Would love to hear from C.Captain on this, as he is a self-proclaimed historian and PNW lover…but others please weigh in also:
Do you have any suggestions of specific books regarding maritime/fishing history? Getting more specific, I would be interested in any books that discuss the involvement of european-americans in the PNW fisheries and how these fisheries developed and were influenced by the techniques from the “old world”.
Amazon brings up a whole host of books…but I know many of these types are sold through smaller distributors.
If there is anyone else out there interested in this topic and knows a couple great books on the subject, many thanks for your suggestions!
[QUOTE=wcrutch;159414]W, I would be interested in any books that discuss the involvement of european-americans in the PNW fisheries and how these fisheries developed and were influenced by the techniques from the “old world”.
[/QUOTE]
If your interest is academic rather than entertainment, look for literature regarding the Magnuson Act and the “American Fisheries Promotion Act of 1980.”
Not meaning to hijack the thread but the latter might be a good model for an “American Merchant Marine Promotion Act of 2015.”
[QUOTE=Steamer;159417]If your interest is academic rather than entertainment, look for literature regarding the Magnuson Act and the “American Fisheries Promotion Act of 1980.”
Not meaning to hijack the thread but the latter might be a good model for an “American Merchant Marine Promotion Act of 2015.”[/QUOTE]
Thanks, though my interest is just for entertainment and an interest in history.
FUCK PRETTY BOY SIG HANSEN! It is the story of the Croatians in fishing which is THE history of NW fishing and actually there are a few good books already:
“Let It Go Louie” tells the story of my people in salmon fishing through out the 20th century here in the PNW is the best
New Book Tells Story of “Ichville” and the Croatian Community of Bainbridge Island
Ichville isn’t marked on any maps, and no sign was ever staked at its outskirts.
It was the names on the mailboxes — Crvarich, Pesusich, Mirkovich, Uglesich — that let you know you’d entered Ichville, an immigrant fishing community populated with so many “-ichs” that the use of its official name, Eagledale, fell by the wayside in the early 1900s.
Ichville has since reverted back to its old name, but its heyday won’t soon be forgotten, said Barbara Winther, co-author of a new book about Bainbridge Island’s Croatian immigrants.
“We wanted to fill the hole on a history that not many people know about,” she said.
Written with the help of local historian Gary Loverich, the 227-page “Let it Go, Louie” reads almost like a family scrapbook, chock full of letters, newspaper clippings, maps and more than 200 photos. Even a few time-honored recipes and advice on net-mending make their way into the pages.
Regarding the book as a “labor of love,” Winther said she and Loverich will donate all money from the its sales to the Bainbridge Island Historical Museum. The book was published through a $10,000 donation by the late Jay Gage, a seafood company executive who befriended many of the island’s Croatian families.
Croatians began settling on Bainbridge in 1903. They were drawn to the island partly because it resembled the Adriatic islands they’d left behind. Many families found themselves plying their old trades — fishing and boatbuilding — alongside people they knew in Croatia. They built their homes alongside old neighbors, with many south island Croatians settling together in Ichville, on Eagle Harbor’s south shore, and several north island Croatians putting down roots on the harbor’s north shore.
Along with Croatians who settled in Tacoma, Vashon Island and Anacortes, Bainbridge’s foreign-born fishermen built Puget Sound’s first true fishing industry, Winther said.
“They changed fishing in the Northwest,” she said.
Croatian immigrants are credited with introducing a more aggressive approach to fishing than the sit-and-wait tactic the Sound’s gill-netters used. Piloting larger, faster vessels, Croatian fishermen stalked schools of fish before surrounding them in large purse-like nets. The Sound’s Croatian fishermen also ranged farther, pursuing prized salmon runs into the Bering Sea.
The book’s title comes from an inside joke shared among the island’s Croatian fisherman. During a fishing excursion in the 1920s, Croatian-born Marko “Mr. Mike” Martinolich’s net caught on something in the depths. With the drowning death of his friend Louis Bozanich fresh in his mind, Martinolich hopped over to the side of the boat, peered into the water and yelled “Let it go, Louie!” The line caught on. Generations of Bainbridge fishermen yelled the same request to Louie whenever their nets snagged.
When the fishing season ended, the island’s Croatian fisherman busied themselves on Eagle Harbor’s shores, drying and mending nets and constructing new boats for bigger catches.
“This book isn’t just for Croatians,” Winther said. “It’s for anybody who’s interested in the Northwest’s fishing and boatbuilding history, or what life was like here in the early 1900s.”
While the book is aimed at a wider audience, Winther knows the book will mean the most to the sons and daughters of Ichville.
One old timer by the name of Art Mirkovich had been anxiously awaiting the book ever since Winther and Loverich began work on it five years ago. Hearing that he had fallen ill, Winther sent a draft section that recounted the Mirkovich family’s history. Mirkovich’s daughter read it to him in the hospital. A few weeks later, he died.
“His wife said that he had been holding on until the book came,” Winther said. “That touched me very much.”
I’ve got a few of my own books in the planning stages but building my business is a higher priority at the moment. They will have to wait for my retirement
[QUOTE=c.captain;159429]FUCK PRETTY BOY SIG HANSEN! It is the story of the Croatians in fishing which is THE history of NW fishing and actually there are a few good books already:
“Let It Go Louie” tells the story of my people in salmon fishing through out the 20th century here in the PNW is the best
I’ve got a few of my own books in the planning stages but building my business is a higher priority at the moment. They will have to wait for my retirement[/QUOTE]
Aha, interesting… Was expecting mostly a Scandinavian influence. The only ancestor of mine I am aware of who was a sailor was a Dalmatian… Came over after WW1, where the Croatians were the naval arm of Austria -Hungary. I will investigate this… And will still read about the Norske you detest also.
[QUOTE=c.captain;159432]I don’t detest squareheads at all but give them grudging respect for all they have accomplished.
it’s the Dutch which I can’t abide.[/QUOTE]
Not my words, but borrowed from urbandictionary.com :
squarehead
Squarehead is a late 19th century ethnic slur directed at German and Scandinavian immigrants. The phrase is meant quite literally as a disparaging reference to the cranial features, though often just used as a generic ethnic slur against those groups.
Basically the stereotypical shape of a Northern European’s head was thought to be square- so it was (and is) an insult to call someone with that ethnic makeup squarehead.
Kid: “Mommy, did you see how weird that Norwegian’s head looked?”
Mother: “Yes dear, the fucking Squareheads do have unusually shaped skulls. The Swedish have even more box-like heads… don’t even get me started on the Danes or Germans…”
Makes me feel great, as aside from the Dalmatian, I claim roots of two of those groups mentioned.
Not my words, but borrowed from urbandictionary.com :
squarehead
Squarehead is a late 19th century ethnic slur directed at German and Scandinavian immigrants. The phrase is meant quite literally as a disparaging reference to the cranial features, though often just used as a generic ethnic slur against those groups.
[/QUOTE]
I used to live in Ballard and work in Alaska. I’ve never head “squarehead” used disparagingly… I would take it to mean Norwegian or more generally Scandinavian, competent and hardworking seaman. Maybe a bit set in their ways but that’ s not always seen as a bad thing.
[QUOTE=Ctony;159439]Not PNW, but ‘Where have all the sardines gone?’ by Randall Reinstedt was a great book about when the sardine industry in Monterey was boomin’.[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE=Kennebec Captain;159438]I used to live in Ballard and work in Alaska. I’ve never head “squarehead” used disparagingly… I would take it to mean Norwegian or more generally Scandinavian, competent and hardworking seaman. Maybe a bit set in their ways but that’ s not always seen as a bad thing.[/QUOTE]
I had never even heard it. I live with a swede. She’s quite pretty.
I havent read much history on the industry , although I should, but I did read race to the sea http://www.amazon.com/Race-Sea-Autobiography-Marine-Biologist/dp/0595486800 I enjoyed it. It covered the fishing industry from a different perspective. I wouldn’t recommend anything from the deadliest catch junkies just because its all fraud, and they play it up too hard. Next time you watch that show, remember, the season used to last for months and months and then did it all without coilers, pot launchers or cranes. Sig. Makes. Me. Sick. Although he is consistent. He can get blacked out drunk and still remind you " do you know who I am?" every 2 minutes on a flight from Anchorage to Seattle without missing a beat. Until he passes out in the back of the plane. And then cant be woken up to get off the plane in seattle. Because hes a classless loser. ( not a fan if you cant tell…) but anyway, the point is there isn’t much to be had from the crowd that behaves like them because the genuinely have not made any contribution to better the industry, rather they only perpetuate the stereotype.
[QUOTE=snacktray;159470]I havent read much history on the industry , although I should, but I did read race to the sea http://www.amazon.com/Race-Sea-Autobiography-Marine-Biologist/dp/0595486800 I enjoyed it. It covered the fishing industry from a different perspective. I wouldn’t recommend anything from the deadliest catch junkies just because its all fraud, and they play it up too hard. Next time you watch that show, remember, the season used to last for months and months and then did it all without coilers, pot launchers or cranes. Sig. Makes. Me. Sick. Although he is consistent. He can get blacked out drunk and still remind you " do you know who I am?" every 2 minutes on a flight from Anchorage to Seattle without missing a beat. Until he passes out in the back of the plane. And then cant be woken up to get off the plane in seattle. Because hes a classless loser. ( not a fan if you cant tell…) but anyway, the point is there isn’t much to be had from the crowd that behaves like them because the genuinely have not made any contribution to better the industry, rather they only perpetuate the stereotype.[/QUOTE]
I always thought King Crab destroyed Alaska fishing because it turning it from a livelihood of hardworking men like my father into a goldrush of men all looking to get rich. Then came the circus of Bristol Bay, the megabucks of the factory trawlers, then IFQs and finally Deadliest Catch. Today, it is about only one thing and that is M-O-N-E-Y! As far as I am concerned, it is ruined utterly.
I don’t think crabbing destroyed it. Crabbing turned into dragging, which began to displace the foreign fleet and secured alaskas waters as Americas fishing grounds. Companies buying up other companies and then rationalization of quota, ending the possibility for the average guy to get a boat and go fishing, destroyed Alaska fishing. The companies run by executives instead of fishermen. There are few fishermen left running the show, we both worked for one who is still doing an admirable job ( you still may be working with him? ).
[QUOTE=Kraken;159482]Two pages and nobody has mention the golden boy himself!
He was so successful that USA needed to pass a law to stop him. Not bad
Look at that smile, he made the American dream and got away with it.[/QUOTE]
Got away with it is right…BILLIONS! but why did you have to post such large photo of Rokke anyway…? Love how he tried to BUY himself a master’s license. Maybe FUCKING RICH but an ASSHOLE all the same.
American Tuna: The Rise and Fall of an Improbable Food by Andrew Smith
It’s more about how the tuna became an American staple but he goes into the history of the Japanese fishermen who caught tuna for the canneries in San Pedro…and how they lost everything when they were shipped off to internment camps.
