Tuesday, April 06, 2010
Next week will mark the end of an industry in the United States when the last remaining sardine factory closes down. Bumble Bee, owner of the sardine cannery in Prospect Harbor, Maine, has decided to shutter the operation because of government limitations on the harvesting of herring (pre-processed sardines), combined with dwindling demand for the fish.
Maine’s sardine industry dates back to the 1870s. It reached its peak in the early 1950s, when thousands of workers were employed at more than 50 canneries. Since then, globalization and changes in America’s appetite caused one plant after another to close.
Closure of the Prospect Harbor factory will mean a loss of 128 jobs for the local community, situated in a county that already has 12% unemployment.
-Noel Brinkerhoff
In Maine, Last Sardine Cannery in the U.S. Is Clattering Out (by Katharine Seelye, New York Times)
Cannery Closure End of the Line for a Way of Life (by Matt Wickenheiser, Portland Press Herald)
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