IAPS BOOKS & VIDEOS
Fisherfolk of Charlotte Harbor, Florida is a fascinating and historically accurate account of one of Florida's oldest industries: net-fishing. Through conversations with the author, the fisherfolk provide from their own experiences the rich detail that makes this study so important.
As the twentieth century ended, so did many historic fishing traditions in Charlotte Harbor, Florida. Anthropologist and oral historian Robert Edic set out to rescue this unique heritage from oblivion. In the process, he gives us a glimpse of the lives of Gulf coast fisherfolk in the early part of the century.
Edic interviewed some of the last traditional fisherfolk of Charlotte Harbor. Most were born before 1918, and their words and images evoke a life in the days before power boats, monofilament nets, and modern sport fishing. Intimately acquainted with the coastal environment, these senior fisherfolk also remind us of the fragile balance between people and the harbor's habitat. Through their eyes, we see again and again how the fishery resources of the harbor have been altered by the modern world.
Fisherfolk of Charlotte Harbor, Florida not only recreates a long-ago era, it sounds an alarm. In Charlotte Harbor, as perhaps in many places, the vanishing of traditional ways heralds more profound and far-reaching changes to our natural world.
Robert Edic collected oral histories of fisherfolk in southwest Florida for more than 10 years. Trained in anthropology, Edic also experienced the commercial fishing life firsthand, working at the Boca Grande Fishery on Gasparilla Island for four years.
ISBN 1-881448-10-X (hardcover); xiv + 176 pp., many illustrations and photographs, index