Connecticut-based photographer Markham Starr has dedicated almost a decade to documenting New England’s fishing industry. His photos, featured in an exhibit at the Fishing Heritage Center in New Bedford, include a type of fishing unique to Rhode Island.
Starr photographed fishermen across New England and says he took a special interest in the trap fishers of Point Judith in Narragansett.
“It’s an ancient type of fishing,” said Starr. “They’ve been doing it probably 150 years in Rhode Island, and other traps like it go back even earlier. But there’s only three practitioners left, really, because it requires a lot of manpower.”
Starr said trap fishing is an environmentally-friendly fishing method, originated in Rhode Island.
“The fish are scooped up and dumped on deck, and any fish they don’t want, they just get thrown right back over, and they swim away,” said Starr. “There’s not the damage that a trawler can do from being dragged around for four or five hours and then ripped to the surface at high speeds.”
The Fishing Heritage Center exhibit features black and white photographs of the Point Judith fishermen, as well as the commercial fishermen of Massachusetts and Maine. Starr said he hopes his work will help preserve some of the industry’s history. His work is also included in the Library of Congress.
The exhibit at the Fishing Heritage Center in New Bedford is on display through January 17th
