Downeast Fisheries Trail
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    • STAND: a poetic exploration of Lubec smokehouses
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    • Spring is here, and that means fish — lots of fish
    • Lobstering Firsts
    • From Lobster Smacks to Lobster Pounds
    • The Downeast Fisheries Trail by regions
  • Fisheries Now
    • Alewives and Blueback Herring
    • American eel
    • Marine Worms
    • Oysters
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  • Fisheries Then
    • Alewives and Blueback Herring
    • American eel
    • Atlantic Halibut
    • Clams
    • Cod
    • Lobster
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Islesford Historical Museum

Little Cranberry Island

Inhabitants of the Cranberry Islands have long depended on resources they could extract from the land and sea. Centuries after the Wabanaki started canoeing to the islands, European settlers, some of whose descendents still live on the islands today, were farming, tending to livestock, fishing, and even hunting whales. Salted cod and smoked mackerel were daily nutritious fare for the settlers, who also sold their catch to earn money or credit for basic goods that they could not hunt, fish, or grow themselves. Today, lobster traps have replaced drying fish as the most visible evidence of an island community reliant on fishing. The Islesford Historical Museum, an Acadia National Park property since 1949, is dedicated to past and present life on the Cranberry Isles. Popular community curated exhibits, professionally designed and produced, tell island stories using both historic and contemporary objects, photographs, artwork, movies and activities. Museum is staffed by Acadia National Park rangers.

 

207-288-3338  | https://islesfordhistoricalmuseum.org/

Islesford Historical Museum Facebook Page

Seasonal (Memorial Day – Columbus Day; M-Sat 10-4, Sun 11-3). Free. Restroom.

Islesford Historical Museum
Islesford Historical Museum signage
Islesford Historical Museum
Lobster exhibit
Islesford Historical Museum
Islesford Historical Museum
Lobster tours
Isleford coop
Isleford Coop
Little Cranberry Lobster
Lobster cars
Isleford harbor
Isleford lobster boats
Lobster boat 1960s
Isleford piling
Cranberry Isles net reel 1892
Wooden lobster trap
Lobtster traps
Stacked lobster traps
Bait prices
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Fisheries Heritage

Just before the Civil War, a visitor to Cranberry Isles wrote, “The occupations of the inhabitants as well as the substantial arrangements of their tables, are furnished from the mute briny world.” [AJ Coolidge and JB Mansfield, A History and Description of New England: Maine, Boston, Austin J. Coolidge, 1860, p. 90.]

Events & Activities

Acadia National Park Ranger Led Programs

Sources & Links

Ferries to Cranberry Isles

National Park Service announces improvements to Islesford Historical Museum in Acadia National Park

Acadia National Park

Great Cranberry Island Historical Society

Cranberry Isles, Maine

Maine Folklife Center, Life of the Maine Lobsterman Interview Collection: Interviews with Edwin Lawson, 73, about lobstering on the Maine coast.

 

Trail Sites

  • Abbe Museum
  • Bad Little Falls Park
  • Bar Harbor Town Park
  • Bar Harbor Town Pier
  • Beals Heritage Center
  • Bucksport Waterfront
  • Cable Pool Park
  • Carryingplace Cove
  • Cobscook Bay Resource Center
  • Cobscook Bay State Park
  • Craig Brook National Fish Hatchery
  • Deer Isle – Stonington Historical Society
  • Downeast Institute
  • Frazer Point
  • Frenchman Bay Overlook
  • Frenchman Bay Scenic Turnout
  • Gleason Cove Park
  • Gordon’s Wharf
  • Great Harbor Maritime Museum
  • Green Lake National Fish Hatchery
  • Henry Cove
  • Islesford Historical Museum
  • Jonesport Historical Society
  • Long Cove
  • Maine Center for Coastal Fisheries (formerly Penobscot East Resource Center)
  • Maine Coast Sardine History Museum
  • McCurdy’s Smokehouse
  • Milbridge Historical Museum
  • Milbridge Town Marina
  • Morong Cove
  • Mount Desert Oceanarium
  • Naskeag Point
  • Otter Cove
  • Penobscot Marine Museum
  • Penobscot Narrows Bridge Observatory & Fort Knox
  • Peter Gray Hatchery
  • Pleasant River Hatchery
  • Prospect Harbor
  • Quoddy Head State Park
  • Roosevelt-Campobello International Park
  • Shackford Head State Park
  • Somesville Mill Pond
  • Taunton Bay Gateway
  • Tidal Falls
  • Waponahki Museum & Resource Center

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The Downeast Fisheries Trail consists of 45 locations from Penobscot Bay, Maine, to Passamaquoddy Bay, New Brunswick, that showcase active and historic fisheries heritage sites, such as fish hatcheries, aquaculture facilities, fishing harbors, clam flats, processing plants, historical societies, community centers, parks, and other related places. The Trail is an effort to raise awareness among residents and visitors of the importance of the region’s maritime heritage and the role of marine resources to the area’s economy. The Trail builds on these local resources to strengthen community life and the experience of visitors.

For a printed map-brochure of the Trail, please call 207.581.1435.

Download the web version of the map-brochure. (6.8 MB)

For more information about the Downeast Fisheries Trail, email or call 207.288.2944 x5834.

Downeast Fisheries Trail Brochure Map - Web Version

Downeast Fisheries Trail Brochure Map - Web Version

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