turning off the lights

I've been reading and listening to a lot of coverage of the closure of the Stinson Sardine Cannery in Prospect Harbor, Maine since I read this article in the NY Times a few weeks ago. What would it be like to have the Library of Congress filming you as you work, because you will probably be the last person ever to perform your particular job in this country? It is a frustrating story, familiar too, and as far as I can tell in this case, there really isn't even a satisfying villain. Bumble Bee Foods took over the cannery in 2004, but it seems that catch limits on Atlantic herring and a lack of demand for canned sardines in the U.S. are more the narrative than the evil of big business or the export of American jobs. Still, the result is the same, one more thing we don't make anymore.

I'm not a fish expert but I'm not a fish idiot either, so I was surprised I didn't realize that atlantic sardines and herring are the same fish. I guess it makes sense, I've certainly seen minor structural differences in sardines from the mediterranean and from the north atlantic. Wikipedia notes 5 or 6 different genera and lists "pilchard" as an alternate name, which sends me down a little rabbit hole here from the Jarvis Cocker song, to the Beatles "Semolina pilchard, climbing up the eiffel tower, elementary penguin singing hare krishna man, you should have seen them kicking edgar allan poe." Whew, o.k., back to Maine.

I guess lobster men buy a significant amount of the allowed catch of herring as bait, so that is kind of a good thing, right? You can still get lobster in Maine for now. Since I've already given in to tangents, did you ever read that fascinating John McPhee article about UPS and lobsters? It was originally published in The New Yorker, but it is probably collected in that transportation book he did, Uncommon Carriers. Great article, great writer, but speaking of tangents, I wish he would stop with the lacrosse articles.

originally uploaded by National Maritime Museum.

harbour and herring fleet, Scarborough, Yorkshire, 1897

I'm still learning about what pictures are o.k. to use for my blog, so I've been playing it pretty safe. I'm sure if you want to see pictures of Stinson Sardines you won't have any trouble finding them. The constraint does lead to some interesting discoveries though. I love this picture of a fishing boat traffic jam from The National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, England. It looks like a great museum, I'm putting it on the list of places to go one day.

So goodbye, Stinson Sardines. I'm sorry I never knew you, and I hope everybody who is losing a job finds something fulfilling and satisfying to do. For the record, I love sardines, and herring, and canned fish and shellfish of all kinds, except maybe canned salmon, I've never had very good luck with canned salmon.