Document Type
Honors Thesis
Major
Social Work
Advisor(s)
Robert Bayer
Committee Members
Cathy Billings, Melissa Ladenheim, Robert W. Glover, Sandra Butler, Robin Russel
Graduation Year
May 2016
Publication Date
Spring 5-2016
Abstract
In the state of Maine, an average of 120 million pounds of lobsters are caught and
sold each year. The lobster fishing industry in Maine is a large economic system that
supports thousands of fishermen and helps attract over 32 million tourists to Maine every year. According to the Maine Department of Marine Resources, women hold only 4% of the approximate 4,200 commercial lobster fishing licenses in Maine. In the past, The University of Maine’s Lobster Institute has conducted interviews with Maine lobster fishermen and this project augments that work by collecting oral histories of women in Maine’s lobster industry. A 34-minute video documentary was created based on the interviews and this statement discusses the process of creating the video documentary chronicling the stories of four Maine women who currently lobster fish. Also included are discussions of how I arrived at this idea for the thesis, successes, failures, and what I have learned.
Recommended Citation
Vachon, Isabelle I., "Film: Oral Histories of Women in the Maine Lobster Industry" (2016). Honors College. 707.
https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/honors/707