historians as part of the HMAP project since 2001. He has published many articles in marine environmental history in THE AMERICAN HISTORICAL REVIEW and in ENVIRONMENTAL HISTORY, and is currently writing a book called CHANGES IN THE SEA IN THE AGE OF SAIL. Licensed by the US Coast Guard as Master of Motor, Steam and Auxiliary Sail vessels (limited tonnage; all Oceans), he continues, in his spare time, to mess around in boats.