A box of old fishing logbooks might not look like much at first.
The covers are worn; the paper yellowed. Shorthand notes swim across the page in a sea of scribbled numbers and tough decisions.
But inside those records, New Bedford’s working waterfront speaks volumes.
Old logbooks might not tell today’s seafood industry exactly what comes next. But they do reveal how fishermen, crews and buyers adapted the last time everything changed.
What fishermen recorded at sea
Laura Orleans at the New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center is casting a wide net to collect as many of the city’s logbooks as she can.
“They tell you a story of the prices at the auction, how much fish was coming in, the wages being paid to the captain and crew…” she says. “Everything is in there!”
One recently retired New Bedford fisherman, Bill Blount, spent around 55 years fishing. His family offered the center his collection of logbooks.
One page might show what a boat landed. Another might list what buyers paid at auction.
Settlement sheets add another layer. They connect the catch to the market, showing how a day at sea turned into income.
Vessel trip reports bring in the operational side. They show where boats worked, what species came in and how fishing activity moved across time.
Then there are the handwritten details that don’t always fit neatly into a form. A note about weather. A correction in the margin. A decision to move, stay, tow again or head home.
A logbook holds key figures, but it also carries judgment we can learn from today.
“To document change as it’s happening, and capture what was before it’s completely gone, both are extremely important,” says Laura.
“It’s immensely valuable for historical purposes. It’s a story of everything!”
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How logbooks still guide fishing today
That same instinct to record what happened at sea still shapes modern fisheries today.
Some records still begin with a person making a written note. Others move through electronic reporting tools.
Modern logbooks help regulators track fishing activity, support stock assessments and understand how fishing effort moves across areas, species and seasons. They also help connect what happened at sea with records on shore.
Vessel monitoring systems show where boats worked and how activity changed over time. When paired with catch data, those records can help build a clearer picture of fishing pressure.
The pencil marks in old logbooks and the digital reports used today belong to the same larger story. They help the industry turn individual trips into knowledge that can guide better decisions.
Why New Bedford’s fishing logbooks need preserving
New Bedford has long known how to tell its whaling story. The city’s fishing story deserves the same level of attention.
“Working people, whether they’re fixing an engine or risking their lives on the deck of a scallop boat, don’t often have their stories told,” says Laura.
Many of those stories never reach a museum wall or newspaper archive. They stay in kitchens, file boxes, basements and family memories.
That’s what makes the Fishing Heritage Center’s work so valuable.
Logbooks can show a family what a grandfather faced at sea, and they give working people a permanent place in the record before that story disappears from living memory.
“It’s history, culture, economics, environment, food, gender, labor, art…,” Laura says.
“The opportunity to digitize them and make them available more widely is really important.”
Laura has spent years helping fishing families preserve stories in their own words. She sees the archive as a way to document change while people can still explain what those records mean.
Logbooks don’t just preserve what happened; they reveal how fishing communities responded when prices moved, regulations changed, weather shifted and livelihoods came under pressure.
The future of fishing will bring its own uncertainty, but these records remind us that the industry has always moved forward through skill, judgment and resilience.
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Canastra Fishing Co. is proud to support the efforts of New Bedford’s Fishing Heritage Center and to keep the city’s fishing story alive by connecting seafood with the waterfront that still shapes every landing.
If you or your family have logbooks, photos, documents, or footage related to New Bedford’s fishing community, consider contributing them to the collection. Even the smallest pieces can help tell a larger story and ensure this history is preserved for future generations. To donate materials, email archives@fishingheritagecenter.org.
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