Description
A history of coastal Maine's lobster communities describes their defense of local traditions, their resistance to groups that would exploit their resources, and the wisdom gleaned from lifetimes spent in support of community interests.
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Veteran journalist Colin Woodard's portrait of the Maine coast and its forgotten history is a tale of intrigue, conflict, and stubborn perseverance. Born and raised in Maine, Woodard is able to reveal a people with an Old World sense of ties that exist between blood and soil: many of the tiny fishing and farming hamlets that dot the coast are still occupied by the families that settled them three or four centuries ago. These communities and their unique way of life are now threatened by the forces of suburbanization spreading north from the cities.Sustaining these seaside and island villages is the humble lobster, which rose from a source of cheap bait to a worldwide delicacy, from servants' food to one of the essential underpinnings of the economy and culture of the North Atlantic Coast. Informed by their cultural values and hard-won historical experience, Maine's lobstermen have found a way to defy the "tragedy of the commons," the notion that people always overexploit their shared property. Recognizing ecological limits and balancing what is individually possible with what is communally desirable, these lobstermen have created a precious example of a truly sustainable fishery.
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