Author: Isabelle  I  Vachon

Major: Social Work

Graduation Year: 2016

Thesis Advisor: Robert Bayer

Description of Publication: 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.

Location of Publication:

URL to Thesis: https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/honors/707