Title: Sea Grant Commercial Fishing Oral History Project
Inclusive Dates: 1978-1979

Call Number: Mss 765; Audio 922A

Quantity: 0.2 cubic feet (1 archives box) and 67 tape recordings

Repository:

Wisconsin Historical Society, Division of Library, Archives, and Museum Collections

Archival Locations:

Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)

COLLECTION MAY BE STORED OFF-SITE: see catalog entry to request materials and for additional information.

Abstract:

Interviews with 55 commercial fishermen on Lake Michigan conducted by Catherine Coberly for the Wisconsin Sea Grant Institute, concerning ecological changes affecting commercial fishing on the Great Lakes. The interviews contain information about personal backgrounds, boats and equipment used, types of fish, locations, and the economics of commercial fishing, as well as observations about weather and lake conditions. The fishermen's recollections span 1900-1979. The collection includes paper transcriptions for several of the interviews.

Note:

There is a restriction on use of this material; see the Administrative/Restriction Information portion of this finding aid for details.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-mss00765

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Tape-recorded interviews with 55 Lake Michigan commercial fishermen conducted to determine and document ecological changes affecting commercial fishing on the Great Lakes. The interviews were conducted between March 1978 and November 1979 by Catherine Coberly for Ross M. Horrall of the Wisconsin Sea Grant Institute. Excerpts were printed in the Institute's publication, Fish Spawning Grounds in Wisconsin Waters of the Great Lakes. Transcripts accompany 16 of the tapes.

In addition to the aforementioned topics, several interviews have a particular focus. In the Larry and Steve Ceskowski interview, the men discuss their father's life as a commercial fisherman from Jones Island, a Polish-German section of Milwaukee in the early 1900s. Julian Ellefson talks about the effects of lampreys on trout, his attitude toward the Department of Natural Resources (DNR), fishing laws in Illinois and Wisconsin, the different types of trout in different parts of the lake, and record-keeping. Harold Goodman also discusses characteristics of different types of trout as well as his work on an advisory council that helps the DNR set quotas and regulate licensing. Ray McDonald talks about his grandfather fishing off Washington Island in the 1850s, the sailboats used, and how the women knitted the nets. Hank Smith talks about the Wisconsin Conservation Department and its game wardens, how fishing was regulated in Illinois, and how politics affected Illinois regulations.

The contents list consists of an alphabetical list of the fishermen interviewed, the audio number(s) of the interview, the fishing area discussed (Wisconsin, unless otherwise noted), and an indication if a transcript is available.

Use Restrictions

No release forms were gathered from the following interviewees:

• Breed, Jacob
• Ceskowski, Larry and Steve (cassettes 13 and 14 only)
• Dickinson, Bill
• Dluge, Anthony
• Drzewiecki, Valentine “Bill”
• Hermes, Norbert
• Jones, Emory
• Korchak, Frank
• LaFond, Hugo
• Miller, Vernon
• Nelson, Leonard
• Strege, Ray
• Wickstein, Lloyd

Researchers, therefore, should not quote directly from those interviews without written permission of the interviewee.

Acquisition Information

Presented by Catherine Coberly, Oregon, Wisconsin, 1986. Accession Number: M79-534 - M79-542, M86-553

Processing Information

Processed by Virginia Fritzsch, July 5, 1990.

Mss 765 Box   1	Transcripts
Audio 922A	Taped Interviews
922A/1	Albertson, Phil (Algoma; no transcript)
922A/2-4	Allie, Albert (Sturgeon Bay, Two Rivers; no transcript)
922A/5	Allie, Clayton (Sturgeon Bay; no transcript)
922A/6	Anderson, Clarence and Clyde (Sand Bay; no transcript)
922A/7	Anderson, Milton (Washington Island; no transcript)
922A/8	Anderson, Stanley (Fish Creek; no transcript)
922A/9	Bodin, Bud (unknown place; no transcript)
922A/10	Breed, Jacob (Pensaukee; no transcript)
922A/11	Brix, Myril (Marinette; no transcript)
922A/12-14	Ceskowski, Larry and Steve (Milwaukee, Waukegan, Illinois; transcript available)
922A/15-16	Cornell, Leslie (Washington Island; no transcript)
922A/17	Dettman, Art (unknown place; no transcript)
922A/18	Devroy, Russell “Buck” and Bill Dickinson (Suamico; no transcript)
922A/19	Dluge, Anthony (Milwaukee; no transcript)
922A/20	Drzewiecki, Valentine “Bill” (unknown place; no transcript)
922A/21	Ellefson, George (Washington Island, Waukegan, Illinois; transcript available)
922A/22-24	Ellefson, Julian (Kenosha; transcript available)
922A/25	Erickson, Melvin (Bayfield; no transcript)
922A/26	Goodman, Harold, Sr. (Kenosha; transcript available)
922A/27	Hagen, Roger (unknown; no transcript)
922A/28	Hanneson, Hannes (unknown; no transcript)
922A/29	Hermes, Michael (Suamico; no transcript)
922A/30	Hermes, Norbert (Green Bay; no transcript)
922A/31	Johnson, Ben (Washington Island; no transcript)
922A/32	Johnson, Harold (Washington Island, Waukegan, Illinois; transcript available)
922A/33	Johnson, Norman (Washington Island, Waukegan, Illinois; no transcript)
922A/34	Johnson, George and Rupert (Washington Island, Milwaukee; no transcript)
922A/35-37	Jones, Emory (Bayfield vicinity; no transcript)
922A/38	Kinsey, Roy (Fish Creek; no transcript)
922A/39	Korchak, Frank (Marinette; no transcript)
922A/40	LaFond, Hugo (unknown place; no transcript)
922A/41	Lauscher, Frank (Whitefish Bay; no transcript)
922A/42	Lindal, George (unknown place; no transcript)
922A/43-46	McDonald, Ray (Washington Island, Racine; transcript available)
922A/47	Miller, Vernon (Sturgeon Bay; no transcript)
922A/48	Nelson, Julian (Bayfield; no transcript)
922A/49	Nelson, Leonard (Sturgeon Bay; no transcript)
922A/50-51	Nelson, Russell (Washington Island; no transcript)
922A/52	Nelson, Spencer (Washington Island; no transcript)
922A/53	Nylund, Wilbert (Marinette; no transcript)
922A/54	Schmidt, Joe and Francis Wenniger (unknown place; no transcript)
922A/55	Settersten, John (Marinette; no transcript)
922A/56	Smies, Dan (Cedar Grove; no transcript)
922A/57	Smith, Bert (Port Washington; no transcript)
922A/58-60	Smith, Hank (Northern Illinois; transcript available)
922A/61	Strege, Ray (Sister Bay; no transcript)
922A/62	Tuttle, Pay (Suamico; no transcript)
922A/63	Weborg, Wallace (Gills Rock; no transcript)
922A/64	Weborg, Wallace and Obie Anderson (Gills Rock, Sister Bay; no transcript)
922A/65	Weborg, Wallace (Gills Pock; no transcript)
922A/66	Wenniger, Francis (Algoma; no transcript)
922A/67	Wickstein, Lloyd (Bayfield; no transcript)