Category Archives: Blog
"Living off the Pacific Ocean Floor"
test “In 1965, we found new fishing grounds for Ocean Perch off the Oregon Coast. We were running and I was watching the fathometer. Suddenly I saw a big black spot on the screen. I got pretty excited because I … Continue reading
"Adventures in "rockfish" Cookery," from 1951
Isn’t this a marvelous drawing? I was looking for information at OSU’s Valley Library this week and I plugged “Sebastes” into the search engine. Up popped a number of interesting items, including this one, to a publication of the Oregon … Continue reading
Oregon trawlers called them "rosies"
One of the stories that I vividly remember from my days working for The Oregonian was a meeting that Oregon Sea Grant agent Bob Jacobsen set up with four of Newport’s older fishermen. One of them was Gordon White and … Continue reading
The Albaross and Redfish
One of the things I love about history is way that bits of information connect and illuminate. I’ve been reading about the Sebastes family of fish, as I get started on my next research project (take a look at our … Continue reading
Oregon pilchards and California sardines
It’s suddenly spring and I have two talks coming up, so I’ve been scrambling to pull together some additional information on the early Oregon fisheries. I’m speaking on Thursday, May 6, at the Mill Casino in Coos Bay, as part … Continue reading
Oregon's Fishery for Mink Food
You never know what you’re going to find when you start poking around in history. I didn’t expect to find that one of the important events in the development of the Oregon trawl fishery was to be a cheap source … Continue reading
Terry Gross Interviews Dr. Daniel Pauly
Most people don’t know very much about fishing. It happens on the high seas, out of sight, and few people think very much about the how the fillets wind up in the grocery store fish counter. It was interesting to … Continue reading
My Research Cruise with Dr. Sidney Holt
The highlight of my summer was undoubtedly the 12th annual meeting of the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries History Association in Norfolk, Va., during August. http://www.hull.ac.uk/nafha/ Being able to talk with several dozen people who are interested in fisheries history was such … Continue reading
Public History @ OSU
I read recently that most blogs start off in a burst of enthusiasm that lasts long enough to post two entries. Then the enthusiasm dies and the blog languishes. It looks like that’s what I’ve done here, started something, then … Continue reading
The Collapse of California Sardines and the Brief Rise of the Oregon Pilchard
I have been thinking about the ramifications of the collapse of the California sardine fishery in the 1940’s, thanks to re-reading a very good dissertation completed in 2003 by Gregory Cushman, who is now at the University of Kansas in … Continue reading