A Maine’s First Ship Live Zoom Presentation

Fishing has been a mainstay of the region’s economy since the arrival of Europeans in the early 17th century. Originally plying the waters of the Gulf of Maine on a seasonal basis, English fishing crews established permanent, year-round fishing stations from the Isle of Shoals to Monhegan by the mid 1620s. Exports of dried, salted cod to Europe, Africa, South America, and the Caribbean ranked as one of the primary economic engines of the New England economy throughout the colonial period.  The Atlantic fishery was of such economic importance it often figured heavily in considerations of war, peace, and diplomacy.  Despite the cod fishery’s seemingly endless bounty, today it stands on the brink of collapse due to a host of human and environmental factors.

Growing up and residing in Mid Coast Maine, author and historian Mike Dekker has developed a life-long passion for the region’s past.  Mike is the author of the book The French and Indian Wars In Maine, which uncovers the tragic and largely forgotten story of the six wars which ravaged Maine between 1675 and 1760. In 2017 Mike presented Resistance and Reprisal: The Scots-Irish of Mid-Coast Maine During the French and Indian War as part of an international conference hosted by the Maine Ulster Scots Project; that paper has been published in the book 1718-2018 Reflections on 300 Years of the Scots Irish in Maine.

Registration required for Zoom or in-person attendance:  mfship.org/events.

Maine’s First Ship     207-443-4242     mfs1@mfship.org

Thanks to our friends at KELT for co-sponsoring this talk.