TRAPPERS OF THE SEA
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Year Published: 1945
Description: “Trappers of the Sea” (1945) is a short, color documentary detailing lobster fishing in Northeastern Canada. Directed by Margaret Perry and narrated by Donald Pringle, the film focuses on the lives of lobster fisherman in Larry’s Village, Nova Scotia as they prepare for a new season of lobstering. Pierre, a fisherman, is shown as he sails forth to set his one hundred traps, faces adverse weather, and prepares the lobsters for market. Additionally the film makes a brief reference to the cooperative movement and how co-ops were used in the affairs of the people. Opening credits (0:06). Small fishing boats bob in Atlantic Ocean, small homes lining shore in the distance (0:23). Larry’s River, Nova Scotia: scenes along pier as lobster fisherman prepare for new season, montage various signs and notices plastered along pier (0:38). Pier busy with men carrying wood crates, lobster traps over their heads (0:55). Man in newsies cap smokes pipe as he looks out in the ocean, joined by a fellow fisherman, grass blows in the wind in background (1:07). Fisherman kisses wife and baby good bye as he heads down to lobster fishery (1:22). Men walk along gravel path with wood fence down towards water, row boats and buoys scattered along grass (1:38). Scenes from the seaside village along Larry’s River: school children head to school house, woman rakes small gardening plot (1:43). Town cooperative store: small red building with plywood siding, piles of rope, pipes in display case (2:00). Fisherman tie buoys to traps so they can identify them out at sea (2:26). Multiple generations from same family work on preparing traps - grandfather, father, son; son wraps mackerel and other bait with a hook while grandfather continues to tie buoys (2:58). Father, Pierre, sets out on boat to lay traps (3:28). Local children play in tide pools along coast, look at various kinds of seaweed, find bright red lobster (3:50). Map of Canada, circle highlights broken rocky shores of Eastern Canada where American Lobster found in great quantity (4:58). Camera zooms into map where Nova Scotia is located, illustrated lobsters denote locations of different fishing communities (5:07). Silhouettes of fisherman heading out into waters at desk in small finishing boats (5:27). Pierre pulls in traps onto boat while wearing black rain coat, waterproof bucket hat (6:03). Close-up pile of lobsters that have been collected from trap (6:52). Close-up Pierre’s hand as he adds wooden picks to lobster’s claws to prevent them from biting each other (6:56). Pierre uses wood stick to measure size of lobsters, those smaller than the stick/ female lobsters are sent back into ocean (7:10). Close-up swimmerets of female lobster with thousands of eggs (7:20). Pierre prepares to reset trap, adds fresh bait (7:30). Two men pull in line from coastal waters without rocks, reefs on perhaps white York Boat (7:46). Pierre glides through waters in small fishing Dory, narrator explains difference of laying lines in clear waters vs. rocky coastal waters (7:59). Dramatic music plays as narrator describes difficult fishing conditions some fishermen may face: choppy waters, fog, difficult visibility rocks and other boats specks in the distance (8:40). Pierre sits at head of boat as it makes its way back to shore, town dock and village skyline in distance (9:12). Pierre slowly pulls into fisherman’s wharf, men from canning factory send hook down to collect Pierre’s basket of “shacks” (small lobsters) (9:28). Group of men focus as they weigh the shacks, each man has stern look, newsie cap, and pipe hanging from their mouth (9:50). Other group of men sort through live lobsters held in wooden boxes with water called “cars” where they are kept until they are shipped to market (10:11). Camera pans Larry’s River village along coast (10:46). Local women dressed in matching white aprons, silk head scarves walk home from day's work at one of the canneries (10:51). Two men light up pipe, talk about day’s work, scenes of fisherman at dusk play again as the film ends (11:10). " THE MAINE SHRIMP " 1960s GULF OF MAINE FISHING INDUSTRY SHRIMPING BOOTHBAY 95884 by PeriscopeFilm
Complete Record: “Trappers of the Sea” (1945) is a short, color documentary detailing lobster fishing in Northeastern Canada. Directed by Margaret Perry and narrated by Donald Pringle, the film focuses on the lives of lobster fisherman in Larry’s Village, Nova Scotia as they prepare for a new season of lobstering. Pierre, a fisherman, is shown as he sails forth to set his one hundred traps, faces adverse weather, and prepares the lobsters for market. Additionally the film makes a brief reference to the cooperative movement and how co-ops were used in the affairs of the people. Opening credits (0:06). Small fishing boats bob in Atlantic Ocean, small homes lining shore in the distance (0:23). Larry’s River, Nova Scotia: scenes along pier as lobster fisherman prepare for new season, montage various signs and notices plastered along pier (0:38). Pier busy with men carrying wood crates, lobster traps over their heads (0:55). Man in newsies cap smokes pipe as he looks out in the ocean, joined by a fellow fisherman, grass blows in the wind in background (1:07). Fisherman kisses wife and baby good bye as he heads down to lobster fishery (1:22). Men walk along gravel path with wood fence down towards water, row boats and buoys scattered along grass (1:38). Scenes from the seaside village along Larry’s River: school children head to school house, woman rakes small gardening plot (1:43). Town cooperative store: small red building with plywood siding, piles of rope, pipes in display case (2:00). Fisherman tie buoys to traps so they can identify them out at sea (2:26). Multiple generations from same family work on preparing traps - grandfather, father, son; son wraps mackerel and other bait with a hook while grandfather continues to tie buoys (2:58). Father, Pierre, sets out on boat to lay traps (3:28). Local children play in tide pools along coast, look at various kinds of seaweed, find bright red lobster (3:50). Map of Canada, circle highlights broken rocky shores of Eastern Canada where American Lobster found in great quantity (4:58). Camera zooms into map where Nova Scotia is located, illustrated lobsters denote locations of different fishing communities (5:07). Silhouettes of fisherman heading out into waters at desk in small finishing boats (5:27). Pierre pulls in traps onto boat while wearing black rain coat, waterproof bucket hat (6:03). Close-up pile of lobsters that have been collected from trap (6:52). Close-up Pierre’s hand as he adds wooden picks to lobster’s claws to prevent them from biting each other (6:56). Pierre uses wood stick to measure size of lobsters, those smaller than the stick/ female lobsters are sent back into ocean (7:10). Close-up swimmerets of female lobster with thousands of eggs (7:20). Pierre prepares to reset trap, adds fresh bait (7:30). Two men pull in line from coastal waters without rocks, reefs on perhaps white York Boat (7:46). Pierre glides through waters in small fishing Dory, narrator explains difference of laying lines in clear waters vs. rocky coastal waters (7:59). Dramatic music plays as narrator describes difficult fishing conditions some fishermen may face: choppy waters, fog, difficult visibility rocks and other boats specks in the distance (8:40). Pierre sits at head of boat as it makes its way back to shore, town dock and village skyline in distance (9:12). Pierre slowly pulls into fisherman’s wharf, men from canning factory send hook down to collect Pierre’s basket of “shacks” (small lobsters) (9:28). Group of men focus as they weigh the shacks, each man has stern look, newsie cap, and pipe hanging from their mouth (9:50). Other group of men sort through live lobsters held in wooden boxes with water called “cars” where they are kept until they are shipped to market (10:11). Camera pans Larry’s River village along coast (10:46). Local women dressed in matching white aprons, silk head scarves walk home from day's work at one of the canneries (10:51). Two men light up pipe, talk about day’s work, scenes of fisherman at dusk play again as the film ends (11:10). " THE MAINE SHRIMP " 1960s GULF OF MAINE FISHING INDUSTRY SHRIMPING BOOTHBAY 95884 by PeriscopeFilm
Transcription
foreign [Music] of excitement runs in the sea as it rises and falls on the beaches along the Atlantic coast of Canada it is spring on Shore in The Villages dotting this Coast men are getting ready to face the sea again for that is where their living is here at Larry's River in Nova Scotia lobster fishing is the most important of all the Fisheries [Music] the first fishery of the season and the men have been getting ready during the long months of winter [Music] foreign anxiously they watched the weather the season is short only two months a heavy blow might keep them from setting their traps for days like all the villagers the welfare Pierce family depends on the success of the mobster Fishery [Music] most of these people are descended from the Acadian French who settled here nearly 200 years ago later a few Irish and English settlers joined them and their children go back and forth to the school their parents have built together [Music] the land of their Village is poor but beyond the sea is rich Pierre's father remembers when the fisherman sold their catch two buyers for pittance he remembers when they were always in debt to the dealers who staked them with the gear they were too poor to own it is different now in 1932 they began to work together they built a Cooperative store [Music] now with their own gear and Equipment the men face each fishing season with greater security and confidence each fisherman May own hundreds of traps he identifies them with a boy which has his special color or trademark [Music] like the other fishermen Pierre makes his traps with Laz fashioned in wood from his own woodlot [Music] for Generations this skill has been handed down from father to son made for the traps is usually Herring but macro games or other fish are often used [Music] the bait is tied in bags which hold it firmly on the bait pin in the Trap so the continual flow of water will not wash it away foreign [Music] setting the traps is heavy work they cannot be said until the day the season opens Pierre must make many trips to the fishing grounds if his 100 traps are to be set the first day [Music] When the tide is low the children of the village often play in the pools left among the rocks sending their tiny boots and looking for small sea animals [Music] it is a real Adventure when they find a lobster for they are rare in these pools their grandparents can remember when lobsters were so plentiful they would gather them in sex to fertilize the fields [Music] playing in the sea pools Maritime children soon learn the habits of the sea animals [Applause] [Music] along the broken rocky shores of Eastern Canada the American lobster is found in great quantities the greatest concentration of them in the world is in the waters around Nova Scotia the lobsters are trapped and hauled from the East Coastal Waters by the fishermen who live in small fishing communities like Larry's River [Music] [Applause] [Music] it is still night when the fishermen leave to haul their traps foreign opened the little boats often go a mile or more out but gradually the lobsters move nearer to land and the men fished just offshore these men know the sea the air goes directly to his own boys bobbing among hundreds on the waves [Music] each boy is tied to a trap weighted with great flat Stones so it will lie on the sea floor the Trap becomes waterlogged as the season progresses and heavier to raise [Music] once the lobsters have crawled through the opening left in the netting of the Trap they are unable to find their way out the big ones are sold alive they are called Market lobsters because they would tear off Claws and sometimes eat each other the fishermen plugged their claws with small wooden pegs for if the shell of a lobster is broken it bleeds to death to conserve this important fishery the very small lobsters must be put back into the water again so are the females called buried lobsters because clinging to their swimmerets are from five to forty thousand eggs to live and grow lobsters will be as plentiful again on this Coast as they once were before resetting the Trap Pierre again fastens fresh bait securely to the bait pin [Applause] [Music] regions where the coastal waters are free from Jagged rocks and reefs two men fish together and use long lines to which they attach at intervals 10 or 15 traps these they call trap lines but in places like Larry's River where the sea floor is Rocky and broken each trap is on its own individual line and in the course of his morning's fishing each man has from 100 to 150 of them to haul singly [Music] [Applause] [Music] a blow comes up quickly in these Atlantic Waters and the men in their small motor boats they 'll be forced to leave their traps unfished for days times heavy fog covers the sea and treacherous Shores and Shoals looms suddenly out of the Mist as the fishermen steer their course homework [Music] but as suddenly as the form descends it may lift again revealing The Friendly Village near at hand [Music] [Applause] [Music] the canning Factory on the wharf is cooperatively owned by several small fishing communities in this District so that the smaller lobsters called Shacks may be canned the same day they are caught the fishermen usually return to the wharf by 10 o'clock here all the lobsters too small for the live lobs to trade are brought to be packed here the catch is weighed by their own Cooperative manager and each man gets the top market price for his day's work but canning the small lobsters is only one branch of this Fishery foreign Waters of each fishing Community Live Lobsters often totaling thousands of pounds live for weeks in cars like these here are the large Market lobsters keep fresh until shipped to Market [Music] from 28 to 30 million pounds of lobsters alive or canned are shipped from Picto Rustico caricut from points all along the Atlantic coast the industry depends on the people of the coastal villages Larry's River [Music] and the women who work in the canneries on the fisherman who returned daily from the sea [Music] in the evening they tell of their luck for the day and boast of a great catch tomorrow they talk of other fish to be netted after log string is over Cod mackerel Herring as the season moves along [Music] at Daybreak you face the sea again [Music]
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